Hello all,
When I attended the wake/yard sale at Buzz-a-Rama a couple of years ago, I saw some ancient parts, clusters of them, that got me thinking about my first serious slot racer. Going up and down the aisles of cardboard boxes, representing some proportion of the vast basement trove that Buzzy had been collecting since the mid-60's, I began picking up this and that ancient, obsolete, and totally nostalgic bit of gear.
Classic Manta Ray chassis, new in the blister pack; Mille Miglia magnesium fronts; Weldun aluminum 64p spurs and steel pinions; a pink K&B 36D motor; a balanced and trued 36D rewound armature... it seemed like the parts themselves were guiding me to each successive box. And was merely the means by which they might be truly reunited.
Anyway... I'm primarily a Retro and HO magnet car racer, so this deep time-warp activity represents something pretty different. Encourages a meditation on how nicely much of this gear was made, and, at the same time, how insane the designs, primarily regarding their center of gravity. 3/16" ground clearance!!!
Once I have the photos sized down, I'll include a couple here. And, at the risk of being boring, can tell the little story that goes with this.
But a couple of questions for the interested and informed, please?
1). What were the diameters of the front and rear tires on the Manta Ray, right out of the box?
2). What was the gear ratio, and the # of teeth on the pinion and spur?
Thank you!
More soon.
