Hey guys, I'm new. Its kind of obvious. :)

At any rate, I decided to pull out my old slot cars from my childhood. I've got a bunch of Tyco 440x2 wide and narrow chassis and a couple of I believe Tyco HP7 cars. Now, the last time I ran any of these cars was when I was in middle school.

I put my Sparkin' Hot Rods track together today since it was snowing and I was going to run the cars around with my step-son but to my dismay they didn't want to work. I started pulling a few apart and realized the pickups are in bad shape as well as some of the other parts. I'm not up on the technical parts lists and never really was when I was growing up.

However, with that being said I'd like to get my cars up and running again. I've been looking at whats available and theres a lot. Its a tad overwhelming.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I should get?

I'd like to rebuild at least one of them (or two, a wide and narrow chassis) with a better motor and some of the other components. I'm planning on buying some stock Tyco/Mattel rebuild kits for the 440x2 (3) chassis but I'm having difficulty finding motors.

Any help for a newb would be greatly appreciated.

Not sure about the HP7 but the 440x2 stuff is available from BSRT, Scale Auto might be a good source.

Call Lucky Bob's too -- he has tons of parts for anything you want to rebuild. Also sells new old stock chassis if you just want to start fresh -- HP7 rolling chassis $13.50 and 440X2 rollers for $16.00.

http://www.lucky-bobs-slot-cars.com/

LUCKY BOB'S RACEWAY
5822 W. FOREST HOME AVE.
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN 53220
414-327-4003
SHOP HOURS
MON - THUR 3PM-9PM
FRIDAY 3PM-10PM
SATURDAY & SUNDAY 11AM-5PM

Or you could buy a Tyco Twin Pack of cars that would give you 2 new 440x2 chassis and 2 new bodies in a very good deal - $26 at LuckyBobs

Hello- Here's a couple ideas. You can also "part" out a few cars that you have to put together a few that run. Replacement shoes for 440/440x2s are between $1 and $1.50 a pair at the most. As for the Hp7s, should be the same story. The Hp7s if you remember are a bit slower than the 440s/440x2 and don't handle very well. Which in my book is ok because they are as much fun to race, however get a little frustrating for younger ones. As for the 440s- if you are running the standard power supply, a few pairs of slip-on silicone tires for the rears (once again between $1-2 a pair is a great way to lower the rear-end of the car, get some better grip and get the traction mags closer to the track.

Remember that older track and even newer track can limit the performance of the cars. The car will stop and drive you crazy. Be sure to wipe the track down with a rag. It is also good to go over the rails with an erase to take the oxidation off the rails. Also, be sure to keep your shoes on the cars clean. If you have any build-up (looks black) be sure to clean it off.

Don't worry about all of the stuff offered. Unless you have a stronger power supply than stock you really only need some slip-on tires and some new shoes.

BTW- think about snagging a couple of the Lifelike cars. They have neo-dot traction mags and work VERY well for home tracks. Slip-ons on the rear of that chassis and you are rollin'...

Almost forgot- the Magnum 440 has a single bar magnet (traction mag). The 440x2 has two separate square traction mags.

-Marc

The pick-ups on all of my cars are black. How do I go about cleaning them? I've read on here that I can use WD40 on the tracks but can I use it on the pick-ups?

Also, thanks for the tips on the BSRT stuff. I thought the BSRT parts would fit but wasn't sure.

I am using the stock Tyco power supplies that came with all of my tracks. As for my HP7 cars, I noticed I'm missing one of the three pickups on each car. How important is the third pickup? Can I run without it?

Thanks for the help, and sorry for the dumb questions. Like I said, I haven't run any of these cars since I was little so its been a long time for me.

*EDIT*
Been doing some more research, the two cars I have that I thought were HP7's are in fact...not HP7's at all. I don't know what they are.

On the bottom of the chassis they have three markings. C A B where pick-ups go. The front wheels are hard plastic and the rears are foam.

440, go to your local hobby shop, in the trains section. Ask for a 'Bright Boy' eraser. These are gritty erasers used for cleaning train rails, and will work on slotcars' pickups as well as the rails on the track.

Many people also use cordless Dremel tools, you can get those at Home Depot, Lowes, or other places like these. They usually come with a fine buffing wheel.......Perfect for cleaning dirty pickups.

Oh, almost forgot........As you said, your cars have been sitting a while. A little tune-up and lube-job should wake up your cars:

1 - Check your pickup springs on your 440's. Do they point at a 4 o'clock position? Bend them so the point around 5 o'clock. The added tension will give a speed boost. For the HP-7's, take off the pickups and slighty extend the leaf spring (just a little) to get speed for them. Too much extension and you'll get front-wheel hop.

2 - Put a small drop of oil anywhere you see metal going through plastic (axles, bushings). Wiggle the armature shaft back and forth to work the oil in. This will quiet the cars a little, along with more speed.

Wd40 is a little too oily for my taste. I spray a little windex/glass plus/409 on a piece of papertowel and wipe mine down. If I haven;t run my track for a while I use an eraser on the rails. I used to use a normal eraser but I found one with some abrasive blended into it, but I can remember where I got it. I think it was at a local hobby store and was made for Model Railroads.

The dark patches on the shoes can be cleaned with an eraser as well or a very fine sandpaper. Once again I use the same type eraser with the abrasive in it to "polish" it off. It is an attachment for my dremel and works wonders, but for now just keeo it simple and use what you have handy.

I can't stress enough the importance of clean pick-up shoes and track rails.

As for the third pick-up... sounds like a TCR chassis. Are you sure it has a guidepin?

I just noticed another poster nailed the "bright boy" eraser I was talking about. He's right- perfect for what you need...

Thanks for the help, I too had read about the Bright-Boy abrasive eraser. I'm going to pick one up. I've also got a Dremel, I've got to go Lowes anyway today to pick up some stuff for my new hot water heater so I'm going to pick up some new wire wheels and polishing wheels.

As for the other cars. No, there is no guide pin. Just a space for a third pickup. They are slotless cars. I think they are Command Control cars.

Ok, just pulled the bodies off of my cars, I found that two of my 440x2 the springs are pointing straight. I pull off the pickups/shoes and bend the springs to point at 5:00 that should help them?

Three of my other cars are Tomy Aurora's, should I maybe stretch the springs out a bit?

Also, what type of oil should I use to lubricate the moving parts? I'm actually used to working on bigger cars, but I do have some automotive grade oil I can use if its ok.

440 where are you located, you might get pointed to local sources for parts and info.

:)

Try your cars on a 9V battery, if they work then it's likely your track needs a good cleaning. Spring tension is usually a matter of handling, to not run it would be real obvious as if you push on a shoe it will feel like these are very "loose". You don't want to actually bend the springs in the straight area. You can get a little more tension when assembled by simply pulling on the top "leg" of the spring, a little less pulling on the bottom (in short, adjusting the length of the bottom "leg" of the spring affects the leveraging effect they provide).

I use a small grindstone in my Dremel for shoe cleaning,i find it cleans the shoes better then a wire wheel.

Swamper, I'm in Vernon Twp. NJ. Sussex County to be exact on the county. I actually did stop by a hobby store while I was out today. I managed to score two tune-up kits for my Tomy Aurora's but they had nothing for the 440x2's; which I'm kind of disappointed because I like my 440's better than the Aurora's. I'm going to see if the parts are interchangeable between the Aurora and 440x2, it almost looks like I can use the shoes. The girl at the shop told me that if I can get part numbers for the 440x2's she may be able to special order them. I'm going to take a look on Mattel's website and see what they offer. I also grabbed a new car for my step-son; its an Tomy SRT AFX Ford GT-40. Its white with the number 56 on it. Can't wait to run it. I'm going to spend a few hours tonight cleaning everything and try running them again.

No problem, 440......Tyco parts are plentiful. Try one of these online shops. They have plenty of Tyco 440x2 parts:

http://www.slotcarjohnnies.com
http://www.budshocars.com
http://www.jaghobbies.com

Also, are you familiar with NJ Nostalgia hobbies? I don't know if you're too far from them, or not......But if you can get to them, do so. I hear very good things about them.

440 I'm about two hours away (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=&saddr=Vernon,+NJ,+United+States+of+America&daddr=Slatington,+PA+18080&sll=40.973677,-75.044861&sspn=0.943516,1.809998&ie=UTF8&ll=40.967456,-75.053101&spn=0.943605,1.809998&z=9), got lots of spare parts laying around, used and new ...got a track too (http://slotcars.yuku.com/topic/379). Your more than welcome to take a ride over with the cars.

:thumbsup:

DLW, I've never heard of that shop, but I'm all over the state so I'll be sure to keep an eye out for them; in fact I just hit their website and then proceeded to program their address into my GPS so, next time I'm in the area I will hit their shop.

I just spent the past hour and a half cleaning everything. Picked up some abrasive polishing wheels for my Dremel. Man, I didn't realize how dirty the rails were till I hit them with the wheel. Also spent some time polishing the blackness off of my original pick-ups. Got the cars running and my step-son and I ran around the track for a while. I've forgotten how much fun it was. I'm definitely jealous of his GT-40 though, its a lot faster than the cars I've got in my collection.

Swamper, I'd like to bring my cars over to you. Maybe you can help me sort out what I've actually got. Where abouts in SE Pa. are you?

Slatington, PA...my last post has a map link for ya.

I'm in Vernon Twp. NJ. Sussex County to be exact on the county.

440,
While I am not up on all the hobby stores here in NJ, there is Zeppelin Hobbies on Rt. 23N in Wayne. That should be about 30 minutes right down Rt. 23 for you. Not a lot of HO, but some. I went there for the first time the other day.

Nostalgia Hobby is a bit of a ride for you. For some reason I am drawing a blank on the town, but it is located off Rt. 22 near Westfield.

Be sure to put on your calendar to attend the slot show at the Parsipany PAL in May. It's right off Rts. 80 and 287; well within range for you.

There's also a number of guys on this board who have large slot car inventories. I've got a lot of new Tyco and Lifelike cars, along with a huge inventory of new Tyco track. Send me a private e-mail if interested; I'm located about 40 minutes from you.

Thanks...Joe

NJ Nostalgia is in Scotch Plains. I work on the road so I'm all over NJ. Its fairly easy for me to pop in between jobs. I also plan on stopping by Zeppelin thats usually where I pick-up my kid's Pinewood Derby cars. Though, I'd rather do slot cars with him instead.

I know the place I went to yesterday had about 4 different cars in their inventory and they didn't have much track either. Check your PMs.

We used to race at Zep's nice folks but HO is almost like a sideshow for them. Nostalgia Hobby...well, it's small but lets just say you will be amazed. Not a place for guys like us to walk into with a ton of cash in your pocket, cuz you most likely won't leave with it. :lol:

No kidding. I went there today and they didn't carry much in the way of HO cars or even track. I wanted a couple pieces of 15" straight track and they had nothing but 1/8 and 1/4 circle and a few other pieces.

I got a tub or two full of Tyco track, mebbe we can find some of what ya need. :thumbsup:

Gene, check tony's bb. See racin in Pa

I got a tub or two full of Tyco track, mebbe we can find some of what ya need. :thumbsup:

Awesome. Me and the wifey are planning on coming up this weekend.:)

Gene, check tony's bb. See racin in Pa


Got it covered. :thumbsup:

Awesome. Me and the wifey are planning on coming up this weekend.:)


I can see Vernon from my living room window.I am literally on the state line 440.

Zeppelin is a great store,but their HO stuff is really lacking.Havent been there in some time,but what little they did have was overpriced.
And the track is just ok,mine is better.:)

Id be glad to help you out,maybe we can try to hook up and grab a coffee at Duncan Donuts or something.

Cheapskate,where are you at???? Interesting to see that there are some guys within driving distance.

Mike

Zeppelin is a great store,but their HO stuff is really lacking.Havent been there in some time,but what little they did have was overpriced.

Mike

We've all, myself included, got used to online pricing. Hobby stores are going to be more expensive. Granted, I have also seen some stuff at hobby stores which is just off the charts.

Track by itself just seems to have always been expensive. Back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, I remember 9" straights selling for about 60-70 cents a piece. That was big money back then; consider that T-Jets were selling for under $3 and my first job in 1974 paid me $2.30 an hour. It's got to be tough for hobby stores to sell track because their cost is probably as high, or higher, than guys can get track from someone like me.

As I said, I hope to suppling Zeppelin with some Tyco/Mattel track down the road. Hopefully, that will allow them to sell at lower prices and induce more traffic and more interest in HO.

Joe

Cheap, I'll be in Bloomfield tomorrow morning. I've got to do an inspection over at the Park Manor Nursing Home, then I'll be over at the Lord and Taylor in the Willowbrook Mall. If you want to meet up tomorrow I'm in.

Mike, where are you at?

I've only ever bought my stuff from Hobby Stores. But since joining here I will definitely be buying more stuff from guys here. Especially when it comes to track because the shops are overpriced like everyone stated already.

Gene,
I guess you're not too far from Pocono Raceway? I have a friend who lives in Saylorburg Pa. is that near you?
Jerry

I work with a guy from Saylorsburg, it's maybe 45 minutes from my place. I'm like an hour from Pocono.

My buddy Dave installs home entertainment systems. Does alot of business in NJ and NYC area. He's about 2 1/2 hrs away from me (outside Asbury Park NJ) but I like the area.

Yeah it is nice up here (well, 2 minutes from here as we're "in town"). We moved here a year ago from Quakertown PA, it's only 20 minutes above Allentown, but it's kinda right on the edge of....nothing.

Strange but true HT-related factoid pertaining to this area tho', myself and sethndaddy both moved last year...unknowingly to within a mile of each other. :freak:

We've all, myself included, got used to online pricing. Hobby stores are going to be more expensive. Granted, I have also seen some stuff at hobby stores which is just off the charts.

Track by itself just seems to have always been expensive. Back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, I remember 9" straights selling for about 60-70 cents a piece. That was big money back then; consider that T-Jets were selling for under $3 and my first job in 1974 paid me $2.30 an hour. It's got to be tough for hobby stores to sell track because their cost is probably as high, or higher, than guys can get track from someone like me.

As I said, I hope to suppling Zeppelin with some Tyco/Mattel track down the road. Hopefully, that will allow them to sell at lower prices and induce more traffic and more interest in HO.

Joe

Oh dont get me wrong,I LOVE Zeppelin Hobbies,I HIGHLY recommend anyone to go there.A TON of unbelievably cool stuff there.
Last time I was there,the kid and I raced for an hour or two,and spent an hour and a half easy just milling around in there looking at stuff.

I remember in the late '80's,that place CRANKED with slot car activity on a daily basis.You could go there in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday,and there would be guys in there tuning up cars for the next big race.

Ive half assed kicked the idea around of opening a shop in the town I live in.Theres a lot of dough in these parts,but I dont know,I dont think I could make a living at it,it would be risky.More power to those who do it.:thumbsup:

Mike

http://www.geocities.com/njhobby/

Yeah, I'm in NJ Nostalgia 1-2 times a week. In fact, I was just in there this afternoon and grabbed an old school "Wild One" rolling chassis with the "green" arm, and a '67 Plymouth Gtx body.

Joe has a great store.