# Making a Positive out of a Negative



## jimkelsey (May 7, 2013)

I had an extremely bad experience buying some slotless chassis from a slot vender, whose name will remain anonymous. The good news is that I was able to turn a disappointing experience into something good. 

Here was the situation: I ordered three NOS Speed Steer chassis before Christmas and my wife ordered three more as a Christmas gift. The vender mailed them in time for Christmas and when I opened the package, there were six Ultra 5 NOS chassis. Yes, they were slotless, but that wasn't what I ordered. We exchanged e-mails and I sent the chassis back. 

The week before New Years I got another package in the mail. This time, there were six Speed Steer Roadblockers. Again, not what I ordered. We exchanged e-mails again, along with pics of what an A and B chassis look like. The vender said that he would send a goody bag of parts to make up for the previous mistakes. Last Monday, I got the package and they were far from NOS. In fact, he was supposed to put new rear tires on and none of them had that - most of them broke in two when I squeezed them. 

I would say that 2/6 were close to NOS, aside from the tires. The rest had rear axles that were full of lint and worn hubs, which means use. No big deal if that was known up front. Four sets of front wheels worn and full of lint - again, no big deal if that had been told up front. One of the chassis has a severely damaged bumper, which I am not sure is usable. Unlike slotted cars, the slotless needs a good bumper for guidance around turns. 

The pick-up shoes, though new were not complete. There were seven left side, four right and one center, the latter used only for roadblockers; not a big deal as the left side usually wears out faster; One missing clutch pin, one missing brush spring, one missing pick-up shoe spring; not a big deal;

He sent two spare parts chassis, both of which had clipped bumpers (former slot conversions) and were mostly incomplete. Both contained complete armatures, one magnet clip, magnets, complete front steering, and rear axles. The hubs from one of the rear axles were cracked and, therefore, unusable. 

After a thorough cleaning of all of the chassis, I have two that run superbly and three that run OK - I use my digital lap counter to test how quickly they go around the track. I had to supply fresh SI tires that my wife had bought me for Christmas and supplied the missing parts from my stash.

Here is the positive. For Christmas, I also received an AW GMC semi with a tanker. It came with a slot chassis, which I couldn't use since I only have a slotless system (I gave it to a good friend who has an old AFX slotted system). I assembled extra parts to make a working chassis and it wasn't extremely fast - a perfect fit for the top-heavy semi. I tried creating a bumper out of styrene, but it snapped right off with the least amount of pressure, even with CA+ glue and Zip Kicker. I then remembered that the clear acrylic LOVES CA+ glue like a magnet loves steel. So, I carved one out of the P68 scraps and voila, here it is. It works GREAT and is solidly attached to the chassis. We'll see how long it lasts, but then again, I do not expect to be maxing out the power of the system with this rig.


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## 1976Cordoba (Sep 20, 2000)

When life gives ya lemons - start squeezin! Good save


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## bobhch (Apr 22, 2007)

That's a good looking Cab Over...Have fun!!






Keep On Truckin'....We got us a CONVOY!!!!

Bob...I work in Omaha where this song mentions about how they OUTA know what to do with them Hogs out there...zilla


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## carlosnseattle (May 12, 2009)

Sorry about your bad experience

Glad you made lemonade out of lemons


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## slotcardan (Jun 9, 2012)

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## jimkelsey (May 7, 2013)

Dan: That is a great idea, though the car and barrel trailers seem harder to find than the gravel ones. I do have a US1 set (my only slot car set) that I got when I was a freshman in high school. Not a bad idea to add some more trailers to the set. 

I have a close friend that is my parent's age who owns a chain of local lumberyards and recently added a few semis to his force. I was thinking about painting a truck his colors and getting a flatbed to match, then give it to him as a present with a JL chassis underneath so he could display it next to his Model A. 

I did something similar for him several Christmas' ago. He owns a 1931 Model A pick-up that he was in the process of restoring. I built a 1/24 scale model of it in his company colors with the Arrow Lumber logo on the side. I contacted the manager ahead of time, who scanned in the logo, and I created decals of it to go along the side of the cab. I also super-detailed it, adding lots of extras like spark plug wires, brake rods, etc. He loved it so much that he restored the 1:1 Model A exactly as the model and plans on using it in the local town parades.


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## slotcardan (Jun 9, 2012)

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## SCJ (Jul 15, 1999)

I can help.....mail sent.


-------------------------
www.SlotCarJohnnies.com


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## Joe65SkylarkGS (Feb 15, 2010)

slotcardan said:


> clear front bumpers and slotless now that is sexy ;-)
> 
> wanna have more fun you need the tyco trailers from the jam truck challenge.
> you can convert them to run on the passing cars, then when the second player tries to pass you block they hit your rear bumper trigger and you dump barrels or cars on them
> ...




Dan where do i get a trailer full of those cool 1/87th Grans Nationals? I have one of them in blue but never seen the other colors. Thanks in advance. :wave:


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## slotcardan (Jun 9, 2012)

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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

I bought one of those TYCO auto loaders when I was a kid!! I thought the cars were WAY too small since I was using Hotwheels and Matchboxes for scenery cars. I guess I never got out of that stage!! :lol: They still look too small to me!!


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## Hilltop Raceway (Feb 12, 2006)

Ahhh, you seen one Buick and.... RM


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## slotcardan (Jun 9, 2012)

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## bobhch (Apr 22, 2007)

slotcardan thanks for posting up these 2 videos of your TYCO train and USA1.

Very Neat to see in action!!:thumbsup:

Bz


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## jimkelsey (May 7, 2013)

My brother and I had vision of tying in his RR set with my US1 set - we never found the RR/Tyco track piece in the stores. We did, however, use his RR power pack to boost the power to our massive Tyco layout, using the trucks and U-turn cars. One of these days, I will restore my US1 set.....


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## slotcardan (Jun 9, 2012)

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