rec.autos.simulators

> >I still have my AFX HO set. They are still great fun at parties if you have the
> >space to set them up. When I was a kid,my step-dad built us a 1:32 set that
> >folded down from the wall in our playroom. My favorite part was designing and
> >building the scenery, including a very cool XK 140 that I heated up with a
> >torch and then "crashed" into a bridge support, complete with smoke and flames.
> >I think this helped me out later when I was building sets for photographers.

> We had the slot cars too (not sure what scale - the really small ones)
> but your message reminds me of the train set (also the smallest scale)
> that my Dad built on a ping pong table. There was a town (wih people,
> roads, trees, cars and houses) at one end, and two mountains at the
> other. There were two seperate tracks so you could race trains. The
> outside track was a long square around the outside of the table. The
> inside track went into the mountain, up a sprial tunnel and over a
> bridge into the other mountain, and back down a spiral tunnel before
> coming out of the mountains. Very cool.

> Joe

>>I remember a company called Parma.  They were probably based out of Parma,
>>Ohio.  They had an ad in which a kid is holding a Parma controller and his
>>slot car is about three feet in the air.

>And Mabuchi can style motors!!

>>Did anyone ever do motor rewinding???  I always wanted to, but I could
>>barely scrape enough cash to race the car, let alone spend money for
>>upgrading it.

>I did lots of it. After you did it, you had to 'balance' the armature
>by balancing it on the edges of two razor blades! Then you would grind
>a little here and there, and rotate the armature until it would not turn
>while balanced on the razor blades.. Also increased the brush tension
>in the motors by shimming or bending the brass clips. We drilled and
>filed away every piece of metal from the motor that was not required.
>They were just a shell with two magnets and the endcaps. We used to
>install ball-bearings there, but they couldn't take the rpm, so we used
>the standard sleeve bearings and honed them to a mirror. Someimes,
>you could feel the heat from them on your face when you peered into
>the innards of a car that had been lapping.

>We used to bring in a battery, like the ones you use in a camping lantern,
>and clip them to the brake terminals where you attached your controller.
>This would give a LOT of reverse voltage when you released the trigger
>and your car would stop real, real fast.

>The fastest (commercial track, 1/24) slot car I ever saw was while
>living in San Jose, Ca. in about 1966 or 1967. The person that had it, held
>all the lap records etc. The 'frame' was made from plastic soda straws
>that had been lacquered or epoxyed for strength. It had a bad-boy
>mabuchi motor that would only run for a couple of minutes before
>you had to stop and let it cool. The 'body' was a postcard sized piece
>of thin cardboard (it may have actually been a postcard). The postcard
>was simply attached at the front of the chassis and laid across the top
>of the chassis. It went over the motor so it was raised in a natural wedge
>shape, for downforce. Just a flat piece of cardboard, on top. No sides
>on the 'body'... :)

>I have no idea how fast it would go, but my guess would be that it
>could probably hit 70 mph or so, and handle like nothing you ever
>saw. It was a bad, bad slot car!!!

>Just a few memories from my misspent past.. hehe.

>>>> Hours and hours of fun at the track 1:24 and 1:32
>>>> scale. The guys who had money thier dads would
>>>> build them a track at home. Hehe that was fun
>>>> The 60s was great years for motor sports in all
>>>> forms from the real to the play.

>>>Yes!  In the age before computers, slot cars were the only way to
>>>experience motor racing vicariously.  When I was a kid in the mid to
>>>late 60's, slot cars ruled!  I used to race at commercial tracks like
>>>Checkered Flag in Torrance, California (which is now a Chuck Norris
>>>Karate studio).  I had a Lola, then a Ford GT, and finally a Chaparral
>>>(the 2E with the wing - not particularly fast, but it looked awfully
>>>cool!).  My brother had a VW Bug.

>>>I also had a home set - first a 1/32nd(?) Revelle set (four lanes!).  I
>>>seem to remember the cars that came with this were Mercedes GullWings.
>>>And later an HO set.

>>>What were the major manufacturers for motors back then?  I remember
>>>Ram.  And Cox controllers.  And Revelle.  If you look on pictures of the
>>>real Chaparrals from that era, you will see a blue Cox decal.

>>>One of my former teammates at Backmarkers-Ferrari (my old GP2 LFRS
>>>team), who was even older than me, still raced in slot car leagues in
>>>Connecticut.

>>>Thanks for the memories,

>>>Dave Ewing

>--
>(  rrevved is at mindspring dot com
>(  post in haste, repent at your leisure

> Mike

>Cheers,
>Mark Owyang

>I got back into HO a few years ago after being away from the hobby for
>25 years.  Tomy now makes the fastest basic cars for about $20, though
>if you really want to test your driving reflexes, for several hundred
>dollars you can buy a pro-caliber rocket of a car made Slottech.
>Tracks have advanced quite a bit, with custom routed, continuous rail
>track available at the high-end of the hobby, and MaxTrax custom modular
>track occupying the middle ground as a step up from plastic sectional
>track.  Tomy, Tyco, and LifeLike are the most common brands of cars and
>track available.  For those looking for a great way back into the hobby
>this Christmas, check our Costcos great buy on a big Tomy set for only
>$40.

>While todays cars typically depend upon traction magnets, there is a
>growing trend against these "sucker cars."  This trend is led by
>Auroras venerable t-jet chassis, with new old stock (NOS) chassis still
>available for about $6.  The Model Motoring name has been resurrected
>by a new company selling an excellent line of reproduction and original
>t-jet based cars, lock & joiner track, and other accessories.  Another
>option for what some consider to be a more realistic racing experience
>without traction magnets is the Slide Guide, a guide shoe for HO cars
>which enables them to run on traditional 1/24, 1/32, or custom routed HO
>tracks of similar construction.

>Here are a few great links for those seeking more info on HO slot cars.
>Or, feel free to drop me an E-mail if you want more info on these great
>little cars.

>HO-USA 'Zine:  http://pages.prodigy.com/housa/
>HO Mailing List:  http://www.spies.com/~ahm/ho-slotcars.html
>Awesome Tracks:  http://www.origin8.com/bradstrack/
>Continuous Rail:  http://www.gofastest.com/
>Bit 'O Everything:  http://www.scaleauto.com/
>Model Motoring:  http://www.modelmho.com/

>Cheers,
>Mark Owyang