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Hello. I am new to this forum and have been doing some research but cannot find an answer to my question. I have several older aurora style chassis, but instead of rivets they have tiny screws and nuts in place of the solid or open rivets. I cannot find any information on these and was wondering what they are and if they are refurbished or what.
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Never seen that, got a picture? -
Yes I do have a couple but not sure you can make them out. they appear the be tiny bolts with nuts put in place and then ground off somewhat. Hope someone can figure this out?Comment
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I have never seen an Aurora chassis that used screws and nuts to hold the electrical parts in place. Probably the brush springs got mangled, so the original owner removed them, straightened the springs and used screws and nuts to hold them in place.Comment
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The only thing wrong with that is I have several of them and they all look the same. I also do not remember where I got them from or when, but I do know it was over 15 years ago.Comment
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That is interesting! I think that it is repairs also. I have never seen a TJet chassis that was not riveted. That is an inventive way to repair a chassis.Why doesn't my car run like that?
ScottComment
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That is what I was thinking is that they were rebuilt or refurbished, but have not seen any others like these and would like to know who actually did the fix. They work fine though.Comment
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The pictures are a little out of focus, but most of the brush springs are hardly pristine. It is usually possible to straighten and adjust them, but the original owner may not have figured out how to do that. If you don't have any new rivets, but you do have screws and nuts those are what you are going to use. Rivets are the way to go if you are mass producing cars. Placing and tightening four sets of fasteners for each chassis would have greatly slowed production and increased the cost of the cars while providing no real benefit. Bob Beers is the expert on Aurora cars, he would know if any of the factory built cars used nuts and screws. Considering that T-jets came out in 1963 and went out of production in 1972 the cars must be at least 48 years old, the chances are that whoever did this fix is no longer with us.Comment
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I love a good slot car mystery. How about some top and bottom gear plate pix? The gear plate number and color, the pinion size, and the armature wire and stack color; will really help zero in on the history.
At first glance I thought someone had added silver electricals to a T-jet chassis, but after some photo review, the likely scenario is that someone mutilated the brush springs on what appears to be a Tuff Ones chassis; then cobbled it back together using the micro hardware of the era (aka: brass). The chassis color has that grey, off tint, typical to the TuffOnes, and unlike the standard more charcoal colored T-jet chassis. The chassis above has a low mold number, so likely an early solid rivet example.
Thats not a Tuff Ones crown gear. The crown gear shown appears to be a the companion to a twelve tooth pinion. See how the gear has a reduced outside shoulder and is more or less centered in the crown gear relief window in the tail plate of the chassis? The Tuff Ones crown gear had nearly no outside shoulder, but featured an off set internal shoulder to provide the necessary grip on the rear axle. Were it a 9 tooth pinion, the crown teeth would be closer to the inside windowsill. At a glance anyway ...
Tuff Ones dont take kindly to ham handed brush spring adjustments. The spring is stiffer by design. Harder to bend, so harder to bend back. Too much comm pressure killed alot of them, due to the hotter armature, grabbier magnets, and high final drive ratio. Ya gotta leave the Tuff Ones loose to expect any longevity out of them. Aside from the performance adjustment/enhancement, many springs were bent rather than simply replacing the brush. Brushes are a normal wear item, so adjustment outside or beyond their functional geometry isnt a good plan.Last edited by Model Murdering; June 11, 2020, 11:27 AM.Comment
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I see a numeral "4" near the rear mount screw. Anybody know some history about that? I sold all my HO stuff a few years ago, and it dated back to 1962 vibrators. I remember there were production marks that told a story, but I don't remember any of the stories. Also, are those a couple of small holes behind the front axle? If the plates that cover the rivet holes can be lifted, it might tell you a lot about what kind of rivet was on there originally.Comment
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I realize some of the photos are hard to see and a little out of focus, but I don't really have a fancy camera or phone. I have attached additional photos of another of these chassis and the one in the photos in my earlier post. The second one has a number 6 near the rear mount screw. I know I had or have several additional of these but am also selling off all my cars due to retirement and downsizing and had someone ask me about these chassis. Thanks for all your insight! I just can't believe someone would go through all of this custom work to save these chassis?Comment
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The numbers on the chassis and gear plates indicate the position in the mold, which could do several chassis or gear plates at a time. After millions of parts were made the molds would need to be refurbished or replaced and the markings were changed. Certain combinations of chassis and gear plates are thought to work better together. Some of the cars appear to be Tuff Ones with silver plated electrical parts, wide rear tires and independent rotating front wheels. The earlier Wild Ones also had silver plated parts.Comment
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That would make sense as these all seem to have silver plated parts. Still can't figure out who would go through the trouble of using tiny screws and nuts though, and where did those tiny screws and nuts come from? They do look very well done.Comment
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I did have many of these HO cars when I was young, in the mid 60's, but never had enough money to get into it much. Does anyone know if they sold these silver plated electrical parts in a sort of hop-up or rebuild kit? If so it is likely they also sold the tiny screws and nuts. Thanks again for everyone's input!Comment
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I have never seen the silver plated parts available as separate items, except the pickup shoes. I have never seen the plain copper electrical parts besides the pickup shoes sold as separate parts. I do not believe that Aurora sold the screws and nuts. I think that you could buy the complete base chassis with the shoe hangers, brush springs and rivets installed. A complete Tuff One rolling chassis is still available from Slot Car Central.
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