48 replies to this topic

[dc-65x]

I've always had a soft spot for Monogram's first generation 1/32 scale cars. I was perusing eBay and ran across this model kit:

 

 

It was an opened kit and the seller didn't know if all the parts were there. Here's the eBay listing photo:

 

 

But I could see the front valance, "roll bar", windscreen, headlight covers and the opening bid was just 99 cents. So I bid on it and to my delight, nobody else did.  

 

Here's what I received for my 99 cents:

 

 

It has all the parts for a slot car body kit.  

 

So I have this really cool 99 cent Ferrari and I wondered how to build it up. Then I remembered a magazine article by my favorite "dawn of slot car time" West Coast slot racer, Bob Braverman.

 

Here is his Monogram Cooper Cobra on the cover of the February 1965 Rod & Custom magazine:

 

 

He did lots of period modifications the article called the "Crowning Touch" to his car:

 

 

 

 

 

I'm looking forward to giving my 99-cent Ferrari Bob's crowning touch, too.  

[Isaac S.]

Very cool. I'm excited! 

[mickey thumbs]

Great article by Braverman. Looking forward to seeing your chassis for the Ferrari. Monongram’s Cooper-Ford was my first slot car kit back in the 60’s. Since returning to the hobby I have bought the MRRC re-release of the Monogram King Cobra/Cooper-Ford, the Ferrari 275P and the Porsche 906 body kits. Lots of fun building different chassis around the FC 130 motors.

[Dave Crevie]

IIRC $.99 was what those kits sold for eventually. I used several on scratch-built 1/32nd cars way back when. Still have the chassis, and need to get busy and restore those cars. I don't expect to find bodies for under a buck, though. 

[dc-65x]

It's a nice change of pace from 1/24 scratch building Isaac. Fun to mix things up a bit.  

 

My first slot car kit was the Monogram Ferrari GTO Mike. I'm gathering up parts for that one too. It'll will be built stock like I did back in the day at Pasadena Speedway. Should make an interesting comparison with this build.

 

I really like the Cooper Ford too. I picked up a reissued body kit with the flared rear wheel wells from Professor Motor:

 

Monogram PMTR3016 Rare Series II Type 1/32 Cooper Ford Body Kit

 

 

Right Dave. The Monogram model kit box is marked $1.00. But the body kit above isn't too bad a deal at $19.95.

 

With the body kit in hand I found Monogram donor cars on eBay for 2 for $60. One is a Lola GT and the other is this Ferrari 275P:

 

 

 

Time to tear this puppy down and see what I've really got...........

 

 

[bradblohm]

Love those Monogram cars!  I backed off the last several years, but for a while I was buying a bunch that were falling through the cracks.  I especially like the aluminum set/RTR chassis.  Happy to see that deals are still out there, if you're patient and diligent!  Looking forward to how it turns out!

[mickey thumbs]

Looks like a Revell motor, maybe a an SP 510X? That was the first hotter motor to hit our area after the stock Monogram Tiger 100 and Revell SP 500 that came with the kits.The Russkit 22 quickly took over followed by the 23. Really cool that you are tracking down the original chassis and other bits. 
My first Cooper Ford had the skirts. I’ve built two using the open wheel well bodies from PM and will probably try to recreate the skirts on the next one. PM still has a few more for sale.

[dc-65x]

The original car torn down and the parts ready for cleaning:

 

 

The tires are rotten and I've got some hard to find originals to replace them:

 

 

I hate buggered up screw heads so I'm replacing them and the guide shoe:

 

 

That Revell motor is out and a new Russkit 22 like Bob used is going in. As Bob said, "....it's got more beans.":

 

 

Does anyone have contact for Tiny Motors Tires??????

[dc-65x]

The 50+ year old Mabuchi end bells are notorious for splitting and cracking. Using the normal self taping screw is like driving a wedge into the hole as it swages the threads.

 

Using a tap for a 2-56 machine screw cuts the threads without all that pressure that could crack the end bell:

 

 

The motor mount installed and the attachment nuts soldered on:

 

 

All the stock parts are cleaned up and I've gathered up some nice aftermarket goodies to share:

 

 

 

 

 

[mickey thumbs]

Somehow I knew you were going to use ball bearings like all the cool older guys did. Us 11 year olds couldn’t afford them.

[dc-65x]

Yes, I can't help myself Mike. I love ball bearings and I'd have used them even if Bob Braverman hadn't in his build.  

 

Along with those ball bearings I've got an independent rotating front axle, as accurately threaded and flatted rear axle as I could find and beautifully made Cox thrust nuts:

 

 

The stiff Monogram braid is ditched for some Super Soft stuff. It needed the tab trimmed off and a hole punched:

 

 

This nifty punch from Micro-Mark makes the job easy:

 

 

That braid, a small o-ring from an 1/8" Russkit Slant Guide and some Cox fuse wire make a nice smiley face:  

 

[Martin]

happy parts

[ajd350]

...........Does anyone have contact for Tiny Motors Tires??????

 

You might consider Smilin' Ray's tires.

 

https://smilinray.wi....com/smilinray/

[dc-65x]

Thanks for the link Al.

 

I'm looking for Tiny Motors because he has (or had) injection molded Monogram tires with detail on both sides unlike the "open mold pour" of most others. I need them for the open wheel Monogram GP cars where the inside of the tires is visible.

[dc-65x]

Bob cut the rear motor mount off the chassis and moved the motor rearward as far as he could. He reattached it with an unreinforced butt joint:

 

 

This also locks the motor in the chassis. 

 

After thinking about it, I'm going to move the motor rearward but leave a 1/32" gap with the frame to allow the motor to be removed. I made an aluminum spacer to fill the gap between the back of the motor and the rear motor mount:

 

 

The motor in the stock position:

 

 

 

The motor moved reward with the spacer gizmo:

 

 

 

With the luxury of 20/20 hindsight I think this moves the motor almost as far back, supports the back of the motor, allows the motor to be removed if needed and doesn't weaken the frame.

[dc-65x]

Bob used brass tubing to attach ball bearings to a more outboard position on his frame:

 

 

I made some "duffys" on my hobby lathe to install mine:

 

 

 

Time to heat up the Ungar soldering iron.  

[Alchemist]

HI Rick,

 

My wife has always been a bargain shopper and taught me years agoto always bargain shop!

 

Here's what I received for my 99 cents:

 

 

 

 Now that is what I call "bargain shopping at it's best!"

 

Awesome buy Rick!

 

Ernie

[dc-65x]

Thanks Ernie  

 

Bob added a cross brace to strengthen the rear axle bearing area:

 

 

I started my bracing of the rear end with this doohickey to tie it to the main frame:

 

 

 

He also added a pair of tubes from that brace down to the front of the chassis:

 

 

Those 2 tubes also contribute to making the motor impossible to remove. They run right on top of the motor bracket.

 

I modified my motor bracket (shown on the bottom) to help with clearance for motor removal:

 

 

I attached my tubes farther outboard for more room to wiggle the motor in and out:

 

 

 

Finally a U-brace was added:

 

 

The U-brace faces forward because of clearance issues with the bodies mounting posts in the rear:

 

 

Now to tackle the front end......

[Slot Car Rod]

I like the bracing.  Looks great.

[Larry Horner]

Uber sano and I'm sure it's uber strong too!

 

I don't have a lathe but have been making "poor man's duffys" by soldering an inner sleeve inside the bearing support tube. And even with this makeshift method, I'm amazed at how much rigidity duffys add.

[dc-65x]

Thanks Rodney. The bracing works well and was fun to do.

 

I like duffys too Larry and they actually go back to the slot car dawn of time. I have some from the old time manufacturer Howard's House of Hobbies. The paper labels are disintegrating from age. 

 

Bob soldered the guide stop to the frame to better stabilize the guide shoe:

 

 

I chose to play with my hobby lathe again and make a guide shoe duffy:

 

 

I open up the frame for it and an axle tube:

 

 

The finished front half of the frame:

 

 

 

Time to screw all these pieces and parts together.......

[chrisguyw]

Hi Rick,.....Not sure if Bob did this, or if you are planning to, but, a brace on the rear motor mount bracket is far from a bad idea.

 

Cheers

Chris Walker

 

[dc-65x]

Hi Chris. With the motor moved back to the rear of the chassis and the added rear end bracing there's not much real-estate left for that style motor brace. I show a couple of pictures of the rear end below.

 

I also need to loosen the motor mount screw to allow the mount to move around to get the motor wiggled into the chassis. So while I could have come up with some sort of brace, with the motor bolted to the frame it seems very solid and Bob didn't use one so.......no brace on this build.

 

Here is the finished chassis:

 

 

The finished roller:

 

 

 

Monogram got the motor nice and low:

 

 

 

I wrapped the super soft braid around the front of the guide flag instead of going through the little slot. The lead wires are Cox controller fuse wire. The jam nuts are Cox and a little o-ring keeps the guide flag in place:

 

 

The gears are an MDC pot metal crown, a Wilson steel pinion and they are smooth and quiet on the track. The Monogram rear tires were new old stock still in the package. They are epoxied on the wheels and trued just enough to remove the tread.

 

Usually grinding will expose fresh rubber and bring old tires back to life. Unfortunately, this particular pair of tires is DEAD:

 

 

The dead Monogram rubber on my clean dry track the car wouldn't make a lap. I tried some new EJ's repop Revell tires and the car came to life and could be lapped but it was still very loose.

 

I decided to try a pair of vintage AJ's silicones:

 

 

The little car came alive.      That's not a bad lap time for a 1/32 scale car powered by a pretty tame Russkit 22 motor:

 

 

Now I remember why so many vintage cars for sale on eBay have the rear wheel wells cut and big tires sticking outside the body.  

 

While there are many "witches brews" to refresh old rubber I'm going with Ortmann repop Monogram series 1 tires that are on order from Electric Dreams:

 

 

Can't wait to get those tires, the body on and track test the car again.   

[Alchemist]

Looks great Rick!

 

Let us know how the car runs with those tires please.

 

Thank you.

 

Ernie

[Isaac S.]

Looks great Rick! I would be interested to see how much a rewind would help.