As you may know, I like all slot cars with "complications". Saw this 4WD model not that long ago and was of course interested... but then I took a closer look at the front-end gear...
Yes, the motor in the front drives the guide flag! ... which obviously can't rotate. So what was the guy thinking? Initial concept car for a steering system? A very odd dynamic braking system? or just parking his gear on a convenient post until he could put it on the axle?
This question will be on the final exam in your Slotology 101 class.
There no room for a gear on the front axle so its not going to be 4wd.
No way to separately power the front motor so its not steering the guide.
So are the motors joined at the can end? A piece of tubing?
Is the gear free to spin on the guide spigot?
My guess, two can drive to rear wheels with a rotating front gear to attach a flag to as you drive round...
It reminds me of the cart steering activation system on the second series TCR cars, but of course there is no steering here, so I assume I do not pass!
Maybe he used the crown gear to serve as a collar to clamp onto the guide post, securing the guide? The pinion is there to support the crown gear at the proper height, which in turn supports the guide at the proper height.
Seems like a rather over-complex means of supporting the guide.
I'm wondering if the chassis was being used as a convenient place to store a spare motor, brackets, and gear, in order to keep them all together.for storage. It might explain the rather sloppy assembly, if it's not actually in working trim. Yes, the whole thing is a bit rough, but at least someone was having a go. It probably didn't cost them very much, and maybe the next one was better.
I've been using the hubs of worn out gears as collars for 1/8 guide flags. I usually remove the old gear but this one was probably not so badly damaged.
If the guide can move through 180 degrees and there's enough torque in that 16D and the nylon gear holds up and the car is in a slot then the car should spin around the guide until it winds up the motor wires and they break. More likely it would ping its guide out of the slot, which would then keep rotating until the wires broke.
I recon the "designer" was a fan of Cleetus Mcfarland, and in an attempt to produce said burnout car had not fully thought through the guide wires would likely fail long before any tyres would pop if driven by a motor.
The Scalextric 360 Degree concept on a couple of Porsche 962's proves that partial donuts are possible though.
On the other hand, we are all assuming it's a track car intended to turn around a track. Maybe the concept is some kind of steering damper, intended to keep the guide flag pointing in the same direction all the time, possibly for drag racing?
I thought about drag racing but dismissed it due to all the extra weight and wouldn't you just fix the guide in place, or limit it's movement, anyway. I was thinking guide damping as the chassis seem quite long to stop the tail end stepping out to far or quickly.
Guys, I have to admit, your guess is as good as mine.
Couldn't be a damper for the guide, because there's no self-centering action and it would leave the guide cocked over every time the car came out.
I suspect it was just a temporary setup by somebody considering a 4WD, who put the gear like that while he pondered the whole situation, or... well, who knows?
As you may know, I like all slot cars with "complications". Saw this 4WD model not that long ago and was of course interested... but then I took a closer look at the front-end gear...
Yes, the motor in the front drives the guide flag! ... which obviously can't rotate. So what was the guy thinking? Initial concept car for a steering system? A very odd dynamic braking system? or just parking his gear on a convenient post until he could put it on the axle?
This question will be on the final exam in your Slotology 101 class.
I’m with Don. IMHO the maker was “ thinking” about creating a 4wd car with what appears to be a Revell frame; took it all apart to put the motor in and found he didn’t have enough room to properly engage a front crown and then discovered he had lost the guide collar; which he replaced with the crown gear he was planning to useso as to not misplace the guide as well.
He then set it all aside to rethink the project and maybe get a replacement collar. but never returned to it.
Given my predilection for overly complex mechanical slot oddities (e.g. 2 speed rear drives; working differentials, working front/rear suspension w/steering, all of which added zero performance), I venture this might have been done as a DIY effort to copy a Russkit 4WD chassis.
On the other hand the pessimists are more likely to have the view of being guilty of having a bench full of half-started projects and may need some encouragement to convert.
In a related observation, I've been amazed by the number of old cars I've found where, for instance, one rear wheel has been changed, but not the other...
My working theory is that it was done by a teenager and his hormones hit overnight or even faster, obliging him to drop the slots and cherchez la femme!
In a related observation, I've been amazed by the number of old cars I've found where, for instance, one rear wheel has been changed, but not the other...
My working theory is that it was done by a teenager and his hormones hit overnight or even faster, obliging him to drop the slots and cherchez la femme!
I actually devoted a mini chapter in "Slot Car Dreams" to slot car monstrosities created by confused teens...
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