# Teach me about chassis!



## 82whiskey (Sep 6, 2009)

Hi all,

I've bought a few lots of cars and chassis justy to mess around with and see what I can learn. If you guys could take a look at my attached photos and help me identify the different types I would surley appreciate it.

The first two photos look to be of all TYCO. Can anyone explain the different types?

















The next two appear to be Matchbox which I know little about.

















The last I have no idea about. The body is a NASCAR #15 Ford.









Please educate me!

Thanks
Brian A


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## grungerockjeepe (Jan 8, 2007)

Hang onto the matchbox's. They wont work on regular track without some mods, but it can be done, and they like to slide!


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## 1976Cordoba (Sep 20, 2000)

82whiskey said:


> *These are Tyco Magnum 440X2 chassis (narrow chassis on the left, wide 'pan' chassis on the right). The X2s have two separate traction mags - the earlier original Magnum 440 had a single bar magnet.*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Check the bold type above.


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## grungerockjeepe (Jan 8, 2007)

in the 2nd pic from the left, thats a droparm TycoPro (the black one; needs its pickup assembly) and a Curvehugger (the silver one; needs its flux collectors for magnatraction) as 'Doba stated. Someone will want that tycopro for parts, provided the plastic frame isnt broken or damaged. Even then, you can prolly get at least a couple bucks out of it. The CH can be completed and ran pretty easily, and I have a tutorial in the tuning and performance forum on how to set up one of those to be a screamer.


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

I've always wondered if the Tyco TCR pick up shoes with the wings would work on those Matchbox chassis with little modification.
Has anyone tried this?


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## grungerockjeepe (Jan 8, 2007)

Rich, thats exactly what I was referring to. A little filing on the skis and the little 'hangers' on the front of the chassis for the skis to hook onto is what you have to do. Then you gotta remove the stock endbell of the motor and replace it with one that takes brush barrels--or just swap the motor entirely.

When I get in from work, Ill post some pics on a few that Ive converted. And btw, in some cases the matchbox Powertrack cars (available in the U.K.) will work with no mods at all.


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

Cool Beans!!!!! Where can we get TCR shoes?


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## 1976Cordoba (Sep 20, 2000)

Here - this will help also: http://members.cox.net/gunnerbill/4GB-chassis.html


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## 82whiskey (Sep 6, 2009)

Thanks for all the great info. All I ever used as a kid were tgets so these other chassis are new to me. Just learned one of my 440X2's is cooked. The brush tubes are melted into the chassis. At least this gives me a Tyco to tear into without fear of breaking it!

Brian A


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## copperhead71 (Aug 2, 2007)

A just what i needed post on tyco!!!:thumbsup:


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## grungerockjeepe (Jan 8, 2007)

Rich, TCR shoes are pretty easy to come by. SlotCarCentral, ncp hobbies, etc still have them NOS. Even the hobbystore here near me has some in the package. But the best place to get them is EvilBay. You can get complete running chassis on there fairly cheap. And dont forget that the arms on these are pretty strong. You harvest the pickups, armatures, motor brushes and springs, and you can prolly still sell the remains of the chassis back and recoup some of your money.

And Ive snapped some shots of my matchbox chassis, and Im posting something in the tuning and performance forum right now. So check in there for it, and Ill spill the beans on how to convert them for 'normal' track and Ive got a couple pics of what can be done with them.


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## SuperFist (Aug 7, 2005)

82whiskey said:


> ...At least this gives me a Tyco to tear into without fear of breaking it!
> 
> Brian A


( ??? ) Don't break it unless you want to. :beatdeadhorse:
__________________


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

1976Cordoba said:


> Here - this will help also: http://members.cox.net/gunnerbill/4GB-chassis.html


Man, what a sorry write up on the HP7.


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## Grandcheapskate (Jan 5, 2006)

grungerockjeepe said:


> Rich, TCR shoes are pretty easy to come by. You can get complete running chassis on there fairly cheap. And dont forget that the arms on these are pretty strong. You harvest the pickups, armatures, motor brushes and springs, and you can prolly still sell the remains of the chassis back and recoup some of your money.


 I converted a number of TCR chassis to slotted and they are fun to drive. Just drill a small hole in the front bar and glue in a small nail for the guide pin. Then glue the front wheels straight.

You have to bend the shoes a little to get them to work best. But you'll find a lot of them have much less downforce than 440s or 440-X2s and they will slide. And the shoe setup is great because there is so little up and down movement in them.

Plus, the front bar on the narrow pan TCR chassis fits right under the wing of an Indy/F1 body and will probably offer it some protection in a crash. In fact, I have a couple Indy bodies missing one side of the front wing; I'm just going to paint the front bar on the chassis and it will look like the wing on the body, especially when the car is running.

Just be aware that not all bodies fit under a TCR chassis. Only certain types of Indy/F1 bodies. You'll also notice that the mold for a Lamborghini is different depending upon whether or not the body was designed for a 400-X2 or a TCR chassis. I think all Lambo bodies will go on a 440-X2, but not all will go on a TCR.

Joe


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## grungerockjeepe (Jan 8, 2007)

NTxSlotCars said:


> Man, what a sorry write up on the HP7.


Man, you said it!


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## 1976Cordoba (Sep 20, 2000)

NTxSlotCars said:


> Man, what a sorry write up on the HP7.


One person's perspective. We've raced them for 15 years and had a blast doing it. :thumbsup:


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## 1scalevolvo (Feb 5, 2004)

I have a bunch of Matchbox too but all but one are modified to run on either TYCO or TOMY G+ Chassis.


Neal:dude:


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## AfxToo (Aug 29, 2003)

It might just be me but some of the content on the Gunnerbill web site appears to have been borrowed from other web sites, including the Tyco chassis write-ups and pictures. I seem to recall the original author not being very complementary of the HP7 and this write appears to be just a copy of the original article. I seem to recall "Sapien" or some name like that being in the mix.

So you have to ask yourself whether the review reflects the opinion of the authors or is just rehashed web fodder. It's getting harder and harder to tell where web content is really coming from these days because it is trivial to lift content from one site and land it on another. Without some sort of signing of content, you never really know the true source.

Case in point, the Tyco advertising posters on the above site are directly linked the following site:

http://www.supervipersystems.com/VargoSpeedway/HO_History/Tyco82a.jpg

The magnet theory material is taken directly from Slick7, with "thanks" noted but does that imply permission was granted? Why bother copying in someone else's content? What does it add? The Tyco 440-X2 hop-up tips are from Milt Surratt (raceaslot.com) which is now a dead web site. Maybe this is recycling?

So the question is whether aggregating content from various other sources is really providing a whole lot of value. Maybe it's a matter of recycling because some web sites do go silent and the content would otherwise be lost. Maybe I'm overly cynical but there does not appear to be a whole heck of a lot of genuinely new and interesting content out there in the HO slot car hobby web ecosystem. It does always seem to drive to the same bottom line at some point: someone is selling something and is using their web site for self promotion, with a little fluff thrown in around the edges.


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

http://www.supervipersystems.com/VargoSpeedway/HO_History/Tyco82a.jpg

Gee, I sure would like to recycle some of those highway patrol and police cycles!


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*"Dishonorable Mention"*

Hmmmmmm...

Yeah the ole boy didnt have much nice to say if anything at all. Barely even a "How do you do?" . 

If I've learned anything hangin' around here, it's that slot car chassis are what you make of them, nothing more and nothing less. A collection of parts that fit together; many of which still require the human elements of knowledge, passion, and (OMG) EFFORT, to really make them zing.

Obviously this guy didnt have the time or desire for the HP-7.


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## grungerockjeepe (Jan 8, 2007)

Personally Id rather run any HP chassis over the 440 any day. Theyre a lot more challenging, and they slide around which is always awesome. The 440s that I do have are mostly narrows since the bodystyles will only fit those, and in most cases Ive swapped them out to the bar magnet style chassis since they make you drive them a bit more. 

Like you said Bill, you have to put a bit more work into an HP to get it where you want it, but thats part of the fun. A slotcar that does all the work for you--both in set up, and in driving--is just less fun to me.


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## Slott V (Feb 3, 2005)

Most of the later 440's have big window arms that are super fast. They can be swapped into 440X2 chassis's to make screamers. They can also be found in early 440X2's with the brown heat shield.

Big window arms are not legal in most stock racing classes though.


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## 82whiskey (Sep 6, 2009)

Hi all,

Thanks for all the info. After a little thought I think I'm going to sell these chassis and cars. I will be putting them in the swap and sell forum but if anyone is intersted let me know. I also have road runner body that will fit the other matchbox chassis perfectly but it will need mounts. Keep in mind I got all these in a lot and they have not been tested.

Send me a PM if interested.

Brian A


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## 82whiskey (Sep 6, 2009)

Don't know if anyone is interested but I put this lot of cars and chassis up as an auction under swap and sell. I'll let any bidders decide what it is worth. See Mixed lot.

Thanks
Brian A


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