# Mega G brush barrels



## Hornet

Stumbled into something tonight,i haven't seen posted anywhere yet,can't be a very common problem,but worth checking when the cars are apart
Took the barrels out of my 1.5 Mega G tonight,and went to ream them.
Low and behold,my reamer wouldn't go in one barrel,i actually had to drill the barrel out,before i could run a .061" reamer through it.
Only one barrel was small,the other barrel was the usual standard .061" i.d.
Just a heads up to check the barrel i.d on your Mega G's if you have them dis-assembled for servicing.:thumbsup:

Had to use a sewing needle to poke the brush out of the barrel it was that tight
Rick


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## beast1624

Very interesting. We will be on the lookout for that. Thanks for the heads up!


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## Bill Hall

Duly noted Rick!

Mega thanx.


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## Hornet

I don't think it's a common problem ,but definitely worth checking the barrels if you have the cars apart.
I've seen the odd post where people have had brush barrels melt into the chassis,and i wonder if a tight barrel might not be a contributing factor.

For you guys with-out anyway to check the i.d of your barrels,a tyco axle or a .059" drillbit/drill blank will work in a pinch as a checking tool,if it doesn't slide in and out of the barrel freely,odds are the barrel is slightly small,and should be opened up.

On mine i had to drill it to .059 before i could ream it,it was that small
Rick


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## Hornet

Decided to see what i could come up with for an adjustable barrel for the Mega G's.
My first thought was to drill and tap the stock barrel ,but to me it doesn't look overly do-able,at least not with my home based line of tools.
So i started eyeballing up what i had laying around for barrels.
With a little grinding to shorten the barrel,a stock Wizzard barrel from a P3/Scorpion/Storm slides right into the funny little tabs that hold the stock Mega G's barrels.
I used a dab of Locktite Superglue (CA) on the outside of the barrel to lock it to the chassis,as it doesn't have a locating ring like the stock barrel has.
For you guys who aren't rule limited,and like the option of being able to adjust the brush tension on your cars,this is a work-able solution to try if you want.
I ain't saying you'll go any faster,as i haven't yet,but i like the option of being able to adjust the brushes to compensate for wear:thumbsup:
Rick


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## slotking

do you have any old LL barrels
I think they had a locating ring????
they snapped in like the mega-g


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## Hornet

No gots on the LL barrels Mike.
We never ran the cars,so my selection of LL parts is pretty well nill.

But am adapting your old Super G+ shunt wire trick to it.
Going through the topside of the spring pocket to capture the spring,and then using the shunt wire to jam the barrel into the chassis,hopefully negating the use of glue to retain the barrels.
Still working on it though,lol:wave:
Rick


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## Ovalhead

Solder a washer around Wiz's adjustable barrels at the right spot as if stock locating rings were located. While your at it, solder your shunt wire at the same time to the washer. Nothing legal but fun to run.

*Hornet* has it going on, probably the best part of HO is experimenting / modifying stock chassis and see where it takes you. 

Thank goodness for the need for speed as we have many that have ventured down the *MG Shake Down Road *to find awesome results but they are clearly modified. 

A many already know, surfing the web you can find many, many ways to upgrade the MG but at a cost. 

To each his own but I love the modifieds ! The MG is the newest frontier for the HO slot hobbyist.

Maybe one day we will here " *RUN WHAT YOU BRUNG MEGA G STYLE ! *"


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## Hornet

LOL,i was looking through my small washers wondering about using something as a locator ring OH,:thumbsup:
Are you guys converting them to an adjustable barrel 
Rick


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## beast1624

Hornet
I thought that sounded familiar...they talked about that in one of the hop up tips over at Harden Creek Clotcars


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## Hornet

Son of a gun,here i thought i'd stumbled into something new,lol:thumbsup:
Wished i'd seen this before,i'd of done things a little differant.
I wouldn't of shortened the barrels,lol.

I did look at the washer idea,but i also don't like where the barrels actually sit in the chassis in relation to the com.
I think the barrels phsycally sit to low,so i used my shunt wire under the barrels to lift the barrels roughly .025" up,and that also seems to have locked them in place fairly solidly.

I didn't solder anything,i basically took Mike's old shunt wire Super G trick and adapted it to a Mega G,but i went to the top of the spring pocket.
I drilled a .039" hole right through the top of the spring pocket,cleaned the shavings out of the hole,stuck the shoe spring in place,then threaded my shunt wire through the hole and through the coils of the spring,and out the other hole.
This way the spring is retained in the chassis,and changing shoes is no differant then stock,as nothing is soldered to the shoe.

Then i ran the shunt wire along the outer chassis wall and over to the barrel holes,and layed it in the bottem of the holes then snapped the barrels in on top of the wire

The wire i used is roughly .030" when stripped,and raised the barrels close to .025" in the chassis

The car hasn't ran any faster,but it runs alot more consistently then it ever did.
At 40 laps the car used to start falling off the pace,and you really had to drive deep into the throttle to get any speed out of it,put 194 laps on it tonight,and the fastest 3 laps were the last 3 laps,so i'm pretty happy with the mods,
I had to turn the sensitistivity on my controller way down,the car responds so much better then before

They are hot running little monsters though,this one has a 4.0 Tyco arm in it and 8/23 gearing,and runs consistently 30 degrees hotter then any other car i run,including my Neo's.
I even slotted the bottems of the barrels to help with getting heat away from the brushes/com,and also so i can see what's happening with the spring inside the barrel.
This is a new combo to me,and i wanted to make sure i wasn't stacking the coils in the spring to solidly,but after dyno tuning,there's lots of space yet between the coils

I've sanded it till the mags are just about flush,but it runs to hot,to think about lowering it much more then it is

Good thing is it doesn't slow down now when it's hot,lol:thumbsup:
Rick


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## Ovalhead

Terry from Florida has been good to me over the years, he comes up with some radical ideas. 

Good luck Hornet, you have the most important element, Desire & Drive ! :thumbsup:

Cliff​


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## Hornet

Cliff,i don't know about having those elements 

Figured i'd see what i could get out of one speed wise with a few tricks that generally work on most cars,and not spend much in the way of money.

Has anybody found a better set of motor mags for these little hotrods.
I think a better set of motor mags might help bring the temps down,i've never been a fan of strong traction mags and wimpy motor mags,only thing that combo does is create heat in my opinion:thumbsup:
Rick


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## alpink

I have heard of folks baking magnets in the oven to decrease their strength.


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## Hornet

Roughly at about 165F a neo mag starts to lose some strength,so good idea Al.
I hadn't considered weakening the stock mags to much,but you got me looking at a pair of old P3 poly traction mags now.:thumbsup:
Their only level 15's,and i'm thinking a few minutes on the belt sander should take them down to where they'll drop in place.
Rick


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## slotking

you sure

I got an unlimited up 300 degrees once

magnets and arm still were fine


It would still fly around the track


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## Hornet

LOL,been there too Mike.
I've had custom arms hit 300 and still live,but never a stock arm.
This one isn't running that hot,but it does run steady at 180 to 185 if i'm leaning on it and running a lot of laps.
I've got about a 1,000 laps on the stock Tyco arm,and so far it's still holding up even at those temps.
The stock arms run right around 155 to 160 ,just this Tyco combo seems to be higher then it should be.
The car won't run the numbers on a 7T pinion,so i'm leaving the 8T on it,and gonna run it till it blows.
Can't beat a cheap Tyco arm,when it blows up,throw another at it,for 4 bucks,you can't go wrong,lol:thumbsup:


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## Hornet

Just a heads up,if any of you guys tinkering with Mega G's are trying to lift the barrels in relation to the arm,make sure you use something like a drillblank to keep the barrels in line.
If you want to play with the timing you can offset the barrels slightly,but it's a hit and miss deal usually.
Rick


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## Hornet

Spent a little more time playing with brush barrels on a 1.5 Mega G this afternoon.
Discovered Wizzard Bigfoot barrels will slide into the stock brush holders.
They're a fairly snug fit,but they actually sit better in relation to the com then the small barrels do.
If you try a set,keep an eye on the armature bushing alignment.
You might have to do some slight tweaking to the front bushing tabs,as the big barrels slightly distort the tabs,nothing a little reaming won't take care of.
The pick-up shoes seem to actually fit the big barrels better then the small barrels.:thumbsup:
Rick


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## Hornet

Gotta admit,i'm liking the bigfoot upgrade.
For you guys tinkering around with Tyco powered Mega G's,and upgraded level 42 or higher traction mags,it's an option to try if you want.
The bigfoot barrels are actually easier to install then the smaller barrels,as they clip in tightly,and don't require any glue to retain them.
Pay attention to the front bushing alignment,you might have to tweak it slightly.
If you have one that runs hot,and the brushes aren't tight in the barrels,check the arm bushings for mis-alignment.
The front bushing can become slightly cocked,and will cause a heat problem.
I haven't ran any faster laptime wise,but i had to back the voltage down quiet a bit as the bigger brushes seem to wake up the tyco arm.
I normally run them on 24 volts,yea i know i'm nuts,but with this one after putting it on the bigger brushes,i had to back the voltage down to 22 volts to keep it semi-controllable.
For me the car has way more power and throttle response,i like it,lol:thumbsup:
Rick


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## Ovalhead

Good feedback Rick. 
It made me wonder when I tried the big feet barrels " was this meant to be "? They fit as if they were designed to. Now MG adjustables. 

Next I would like to design a clip to hold down the arm bushings during impact. Something kinda like what the Wiz cars have on their front motor bushing. 
Just goofing in my spare time............... Cliff


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## Hornet

OH:I've been looking at the bushing tabs wondering how hard it'd be to open them up to accept a bearing,instead of the bushing.
And i think you nailed it with needing some sort of bearing/bushing retainer clip.

I put this one on a salt and pepper brush set-up,even broke the bank and used new brushes.:wave:

But yea i sure like the way the car works on the bigger brushes.

OH,i came up with a kinda neat shunt wire system,that retains the pick-up springs in the spring pocket,and allows you to slightly adjust the pick-up shoe tension,by turning the spring in or out,and it also prevents the shoe from phsyically lifting off the barrel.
It won't work with stock barrels,but works with the slightly longer Wizz barrels.
It's nothing more then a piece of piano wire bent into a fancy little spring shape.
Hard to explain so i'll work on pictures,but it works great,as the high wearing parts like shoes and brushes are still easily service-able.:thumbsup:
Rick


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## Ovalhead

I like where this is heading, let's keep wrenching and sharing. I love it ! 

I miss my father badly at these times, he had 7 electrical & mechanical patents and he is the one who got me started in slots. We built a layout in 1970 in Long Branch N.J. that took 3 sheets of plywood and a butt load of L&J Aurora track. He had one T-Jet that could ride a wheelie 6 feet while the shoes and pin were still in the slot, cool stuff.
I hope this apple don't roll too far from his tree !

Cliff


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## Hornet

Gotta do some updating on this post.

Had really good luck with the bigfoot upgrade on the Tyco powered 1.5,so i figured i'd see how it worked on a 1.7 with a stock arm.
Promptly burnt up 2 new arms one at 10 laps and the second one at 11 laps.
Hmmn not good,i'd wrote the first arm off as a dud,but when i burnt the second one up,i went looking for why.
Took a little looking,but what i found on this car is the bigfoots sit just a bit differant then they do in the other car,and both bigfoot brushes end up touching the same com segment at the same time.

This car will get the smaller Wizz barrel upgrade.
Just a heads up if anybody tries this trick,pay attention to where the brushes sit on the com,and if they both touch the same com segment at the same time,don't go for the big barrels.

I'm thinking i got lucky on the first one,or the 1.5 chassis is slightly differant then the 1.7 in barrel placement.
Rick


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## Ovalhead

Rick, just got back from Williamsburg, I need to tinker some on this tomorrow, I'm too tired to think right now. After I get some testing done I'll return the call. Got your message just now.

Good night, Cliff


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## LDThomas

Is the comm on the Tyco arm larger diameter than the stock 1.7 arm?


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## Hornet

Both coms are pretty close to the same diameter +/- maybe a thous .
First thing i thought of too.
Appears like there's just enough discreptancy between chassis's that this mod is a hit or miss mod,depending on chassis
If you're trying the bigger brush mod,you'll want to watch things very closely.:thumbsup:
Rick


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## Hornet

Decided to try another chassis.
Dug out a brand new 1.7,never been opened car,and it's pretty close to the same as the other 1.7.
You might get away with a small and big brush combo,but it looks like the 2 bigger barrels would run into problems with touching the same com segment at the same time.

I haven't dug out another 1.5 yet.
When i get over being cheap,i'll open another 1.5 up,and see where it falls into the mix
Rick


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## beast1624

Rick
Thanks for the updates. They are very helpful!


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## beast1624

Dup post


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## slotking

what about the wiz cut bigfeet brushes?

rick

did some directing last night


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## Hornet

I was thinking of them too Mike.:thumbsup:

I don't have any of them in stock though.
Could make my own,but i'm getting lazy in my old age,lol

LOL,directing,now i'm curious:wave:

Found the video's Mike,i'll watch them later,good idea,thanks
Rick


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## slotking

they use to make them by hand


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## Hornet

LOL,yea back when we were playing with Fred and Barney:wave:

Mikes got some good video's posted on Mega G dis-assembly.
I was intrigued with his motor mag and arm removal technics:thumbsup:

I've been doing it the hard way,sliding the mags up from the bottom with a small screwdriver,never once thought of just popping them out,that's a good tip Mike:thumbsup:
Rick

http://ho-tips.net/showthread.php?tid=1792&page=5


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## slotking

thanks

I thought the mag design was kind of neat how they lock in place


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## Hornet

Finally got around to testing out some differant brush springs tonight.
I've been doing the small barrel upgrade using the stock 006" springs.
Threw a set of Wizzard .008" high temp silver springs into the barrels tonight,and proceeded to break every record the car had set prior on .006" springs,by enough to be noticable.:thumbsup:

I expected some gain out of the spring upgrade,but i was a bit amazed at how much the car did gain,it gained close to a tenth on my high downforce routed track at 24volts.
I baselined the car,and it matched it's prior records on a couple lanes and re-set it's record on one lane,so the car and track were on pace,pulled it off the track,wound the set screws out,pulled the old .006" springs out,dropped in the .008" springs,threw the set screws back in,ear tuned it on my 3 volt battery box,didn't even dyno tune it,threw it back on the track,and was flat out amazed at the differance in the car.

I'm not saying anybody else will have the same results,but it might be worth the price of a couple sets of brush springs from you're favorite manufacture'r to find out

Rick


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## Hornet

For you guys using the stock barrels,BSRT's Tyco brush springs are probably you're best bet.
The gold plated high temp springs from BSRT are quite a bit shorter in overall length then Wizzards high temp silver springs,and will probably be the ones to use in that case.
OSR on another post mentioned he was having good luck with BRST's .008" springs and silver brushes in the stock barrels.
I have .009 gold plated BSRT springs on hand,but haven't tried them in a stock barreled car yet
I also haven't tried the silver brush trick yet,but from prior brush experience it should also show a noticable improvenment in speed too
If you're trying differant springs in a Wizzard barrel upgraded car,the longer length of the Wizz springs is probably your best bet,as the Wizz barrels are a fair bit longer then the stock barrels:thumbsup:

Mike you're more up on Slottech parts then me,is there anything in Tony's line-up of parts that would also work as far as adjustable barrels/springs etc.
I've been using Wizzards parts,as that's what i have on hand, was wondering if you'd eyeballed anything from Slottech that's adaptable to a Mega G:thumbsup:
Rick


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## Hornet

If you look close you can see how i'm doing my pick-up shoe retainer/ shunt on the Wizzard barrel upgraded Mega G's.
Thanks out to Todd for the pic's:thumbsup:

I've been using 0.015" piano wire wrapped around a small 0.050" drill bit ,basically a spring with a tang that goes across the top of the shoe and barrel.
The tang prevents the shoe from lifting off the barrel,but doesn't impede it's range of motion,and the shoe is still easy to change out.
The 1.5 car with the bigfoot barrels also has a tab into the spring pocket that lets you slightly adjust the tension of the shoe spring,i haven't found that mod to give any performance advantage though,so i've since quit doing the spring tab

The 1.5 car is using a Wizz Pro Predator 23 tooth crown,and the 1.7 is using a 23 tooth Wizz Supertough,both gears need shaving down to work,and i wouldn't reconmend the Supertough,as it's tough to get it to fit in the chassis itself.
If anybody has any gear reconmendations,i'm listening,as these are the only 2 crown gears i've tried so far.
Looks like a Slottech crown should fit with some trimming,but i haven't tried it yet

Rick


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## Bill Hall

Nice work around Rick!

I love tricky retrofits that make sense.


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## tossedman

Loosening the body sure made a difference in the handling of the car as well, eh Rick? I used an original MG 1.7, which seems to be a tad narrower than the current ones with a body that Rick had lightened and loosened and it handled much better than the original body. We were using the Paul Tracy Forsythe Champ car body. It was interesting as to how much looser it was on this older chassis as compared to the newer 1.7 chassis.

Your new barrels and the springs are pretty slick. Looks like those pickup shoes aren't going to be coming off any time soon.

Todd


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## Hornet

I knew the body was worth something laptime wise,but i was totally floored at how much quieter your cars were with the floated bodies.
Todd gained a good tenth maybe even a touch more,by using a floated body.
My 1.7 F1 bodies aren't really lightened so much as just had enough material removed to give them some float.
Stock on my scale the 1.7 F1 bodies weigh 3.2 grams,after i'm done floating them,they aren't much lighter at 3.1 grams,but the cars noticably handle better,ask Todd,i think he was rather surprised at the differance in handling just floating the body made ,lol:thumbsup:

Bill,the shoe retainers make the cars less sensitive to shoe adjustments in my opinion.:thumbsup:
I've wore holes through both ends of the shoes,experimenting with toe and heal settings,and the cars are a pleasure now to adjust the shoes on,before if you weren't spot on with the shoes,the cars were very finicky.
You might say i have the odd set of old small Wizz barrels kicking around,and this is the best use going for using them up,lol


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## Hornet

For you guys experimenting with the Mega G's,the mod's i've done to my 1.7 have gained close to a 1/2 sec on my track at 24 volts,and can be done for about 20 bucks over the cost of the car.
I'm using a Wizz 8T pinion /23t Pro Predator crown.
This gear ratio suits "my driving style on my track",so take it with a grain of salt,it's not a wrote in stone absolute,here you'll have to experiment to find what suits you're particular driving style
.008" silver Wizz brush springs,stock brushes
Wizz small brush barrels,with the fabbed up .015" piano wire retainers
Stock Wizz Storm non-independent front end
.275 Hobby-Pro double flanged rear hubs,stock rear tires
Hollow .058" (17G)rear axles
Gears are spaced using spacers,no gear saver.
Chassis's are sanded flat,but it's not really required if your staying close to stock sized tires
Part of my budget was to limit the cars to the stock rear tires,and a stock sized double flange hub.
You can get away with the stock hub set-up,with-out the added expense of the aftermarket hubs.
I have a pile of the old Hobby Pro hubs laying around that's basically why i used them

Floated body.
Basically just clearanced enough to allow some movement front to back / side to side and up and down vertical movement.
You only need a few thous of float in all directions to make a notice-able improvement in the cars handling.
I set a budget of 20 bucks to see what i could gain for speed and reliability,and the above mods can be done for roughly that price.
So far both cars are panning out pretty reliable,after getting them sorted out.
I burnt up a couple arms and wrecked a new 1.7 chassis experimenting with the big barrels,and i wouldn't really reconmend them now.
The 1.7 car has close to 3,000 laps on it now,and other then a couple brush adjustments and oiling,has been absolutely reliable.
The 1.5 car has a Tyco arm in it ,and has only about 1500 laps under it's belt,it runs hot as hell,in the 170F range on the stacks,and 180F or better on the com,but so far has been reliable,knock on wood
I actually don't mind the cars to much,and now that they look like they can be made semi reliable and tune-able ,i'm building a few more identical to the 1.7above,one for each lane,and calling them a spec car :thumbsup:
Rick


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## Hornet

If you take the budget dollars up a few more bucks then i did.
You could swap out the non-independent Storm front axle assembly for an aftermarket independent front axle assembly with tires cut to suit your application,plus add a set of aftermarket silver brushes to the mix.
Those would be my next steps up the budget ladder,i put a limit of $20.00 over the cars cost,but another few dollars above my self imposed budget limit,will gain a bit more speed with-out making the cars into a high maintaince rocket ship.
The down side of a silver brush is it's wear factor,and the fact they're usually more money ,
They don't last as long as copper/carbon style brushes do,but they will bring out a touch more horsepower/speed from the stock arm if you're looking for that extra little bit of speed
After that,you'd probably be looking at upgraded traction mags from someplace like Harden Creek Slotcars or K&J Magnetics etc.,plus an aftermarket hotter arm.
Just depends on how much you want to spend on speed :thumbsup:
Rick


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## Hornet

Ran into something interesting tonight.

Dug out 3 more new 1.7's to start building as spec cars,started looking at the guide-pins on the new ones.

Dug out the calipers,and 2 of the guide-pins in the cars i opened tonight have noticably shorter giude-pins in them.

3 of the cars have guide-pins that measure roughly 0.168"/0.170" long,1 car measure's out at 0.147" long and the last car measures out with a short 0.142" long guide-pin.
Looks like there is some discrepenancy in the lengths of the guide-pins .
Another thing you have to pay attention too


Also one car is a #1 chassis,first one i have run into marked #1,all the rest i have,have been #2 chassis's.
As far as i can tell,there doesn't seem to be much differance between the 2 chassis's,that's using the ole calipers and calibrated eyeball to measure hole placements etc.
Maybe on the track there might be a differance,but that's a maybe IMO

Finally have enough cars in pieces to make it worth while matching motor mags.
The first thing i discovered,my old bolt and washer set-up is too heavy for the Mega G's average motor mag.
Which surprised me,as even 15 year old Wizz P2 motor mags will still pick the bolt up with at least a couple of washers on it,where-as 3 sets of the Mega G motor mags wouldn't pick up just the bare bolt by itself,while one south mag slightly rocked the bolt and just about lifted it,and one north mag actually would lift the bolt.
Basically i learned my bolt is too heavy,but it worked enough to show me that mixing and matching mags is worth your time if you have more then one car to work with.

I finished one car tonight,built it as close to identical as i could to the first car.
I used the 2 strongest motor mags in it,brand new it's only a couple hundredth's off the first one i built,but it runs close to 10 degrees cooler then the first car,which is using it's original unchecked pair of motor mags.
Pretty happy with this car too.
Once it has a few more laps on it,and frees up a bit more,it should match or slightly better the first car.
Looks like they'll make good IROC or spec style cars if you build them as close to identical as you can.

I'm not mixing and matching the traction mags,as they're a real bear to get in and out of the chassis.
For now,i'm running them in the stock high downforce configration.

Using a small screwdriver to check magnetic pull,i haven't found much differance in the Neo traction mags,but it's not a very scientific or even good way to check them.
If anybody has done a guass meter test on the traction mags and found a big discrepnancy in the strength of them,please speak up
Rick


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## Hornet

Another area to pay attention to is the weight of the bodies.
Try to stay away from the bodies with lots of over spray underneath and the darker coloured bodies.
My scale measures almost a 1/2 gram more for the body done up as the dark blue "Full Tilt" body compared to the lighter coloured white and yellow body done as Racemasters "Flow" body
Dark blue Full Tilt body on my scale weighes 3.6 grams.
White and Yellow Flow body weighes 3.2 grams.

These weights are off the 1.7 champ cars,on my scale:thumbsup:
Rick


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## tossedman

Hornet said:


> Ran into something interesting tonight....
> 
> ...Using a small screwdriver to check magnetic pull, I haven't found much difference in the Neo traction mags, but it's not a very scientific or even good way to check them.
> If anybody has done a guass meter test on the traction mags and found a big discrepancy in the strength of them, please speak up
> Rick


Hey Rick, 

Finally got a chance to get down to the basement and didn't have to play model trains with the boy. I got out the gauss meter and compared the traction magnets on my two original 1.7 MegaG chassis. They were: 2738 gauss on one side and 2187 gauss on the other. The second car was 2420 and 2290 gauss on the two traction mags. I also tested a newer 1.5" chassis' traction mags and they were 2187 and 2188 gauss each. 

Much closer to each other. Now I didn't remove the magnets from the chassis so these readings are a bit off but it gives you an idea. I'll bring the meter over to your place next time we stop in. If you want to borrow it before then let me know and we'll work out a pickup somewhere. 

Todd :wave:


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## Hornet

Thanks Todd.

That's a bigger spread on the traction mags then i thought they'd have.

I just might borrow that handy little meter of your's:thumbsup:

Weather's supposed to suck this week-end,if you want,i'll clean things off for Sunday.:wave:
Rick


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## tossedman

I'll talk to the Mrs. and let you know Rick. Unless she's got something planned that should work.

Todd


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## Hornet

Played a little with a stock barreled car
If your experimenting with brush springs in the stock barrels using the stock brushes,don't worry about try'ing BSRT's HT209 #141 .009" brush springs.
They're more spring then the car likes .
Car slowed down,and the heat went way up
So if you're into brush spring experimenting using the stock MG's barrels/brushes,i'd stay with trying BSRT's .007" and .008" brush springs.:thumbsup:
Rick


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## Hornet

I ran into another Mega G with a small barrel,so i think it's maybe more common then i thought.
Out of 1/2 dozen cars i've now pulled out of packages,2 have had 1 barrel smaller then normal.
So it's worth checking barrel inside diameters:thumbsup:

The easiest way i've come up with for pulling the stock barrels out.Is to cup the car in your hand and pry the back end of the barrel up,so the mouth of the barrel points down,and the brush should pop out into the palm of your cupped hand,under the com.
To install the brush and barrel,i've been holding them so that the brush tube faces vertical, then carefully mate the face of the brush with the com,and then if things go right you should be able to squeeze the barrel into place with-out launching brush and spring across the room.

If anybody has a better way to re-install the brush and barrel assembly,i'm sure listening,:thumbsup:


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## slotking

yeah

I think the video I did has me inserting the tube the same way.
my extraction is a little different?


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## Hornet

Getting them out i find is pretty easy,but re-installing the barrel and brush assembly is where i usually launch everything across the room.

I was thinking of drilling a small hole in the bottom side of the barrels,then you could stick a small pin or wire through the hole to hold the spring in a collasped state.

Then i said to heck with it,and they're all getting converted to Wizz barrels:thumbsup::wave:.

Spent 1/2 an hour looking for parts launched last night that i never did find,and that was the final straw.
Might take a bit of time to initially install the Wizz barrels,but i'll save time in the long run,and wear and tear on the knees:thumbsup::wave:
And it'll be alot cheaper,doesn't take many lost brushes and springs to pay for the barrel upgrade


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## Ovalhead

Patience my engineering friend, the progress your making and the gracious way your sharing your R & D will come back 10 fold as you well know. 

I have been so busy since Christmas, that I have come to rely on your research as of late. I hope to get a little break soon, so I can get back in HO saddle and ride with ya !

PS I'm with you on the Wiz Barrels. :thumbsup:

Sorry for the interruption, carry on, Cliff


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## Hornet

Cliff what voltage are you running them on?

If you're limited to 18 to 20 volts,there's probably a bit more speed in the car if you switch over to silver brushes.

I run individual power supplies on each lane,so i can dial in all the speed needed by upping the lane voltages,but if you're limited to a set voltage,i'd give silver brushes a whirl.
If you haven't stepped up the brush springs,a set of .008" Wizz springs in the upgraded Wizz barrel trick,really seems to wake the cars up.:thumbsup:

A bit off the subject,but has anybody found parts like pick-up shoes/springs etc. sold seperately from the Pit Kits.
I hate buying the pit kits just for the shoes,:wave:
Rick


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## Ovalhead

Rick, I'm running them all over the place but mostly at 18.5 v because of the track configuration. ( Tight, Technical and Twisty ) 53'.

I could alter all that with the 30 band electronic but I don't have a Difalco for every lane.

The track is dressed out full Trackmate with 30 v / 20 a variable, regulated Mastech.

Rick the stock shoes can be found but I need a minute to find where I got them. It's been over a year since I purchased a MG.

I've been lucky about the springs. Still getting them from the Tune Up Kits that came with the cars.

I'll get back at ya. Cliff


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## Ovalhead

Rick, found all you need, 1.5, 1.7 & Springs. Check your PMs.

Cliff


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## Hornet

Thanks for the link Cliff.

Also found them on Lucky Bob's site,must of been blind,as i usually check Bob's site first,but i missed them the first time i went looking them.

http://www.lucky-bobs-slot-cars.com/TOMY-MEGA-G-PARTS.html

Rick


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## Hornet

After carving up another Wizz Pro Predator crown gear to get it to fit,has anybody tried any ScaleAuto/BSRT gears in a MG ,if so which ones?
I'm using Wizz gears only because i have them,but if anybody has found an easier crown to get to fit,please pass it on:thumbsup:

I'm open to trying any gears that'll fit easier then what i'm using
Rick


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## tossedman

Rick do you have any of the Storm Super Tough crown gears? I understand they're a bit thinner and may fit with little or no trimming. 

Todd


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## Hornet

Yea i seen Petersons post.
Yup they're the ones i don't reconmend Todd,as their diameter makes them really hard to fit.
I ruined 3 of them suckers before i finally had one that fit

Have found one combo that i think will work,and should fit my driving style.
That's a small diameter 7tooth pinion and a Slottech 20 tooth crown.

Only thing is,i only have one 20T Slottech crown,and it's missing teeth,so i'll have to dig some more of Tony's gears up,but it physically fits the chassis.

i was playing with pinions this morning,and my perferance is definitely an 8/23 combo,as a 7/23 combo on the same car,is a full 1/2 second slower for me.
So i'm hoping a 7/20 combo will be a close match in speed,and should be an easier fit.

8/23 = 2.875

7/20 = 2.857

The 7/20 ratio is pretty close,but you lose the diameter of the 23T crown,so the torque might fall off slightly,but till i try the combo,i won't know for sure how it'll pan out

Are you coming out today?


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## Hornet

Tossedman was out this morning,and i borrowed his guass meter.
It's definitely worth checking mags on the MG's,as they're all over the place,including the traction mags.

I had one motor mag that was virtually dead ,and the neo tractions aren't as close in strength as i thought they'd be

Cliff check your e-mail,sent you a link to a neat little guass meter.
I'm not spilling the beans on here yet,as they're built to order,and i want one first,before he has a run on them:thumbsup:.
But i used Todds today,and it works really good for the price the guy is selling them at.:thumbsup:
Rick


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## tossedman

Yup, I'm coming out today, in fact your phone probably rang just after you'd posted this. And nope, I didn't read this until just now.

Had a good run at Rick's today and man do the stock wheels and axles suck on my car. Hadn't trued the rims but that wouldn't have many any difference as it turns out the rear axle is bent. Now I may not be the gentlest of drivers as I prang the car into this or that but I have no idea as to how it got bent.

Also, blew a pickup shoe off the Mega G. I needed some of Rick's little pickup shoe retainers. Simple idea but effective. Here's a picture:










The pickup shoe just slides underneath the long part of the wire you see. Works like a charm. When I abused his cars, they all stayed in one piece. Thanks Di for the snacks and the hockey game too. Went and spent a whole loonie and got some new handle thingies for it already.

Thanks Rick for another fun morning of driving and BS-ing. Well, morning and half the afternoon.

Cheers eh,

Todd


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## slotking

rick 

saw a pic of a mega-g with a bsrt gray crown, and someones white pinion


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## Hornet

Thanks Mike.
Todd had a 20T Pro Predator in his parts box,that he donated to the cause,and i think it'll also work. 

Gentlest of drivers ,he he he,i just about fell off the chair giggling on that one
I'm thinking padded room,not track walls,lol,lol:wave:

LOL just razing ya,it's always a pleasure having you and Noah over:thumbsup:

LOL,you made Di's day,she's been after me for years to get rid of the air hockey table,smoking deal getting new paddles for a buck:thumbsup:

Yea we'll have to get you a hollow axle set up going with good hubs,the stock stuff leaves a bit to be desired.

Been playing with your guass meter tonight,man is that ever the handiest little meter going.
Now i gotta find somebody south of the border who wants to go in on one,as he doesn't ship to Canada anymore,.


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## Ovalhead

That is a nifty looking gauss meter. If it works as good as it looks and at that price, it would be a no brain-er on getting one. Thanks for the info.. I have access to one much larger but would like to have one of these to carry in the slot box.

What part of Canada ? 

I might have found the ticket on pick-up springs for the MG. Not only is it the spring, it holds the pick-up shoe on the barrel plus gives it another path of current. The best thing is, they were right under I eyes and I never caught it. They are mass produced and cheap. Will update as more comes in.

Cliff


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## slotking

almost sound like the old LL shoe spring


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## Ovalhead

Bingo ! M


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## Hornet

Any pic's Cliff.
I've never owned a LL,sorta know what they look like and that's about it,lol.

We only ran poly cars and up,that we could easily get parts for,that meant Wizzard in the early days.
SS was never really ran as a class here,so i've never owned a LL

If it won't go through the wall on impact,the boys aren't interested in it,that's the problem with racing slotcars with a bunch of ex and current street and drag racers,speeds the only thing they think about,lol:thumbsup:
Rick


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## Ovalhead

I don't have a LL either, never have. I went to a local track and one of the racers there, who does not use a computer figured it out on his own. 

Anyway, I have not done a chassis yet but have purchased the springs. I will have some progress pic's later. 

Get you some LL M chassis pick-up springs and you will see the light ! Just cut a tiny groove as big as the diameter of the spring, behind the MG spring pocket on the bottom of the MG chassis. 

The long arm of the spring comes out of the MG spring pocket, laid in the small groove and up into the slot at the top of the stock MG pick-up shoe. 

This holds the shoe down on the barrel and provides a second path of conductivity.

I have not tested this myself but raced against a MG 1.7 Open Wheel ( Done this way ) for about 10 minutes and his car was a bit faster than my top horse MG 1.7 Open Wheel.

So I feel that it didn't hurt anything or slow it down and could lead to a more reliable race car ?

I was impressed say the least, 
Cliff


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## Hornet

You got them done yet Cliff,lol:wave:
Just kidding,lol:wave:

Got around to trying out Old Slot Racers tip of BSRT .008" brush springs in the stock barrels,it works:thumbsup:
To the tune of 2 tenth's on my track.
I haven't tried his silver brush tip yet,maybe after supper if i'm ambitious,but it's definitely worth upgrading from the stock springs to BSRT's .008" brush springs.
i figured before this one got converted over to Wizz barrels,i'd try OSR's tip,it's one of them why didn't i do it along time ago things,lol:thumbsup:

The car was the slowest one of the bunch out of the package,so i've been using it as a beater car,but with no more then just a brush spring upgrade in the stock barrels it's right on pace with the other Wizz barrel equipped cars now.

This car also had a smaller then normal barrel,so i opened the barrel up when i did the spring upgrade,so some of the speed increase might be contributed to having the barrel opened up to the proper size,but i think the springs were the biggest contributor of speed:thumbsup:


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## Hornet

If you're playing with springs keep an eye on the heat level.
I ran this latest one for close to a hundred laps last night,and it's a hot running little sucker with the stiffer BSRT springs,but it's way faster.
This tip needs to be taken with a grain of caution,but it's worth trying :thumbsup:


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## slotking

hot by touch or heat gun?

120 degrees will feel hot but is not hot via the heat gun


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## Hornet

Heat gun Mike.
It was running a lot hotter then i like to run stock arms at,185 on the stacks,and close to 200 on the com.
But fast,man the little sucker really came to life with the .008" springs,and even when it was hot,it didn't fall off on speed that bad.
I think i'd either cut a couple coils off,or find myself some real short/wore out brushes,if i was gonna pursue it anymore, that'd probably bring the heat levels down a bit.

I'm so tired of chasing brushes and springs around the floor though,that's as far as i'm taking this test,this car's getting converted to something a little nicer to work with,lol:thumbsup:


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## Hornet

Them darn Brits,lol

JB posted about loose windings on a MG,so i went looking at mine,and be darned if he's not right.
I have 2 cars where you can see the windings starting to creep to the outer edge of the lams.
The worst one is the car that was the slowest,and the one i threw the .008" BSRT springs into the other night.
So being an idiot i used my thumbnail to push the windings back down ,into the center of the arm,then plunked the car on the track and it made about 2 ft before it blew windings everywhere.
Moral of the story keep an eye on the windings of a stock MG,and if they've moved,get scared,lol
At the moment i haven't come up with any way of keeping the windings locked in place.
Thought about using some epoxy to lock the windings into place,has anybody tried epoxing the windings on a MG yet?
Rick


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## Hornet

For some of you newer guys,if you're swapping armatures in a MG,make sure you mic the new arms outer diameter.
The MG's carry a tight motor mag to stack clearance,and even an armature that's only a couple thous bigger in diameter will run hot on you.
Especially important if you're swapping the hotter Tyco arms into them.:thumbsup:
Rick


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## Hornet

Cliff any pic's yet of the LL spring upgrade.:wave:
Rick


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## Ogre

Bump Bump


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