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What About Vintage Motors?


slotbaker

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Prompted by Shadow-Rust posted this in another thread;

Having never come across a 26D, is of course had to do a quick search...

The first link I opened was this excellent article on the history of the 16D...

 

So I thought it might be of interest to talk about motors.

 

Yeah, that 16D article is a good one.

 

The 26D was only used for a few years, and was the hot ticket for us wannabees.

It was quicker than both the 16D and 36D, but was mid size between the two.

 

It is a bit taller than the 16D, and cars with it didn't quite handle as well due to the higher CofG.

 

The 26D is a sentimental favourite motor for old pharts who got to buy them brand new.

 

They had a stupid ball bearings. It sounds good, but there was no inner race, and the balls ran directly on the soft armature shaft. Consequently, after not too long, grooves developed on the shaft, and the motor was pretty much a non goer.

We overcome that by installing a propper ball race into it, and away we went again.

 

I don't think the pro's in the USA used them very much, and I don't think they powered a winning car in any major event.

 

For such a crappy motor, they were great.

:huh:

Edited by slotbaker

Steve K.

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Ahh.. the venerable 26D. It was a late arrival to the 60's slot car scene so only made it into a few RTR's. A few of the specialist winder's in America built hot arms for them. They even bought out non melt end bells to combat the reliability issues of the endbell.. The brush holders would melt into the endbell at some crazy angle and once that happened smoke was not far away.

All the Mabuchi motors also had a surprise for the un-initiated.. If you happened to touch the endbell with a soldering iron the fumes being given of was the equivalent of rubbing wasabi in you eyes. Cleared nasal passages fast!

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I used to resemble that smell.

Can remember doing naughty things like hand winding micro wind 16D's with dental drill ball and needle races in them. We'd set the magnets on an old warfdale speaker for a while and then bush with cigarette paper.

IIRC the 16D drew >30 amps and ran about 60k rpm...

 

Did a 6* micro wind on a 36D too. Fitted a Mura brush holder to stop it cooking out, and would remove a wind from the brush spring as well. Was about as quick as my Gp.20...

 

Can't run these things on most tracks today - not enough amps per lane...

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usually you might find 20-40 winds of wire around each arm of the motor. A microwind is where just a few (6-12) of extra fine wire is wound instead. I ran paired wire at 6 winds for each arm on the 36D.

The risk with this is a tendency to burn out very easily. Think of it like a hipo drag race engine - lots of go but fragile.

 

Storing the magnets on the speaker (600 gm weight speaker magnet) aligns the magnetic flow and increases magnetic force. If is a slow way of 'zapping' the magnets, and is largely considered not legal now...

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well Im one of the old Pharts who grew up with hot 36D's and particularly 26d's .. I have a few since I got back into rebuilding old school cars for fun. I also bought a bunch of "Modern" 16D's . I also managed to snag a Brand new MIB FT270 (Mabuchi's next step from a 26D ) which Im considering putting in a car havent figured what yet ...

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The Pitcan was the best... A little secret.. :ph34r:

The best motor winder in Sydney and fastest guy on the track in the late 60's (Hutcho) used a Pittmanit can to true the comm on Mabuchi armatures.

He had a setup where he had cut- away the bearing support opposite side to the brushes and springs. He would then insert the armature into the Pittman and spin it up on about 6 volts. Then using a flat points file give it a gentle "wipe" over the commutator ( now accessable because half the endbell is cut away). The difference in revs by cutting the com was amazing. The results were better than using a lathe. Why...think about it... A lathe captures the armature shaft (bent of otherwise) an trues it to the lathes capabilities - not to how the armature actually spins in a can on 2 bearing points. Brilliant.

I've hacked open a "dog" sealed can "toy motor" and done the same thing. It works a treat.

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  • 2 years later...

Guys, I'm chasing a MRRC double ended "train" motor for my 60's Mercedes... It's the 4 wd chassis with akerman steering.. anybody.. anybody.. can help?

 

I'd put a pic up but I still can't post on this site.. I must be dumb and stupid because I can do it on all other sites.

Edited by axman
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I remember those 4wd Mercedes, everyone at our little track wanted one, except me.

My little Monogram Lotus GP was able to lap quicker.

I did end up with one towards my early slot car play times, but it dissappeared with the rest of my stuff. :(

 

Kim, if you email me the pic/s, I'll post it for you.

:huh:

Steve K.

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Thanks Steve.. they talk about the demise of forums.. grrrr.. why cant this forum have click and drag or at least when I click on "upload files" a box appears that enables me to insert pics.

 

I'll give it a go tonight and if I fail take up your posting offer.. Thanks

 

And yes.. the Monogram 1/32 GP was a weapon compared to all other's.. Unfortunately my mates were into speedway so I converted mine to the Monogram Speedway body... wish I had them now.. :unsure:

Edited by axman
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You need to have another site to host the pic and use the pic menu to post the URL of where the pic is.

If this Forum was to host pics it would require a lot more storage space and someone would have to pay for that.

Remember this Forum is owned privately and is not comerciial based.

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Hi all.

 

A bit late but the 26D was a favourite with early 1/24th racers in Christchurch at least. I do not remember having any problems with them. They were bigger than 16D but still enough to fit in a 1/24th F1 car.

 

Regards Chas Le Breton

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Guys, I'm chasing a MRRC double ended "train" motor for my 60's Mercedes... It's the 4 wd chassis with akerman steering.. anybody.. anybody.. can help?

 

Hi Kim , Is this the car you are trying to restore ? if you don't have a motor what do you have ? . i Have collected a couple of these cars over the years and MAY be able to help you with spares. If you could post a pic of what you have that would help . Peter

f4ySX5.jpgUfUo5p.jpgI9LGP6.jpg

PeterD

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Wow Pete.. you're a surprise for an old wingcar racer... thats the one. Ive got the body.. and the entire 4WD chassis except for the motor and wheels.

 

I' on to a pommie site that may have so i'll see how that go's

 

Thanks for the exploded view.

 

Regards,

 

Kim

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Ok let me know how you go and if any good let me know the site . I may be an old Wing Car racer but before that I was a kid in the sixties playing with Slotcars like you . The 4WD merc was a car we heard about but never saw or could afford . So when I found one I bought it . I now have a couple �� And a few spare parts !

I can supply you with a armature with magnet and side plates , but the plastic sections which hold the axles are brittle and cracked . If you know someone clever with a 3D printer you could probably get them remade .

Post some pics of what you have please . I managed to post pics so you can do it . You need to use a image host site . I am using ImageShack .

I should mention you will find parts for thes cars are not cheap !

Edited by pmdaniels

PeterD

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