[OppositeLock]

Evening dudes! I've decided that when I finish my scenic layout I'll need more than modern Scaleys to run on it. I quite fancy some 50s/60s racers -preferably down on performance but with lots of horrendous period 'oversteer'/deslotting possibilities

. Bearing in mind that my erm modest budget is probably around £10 a car, does anyone have any suggestions as to what ready to run stuff is out there? Or failing that, what plastic kits can be cut'n'shut on to a scaley chassis (I don't want to go down the resin route if at all possible at this stage)?

Thanks for any help gents.

 

[Julian_Boolean]

What you want are Thunderjets, these are cars that were made by Aurora in the 1960s, new old stock chassis are still available and they're very popular in the US, a company called johnny Lightning made replicas of them and these are now made by Autoworld - but they're not as good as the original 1960s versions. These are all 1:76 scale.
Next have a look at Aurora Magnatractions, these are 1:64, handle better but the bodies are from the 1970s rather than the 60s. I run an annual race for magnatractions with Can Am bodies called the Pancake Cup, they're great fun to race and a lot slower than the more modern HO cars.

 

[OppositeLock]

QUOTE (Julian_Boolean @ 21 Sep 2011, 10:15) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>What you want are Thunderjets, these are cars that were made by Aurora in the 1960s, new old stock chassis are still available and they're very popular in the US, a company called johnny Lightning made replicas of them and these are now made by Autoworld - but they're not as good as the original 1960s versions. These are all 1:76 scale.
Next have a look at Aurora Magnatractions, these are 1:64, handle better but the bodies are from the 1970s rather than the 60s. I run an annual race for magnatractions with Can Am bodies called the Pancake Cup, they're great fun to race and a lot slower than the more modern HO cars.

Thanks Julian, I have some 70s muscle car magnatractions, and a few sports/rally somewhere. I'll check out the Thunderjets though, ASAP.

 

[slowracer]

Hi OL,

Thundet jets, the 60's ones can be quite expensive.

Magnatraction and G+ offer the older style of bodies at around £10 or less.

Remember that these chassis are 40 years old and the motor magnets may have weakend over time, but can be changed for the Autoworld ones, which pep them up a bit.

The old rubber/sponge tyres will have suffered too, but can be changed for a modern version, rubber for silicone and sponge for sponge.

Our sponsor may be able to help there.

Slow

 

[montoya1]

Try removing the magnets from a MS chassis first, to see if that gives you the kind of handling you want. You can then ballast the chassis to tune that handling.

 

[woodcote]

QUOTE (slowracer @ 21 Sep 2011, 15:25) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Thundet jets, the 60's ones can be quite expensive.

Less than £20 for two AW Thunderjet 500 cars shipped from the States. Not exactly 'quite expensive'.

Try Lucky Bob's or Bad L's. The Ultra-G version will require a traction magnet plucked out.

Add a pair each of silicone tyres (or Jel Claws) for a 'Tuff Ones' T-jet and you've got a lot of fun and all the possibilities you describe

The Magnatractions you have are great too - but a lot quicker.

 

[Gareth]

Tony did say only the '60s Aurora Tjets are getting expensive, which I agree with. The AW ones at 2 for under 20 quid however is an absolute bargain! Occasionally you can find even better deals. I bought three JL Tjets brand new for around £15 a few months back.

Since I have got back into HO this year and been working on a confined space layout circuit (6.5 foot by 4 foot) as opposed to a sprawling across the room monster track, I have found that the Magnatraction and its Autoworld X-traction derivatives are my favourite chassis. Even outweighing my childhood Tomy Turbo. I've not put a lot of time into tuning my Tjets (Johnny Lightning versions) but I have found you do need a good controller to get anything out of them and that means a proper power supply, driver stations and a fair amount of investment.

If you want to be able to see the car, be able to drive it and really attack the track, and not have to invest in power and driver stations, then I would recommend getting more Magnatractions and X-tractions. Or as has been mentioned above, start playing with taking magnets out and putting weights in on your other cars.

 

[woodcote]

Hmm... Three minutes looking online:

New Old Stock Aurora T-jet chassis US$12.95 at one well-known retailer, US$13.99 at another. And US$12.50 at a third.

But Tony's sponsor can't help you there

 

[Gareth]

Woodcote you are the king of slot car bargain hunting online! They are good prices although I'd rather pick up Magnatractions or Xtractions personally. Got a good source of NOS MTs?

I was reading the other night on that international forum about the differences between the different Tjets (Aurora, AW, JL) and one guy was of the opinion that the NOS Aurora chassis that are left are the ones that are left over after people have cherry picked all of the best chassis. Whether or not that is true in all cases I don't know but I am putting it on here as a note of caution. The general statement was that while the original Aurora chassis can be considered the best, the newer chassis can be a better option sometimes rather than going the NOS route.

I'm putting off delving into the world of Tjets until I've completed my track, my monster trucks....and possibly my Turbo F1 collection.

 

[Julian_Boolean]

I quite fancy some T-Jets with the original skinny back wheels, I'm not too keen on the ones with the big back wheels, though they probably handle better, I've got some really nice Lancer Lexan bodies for T-Jets, I think there's a Chapparal, a GT40 and a McClaren.

 

[woodcote]

I think there's probably some truth about the cherry-picking. Of course, T-jet racing is serious stuff in the US. Racers will pick up a NOS chassis and strip almost everything out of it and re-build with aftermarket parts.

Nonetheless, I think a new AW Thunderjet 500 chassis with replacement rear tyres (the 'Tuff Ones' size) and maybe front axle weights (JW Speedparts) gives you a really fun car to drive. And one that is supported by masses of spares and aftermarket parts, thanks to the US T-jet racing scene. But not currently available in the UK.

Not to say a Magnatraction is not a great car as well. Because it's not raced so much in the States, I don't see many NOS Aurora chassis or as many spares or aftermarket parts for the Magnatraction.

For very nice looking R2R 'historics', I would visit Buds HO and get some X-traction Ultra-G rolling chassis and some of the recent Tomy AFX GT40, Cobra Daytona and Chaparral bodies - or wait until he has them in stock (just checked and he hasn't). Maybe just a little over budget, but only just.

To get them ready to run, pluck out the traction magnet and use the stock rubber for that sliding style

 

[slowracer]

QUOTE (Gareth @ 22 Sep 2011, 09:47) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I was reading the other night on that international forum about the differences between the different Tjets (Aurora, AW, JL) and one guy was of the opinion that the NOS Aurora chassis that are left are the ones that are left over after people have cherry picked all of the best chassis. Whether or not that is true in all cases I don't know but I am putting it on here as a note of caution. The general statement was that while the original Aurora chassis can be considered the best.

That is a very valid point, as the original chassis are 40+ years old, it must be considered as 'well picked over', saying that, the mechanicals from the modern versions can be fitted into older chassis to re-vitalise them, so I'm told.

It works with the magnatraction chassis thats for sure!

 

[Julian_Boolean]

If there were enough demand (minimum 8 people) we could add a T-Jet class to the Pancake Cup day, I think we'd easily have time for 3 classes in a day, obviously Tony would have to be happy with this.
Tuff Ones chassis with 1:76 saloon/GT bodies possibly - no horrible fray bodies.

 

[slowracer]

QUOTE (woodcote @ 22 Sep 2011, 09:24) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>New Old Stock Aurora T-jet chassis US$12.95 at one well-known retailer, US$13.99 at another. And US$12.50 at a third.

For the Chassis only

 

[slowracer]

QUOTE (Julian_Boolean @ 22 Sep 2011, 10:44) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>If there were enough demand (minimum 8 people) we could add a T-Jet class to the Pancake Cup day, I think we'd easily have time for 3 classes in a day, obviously Tony would have to be happy with this.
Tuff Ones chassis with 1:76 saloon/GT bodies possibly - no horrible fray bodies.

The 'T-Jet Trial', anybody

Could be added to the

'Pancake Cup'

and the

'G+ Trophy'

 

[marctownsend]

I only have one eachh of a Magnatraction, G+ and Johnny Lightning and have to agree with Gareth the JL's are hard to beat in the fun per £ stakes on a small track.

If the period is really important then it has often occoured to me the plastic car packs intended for railway layouts are possible donors, popped on a couple of quids wirth of micro chassis.

For some time I have wondered about the potential of a micro chassis with the mags removed and some of the round brass lengths you get in model shops slid down the holes vacated by the mags.

Finally on the power/drivers station/controller issue, to my knowledge oppositelock uses all micro scaley stuff and those controllers are fine really, wall warts adequate and drivers stations put out a really smooth 15v and are, it does feel strange saying this about a hornby product, superior to the afx ones which are basically a connector.

 

[Julian_Boolean]

I'll do it, I've got a JL T-Jet 500, it's pretty awful and needs a new guide pin but I have got one, I think I've got 4 bodies for it as well if anyone needs a body.

 

[slowracer]

QUOTE (marctownsend @ 22 Sep 2011, 10:54) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>For some time I have wondered about the potential of a micro chassis with the mags removed and some of the round brass lengths you get in model shops slid down the holes vacated by the mags.

It's worth a try, 'Micro jet'? Although I feel the motor will be too strong and the hole is very small for weights (split shot rammed in will do it!) or tungsten paste in the hole.

Anybody tried it yet I wonder?

 

[Gareth]

If I can get hold of tungsten paste, I'd be interested in doing it. I've found the MS chassis to be really smooth and quite fun to drive as it is but to turn it into a power sliding beast would be great. I agree with Tony that the motor is slightly too powerful for it though. I can run on reduced volts though.

 

[Julian_Boolean]

QUOTE (slowracer @ 22 Sep 2011, 10:20) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>It's worth a try, 'Micro jet'? Although I feel the motor will be too strong and the hole is very small for weights (split shot rammed in will do it!) or tungsten paste in the hole.

Anybody tried it yet I wonder?

I tried it, it wasn't great, just fairly frustrating, I think I wound the voltage down to 12 volts to make them controllable, but with a high ohm controller they might be better, the problem wasn't so much the amount of power but how quickly the motor puts that power out.
The guide arrangement isn't brilliant either, you really need a 1:32 style guide for tail out racing.