Suppliers?

[LAMing]

SO... I'm sort getting a hankering to indulge my nigh lifelong interest in vintage slots again. My main interest were (and still are) the home set cars of Strombecker and Eldon, and even within those, I'm a bit specific. But, I digress.

To me, the biggest hurdle would be guide flags, gears, wheels, and tires for the following:

* Strombecker's black inline plastic frame.

* Strombecker's stamped aluminum "pancake" inline frame.

* Strombecker's plastic "pancake" inline frame.

* Eldon's gray plastic inline frame.

Would there be a list and/or links available somewhere here at HRW of suppliers that might have the above?

Any input would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

Andre Ming

Long time interest, long time dormant

[chappyman66]

Hi Andre,
welcome back, good to see you again.
They are all available on the auction site. If you look at Slot Forum, PdL is still there and he might know although most seem to come from the auction site.

There are probably a few lurking around here as well.

[Bluevista]

EJ's sells a complete brass chassis for the three post bodies and also has Strombecker guide flags. Search the interwebs and check the auction sites otherwise, post parts wanted here. Too bad that they don't have pull-a-part boneyards for slot cars.

[LAMing]

Thanks all for the input. Curiously, my profile shows my join date to be July 2021, but I'm sure I've been a part of this forum for well over a decade? No biggie.

Slot's n' Me:

Still too early to know just what will become of this rumbling I'm feeling about dabbling with my vintage stuff.

Getting my Eldon set up and running would be the most direct way of having a functional track w/cars... but my sentimental favorite is Strombecker. Unfortunately, I have zero Strombecker at this point. (Nada. No cars, no track, not even left over parts, etc.)

At this early juncture, to me it would be pointless to not race the cars. That would at least mean mechanically sound w/good tires. (Tires that resemble originals would be nice, but there may be some cars that get smaller wheels/tires such as Eldon stock cars.) Racing them would also mean a functional track.

The biggest hurdle space.

ALL of our available space is committed, so the track would have to be temporary, and at this point, small enough to fit our dining room table which is 60' x 42". Not much of a track!

Eldon's track geometry is small enough that a figure 8 w/intersection fits with quite a bit of room to spare. This being so, I suspect that an over and under Eldon of some sort is possible on the table. Strombecker would be a different bird. I can't recall the outside diameter of a Strombecker "standard" curve, but I'm having my doubts that even a basic Strombecker elongated figure 8 over/under would fit onto the dining room table.

Several years back, after dabbling with my Carerra D132 digital idea for a few years, I came to the conclusion that it wasn't working for me. Yes, I purchased and acquired (isn't that what a hobby is all about?? ), started dirt car projects... but nothing ever became of it. I never finished one dirt car project. I still have some leftover Carrera stuff.

Surprisingly, the most fun racing I, or my family, have ever had were with the vintage cars on vintage tracks decades ago. I used to really enjoy restoring vintage cars and got to where I could save some pretty rough cars. (As long as there were no deep scratches or melted plastic, I had a system that would make the old plastic look new again!)

SO... lots of ponderin' goin' on in my head right now. Could be this vintage idea ends up being from Wholelottanada Land.



Andre

[slothead]

If your primary constraint is space you may have to get creative. Awhile back there was a post here about a track built to hang on a door. Many track have been built that fold against a wall (Murphy tracks?) or suspend from a garage or basement ceiling. The benefit of solutions like these isn't just a larger track, they are basically permanent tracks that 'go away' when not in use. When a track can be attacked to a surface it's the beginning of a much better track.

[dinglebery]

Here's my track on it's side - in the "Away" state - with the orange cord wrapped up on the corner. It takes up roughly 2.5' of depth, it's 10' long (a single sheet of MDF) and about 50" high when on its side.


Here it is setup and ready to use. All I do is take the cars off. Everything else was made to be able to put it on it's side.

[LAMing]

Slothead:

I have considered a folding table. Here's one of interest:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Lifetime...0732/305551874

Unfortunately, the entire living room would be shut down in order to set it up OR, I would have to back out the car and use that side of the garage.


Dingleberry:

Nice solution!

We have a double car garage, but unfortunately, one of our autos occupies one side, and motorcycles and a work shop the other. There is ZERO room for a semi-permanent solution in the garage.


SO...

For now, it will be a small test/play track on the dining room table as I see where this re-entry goes.

It could be worse?

Andre

[slothead]

Seems like you could have room for a track in the garage if your return to the hobby dictated it. By folding table, I meant a track on a table top that folds up against a wall. If the hobby gets a solid bite on you again you'll figure it out.

[Bal r 14]

My next track building venture will be something in the garage that I can raise to the ceiling when not in use. I'm thinking something in the neighborhood of 100' - 120' long and 4 lanes. I am already working out the logistics.