# brush cup tjet chassis build



## joegri (Feb 13, 2008)

i got this chassis n body on ebay and keept wondering why nobody had bid on it... seemed like a cool old daytona that needed work,well when i got it i realized... no brush tounges!!!! whats a slothead to do? then i remembered that slotters in the past had hopped up their old tjets with some superII brush cups and i decieded to try n save this from the trash can. i ordred some cups from jag hobbies and a few other goodies and started to whittle away on it. my task was to insert the cups into the old brush journels. so with a lil rattail file in was able to insert the cups and also tinned a few strands of wire and connected the dots. at this stage it has now become a full blown custom racin chassis!! i rounded up some dash mags and a mean green arm and also check it out i put some bushings in the rear axel journels. these pics are from 2 days ago and made more progress tonite. anyway i,m well on my way to another build that has my attention and will se it through to completion. i was hoping that if you guys have a set up like this please post a pic or 2 and maybe a tip. so far it has been fun to play in the cave again with a purpose. more later as it goes along.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

I have a bunch of toasted chassis like that.

Very delicate work Joe....nicely done!

I like that you went straight to the hanger plate.


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## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

if you ever have a hankering to try that mod again, consider moving the cups a little opposite the rotation of the armature to pre-advance the timing for the chassis. since you have to enlarge the holes anyway, you can easily do that towards one side. think about it.


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## Joe65SkylarkGS (Feb 15, 2010)

Clean job Joe.

Al, which way would you put em? Clockwise or counter?


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## ruralradio (Mar 11, 2011)

Here's your brush tubes/cups in a vintage style A/FX pan car build.....

















Doug Morris is repopping the old TCP brush cups, they're available at other outlets as well. Joe, try running the wires into the vacant slots on your chassis to clean up the underside for better clearance.


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## partspig (Mar 12, 2003)

How about a link for the re-pop brush cups that Doug Morris is making or the "other" outlets where they are available. For those of us not in the know, that is. pig


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## ruralradio (Mar 11, 2011)

Hope he doesn't mind, shoot Doug an e-mail at [email protected] , he's been sending out newsletters of late, get on his list. I believe BSRT has some left, too.


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## cwbam (Feb 8, 2010)

Any details on rear axle sleeves?

bsrt info
520 T-Jet Comm Brush Tubes (pair) $5.00


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## ruralradio (Mar 11, 2011)

For .059 axles, I was turned on to the bushings BSRT has for Tyco 440 arms, works well, I'm sure there are others. Need a source for .063 bushings. Any help?


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*Porked Boars...*



cwbam said:


> Any details on rear axle sleeves?
> 
> bsrt info
> 520 T-Jet Comm Brush Tubes (pair) $5.00


Actually a vintage fix for porked bores, from the pre super glue era. Works way better with drill blanks or non splined axles, because you can ream to the axle journal tolerance and not the spline. 

I've done all four axle holes, upper and lower arm holes, and the cluster bore on the plate. 

IMHO it's best to cut the journal insert a little long initially. By having the inserts longer than they need to be they're easier to handle. PERIOD! I also bevel the leading edge/rim, or that which will be inserted first; this helps them to align at the git go by settling in as you press them. Dont make the mistake of trying to keep the oversizing of the original bore too tight. You WILL distort the nylatron chassis. A good press fit is all your after. Go slow and keep a good eye that your axle overbores stay relative to one another side to side and the arm holes stay plumb. It's very easy to get pulled off course with nylatron. If you dont pay attention and make it happen correctly, theres a good chance you'll get tricked and be askew after the fact. D'oh! 

I like to rough the exterior of the stock from which the inserts will be cut... makes them snag in good to the re-drilled bores. Basiscally, after roughing the exterior, I bevel the end of the insert to be on my dremel cutting disc and THEN cut the insert from that longer stock. ALWAYS remember to bevel the end before you cut the insert from the stock...because it's pert near impossible to bevel one thats been cut, due to their miniscule size of course. The whole idea is to have a workable length of stock to work with easily and do what you can before it gets tiny. 

Once cut, rather than trying to bludgeon them in, which I did back in the olden times; my preferred method is a center punch installed in my drill press. The operative word being press, just set the chassis in some cribbing and squeeze the insert in. You'll have to sort out some cribbing for support of the chassis and gearplate. Be careful not to overdrive the insert s'os to keep the excess material in a place where you can deal with it. Meaning the axle inserts and the bottom arm insert specifically, they're easier to work from the out side....duh. It's simple enough to finish the rough stuff with a fine file and ream/drill the ID clean to fit. I prefer to ream both sides of the axle sets together in a halfassed attempt to keep the sides square to one another. The lapping process will remove any other evils.

It sounds harder than it is. After you've done a few, you'll find it to be quite simple.


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## joegri (Feb 13, 2008)

thanx for chimin in fellas. as i mentioned before this is my first brush cup attempt so if it really doesnt tear up the trak at least i,ll have 1 attempt at it. i did buy 2 sets of cups to do another 1. seems with the lil cars the more you try stuff the better it gets cuz i / you learn from mistakes! the rear bushings are a mod that i,ve done on atleast 15 or so chassis and they work good enough for round here. i,ll post more as i go but for today i had to put a waterpump in the work van and of course some studz snapped off.. so it,s all hands on deck fixin the van then back to the lil cars!! radio thats a cool lookin chassis maybe the next one.


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## bondoman2k (Jan 13, 2003)

Ya know, this is an excellent idea (the brush cups). I have several chassis like this, and this is a GREAT way to 'revive' them! :thumbsup:
I got a question tho, since I'm gonna be doing this for drag chassis (that's really all I mess with) wouldn't it be a better idea to run the wires from the cups directly to the pickup shoes?  That would basically take the place of shunt wires, but with a much better connection (I would think) to the brushes! 
Ron (Bondo) :dude:


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## ruralradio (Mar 11, 2011)

"wouldn't it be a better idea to run the wires from the cups directly to the pickup shoes?"

Lead wires soldered directly to pick up holders when you use .003" bronze wipers, ala vintage pan cars.


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## joegri (Feb 13, 2008)

just a quick up date. i had a work van melt down that i needed to attend to before i could fininsh the brush cup build. now back at it. i had a heck of a time setteling
on which tire and rim combo to use and this 1 seems to work pretty good. it has the rt-ho front rims and some stock t-jet tires ground down to .345 and the rears are... i dont know what those rims are but there are some .440 sticky tire i think pvt. a 12 tooth wizzard final drive and a rt-ho crown ( it,s kind of a brownish color) this combo seems ok but it was terrable before i had some .350 jw,s silifoams on the rear and would not get any straight away speed and the o ring fronts were too small.and slot tech shoes rule at my trak! also to adjust the brush tention i had to push the cups in or out to get the right amount of coast/ break. this took many times of removing the gear plate and adjusting but it is worth it. in all this chassis was headed for the trash can but because cups can be used to save a broken chassis it now awaits a body? man i dont know what to put on it,but i,ll find something that,ll work. anyway go ahead and try this mod n give a tjet chassis a second life!! this was alot of fun for me.


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## slotking (May 27, 2008)

LOOKING GOOD!
couple of suggestions

1>shunt : as mention below, if you u run the shunt to the shoe, you will get more power. What they used to make and sell back in the day where shoes with a glob of solder on top side of the step, that used the extra weight to maintain shoe to rail contact as well.

2>on the rear tires, what i did with my hot car was to use brass rims and slip on silicone tires that are a hair to lose! this act kind of like a slip diff!
when i punch the the car, the hub spins inside of the tires for a bit before the tires catch up! reduces the torque (front end lift)

also try to drop the tire size down to at lest 350 and get the magnets to help in handling


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Nice job Joe, very clean work in a delicate area.


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## joegri (Feb 13, 2008)

well i found a body for the brush cup chassis. its one i did last winter that was on a new style tjet and i thought it deserved a new home. as i run it more it seems to be breaking in and turns good consistent laps. and a real good fishtailin body!! in all i like the results and will do this again. and if you have a broken chassis go ahead and try this it,s not hard and a lot of fun!!


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## Boosted-Z71 (Nov 26, 2007)

Definitely got some meat on the back end, Looks good

Boosted


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## joegri (Feb 13, 2008)

thanx for the speed tips slotking. the solder tips sounds cool! but the small o.d. rears dont work round here. i found that it would max out too soon on the straights and in some spot the crown would hit a bit so i,m liken the larger tires.! mo top end at 14 feet straight!!!!


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

Jumping in on this thread late... wow, this is a cool fix! I have a bunch of chassis that could use this. But... I assume this means you need to use M/T style brushes and brush springs, right? Just so I know how it all works...

--rick


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## ruralradio (Mar 11, 2011)

You can use brush springs from the AW cars, I'm using cut down T-Jet type pick up springs in one of my cars as well. Main thing is to avoid too much brush tension, due to the extra thickness of the bottom of the brush tube (cup), you'll probably need to reduce the thickness of the brushes by about a third. If the little "nub" is on the bottom of the brush, it'll need sanded smooth as well. You'll need to find that happy medium between too much tension (putting the arm in a bind), and to little (no horsepower!). Wish I could find some old school Faller springs and brushes.


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## joegri (Feb 13, 2008)

yes rick i did use the mt brush springs. to make brush adjustment i ended up pushing the brush cup up and down to find the right tention. it takes a lil time but it works good. go ahead n try 1 rick.


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## oneredz (Jan 29, 2012)

Where can i get brush tubes these days? Or better yet, anyone make their own out of brass tubing? What is the correct size tubing to use?


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## joegri (Feb 13, 2008)

1 red try hardin creek ho under doug morris builds or jag hobbies. that is where I,ve found them in the past. hope you find some cuz I need more also!


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## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

contact me PM after Sunday. I still have some available.


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## mowyang (Mar 24, 2008)

oneredz said:


> Where can i get brush tubes these days? Or better yet, anyone make their own out of brass tubing? What is the correct size tubing to use?


To make your own, check out this link:

Cool Brushes for Hot Cars

.


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## oneredz (Jan 29, 2012)

Thanks! Excellent read. I was thinking of about 5/32 tubing! Time to drop by Hobby Lobby.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Remember the specified trick! Insert a wooden dowel into the tube prior to soldering it to the strap


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## oneredz (Jan 29, 2012)

Bill Hall said:


> Remember the specified trick! Insert a wooden dowel into the tube prior to soldering it to the strap


Thanks for pointing that out. The article is a little hard to read.

Alpink- Thank you.


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## oneredz (Jan 29, 2012)

Picked up some 5/32 tubing and .015 plate brass @ HL today. Now to the Lab for some work ..sometime this weekend.


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