When the Rubber Meets the Road

It certainly pays to have friends in high places, or at least friends who can fall back on their years of slot car experience to provide some assistance. I must say that that is a fine quality of our community. I spoke with Dennis Hoskins on Sunday who in his youth in Huber Hights, Ohio was an employee of the Huber Heights Hobby Shop which had both an Aurora Tub Track as well as a King Track. The best of both worlds if you will. Of course the nature of the call involved restoring my late era Riggen chassis which has arbor pressed Dynamic hubs on all four corners. I was able to remove the original sponge tires not only successfully in that they were removed from the hub, but to do so with the tire still intact. Quite amazing considering it was a forty year old low profile sponge tire in the first place which by its very nature would be a somewhat fragile beast. The tire had been glued onto the hub with rubber cement, and by examining a thread in the vintage HO section of SLOTBLOG they still advocate rubber cement as the best glue for the job. Amazing, as I still use the Elmer's version, complete with a bottle brush just like in was in first grade in 1961. Dennis advised me to try reconstituting the old sponges with AJ's Traction Plus, as they used that trick at the hobby shop. I am glad to report that after a three hour soak and rinsing with hand soap and a tooth brush those two rascals look and are as supple as they were when new. These will be for show and not go of course. Dennis also has some reproduction TycoPro White Boots coming my way for a trial fit for the go portion of the equation. I was also able to successfully mount one of the remaining low profile sponge tires that Ron Bernstein sent with the chassis, so the manufacturer and specs are forthcoming. Serge also has graciously concented to help in this matter, so we will have the best slip-on silicone tires available in short order. I still have my fingers crossed for a vintage solution. God Bless! Tonymgbbrown