# What's wrong with this picture?



## 82whiskey (Sep 6, 2009)

Hi all,
I have what I beleive is an Aurora VW bug that I'm trying to put on a tjet chassis but the rear wheels don't line up in the wheel wells. They're too far forward and I can't move the chassis back any further. I know the rear bumper is missing but it won't matter because to move the chassis back far enough means the front screw holes won't be lined up. Wondering if this is an original Aurora body?

Thanks, Brian


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## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

pretty sure all the Aurora bodies had code numbers inside where they would be quite visible.


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

Looks mini lindy to me!!


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## Super Coupe (Feb 16, 2010)

Are the front wheels adjustable? Some have extra holes to move the wheels where needed. Just a thought.
>Tom<


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

Yup, the glass tells me it's Lindberg. Is there a one or two digit number somewhere on it? Maybe under the glass???


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

Or Faller, maybe... The couple of Faller bodies I have do NOT play nice with Tjet wheelbases and screwposts...

--rick


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## A/FX Nut (May 28, 2004)

Looks like your front axle could be moved up to the front holes. 

According to Bob Beers Aurora Guide the Aurora Volkswagon is borrowed from Faller.

Randy.


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## 82whiskey (Sep 6, 2009)

The front wheels are not really a problem becuase they can be moved. If I try to move the chassis back so the rear wheels look right the grear plate is against the screw post and the front screw hole is not in line with the post.

No numbers or markings at all on the inside.

Thanks, Brian


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## Super Coupe (Feb 16, 2010)

Sorry 'bout that. After I posted, I took a better look at the pictures and seen the trouble your having. Ya need one of those ole chassis stretchers.lol. Body looks in decent shape. Hope ya can come up with a solution.
>Tom<


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## 82whiskey (Sep 6, 2009)

No need to apologize Tom. Appreciate the input.

Brian


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## hojoe (Dec 1, 2004)

Looks like a repop of a Faller. If it was a real Faller it would have the name on the inside. I you have a Faller chassis, try and see if it will fit.
hojoe


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## bobwoodly (Aug 25, 2008)

Brian - The Aurora VW's often fit like that. If it has the painted on flowers I think it is Aurora. Adding the bumpers will give you some added clearance. You also need to move the front wheels to the forward position in the chassis.

Tom


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Looks factory Aurora. 

Pillars un-uniform and nasty with flash. Big ole clunky piece of glass is the strongest part of the model. Raggity edges where the bumpers would fit...AND as Bob noted...the crappy fit around the rear third of the chassis with the wheel wells compromised.

Typical of one that hasnt had a chassis under it for some time. Due to being unrestrained and combined with their eggshell thinness; they wander out of shape horrendously over time. 

Back in the day we used to bevel the back of the gear plate rails to get things to move back. Some are just too far gone and you'll have to fudge the rear wells to get a fit.

This one had a chassis under it for some time in it's life though....note the weird little mark imprinted on the face of the rear screw post. The impression of the "U" shaped rear chassis screw slot.


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## Marty (Oct 20, 1999)

I just happen to come across my Faller VW and Aurora VW. Here's a comparison:
































































Marty
Marysville, OH


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## 82whiskey (Sep 6, 2009)

Thanks for the comparison photos Marty. I think Bill and Tom are right about it being an out of shape Aurora. I'm wondering if I could get it back into shape if I submerged in hot water???

Brian


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## stirlingmoss (Aug 24, 2012)

that is an aurora body and chassis will not fit correctly without using the bumpers.


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## 82whiskey (Sep 6, 2009)

I didn't show the bumpers in the photo but the problem is still the same with the bumpers and with the front wheels moved to the correct position. No matter what I do, when I screw in to the front post, the rear wheels don't line up with the body.

Brian


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## stirlingmoss (Aug 24, 2012)

ok then you have warpage due to age and fact that vw's are paper thin..
you can try letting the body sit in very very hot tap water for 20 minutes or longer then carefully mount the body with bumpers to chassis as fast as you can.
this method also works for bowed/bent window posts and loose fitting afx bodies.


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## Marty (Oct 20, 1999)

They never will. For the rear wheels to line up the rear wheel wells will have to be moved, then the body will be way out of proportion. The short overhang of the VW body won't allow it. Just like the front wheels on the T-Jet Falcon.

Marty
Marysville, OH


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Obviously the say "Faller" inside, but side by side the Faller bugs have more details of better quality. 

Rounded more defined headlamps, door handles, rockers, a nice hood bead, the bumpers are less giganto and mount through the body at the right height, all the seams and edges are yards sharper...yada yada...

The hot water technique cant be expected to magically reverse the ravages of time and the shortcomings of an eggshell design. By all means give it a shot, but dont expect magic wand results. 

I'd try mounting it onto a chassis and try to push and shove some correction into the body and lock it down carefully with the screws to keep the pre-load you shoved into it. Then lock the chassis into a boiling jig. Bring the water to a rolling boil and pull it off. Drop the jig in and let it come to room temp naturally. I wouldnt give up on the first pass.

We've been kicking around an enclosed rejuvenation chamber for brittle plastic using the evaporation of Testors. A warped bug might be an interesting guineau pig. I use Testors as an underwash on bodies and screwed them into chassis to take warps and kinks out. Theres no reason to think that we couldnt gas the body into submission....yet anyway. :tongue:

Hmmmmm......


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## Ralphthe3rd (Feb 24, 2011)

LOL @ Bill, you're a real Gas , Man....


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## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

Bill, I have used the underwash method on the tan bodies since I discovered your magic with the Testors and I really think the "hyperbaric" chamber would work if there was a way to really concentrate the mist and put it under minor pressure.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Since Ralph (I believe it was) originally gave birth to the concept, I've had some time to mull it over. I've got some mental doodles, in crayon of course. 

I have little doubt of the viability...but I see the practicality as some what limited. "Vaporizing" an extremely flammable solvent over vintage art work and glass inserts presents a potential bucket full of "Aw craps!" to work around. I'm presuming the bodies will have to be bare naked ladies, until proven otherwise. IMHO pressurizing it would only serve to increase the hazard, additionally I also see over kill issues with too much uptake on thinner parts that already have a tendency to liquify at normal atmospheric pressure. We may wind up with missing windshield posts and particular panels becoming noodled due to their lack of density as they where originally styled. 

Lets kick it around in chat some night and we can work on the details. Blowing up the garden shed would immediately add value to our property....it's a win win for me.


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## 82whiskey (Sep 6, 2009)

Bill Hall said:


> Blowing up the garden shed would immediately add value to our property....it's a win win for me.


LMAO!:roll:


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## joeslotcar (Mar 12, 2003)

*Faller v Aurora*

Faller bodies had posts that were the same length because the Faller chassis was flat kind of like a cigar box chassis. Aurora bodies had the rear post that was shorter to accommodate the raised mount on the rear of the tjet chassis. When un-altered Faller bodies are mounted on a tjet chassis, the rear end of the body sits too high to look realistic. That body is a tjet that has warped out of alignment over time (like Bill said). Also (not that it means anything here) in the comparison photos, the rear bumper on the tjet is mounted upside down.


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## 82whiskey (Sep 6, 2009)

A jig to hold the screw post closer together and some hot tap water worked out well.










Thanks for the ideas. Now all I need is a rear bumper. The original broke into pieces when I removed the body and I can't find one of the pieces... Crawled on my hands and knees trying to find it but nowhere to be found. Must have fallen into a space/time vortex...

Brian


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

Hold everything....

If we wait another 40 years, will this thing curl up like a doodle bug?


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## slotcardan (Jun 9, 2012)

its possible, another thing is old plastic wasn't UV stable or moisture stable, so it can warp and shrink at different rates in different areas. Old nylon did that also, and we used to boil nylon parts to bring them back in spec, over time the part would dehydrate and shrink.

these toys were never thought of as becoming collectables or lasting 50 years so the plastic used was the lowest and cheapest quality. they were made very light and thin making issues with shrink and warp worse.


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## 82whiskey (Sep 6, 2009)

The odd thing is that I would have expected to body to curl inward. This one was the opposite. The wheel wells were too far apart instead of scrunched (if scrunched ain't a word it ought to be) together.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Density!


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## slotcardan (Jun 9, 2012)

its possible the body was sitting under weight for sometime at the bottom of a box, and it spread out the wheel wheels from the center.

What always amazes me as far as HO scale is how much 1/2 a Millimeter makes


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## bluerod (Nov 1, 2005)

dash vws are perfect looking at the old realeases


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*Geology*



slotcardan said:


> its possible the body was sitting under weight for sometime at the bottom of a box, and it spread out the wheel wheels from the center. What always amazes me as far as HO scale is how much 1/2 a Millimeter makes.


Usually a pre-load scenario on an Aurora beetle will be REALLY whacked out on whatever vector the body in question was subjected to. Most certainly a loose Aurora beetle with even the slightest pre-load will age into something that looks like a Pringle.

Aging creates tension, density or the lack of it directs these tensions. Even bodies that are still firmly locked on their chassis exhibit aging characteristics unique to the model. 

As the body shrinks, and they all do, the thinner areas tighten up quicker. Notably A-pillars, vent posts, thin roofs etc become tighter than guitar strings. The denser areas out gas less quickly. To my mind it's not unlike plate tectonics, where shifting, shattering, cracking, crumbling and sometimes catastrophic explosions occur. 

In the case of the bug, the maximum density is around the ends, where the screw posts transition to the body proper. Due to having thinner connective tissue lying in between the denser end, and the beetle's curved shape; the ends are drawn open and the screw posts spread N to S. As the sides are also notoriously thin the poor little critter was pretty well doomed at birth.

Had Aurora actually taken the time to style proper rockers and beef up the front and rear valences we may have seen a higher survival rate. 

Just like the nostril in a Willys, the sink hole in the front hood aprons of Splitty's, the sink hole around the back glass of XKE's, down to every screw post divot and glass index peg dimple on every model; the beetle also has it's own unique aging process. Which is what Brian has with his white beetle. It's quite typical of a slugbug thats been off it's chassis for a coupla decades and left to relax.
________ 



Yeah, agreed! Oddly, .5 mm is about the limit of what I can accurately approximate/measure by closing one eye and squinting. It always looks like a mile after the body is mounted!


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