98 replies to this topic

[oz10k]

At the bottom of a box of stuff I won on ebay was this Cobra 26D:

 

 

 

 

 

Can anyone tell me anything about it?

 

I grew-up in Detroit and raced at The Groove Raceway in Royal Oak.  The hot motor we had was a Dyna-Rewind.  How does this compare?

 

Thanks,

Ron

[Isaac S.]

Cobra made a variety of things and also had one of the most successful pro-racing teams in America. For rewound motors including 26D's, Cobra and some other small rewinders (like U-Go) made up the east coast, Champion for the south, Dyna for the midwest and Mura/Lenz for the west coast. So most are pretty similar. 

 

This motor probably has a 28 or 29 wind with the Cobra Silver wire. Made in late '66 or '67 most likely. Very similar to Mura. The Dyna and Champion would be somewhat better as the Champion had ARCO's and a better comm and the Dyna had post protectors and better magnets in the enduro version.  

 

Hope this helps. 

[Mark Onofri]

From a 1967 article the Dyna Enduro was the top of the line. It was supposed to have a polar cap on the commutator and, and on the end of the stack. It further states that they had different winds four different power supplies , batteries, and even tracks by region. Talk about having your finger on the pulse of the industry.

[Mark Onofri]

Bill H seems to be the expert on cobras. If you go into History Section. There's another extensive post on cobra products. Whether or not Motors discussed on it, I don't know I just read the chassis part.

[Bill from NH]

1. U-Go Smith was in the SF Bay area, not an east coast company; I'm not 100% sure, but their motors were probably Mura wound with a U-Go label added after a paint job.

 

2. Cobra never wound anything, Their motors & arms were re-badged Muras.

 

3. Not all Champion motors had ARCO magnets & an aftermarket comm. They weren't always better than the best.

 

4, Mura also had 27 ga.  "silver wire". I wound a Dyn-O-Can with the spool I had. 

 

Ron, your Cobra motor would have been comparable to the Dyna -Rewind,  One wouldn't necessarily be better than the other. On some tracks one might run better than the other. Whereas, on others the other one might run better. Generally speaking, a rewound 16D is going to run better than the same wind 26D. The 16D has a lower center of gravity & its bushings are much better than the 26D sheet metal bearings. If you check around, you'll see some pros tried 26D race motors, but the 26D never replaced the 16D pro race motor. Stock 26Ds were a great $3,00 motor. I bought a couple.in the '60s as did others. Not many good 26D motors exist today because people would run the life out of them.  

[Geary Carrier]

[Mark Onofri]

Isaac, I hate to say it, but I told you so. BillH is a walking cobra encyclopedia. While we are on the subject of cobras, what is the key determining factor in differentiating a Cobra from the rest?

[Bill from NH]

A sticker on the can. 

 

I wouldn't call myself a walking encyclopedia on anything. But in 50+ years of commercial slot racing, I've come across many things. Some of them, I even remember.      Mark, I'm Bill F, not H.

[Mark Onofri]

Oooooh, well, you seem to be a cornucopia of information on Cobra products. And I left out the N in BillNH. Now if I could just find my car keys. But seriously, how can you differentiate between a cobra 26d and any other one?

[Isaac S.]

Mark, I think he is also. 

 

If you don't have the sticker, I think a Mura and a Cobra are virtually the same. 

[Bill from NH]

In the day, most rewound 26D's were wound by Mura & whatever sticker went on the can depended upon who was going to retail it to customers, Yes, there were a few other rewinders around the country, such as Howkill & Dyna Rewind, but they were production rewinders, rather than hand rewinds like some 16D's. Mura & the others  probably had a variety of different winds that could be ordered for the 26D, but I never heard of anyone offering custom winds for them. 

[Mark Onofri]

I got two of them right in front of me. One has bright red wire , unbalanced and, a dark brown end Bell. The other has more of a maroonish epoxied wire, balanced, yellow and silver markings on two of the stacks and, a white end Bell,appears to say mabuchi. Okay,taking a wild guess,I'd say the balance one was a dyna rewind. The other is in a champion chassis but your guess is better than mine. Any clues?

[Bill from NH]

I would sooner compare endbell & can colors, rather than wire colors, to try determining what manufacturer sold the motors you got,  On Slotblog, the forum titled  "The Independent Scratchbuilder", by Steve Okeefe, has almost every can motor sold grouped by size with the can & endbell colors listed. It was a massive undertaking to put these pages together & several others assisted.

 

Keep in mind that cans, endbells, & arms were often changed out & swapped around, so you could have a color combination not listed. Also, keep in mind that Dyna Rewind sold slot  car kits for an extra buck, because they included a rewound arm in the motor, so you're apt to find their arms in all sorts of different brands of motors.

 

Take a look at Steve's forum, I think you'll find a lot of very useful information there. In addition to being very technically proficient, Steve is one of the best scratchbuilders in the US,

[Mark Onofri]

Thanks Bill, I downloaded most of the 36 D's on that thread, and then lost the thread. You never know what happens over time . Sometimes you take it off something , and use it on something else! We've all been there. Hopefully, my good friend Isaac will post a photo I took of three 26-D'S. If you believe the sticker, one is a Dyna rewind Enduro, the other two are anyone's guess.

[Mark Onofri]

Furthermore,was the polar ice cap used on all dyna-rewind enduros throughout their production, or just certain years?

[Bill from NH]

I never followed Dyna Rewind close enough to know. One of the collectors on here might know.

[Isaac S.]

Here you go. 

 

Mark, A picture of the armature on the "enduro" would help. Does it have the cylindrical balancing? And yes, I think the "polar cap" was on all 26D Enduro's. 

 

[Isaac S.]

I personally don't think this motor is a Dyna, it doesn't have the normal Dyna-Rewind sticker or the brass post protectors. I think your loose armature is a Mura or home-rewind that was balanced by Mura, Lenz or any of the other balancing services. The soldering on the comm does look like Mura, but IDK for sure. 

[Mark Onofri]

Okay. How do I know it's not a cobra which is what this article was about?

[Isaac S.]

I don't think there is.

 

P.S. Why does it matter. Whether you call it a Cobra or a Mura it's still a cool bomb. 

[Bill from NH]

Okay. How do I know it's not a cobra which is what this article was about?

 

Did the can have a Cobra sticker? If yes, it's a Cobra. If not, it's something else. The arm in post #17 looks to me to have been wound & balanced by Mura. Keep in mind that not all slot car items for sale are described honestly .And sometimes the people selling them don't have a  clue what they are selling. When time permits, I contact some of the sellers about the inaccuracies in their writeups. Some of the replies I get back give me a laugh.

[Mark Onofri]

I'm with you on that Bill. However, there inaccuracies are our gain. I'm okay with the Armature being a Mura, and no the can did not have a sticker( which anyone can print nowadays) I might have neglected to mention that the end belt says mabuchi,pat.Japan. Does that shed any light on this?

[Bill from NH]

The wording on the endbell indicates it's a stock Mabuchi endbell from Japan. Most 26D motors you see, except some of the Champions, use these same endbells. 

[Mark Onofri]

I know it's a little off the Cobra subject but, I have a end Bell Drive can motor that is 1)equipped with a mural end Bell. 2)is marginally taller and marginally wider then a 16- d. 3) has a basic unpainted unplated 2 hole(per side) can. Any insight on this one? Oh one more thing, it has the typical mura c-can hardware. Whether this is original or added on later it's unknown to me.

[Bill from NH]

Have photos that can be posted?