Greetings,

As the racing season goes on, like all racers, I've been working on building better, more competitive cars. The search for the sometimes illusive "right combination" brings you in contact with racers, builders, suppliers and collectors alike. There has been talk lately, amoung these groups, about the resurgence of a National Championship. I, like many others, am a proponent. I am therefore asking everyone who cares, to help champion this cause. A National Championship would do wonders for our hobby. There are some true slotcar icons that have been throwing this idea around for quite some time. I am therefore encouraging everyone to talk it up with anyone involved. Maybe we can help get something off the ground.

Someone who cares, Serge

Living temporarily-and that is read optimistically hopeful at this juncture- in my childhood home while my mother regains a better measure of her independence has had rewards besides those that cannot be measured. Of course the downside has been a general lack of privacy for my wife and I, and not being able to run my slot cars on Riverside. This is soon to be remedied somewhat by building a break-in board for testing tweeked chassis' and lapping gears. The truth of the matter is that I should have made one a long time ago, as I am reminded of this by the winter temperatures in the garage where Riverside takes up the floor space that one day will be occupied by my restored MGB. This morning I varnished the mounting board with Fornby's Tung Oil Varnish, which seals the wood and preserves it's wonderful patina. Once it dries I can sling Aurora Red Racing Oil all over it without any worries of it soaking into the board. A Start-Finish lock-and-joiner track section and several short straights are on their way from Bob Lucasiewitz of THE SLOT CAR SITE fame, and he threw in a white crown gear as a gesture of good will for the green Hot Rod snafu.

I finally got a day off and have been able to stay in town for a few days (thanks to the weather)so this is what I have been working on. This little project has been going on for over a month now. I have been sending "Boss" sneak previews and asking for his input. I set out to make a late model dirt car however I'm not so sure it doesn't look more like a Daytona Prototype. Now I would like to show the first one to the group and see what you guys think. For some of you that may not know, (I noticed a couple of names I have not seen before on the site) I am on a mission to salvage damaged, and/or left for dead slot cars, and have started my own organization: "PETS" People for the ethical treatment of Slotcars. Anyway, as you can probably tell the main part of this little darlin is a Shadow body

This is my digital interpretation of an Aurora AFX Rallye Ford Escort #28 Mustard, Blue.

A stark difference from the Lime Green standard colour released by Aurora.

I imagine the style department must have struggled to decide what colours cars should be adorned in. I'd like to think they at least entertained the idea of several striking paint schemes before settling on the one we know and love today.

A

In the real car world original is still best. In fact, at Pebble Beach there is a new Preservation Class for unrestored cars. A while back I posted a photo of the Cobra Pit Kit lid with what I thought was an original Cobra waterslide plastered to the front. Unfortunately it did not adhere to the lid well, so was subsequently removed with much pain as the rascal cost far too much money. My search landed a bonafide original in no time flat, this one being produced by Ed Cholakian Enterprises in North Hollywood, California around 1965 or shortly after as the instructions on the back side of the decal paper have a zip code. This particular one is different in that the background is tan, and hides the car color when applied to a fender or some other part of Shelby wildlife. I suspected that the one I first planted on the Pit Kit lid was a reproduction as it did not contain any instructions or manufacturer information on the reverse, as my decal on Riverside was a Shelby American accessory and was identical, with blue instructions and a CS logo along the bottom of the back side. Well, you may laugh, but a strict adherence to this philosophy has produced a stunning and far more interesting MGB rally car restoration that will stand the test of time.

Boss; I hope you are hunkered down! Not a prediction of what is to come, but it will be a record for you guys! God Bless! Tonymgbbrown

I have just completed the first prototype, well almost. Still waiting for my decals to arrive from the states, tempted to do my own as I already have for the rest of the car. It's sitting on an AFX SRT Chassis. what do you think?

Orders may be placed.  If you have to ask... you can't afford it  LoL

Greetings,

A very useful but sometimes overlooked performance tip is honing. Many of you that build 1:1 cars use honing to seat new rings in a engine cylinder. The idea is somewhat similar. Honing performs two functions: 1. Providing a flat and true commutator. 2. Providing a suitable surface to seat the brushes. The picture shows the honing tool, 600 grit sand paper from which a honing disk has been cut and the armature mounted in a 1/16" dremel chuck. The tool is available from several sources. I bought mine from RT along with some other awesome stuff. It was under 10 bucks and well worth it. Before I recieved the tool in the mail I was a master at ruining perfectly good armatures using the Neanderthal method, which I will not explain.

Continuing on from yesterday's "Seeing Double" blog, I just received this double Aurora AFX Auto World McLaren XLR #54 Orange, Grey body which was included in a sale with another car that I needed.

Nothing really seems to be amiss here but when I took a closer inspection, I found a blemish which I thought was an interesting observation.

Not that it makes any difference really but it is interesting to note that AFX factory's around the world had slightly different interpretations of the same car.