And more junk.
- Thread starter MFDAC
- Start date
I had a bunch of online crap to do today, relating to getting a home improvement loan. Did my laundry too---LOL!
At 3pm I turned on the shop TV's to watch some racing on FS1 while working out here. Cable TV was out! Went in the house and checked, working fine in there. I needed to get my butt out of the computer chair so decided to see if I could troubleshoot the problem. I was hoping the main feed cable coming into the shop from under the house was ok. Carried a TV over to the main cable before the splitter that divides the signal to the two TV's. Had to set it on top of a stepladder to reach and hook up the box too but it worked, thankfully! Means I don't have to crawl under the house to the main distribution block!
Had to be on a 8' ladder to disconnect it from the splitter. I put a different splitter that was as old as the existing one and hooked both TV's to it. Got a signal but breaking up a little yet on the lift bay TV. Figured I better just go buy a new splitter and try that but decided to open up the back on the one I took out first. Pretty cheap made inside.
Those wires don't look much bigger that a hair to my eye, and that black thing ain't a crimp! There are 3 wires there and that black sleeve just slides over the ends. I crushed the black sleeve, to find that out. The wires weren't even twisted together. Decided to get the soldering stuff out and a piece of heavier copper wire. Made a "V" shape so it is all one wire and soldered it in.
Seems so be working well so far---LOL!
Cobbled more junk together again!
DAC
At 3pm I turned on the shop TV's to watch some racing on FS1 while working out here. Cable TV was out! Went in the house and checked, working fine in there. I needed to get my butt out of the computer chair so decided to see if I could troubleshoot the problem. I was hoping the main feed cable coming into the shop from under the house was ok. Carried a TV over to the main cable before the splitter that divides the signal to the two TV's. Had to set it on top of a stepladder to reach and hook up the box too but it worked, thankfully! Means I don't have to crawl under the house to the main distribution block!
Had to be on a 8' ladder to disconnect it from the splitter. I put a different splitter that was as old as the existing one and hooked both TV's to it. Got a signal but breaking up a little yet on the lift bay TV. Figured I better just go buy a new splitter and try that but decided to open up the back on the one I took out first. Pretty cheap made inside.
Those wires don't look much bigger that a hair to my eye, and that black thing ain't a crimp! There are 3 wires there and that black sleeve just slides over the ends. I crushed the black sleeve, to find that out. The wires weren't even twisted together. Decided to get the soldering stuff out and a piece of heavier copper wire. Made a "V" shape so it is all one wire and soldered it in.
Seems so be working well so far---LOL!
Cobbled more junk together again!
DAC
Wow Doug I missed a lot can’t ever figure out why sometimes I have to look in the New Post to see things that otherwise come up daily. Anywho glad you had a good trip and getting a lot done. The trailer is coming along nicely. I have a trailer I use to get fire wood. I have to travel about 15 minutes by atv or 25 by tractor to get to where I cut wood. Instead of using saw bucks could you utilize the sides of your trailer by installing hangars or brackets to hold the wood. It looks like it might be too high to use the top or maybe that might work too.
Is that orange tractor a Simplicity or Allis you have in your shop?
Is that orange tractor a Simplicity or Allis you have in your shop?
First thing I do when I sign on is check new posts, Jim. Always something I miss if I don't. Good idea on the sawbuck mounted to the trailer!
No Allis or Simplicity. You are probably referring to the badly faded MF1450.
That time of year again. Will be making little stickers for 36 HO scale 1969 Camaros. The Invitational race is some time in October. Forgot to ask the date.
DAC
These remind me so much of my HO scale Aroura race car days. I had several cabinets similar to that full of cars and bodies. I remember when I sold all of that I had 42 cars not including the bodies.
Doug can you remember the hard clear plastic cases the cars came in. I would take the top part trim it down and add tandem wheels to make a truck trailer. I remember my favorite cars were the Willy gassers…good ole days.
We started out with a train and car Aroura setup. Wasn’t all that big but we had fun with it. Then we ended up buying sets from other kids and pretty soon we had a nice setup. The train was put away because it messed up the cars when they crashed at the intersection. We figured out that you could put all the straights together and make a drag strip and used it that way a lot. I have no memory of what happened to that stuff. Spent a lot of hours enjoying those little cars.
Glad to help you get back some fond memories of playing with little electric cars, Jim! Hope you sold your cars to someone that appreciated and passed them on eventually. Yes I remember the clear cases. They call them jewel cases and original ones in nice shape have value even! Especially if the foam and the paper tags are still in it! It sounds like you came up with a creative use for them to customize into a cool tractor trailer! What did you use for the truck? The Willys were cool for sure!
Car train collisions are never good even in HO scale, Chris---LOL! I have a bunch of HO train stuff now but never messed with them back then.
Aurora made pancake armatures specifically for drag racing. They were completely unusable on a track with any corners at all! They ohm out at about 4 ohms making a controller more like an on off switch rather than a rheostat. Normal ohms on arms range 8-25. Makes a big difference even though it doesn't seem like much of a change. I liked the higher ohm arms with strong magnets.
It's Bristol Baby! Kyle Larson is in control right now and lapping a lot of strong cars for now. Long ways to go.
I got my first Aurora set for Christmas in 1964. By 1966 I was racing in a local hobby shop that had national recognition of having 2 national championship kids racing there. It was the Ford-Aurora championships. Both those kids won brand new real Fords. The '63 champ one a new T-Bird on the Johnny Carson show. He wasn't old enough to drive yet---LOL! The other won a new '66 Mustang on the Mike Douglas Show. He was 16 and did have a driver's license! '66 was the last year of those championships. None of those guys skills rubbed off on me. I didn't even know them or realize what was going on at that time. Was many years later when I found out about those televised races.
Have one car left of that original set, but it is pretty much unrecognizable.
Yes it started ot as a '63 Falcon like the yellow original one. Somewhere in the late 1960's I decided to "customize" it into a stock car! All the rest of the cars and track I had was lost in a 1972 flood. This car was at a friend's house that didn't wash away. That friend is now my brother-in-law!
These are some 1960's and early '70's cars I got from another friend quite a few years ago. That is the guy who I lettered that dirt track modified for early this year.
The customizing and racing competitively is something that stuck for a lot of years but haven't done it for 18 years or so now. I built these dirt late models for the kids in the late 1990's. It was long before a body like that could be purchased.
I still have probably a hundred cars that would run with a little clean up and oiling, and many of them are custom. Have lots of parts to build more. Would like to again but it's not a priority anymore. Couple big tackle boxes full.
Another long dumb post but the memories get jarred loose and I start typing---LOL!
DAC
Boy Doug you have an excellent memory. I can remember the cars internal workings but that’s about it. We tried dual rear wheels but it seems like friction tape worked better but didn’t last long. Also seemed like there were different gear ratios available. They were right on top so were easy to change. There must have been a hundred different bodies available for them.
no Chris no excellent memory here Chris. You gotta remember I played with these silly cars most of my adult life as well as childhood.
Gears weren't that easy to change. Only the middle idler pops out easily. It is about as big as can fit in the chassis. Gear changing still had to be done with the pinion and crown gear on the rear axle.
That pic is an AFX chassis but the T-Jets worked the same.
DAC
That looks like what I remember.
I loved my afx slot cars in the 80s. My dad and I would play with them for hours!
I just found this Tyco set on ebay. It was up for auction and ending soon, and had no bids, so I put in the starting bid which was $35 and won. I have already realized this track is too small, and I need to get more, but it’s a start. I got the track cleaned up and working good, now I have to clean up and oil the cars.
I also have these cars that used to be my dad’s. They need a lot of work, but I want to try to get them running again. They probably haven’t been used since the 80s.
I used to have a nascar set, I don’t remember what brand, but my mom decided I was “too old” for them and got rid of it. I wish I still had them.
I also have these cars that used to be my dad’s. They need a lot of work, but I want to try to get them running again. They probably haven’t been used since the 80s.
I used to have a nascar set, I don’t remember what brand, but my mom decided I was “too old” for them and got rid of it. I wish I still had them.
Seeing that track reminded me of the one our sons got for Christmas many years ago. If they hit the curve too fast they launched the cars across the room much to the delight of the dog we had at the time. She was an excellent retriever but could have been a little more "soft mouthed". LOL.
This was Christmas 87 or 88….i know it wasn’t 89 because we moved from that place right before I started kindergarten. My gut says 87.
My dad and I played with that track a lot. Around 94 I got a huge one. We had it setup on a 4x8 piece of plywood and it took up the entire thing. It was a lot of fun! I’m not sure what happened to them. No one seems to remember.
You can also see the wheel of a pedal tractor in the corner. I remember that thing well too. My grandparents had a big long down hill driveway. I’d get to the top and ride down the driveway and into the garage and put my feet down to brake and spin in circles until I crashed into the back wall. Good times. I ended up breaking the tractor beyond repair.
Don’t want to hijack! I found that picture awhile ago and figured I’d share. Back to the regularly schedule topic.
First track set I had as a kid was the one with the two red, white and blue corvettes. The second and last track set was the Aurora/AFX tractor trailer set with two steerable trucks. The truck one was fun, my dad and I would sideswipe and cut each other off when racing. The only downside was the trailers needed some weight in them, they would fly off if you took a corner to fast.
Some people never learn that a person is never too old to be young at heart.
Wow you guys responding like this is a nice surprise! Thank-you!
These are a couple of customs I built 20 years ago or more from the same '57 Chevy and '40 Ford Hot Rod coupe you have.
I took the liberty of editing your pic a bit so it don't hurt my neck to look at it---LOL! That is a great picture, little blondie!
Did this conventional one for one of those guys a couple of years ago.
This is fun. Thank you all for responding!
DAC
You did get a good but, Nick, although Tyco stuff doesn't have near the value of Aurora. They are still fun to race. To most, people the track is almost worthless but the cars are what they buy. I like that Wrangler Buick. The Porsche looks to be an Aurora GPlus. I can identify the chassis of all the cars if you flip them over and take a picture. I probably have good car parts, maybe even some track I can send your way. Can't remember for sure If I have Tyco track upstairs or not but there is some.
These are a couple of customs I built 20 years ago or more from the same '57 Chevy and '40 Ford Hot Rod coupe you have.
I would have loved to see the cars that were customized by the dog Lorna---LOL!
This isn't a hijack at all, Aaron! Completely relates to what we are talking about! It's hard to identify your cars there, but I think the one about to go under the bridge is a AFX Mercury Cyclone. I've got one but no pic of it right now. Will try to get one soon. I was always jealous of kids that had pedal tractors. I never got one---LOL! I only remember JD ones back in the early '60's.
I took the liberty of editing your pic a bit so it don't hurt my neck to look at it---LOL! That is a great picture, little blondie!
I remember those Corvettes. Think they were a 1976 edition, Jake. I never got into the tractor trailer stuff much but do have one GMC Astro T-T still in the box. it was made in the early 2000's when HO scale started becoming a "thing" again. The club I helped get going in 2002 does have a tractor trailer event once a year. I lettered a bunch of them quite a few years ago. They drill the trailer post and put a small screw with a washer on it to keep the trailer from detaching.
Did this conventional one for one of those guys a couple of years ago.
This is fun. Thank you all for responding!
DAC
Thanks Doug. Nice work on the customs! The Porsche is an Amrac. I think the other two are Tyco. I would be interested in parts and track if you have them, let me know.You did get a good but, Nick, although Tyco stuff doesn't have near the value of Aurora. They are still fun to race. To most, people the track is almost worthless but the cars are what they buy. I like that Wrangler Buick. The Porsche looks to be an Aurora GPlus. I can identify the chassis of all the cars if you flip them over and take a picture. I probably have good car parts, maybe even some track I can send your way. Can't remember for sure If I have Tyco track upstairs or not but there is some.
These are a couple of customs I built 20 years ago or more from the same '57 Chevy and '40 Ford Hot Rod coupe you have.
I also have this chassis with no body. It’s the same as the Buick.
