Project Strombecker / Polistil Elf Tyrrell !

[TuscoTodd]

I am not sure when these were made - but I picked up one that had "parade" laps on it only...

I thought it looked cool, and the price was right - so I was happy... at least until I got it and tried to run it....

I am not sure if all of these are like this - or if I was just "blessed" - but for having only parade laps on it (which based on the braids, tires, etc I believe) - the drive train on this was loooooooooose as a goose and was already eating itself! :(

So thanks to the tips/tricks I have learned on the boards, some parts from the "spare parts pile", a set of Paul Gage skins and some time - I have a car that is now ready to make a "second" go at running up at the track! :)

I think the biggest issue with this particular car was that the rear bushings were way loooooooooose on the axle.
That, combined with a motor that had some freedom of movement in the chassis did some ugly things to the gears.
I addressed the issue with the bushings using the "super glue" trick - which snugged those up nicely! :)

Unfortunately, the gears were still pretty rough looking and "questionable" in their long term viability - so I decided to replace them...
Not having a pinion gear as small in diameter as the factory one, I made an attempt to go with a more modern replacement for both it and the crown, using a 9 tooth press on brass unit and a standard Parma crown gear. The Parma gear had too much thickness to the back of it to fit with the new pinion, without removing some material from the back side of it - so it was back to the "spares" pile, to see if I didn't have something that I could use without modifying. In the hunt, I found a nice Cox(?) 30 tooth that fit the task at hand nicely. While I was at it, I decided that since I was going through all of this, that I might as well upgrade the power plant to go with things! (maybe somebody is on the look out for the original motor?) So out came the Polistil power plant and in went a lightly used H&R Hawk I had sitting here for another project... :whistle:
With all said and done - she has a fresh motor that is nicely secured, upgraded pinion & crown, trued and nail polished front tires, glued and trued Paul Gage tires on the rear all resulting in a nice, relatively "smooth" feeling drive train!
Whether all this effort was fruitful or not will be told in it's next track outing - but in the mean time it looks neat and is no longer sounding like it is going to eat itself like before. :)
Here are a couple shots of her as she now sits:

[ourwayband]

Looks great!I bet she runs that way too..

Rusty

[waaytoomuchintothis]

David and I have an obsession with these cars. I have that one, an HO version, and a 1/32 really nice one. I think David had four the last time I looked.

I have considered making the Polistil run smooth, but never got around to it. Yours looks great.

[TuscoTodd]

I am "hoping" she runs half as good as she looks - if she does, I'll be a happy camper!
I'm with you guys - always wanted one of the Aurora G-Plus 6-wheelers - but didn't get one when they came out and now, well normally when you see them they are $$$. :-\

Maybe we can get Devis Designs to do a body that we can scratch build a chassis for! :D

(THAT would be a sweet proxy!!!) :D

[Retro Racer 44]

I have one just like yours that Fotodoug was giving away. He had about given up trying to make it run well, and I was the lucky recipient. Even if it never ran well, I would have taken it, as I love this car.

When I got it, it had already had the rear end changed with a Slot.it gear and metal wheels. I'm not sure, but I think the guide had been changed, and maybe the motor. The tires were loose on the rims, so I glued them, and that improved the car a lot. A large sheet of lead had been placed on the bottom, but the front axles were very loose in both directions. The last thing I have done is to sleeve the front axles to minimize play and keep them from popping out.

It runs well now and has won a few heats when we race open wheel.

I know that it is out of scale, but still is a cool little car that turns heads when I put it on the track.

[dge467]

That is a cool car! I bet it will be a good runner now!

[Flytoo]

Hope you get it sorted out. It is one sweet looking race car.

[TuscoTodd]

I am still a bit concerned about the front axle movement, but wanted to see how it did before "limiting" their travel - but appreciate the thoughts and links on resolving that issue! :D
I'll be sure to let everyone know how she does with her next outing! :)

[dreinecke]

You deserve a few cold ones for that. VERY tough to get those moving with stock parts and you've done the right thing! Don't ask me how I know that...

[FootScoot]

I like these cars. They are very unique looking vehicles. Too bad they won't let people be creative like they used too. Maybe someone will bring out a good one hopefully. :)

[Retro Racer 44]

I can't understand why, with the recent outpouring of classic F1 cars from Scalextric and Flyslot, nobody has come out with a new scale version of these cars. They have the four wheeled Tyrell. I'm sure it would be an instant hit, if for no other reason than its uniqueness.

I guess a six wheeled model would cost more to produce, but at least only the back wheels are powered so it shouldn't be that much.

Cheers,

Keith

[dreinecke]