Help with a Scalextric T1G Eagle rebuild

[Starfighter Ace]

I purchased a used Gurney Eagle that is in need of a total rebuild. It needs rear wheels. What is recommended for replacement wheels? Aluminum would be preferred, open to plastic in a pinch. I can come up with inserts. I do not use or want silicone tires, so urethane or rubber tire suggestions welcome. How about gears? Anyone ever mess with replacing the stock gears ?

TIA!
Mark T

[chrisguyw]

Hi Mark, The Toronto area clubs have a class for 60's F1 cars, and most of the folks use the Scaley cars as a base,,,,,,,,,,gears, bushings, wheels/tires, and guides can all be replaced, and done well they are a delight to drive.

I have done several for the club guys, and while each chassis is a touch different, I have managed to upgrade them all.......a bit fiddly, and you may need to do some filing/puttering but, it is certainly worth the effort.

As far as gears/bushings etc.,.....most double flanged bronze bushings (Slot-it,Scaleauto, etc.) will fit, and as for gearing I would recommend an 8T pinion (1.5mm bore) and a Slot-it 23T Crown..(you may have to bevel the back edge of the Crown a touch, but, this is quick and easy to do).

Below is a pic. of a Scaley Brabham with these mods. done......sorry I do not have a handy pic. of an Eagle, but, they are not that different.........you can see in this picture, that for the Brabham, the back edge of the Crown was bevelled for clearance. To be honest, I can't remember if the Eagle needs the same treatment.




As far as rear wheels/tires...................

You can use the F1 (rear) wheels from Slot-it/NSR, but, they are a bit too wide (if you are scale conscious) but, can certainly be cut down a touch in width. Any urethane/rubber tire for these F1 wheels from PG,NSR, Yellodog etc. will fit, and again, they can all be trimmed a touch in width for scale appearance.

The other option is to use the double flanged alu. wheels from RSSlotRacing (RSW006) ...these are great wheels , and to scale for your car

RSSlotracing also has urethane tires to fit these wheels (19Y), and again they are of scale proportions. As well Dart hobbies makes a really good tire for the RS wheel (Dart used to sell these wheels), and the Dart part # is CX202. This tire also has Goodyear sidewall markings, so will also look nice

Hope this helps, and shout if you need further help.

Cheers
Chris Walker

[Starfighter Ace]

Yes, thank you, exactly what I was looking for! Is there any source for the RS Slot Racing wheels in North America? Dart Hobbies web store didn't seem to have anything in it, sadly.

[chrisguyw]

Unfortunately, I do not think anyone in NA carries the RSSlotracing wheels etc.,.....that said, Colin (RS owner) is a really good guy, and has terrific customer service..lots of Happy customers around the world.....recommended highly.

Dart no longer has these wheels, but, I just checked, and the tires (CX203) are listed as available

[Starfighter Ace]

Alright, I will order direct. There are many nice things on that site (RSS) that I'm sure i can stretch that shipping cost over many items.

[RACER92]

Chris do you sleeve the guide flag hole when upgrading the guide, I've seen a company making brass sleeves from another post. SCC has them in their scratch build section sized for Slotit and Scale Auto guides. The vintage F1 cars don't have much material in that area to work with, in the past I've used Styrene tubing but always a chance of breaking the chassis when enlarging the hole.

[chrisguyw]

Chris do you sleeve the guide flag hole when upgrading the guide, I've seen a company making brass sleeves from another post. SCC has them in their scratch build section sized for Slotit and Scale Auto guides. The vintage F1 cars don't have much material in that area to work with, in the past I've used Styrene tubing but always a chance of breaking the chassis when enlarging the hole.

Hi Joe, I did not sleeve the guide hole on this particular build, nor on most of the Scaley F1 cars I have done.........however, I do shave a bit of material off of the guide tongue area on the chassis in order to achieve greater guide rotation.
The major cause of cracks/breakages in the guide post hole, or, guide blade damage, is insufficient guide rotation.........without a good amount of rotation, as the guide hits the stops in a slide, something is going to give...either the post hole support, or the guide blade itself.
Scaley cars are the worst in this respect, as being designed with magnets, slides are really not a design concern.......even in a minimal slide, the magnets come off the rails, and the car flies off, way before the guide hits the stops....no issues. Unfortunately, most club folks/enthusiasts race sans magnets, where slides are the norm, so modifications are needed.

Try and get at least 60 degrees of rotation in either direction, and you will not break a chassis or guide blade again!!

As far as the brass sleeves, they are made by Dennis Samson, and are sold by a few slot shops...they are worth every penny, and come in various styles and internal diameters, to fit different chassis designs, and, guide post diameters.

Cheers
Chris Walker

[WB2]

Chris - do you have any experience sleeving guides using 3/16” brass tubing (ream guide hole with #12 bit for interference fit with tubing, chop tube to length)?
Pros? Cons?

[ZackM]

Hey guys, I was poking around today. Looks to me like Electric Dreams is carrying a lot of the RS slot lineup now....

https://www.electricdreams.com/Shop/...arts-c-3_1333/

Zack

[chrisguyw]

This must be fairly recent, and good to know...........not the full range, and, no Ortmann tires.....a good start however.

[Starfighter Ace]

Great! Placing an order now.

[chrisguyw]

Chris - do you have any experience sleeving guides using 3/16” brass tubing (ream guide hole with #12 bit for interference fit with tubing, chop tube to length)?
Pros? Cons?

Before Dennis came up with his handy dandy little guide post tubes, I made all my own 1/32 guide tubes by either finding the correct sized id. brass (not very often), or, by using the method you describe.......finding something close and reaming it out to fit whichever guide to be used.
As long as the guide rotates smoothly in the tube, and has little to no wobble (the closer tolerance the better), you are good to go, and it makes little difference on the material used,....brass, aluminum styrene etc. Obviously brass is the material of choice when soldering, but, for plastic chassis cars, there is absolutely nothing wrong with styrene tubing, if you use a "Styrene bonding" type glue, it forms a very strong bond.

There are no specific performance benefits to using one of Dennis' tubes, unless you consider "making your life a whole lot easier" a benefit.....which I most certainly do ........so,...to that end, I do highly recommend the tubes Dennis' makes.
I will make a slight correction to the above statement...the flanges on Dennis' tubes do make it easier to align and solder the tubes with the guide tongue plate, so, there is a real world benefit

Cheers
Chris Walker

[ZackM]

His tubes have saved me a ton of time, and they solder up perfectly square every time with the flange. For me, it is worth the $4. Plus you are supporting a great guy!

Zack