Spending time with an old friend...

[dreinecke]

I switched to 1:32 in 2002 primarily because I'd seen the 1969 Mark Donahue Camaro that Scalextric produced around that time. While the car is not perfect in my eyes, it was good enough at the time and directly influenced me to start resin casting my own Trans-Am bodies.

I built my original track version of the Palmer Divide Raceway around this car. I simply loved the early T/A years and this car filled a void for me like no other. I know I have gone through two complete rear sets of tires and if memory serves me, two guides. It has a few million scale miles on it in my estimation.

Fast forward to today and the realization that it hasn't been driven much since I routed the new PDR two and a half years ago. Mostly due to the tires being hard and impossible to drive with.

I'd purchased a bunch of Paul Gage's urethane T/A tires and finally decided to do something about it. Pulling it out of the display case I keep all of my cars in, I realized how neglected this poor car has been - it was very dirty inside, needed the aforementioned tires, had numerous scuffs/scars, and was somewhat dusty.

I took it apart, washed the entire thing, glued the tires and trued them, gave the motor a nice alcohol bath, added a little weight, glued the bushings, removed the guide spring parts, clipped the interior axle bearing holders, enlarged the mounting holes and left the screws loose for body float. I then buffed some of the scratches out and gave it a nice waxing.

Mr. Donahue's pony is now ready to ride again and looks fantastic on the new PDR. Mr. Bucknam's Camaro is waiting for the PG tires to dry and be trued and it will get the same treatment. Sounds like I'll be busy the next few weeks doing all of my original T/A cars now.

[HomeRacingWorld]

Yes sir, good stuff. So many great cars out there that just need this kind of time to get them back on the track where they belong.

Must be a nice sight to see.

Good job!

[racer6583]

That is find and dandy but pics my good man pics let us gaze upon thy love and care you put forth on your donahue camaro please thanks

[FootScoot]

I too have the very car. I think I have 3 of them to be exact. One or two have never seen the light of day. I didn't care if they were in scale or not, they just looked cool. They are neat cars. :)

[dreinecke]

I'll try an snap some pics tonight. I got Ronnie Bucknam's car done last night and have both R/W/B Bud Moore Mustangs on the bench with tires glued and ready to be trued.

One strange thing though...I'm still getting some sideways chatter even with the float and lots of tire truing.

[HomeRacingWorld]

Might check the side to side action on the axle. Could be the spur rubbing against the flange on the pinion. Maybe the edges of the tires need a little more contour?

You are making me want a new one :) Maybe it is time.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

The flange gets a little wear on it with the Scaley and sooner or later it breaks down just enough for the spur to climb on and pop off. Yours has the added complication of age to make it brittle, too. All of which is to say, I think Harry nailed it. If you don't want to replace the pinion, you can just slip a split spacer in to nudge the spur over a touch. But a Slot.It pinion will make you fall in love with the car all over again, just sayin'.

[dreinecke]

Hmm... Good idea. I'll check it out tonight, but I know there was no axle slop as I'd put a shim in already.

[ListerStormGT]

Pics or it didn't happen.... :P

[waaytoomuchintothis]

Any chance the shim is on the other side?

[dreinecke]

The non-spur side?

[waaytoomuchintothis]

That's what I wondered. Sometimes the way the spur is mounted, there's a body rub on the spur side that is easily dealt with by taking up the slack with a shim on the other side, sucking the spur side back inside the fender rim. Its such a simple fix you could have forgotten. After a long time, the pinion can break down as described earlier and there you are. Just a thought.

[dreinecke]

Still playing with these...figured it out. Duh! Bushing slop! A little oil, a little super glue and voila'!

I'll finish the Mustangs tonight and get a picture for ya.