Project Cheetah: New Life for an Old Cat

[DHansen]

Ok, the pinon can be soldered on [Soldering pinon gears is an aquired art in order to keep the solder out of the gear teeth] or a tiny drop of supper glue will all so work just fine. The crown gear I would leave alone and see how well it works first. Replace only if nessesary due to the knurling. The guide should have a coller that slides down the post of the guide and rest on top of the chassis and is held in place with a grub screw. You should be able to find everything you need including new tires at EJ's. http://www.ejshobbies.com/index.htm

[olskoolslotz]

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[MoparGreg]

Nice project Jeremy, I cant help you as I havent worked on any of the old stuff but keep us posted.

[ourwayband]

Glad to see ya tackling this little ol' school slot.Look forward to seeing her run.I know you can do it :clap: :clap:

Rusty

[gascarnut]

If the pinion is a slide fit onto the motor shaft, I would use red Loctite rather than solder. Just make sure everything is clean and apply the Loctitie to the pinion, not to the shaft so it gets pushed deeper into the pinon when you install it.

I would agree with leaving the original wheels and gear in place unless the gear is completely bust and it does not look that way. Get some replacement tires, though, and true the whole assembly (you do have a Tire Razor or an Area 3, right?). IMO, you want always to retrian as much of the original as possible.

if the guide itself is still good, but does not stay in place, then put a little o-ring around the top of the shaft where it protrudes through the frame.

[pgtr]

I have one of these that I fixed up and enjoy running. In my experience there's a good chance the wheels will be crooked but in any case you'll need a good set of new tires if those are originals. The plastic pinions commonly crack and fall off from what I've seen - I don't remember what I replaced it with but it may have been a brass pinion I pressed on. Ring gears tend to be chintzy but sometimes they are good enough and sometimes not. Those motors are fairly slow/low RPMs. The original front guides on mine are excellent. Though the wires (actually the insulators) can sometimes stiffen up considerably with age making the guides stiff. I got mine smoothed out to the point that it goes around the track at full throttle (12VDC) all the way. While I try to keep my vintage slots original up to a point - on some of my Strombeckers like this one, I'm contemplating a motor and wheel/axle swap.

[LAMing]

The Strombecker blue Cheetah is a very good memory maker for me:

In the mid-sixties, my second Strombecker set was a huge set with something like 20 curves and 35 or 40 straights. Packed inside was a blue Cheetah just like this one... and a red Dino coupe'. Had SOOOO much fun racing that set to death. Eventually went on to own a bunch of Strombecker (and other brands) home set cars.

[jmsh54]

Greetings, great looking car to restore. I have a shoe box of Strombecker parts that If you need a missing part I might have. Mostly motors and chassis' but some other bits as well but I might be able to help if needed. Got it for free years ago and it has just been sitting. Regards, John