7 replies to this topic

[Slot Car Rod]

I rebuilt one of my high school and college friend's slot cars that he gave to me.  Robert built the car around 1970 and ran it through 1975.  The car was originally built for the monstrous 200' Oakland Speedway track.

 

It took me some time to rebuild the chassis.  The plumber and front axle tube were missing, and the hinges were rusted shut.  The chassis was also a little tweaked, so I had to keep making adjustments even after I thought everything was aligned.

 

The new body is a Champion McLaren Mk8.  An Aguirre air control kit was added.  The interior is an AB Slot Cars brand.

 

The car was originally run with an early C-can motor with a Steube 25 single armature.  Robert always ran Steube armatures in his open class cars. I do not have the original motor, so I built one with parts I had available.  Sorry, no Steube armatures left, so a Thorp open armature was chosen along with an early Mura C-can setup.  Magnets are long Mura magnets.  The motor draws less than 2 amps on the analyzer.

 

Wheels and tires are Riggen for 3/32” axles.  The car is geared 7-34 with a Cox spur gear.  As the rules called for back then, the tires measured from edge to edge a maximum 3”.  Hubs were shaved a little to achieve the 3” rear width.

 

Time for a track test.  

 

 

Car shown with a March 1970 MCS race report.

 

 

 

Motor parts used.

 

 

 

 

[don.siegel]

Very nice Rod, looking forward to the road test. 

 

I thought the rear width had already expanded by then, but guess not! Do you know when guys started soldering lead wires to clips, instead of pushing wires through the holes? 

 

Don 

[slotcarone]

Looks great and should run good. As for the lead wire question that car I believe should have clips and soldered wires.

[dc-65x]

Great car and restoration Rodney. I've always liked the different look of the modified Steube pans and drop arm from the usual rectangular cutouts.

 

Lead wire clips: Here is the earliest documentation I've found showing their use:

 

 

It's from the Model Racing Journal coverage of the January 1970 Pro race at Hinsdale. It shows the top 3 cars 2 of which have the lead wires pushed into holes in the flag and the center car of Brady using wires soldered to clips. 

 

This suggests that lead wire clips in early 1970 were not quite yet common practice and stuffing wires into the guide flag holes was still done. It probably didn't take long for clips to catch on as they are so much easier to work with. 

 

Maximum width at the wheels: Here are the NCC rules as of January 1970 showing that width to be 3" maximum:

 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful car Rodney and thanks for sharing it with us!  

[Bill from NH]

Nice rebuild Rodney! Thorp arms in the day were as good as the Camens I used. Ken Stevens was a racing friend in those days & he always used Thorp arms. I drove many of his cars. His 23 Thorp I drove on the Framingham Sovereign is the most powerful slot car I've ever driven. Parma sold the first guide clips I saw here in New England. I think it was late '70 or '71 when we went to 3 1/16" tire to tire width. Your car should test fine with a little glue. Thanks for showing it to us.

[Mike Patterson]

Your car should test fine with a little glue.

And if that doesn't work, try a LOT of glue! 

[Bill from NH]

Or change the vintage orange rears to a modern black.

[Slot Car Rod]

Thanks, Rick, for the lead wire and width information.

Here is a picture of a Mike Steube race winner from a June 1970 MC&S magazine.  Note the lead wires through the guide.