Hi,
I'm semi new to the slot car hobby, I always had them as a kid, but I grew up in the Tyco age. I was walking around at a garage sale and found an old Aurora AFX set its got the "Magnasonic" cars, and from what my dad told me they were also "Magnatraction". They have the old style pancake motors with 3 gears on the top of the chassis. Well I bought new crown gears off EBay becasue one was defective, these will supposedly give me a higher top end. Then I bought the "Mean Green" armatures that came with a board on top. The problem is my gears dont fit on those boards, probably due to the gear for the Magnasonic. Is there a way to take the little gear off the armature and swap it? Im afraid to brake it as I'm sure these aren't exactly common parts anymore. Also is there any other ways I can hop this thing up? My dad was saying they used to get rid of the Magnatraction, the Magnasonic, and add "White Boots" they were white rear tires that held better. Id be open to any recommendations. Also Ill try and put up some pics of the cars theyre like mint, they're both Petty Blue one is a 71 Plymouth Sattelite, and the other is a 71 Ford Capri, kinda cool.
Thanks
Anthony

Some of the Afx gearplates have a wider idler-gear hole (the middle gear on the top plate), and those with mean greens are probably made for Afx non-mag cars. But if you get a c-clamp gear puller (the small one on the right)
http://photos.hobbytalk.com/data/511/Pullers.jpg
You can put the green arm on your old plate. You can also find gears, tires, and other parts for you cars. Here's a few shops:

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

Do you guys have any recommendations for a good setup? The track is majority straight aways but does have one spiral kind of like a parking garage.

Do you guys have any recommendations for a good setup? The track is majority straight aways but does have one spiral kind of like a parking garage.

there is http://www.hoslotcarracing.com/ a ton of info there Good Luck and welcome aboard!

So Ive been searching the sites, besides the mean green arm, and new rear tires, is there any other worth while upgrades for these cars. Im hoping to make them as fast as my tyco cars.

Use the magnets from the JL or AW X-traction cars. They are stronger than the original Aurora magnets. Use quality original equipment Aurora brushes, springs, and pickups. Use a lightweight Magnasonic idler gear. They are higher quality than the new JL or AW stuff. Polish the motor surface with Simichrome or Wenol, then clean with alcohol. Oil the chassis friction points sparingly with high quality slot car oil. Break the brushes in with 9 volts running in reverse of normal for a few minutes. Make sure your motor ohms out at or around 6.0 ohms resistance and is consistent between the poles. If you have a few bucks, buy a new quadralam motor. That will make it run better than many slots..

If you are going with the mean green arm, I would include the performance rear axle. Any time you have an arm that spins faster, you lose some low end torque. The performance axle lets the mean green stay in its power band better. Dont worry about losing top end power as the mean greens rev faster and can make more top end.
I always use the silver pick up shoes (new old stock parts), originally put on non-magnatraction cars. They seem to pick up and send more electricity to the motor. I always notice and improvement with them. Dont forget the silicone tires. What is the use of more power if the tires wont hook up?

The Afx MT cars do not have the magnetic downforce to perform like Tyco and other true magnet cars. Afx cars are a a different animal.

I'd also recommend if you're going to get into this getting some good tools for the job....

RTHO sells some great stuff: http://rt-ho.com/tools.html
JW as well: http://users.cescowildblue.com/jwsteed/JW.HTM

The links dlw gave you are good ones for where to buy parts, I like them all....

Is JL johnny lightning? I'm not sure about aw? Are they still making cars with pancake motors? What color should the magnets be I've seen all kinds on ebay? Also my cars are near new there wasn't even the rings on the arms or wear on the pickups. So I think my brushes are ok I also rubbed them on notebook paper to clean them. Is there an upgraded brush I can buy. Also what is simichrome is that just a chrome polish? I read on the site its good to adjust your pick ups how do u do that? I just stretched the springs out a little under them. I bought an upgraded crown gear off ebay how many teeth should it have to be the one you guys reccomend?

Yes, JL is Johnny Lightning. They started making slotcars around 2002, and was making bodies a few years before then. AW (AutoWorld) pretty much seceded from JL when new owner Ertl/Racing Champions (who bought JL) have much desire on making slots. Tom Lowe saw this, and went on to buy the slotcar division of JL, and then buying the AutoWorld name from Oscar Kowalchuk (spelling) to form the 'new' company.

Anyway, yes AW is still making pancake-motored cars:
Thunderjets - Aurora Tuff Ones clones
Xtractions - Aurora Afx MT clones

The magnets you want are XT magnets (dark red and white), similiarly colored to Afx magnets.

Simichrome is used to break in brass gears......Very gritty and too aggressive for plastic gears.

Here's a link to a tweaking/ tune-up tips thread here:
http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=194071&highlight=tuning

Ad lastly, Afx MT crown gears have 15 teeth.

I just counted you're right about the 15 teeth is that a good crown gear for use with the Green arm? I'm not sure if it means anything but the one in the car now is red. I was playing around and they run a hell of a lot faster with out the Magnasonic board on them. I stretched the brush springs out and the pick up springs I tried to get the crown gear to mesh a little easier with a little less resistance. I do have a slight wobble to one rear wheel does this mean it is wasted? Or should I try and bend it straight. I read a post about putting crest tooth paste between all the gears to try and lap them is this a good idea? Are X traction cars new and current? or are they an eBay item, I was thinking of just going to the store and picking up one to cannibalize and see how much of a difference the parts make.

I saw soem brushes with a groove in the middle are they beter then the flat ones I have?

Auto World was founded by Oscar Koveleski. Oscar was a racer as well as a model car/slot car dealer. He ran several sucessful seasons in the Can-Am, USSRC, and SCCA and continued the racing effort with Tonay Adomowitz as his driver. The original AFx orange McLaren XLR (actually a M12 McLaren) was modeled after Oscar's car. Several of his Can-Am cars had a slot track painted on the body. SCI had a two part story on Oscar, his cars, and Auto World.

http://www.slotcarillustrated.com/Features/Oscar.shtml

http://slotcarillustrated.com/Features/Oscar2.shtml


I hope some of you enjoy the story.

Russ the Hutt :drunk::hat::freak::dude:

Thanks Resin, I wasn't sure of Oscar's last name. As for your new questions, Auroraafx1:

I only know of 15 tooth crowns for Afx so it's good. Though I'm sure someone is making hop-up crowns.

Though it isn't a question, the magnasonic sound box does slow cars down. It's more of an audio-scenic device, and kids love noisy things.

You want a little side-to-side play on the crown gear. But check the rear top gear, they sometimes have too much up-and-down play. You only want a little play. A small hammer and punch is needed to adjust this, but be careful not to hammer too much and tighten the gear.

That wheel with the wobble.........Closely watch it as you slowly spin it, you can see if it's untrue. If it is then toss it and put on another rim.

Many folks use toothpaste to lap gears. It's gentle to plastic and non-toxic (in case kids are reading this).

Xtraction cars came around 2004, so they are current. You can still find some of the 1st release XT's. Their cases have a 'New Chassis' decal on them.

And the grooved brushes you saw? Those are either JL/AW Thunderjet (if dark copper), of Afx non-mag (if silver). Never tried them myself but they sit a lot taller than standard XT/MT nipple brushes. The brush springs make up for the size difference in the comm brushes, so there's no need to switch.

AFX sold original equiptment hop up crown gears that had 19 teeth. They were also part of the Super II package with the Quadralam armature but were hardly enough to get performance out of the Quadralam. I have an original Quadralam and I stuffed a stock G Plus crown gear (25 teeth) in it for more pull from a start. I have also used the 22 tooth gear from a Tomy Turbo. Sometimes it takes a little carving and shaving of the chassis to make the bigger gears fit. Most of the time I run the 19 tooth hop up gear (you can find them on ebay) for the mean greens.
The original 15 tooth gears are ok with the standard arm which does not wind as fast as mean green but has more low end torque, but I find that a hop up gear gives you more pull out of turns.