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  • AMT Lola T70

    It seems like I am building a lot of Lola T70 kits at the moment,....this one from AMT. This kit came out in 1965, and despite it being powered by a "chunky" 36D it was one of the better performing/handling kits of the time. largely because of its fairly heavy brass chassis. They made a complete slot car kit, and a static model kit......mine is the Static kit, but I do have an original chassis/motor, and all the other bits.

    This is the original Static kit box......I unfortunately, did not buy it for $1.12. ............the kit came with the slot car body mounts, slot car interior, and all the other bits to make this into a slot version.




    The body is of the very early T70 Spyder, and is very well molded, but, still needs a bit of work and a good clean up/prep.







    The chassis while quite good out of the box, really benefits from a few mods.,..............the guide tongue used a single nut bolt to attach it to the main chassis plate, and by sliding the guide tongue back/forth it was wheelbase adjustable, so it was universal for all the AMT releases in the series. (Lola T70, McLaren Elva, Chaparral, and the Hussein).

    Unfortunately, only bolting the guide tongue made it prone to slipping, and also not sitting perfectly square, so soldering it in was a big improvement, and this has been done. There is also a piano wire gusset soldered under the step in the front of the guide mount, which helps considerably in strengthening this area.

    The chassis was also prone to bending under/behind the motor. so some .047 wire has been soldered lengthwise to the chassis plate along the bottom of the motor........this helps.

    Both the front and rear axle uprights were somewhat flimsy, and tended to bend, which invariably bound up the axles, so a wire brace was made for the rear uprights, and a front axle tube was made from 2 diameters of brass tubing which hold 3/16 x 1/8 sintered bushings,...................better performance, and, much more durable.......priceless

    The motor is an original AMT 36D but has been fairly heavily reworked, by John H.......Arco 33 magnets, shims, bushings replaced, better quality comm, bulletproofed endbell, brushes, springs, and a rewound/balanced 55/30 wind armature ( a good step up from stock but, not crazy)













    I have had some really nice cast aluminum T70 wheels (5/40 fronts, set screw rear) sitting around for ages,..........they will look great on the car .





    Cheers
    Chris Walker


  • #2
    No kidding, those wheels are fantastic! Looks like another premium build from CW.
    "I don't make mistakes. I make prophecies which immediately turn out to be wrong "
    "And that just shows you how important the car is in Formula One Racing"

    Murray Walker

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    • #3
      Growing up, I built lots of AMT 3-in-1 cars, and I still remember the precision and clean details on the kit parts. When slot cars came along, I tended to stay with AMT in the 1/24-1/25th cars I built, and they had the same quality in the chassis and other slot car bits that they always had in the models. That's why the hopeless mess that carried the name AMT from a few years ago was such infamy to us oldies. The last ones I saw were selling for $5 at Ollie's.

      Also, there seems to be a flurry of Lola T70s floating around lately. I just finished an old Fly white kit that had been too long in the cabinet in my shop. Warped, in addition to the usual Fly minor problems, it took days and days to get it done. I take some pictures and post it with some other cars I've been working on.

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      • #4
        Wow, a complete set of Russkit Lola wheels! Those things are way scarcer than hen's teeth!

        I've only ever seen one other complete set, and fortunately, they are on one of my cars.

        This is going to be a great build, I'm watching as I also have a complete kit to build up at some point.
        Dennis Samson

        Scratchbuilding is life
        Life is scratchbuilt

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Gascarnut
          Wow, a complete set of Russkit Lola wheels! Those things are way scarcer than hen's teeth!

          I've only ever seen one other complete set, and fortunately, they are on one of my cars.

          This is going to be a great build, I'm watching as I also have a complete kit to build up at some point.
          And I have 2 complete sets ...............

          Stay Safe
          Chris Walker

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          • #6


            I have posted this small update as it involves the most nerve wracking part about building an AMT kit...(at least for me),.....gluing the body mount runners !!........


            While I do have a fairly good method. and have done quite a few, it is still by far the most finnicky part of the build......getting them level, and in the right vertical position so the bottom of the interior does not hit the honkin great 36D motor, yet getting the body in a representative (an even) ride height.

            I am always hugely relieved when this works out, and, am happy to say it worked out this time.......funny how such a small thing can bring so much joy .


            I also mounted/trued the tires and got the axles spaced and cut to length,..........the rest will be a breeze !!


            Stay Safe

            Chris Walker




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            • #7
              Chris nice build the bracket on the rear uprights is quite something, do you use a wire bending fixture or pliers. If I tried that I could measure six times and never get it square when I actually make the bends.

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              • #8
                Originally posted by RACER92
                Chris nice build the bracket on the rear uprights is quite something, do you use a wire bending fixture or pliers. If I tried that I could measure six times and never get it square when I actually make the bends.
                I do have some wire bending jigs, but, they don't allow me to make bends with very short runs between the bends,......so,....pliers are used,.........while I have done lots of stuff like this over the years, and am reasonably adept at it, I either get it right the first time,....or,....the 5th/6th

                Stay Safe
                Chris Walker

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