The Truth Unfolds

Today I received a package from Ron Burnstein of Riggen HO containing two original Riggen factory repair kits, which are in and of themselves quite interesting. This contained a replacement guide flag that was on Riggen production cars by August 1971, or was at least available to the general public by that time. A bit of slot car sleuthing into one of my childhood CAR MODEL magazines provided some useful clues to the restoration. An article entitled "Mini Mods/Riggen" by Dale Flanagan was full of production nuances.  Interestingly the chassis featured in the article came with a one piece guide flag with press-fitting steel braid and two white lead wires to the motor brushes, both a thinner white than the two red lead wires originally on the car. This was the same type of flag that I received in the kit. The production car had a black plastic keeper nut and a black crown and pinion. The kit contained a white pinion gear and a white keeper nut. By this juncture the shape of the pinion had changed to a more rounded profile where the teeth contacted the crown gear, something also found on the later Gala car. TycoPro cars had this type of pinion, and were interchangeable. Dale advocated soldering the two lead wires to the steel braid to withstand club thrashing, but on the replacement a stamped slot allowed the lead wire to be in contact with the braid so soldering would not be necessary. I left it alone in this regard. Also included were two O-ring front tires. The kit was rounded off by a spare lead wire clasp which holds the wire ends firmly to the motor brushes. A call to Wizzard High Performance yielded a pair of AJ's Gum Drops in white, black, and orange. Should these fit as well as my preliminary calculations say they will- we have a period solution to the traction problem. Cheryl Lincoln, who handles their customer service even examined their AJ's ground sponges against the size of the the Gum drops, and a pair is also forthcoming in black. For those of you who are thinking of using Wizzard for your hop-up parts needs-I found them to be top drawer in their willingness to help with the restoration.  I will have more to say on Dale's CAR MODEL article, but one step at a time. Interestingly Aurora's AFX slot cars debuted in the same issue, and that is more fodder. At least we can now say the chassis is in working order, and it ran well on the break-in board. Perhaps a more careful assault on the white Gala guide flag assembly is forthcoming, as well as adjusting the mesh of the crown and pinion gears. Maybe on a good day.  God Bless! Tonymgbbrown