# Traction Magnets: The Work of Satan



## mrstumpy (Oct 5, 2013)

Being an opinionated old "car guy" and a long time model car racer (started with "vibrators" and on commercial tracks in the sixties), I consider "traction magnets" to be a bad thing. I like to race cars that look and drive at least somewhat like REAL cars. I've raced Stock Cars on dirt and pavement, done some road racing and drag racing, and even raced Pipe Buggies and Baja Bugs off road. 

In no case did any of these cars race up a wall (although I have hit a couple of walls) or across the ceiling! Even at Talladega, they don't go 400 mph or more (190 seems to be too much for many of those guys!) Racing slot cars that handle like real cars lets you "hang the rear end out" in the turns and requires skill.

I don't even like to watch the magnet car classes race as it's like watching four HO cars in a blender. By accident, I launched a magnet car from my Tomy set across the room and found that they make excellent refrigerator magnets! I now have four Tomy "friggy magnets."

By the way, I didn't care for "Wing Cars" at the commercial tracks when they started back in the late sixties.

Yeah, my grand nephew thinks I'm cool, but older than dirt, but is there anyone else out there that feels like I do? 

Stumpy Stone in Ahia:wave:


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## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

curious, when you drag raced 1:1 cars what horsepower range and did you use wheelie bars?


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## gonegonzo (Jan 18, 2006)

Stumpy ,

I hear what your saying here . I too like the feel of a non-magnet car and having to drive it . There was a time when I did dabble in magnet cars. That was in the 90's and the reason I quit was because of the politics involved . 

I know from our previous talks that you consider Magnatractions magnet cars . They hardly are . Now the hardcore non-magnet purist might like an old standard A/FX car , basically a T-Jet on Steroids .

I respect peoples choices and even run classes that I don't when racing with our Yahoo groups . Once in a while I like racing TYCO 440X2's . We raced them with slip on and nothing else . It's a good class as a lot of other classes with stock magnets .

In drag racing , which I think that's where Al is going , magnets play a big part in traction and STOPPING . You'd have to see an HO drag car rip to see why .

I'll just list my likes " in order " and include if they have magnets . 

1. Pure Stock T-jets 

2. Magnatraction ( mags )

3. A/FX

4. TYCO HP7's (mags) We've ran them here as IROC cars , remember ?

5. TYCO 440X2's (mags)

6. Cars from the "Brass Wars "

You'll find most of the traffic on HT is T-Jet minded . However , you might be surprised how many "frigerater" they keep in their race boxes .

Gonzo


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Ahhhhh yes, I remember the devil....

aka lil Johnny ADD in his dinosaur costume all geeked up on Ritalin, sugary cereal and soda, jumpen up and down on the furniture with the TV blaring in his dinosaur costume playen pirate and racing slot cars all at the same time. Then he screams out "Daddee my cah wont stay in the twack.

Well....now they do  weeeeeeeeeee! :thumbsup:

Naw, no clue what yer talken' about. :freak:


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## DonSchenck (Nov 14, 2012)

I agree, Mr. Stumpy. When ol' slewfoot showed up with the Magna-Traction cars, I was lured into the sordid underbelly of slot cars ... and I ended up jaded, cynical, thinking only lap times mattered.

Then, I heard the Gospel of Gravity, and was saved from rare earth magnets. I'm now a happy fishtailer who might take forever to get around the track, but I have permagrin from the nostaglic cars of old.

In short ... yeah ... love me some Thunderjets.


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## Boosted-Z71 (Nov 26, 2007)

I have to say while being a great fan of T-jets I can have just as much fun with a built magna traction, It will still keep you on your toes to keep it in the slot and even with a nice re-wind and poly mags it is not in the blender category as far as top speed, its still believable. Everyone has their passion for certain models, the good thing is we can get on here and discuss our likes & dislikes. I was convinced to build an inline super stock car, it flies (Blender speed) I race it occasionally, mostly just when I run by myself, but it is a blast to drive 25-30 laps and just keep cutting that lap time down. 

Its good to hear what everyone else likes to run

Boosted


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## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

I have a couple blender slots too.
they clean the rails real nicely so my t-jets run smoothly!


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## Dslot (Sep 2, 2007)

*Goin' Easy*

Chuckle. One of my first posts on HobbyTalk said, in small part –
... my experience is with T-jets and old AFX. For the real shag-adelic now-a-go-go hep-to-the-jive magnet cars, you'll have to run your own tests. ... (Actually, from my thirty-minutes' experience with current Tomy magnet cars, [borders] of any kind seem about as useful as a second belly-button. The things are either on the track or across the room. As Miss Jean Brodie would say, "For those that like that sort of thing, that is the sort of thing they like." -- D (just a grumpy old poop)​After which *AfxToo*, (now one of the Disappeared, whom I miss terribly) gently let me know that bashing other guys’ fun was not the way we do things here. He said:
The only thing that concerns me is when other people's choices are trivialized in any way, subtle or otherwise.​
I thought this was _*way*_ over-cautious, but later I came to realize it was one of the reasons HT was such a good place to hang out. Not everybody has as good a sense of humor or as thick a hide to dish it out and take it, as the people who have posted in this thread so far, and it only takes one person to read things the wrong way and set off a mudfight. 

Everybody realizes, or should, that it's just teasing among friends, and that *nobody really thinks you're inferior if you don't play toy cars the same way they do*. But sometimes it's easy to forget when somebody is making fun of *your* way of playing toy cars. 

So, given the recent unpleasantness here, let's go easy, and keep it very _*light, clever and good-natured*_, both pro and con, on this issue. 

That said, let's all just sit back and have a nice friendly cup of coffee.











Cream or sugar?

-- D
Sorry, already had the mug and couldn't resist. But all the stuff above it is STILL TRUE. If you feel the urge to go into the subject of what you *don't* like, think twice, then (if you just *have* to), keep it _extra_-friendly, light, and fun.


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## Dyno Dom (May 26, 2007)

"Slot Car Racing" is a varied hobby & so shall opinions. 
There are different scales, manufacturers and levels of racing such as living room temporary, basement/garage permanent(scenic or not), club & national competition.
Many hobbyists overlap while others dedicate to a single scope. 
There is NO one portion better than another. We are ALL adults sharing a hobby of little toy cars. 
I've had company over and some have been curious to show interest and ask questions of my track layout & display. 
Some have asked WHY an adult would be interested in toy cars and others HOW having $$$$ dormant could be prudent. Again, opinions vary.


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## ajd350 (Sep 18, 2005)

+1 Dom. There's no right or wrong as long as the magnet guys don't tell me I have to race their choice of cars. Our group of racers are fast converting them from magnet blurs and 1/24th wedges to the joys of TJets. Neat thing is, it's their choice. All we do is hand them a controller and it's all over. 5 tracks and over 35 racers and counting.....


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## TK Solver (Mar 18, 2004)

Dslot hit it on the head with his post. I'm very wary of anyone who shows up and seems to like to post about controversial topics. Stumpy is batting a thousand. Reminds me of the movie "Needful Things." Be careful...


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## mrstumpy (Oct 5, 2013)

As "Gonegonzo" can tell you, I'm always thinking of things and making comments that are often "outside the box," but with no malice intended. We co-created the Outlaw Modifieds class using Auto World cars. The gang we race with have as much fun kidding around and BSing as racing!

I have a few "magnet cars" too and they ARE great track rail cleaners. But I "store" them on the refrigerator, and the magnets are so strong that I don't even have to take the guide pins out to do so. In fact they are currently holding up some of the medical bills from my five artery heart bypass surgery. (Now THERE'S a stressful, time consuming, and expensive adventure!)

I guess I'm just an old racer who misses racing at the speedway every Friday night, so I have reverted to my youth and race T-jets instead. (Heck, I couldn't take the beating a dirt track will give you these days, but I still miss it!) I like cars that drive like the real thing, and I do the bodies like real cars I saw in my younger years.

There's no fun for me racing cars at "Blender Speed" (hey, I LIKE that phrase!) That seems more suitable for guys a lot younger, with lightning reflexes. I'm a dinosaur. But I ain't fell down in the tar pit just yet! So I just keep on racin' and talkin'. (If I can't beat you on the track, I'm almost sure I can out talk you! Just ask Gonegonzo.):thumbsup:

I'm a MODEL car racer, not a SLOT car racer, I suppose. I just wondered if anyone else found magnet cars as ridiculous as I do. I'll be waiting to read more of your comments.

Stumpy in Ahia:wave:


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

Technically, real F1 & Indy cars at speed can race up walls and across ceilings at 400kmph.
There was a vast division of opinion in both leagues when wings were added to the cars.
I like em all. Tjets are great when they run. I prefer Magnatractions. I think the torque
band of pancake cars are more realistic to real cars than inline cars. You can duplicate this
feel with an inline car by using weak motor magnets. Find the weakest ones you have and 
stick them on your fridge for about six months. A 6ohm Tyco will then drive like a pancake.
Tyco HP7s with a diecast body and stock tires drive like tjets. They are a blast.

What gets me is, why a Magnatraction/AFX drive the same everytime you take them out of 
the box, but a Tjet will drive good one day, and like a turd the next. Is it the brush springs?


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## Dyno Dom (May 26, 2007)

Mr.Stumpy, grown men playing with toy cars from their youth is already
"out of the box" AND "ridiculous"!! Why do you feel the need to differentiate
between available choices within the hobby of model/slot car racing???
There has been a recent call for calm within this BB, but this thread serves
about as much purpose as a lit flame headed toward a large pile of wood on a beach.


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## slotking (May 27, 2008)

This is the same stuff I have seen for years. 
T-jets vs magnet cars. 

The fact is t-jet mags do affect how the car handles.
ceramic magnet cars are faster and they do slide out like t-jets.

But basically nether car is close to a real car, why, the guide pin changes all that. Both cars are a lot faster via scale mph.
both cars have tank like bodies when it comes to scale thickness.

I race t-jets.
I race 6 neo mag unlimited cars.

I have heard magnet car racers laugh at the t-jet guys trying to make j-jets faster and handle better just like magnet cars.

On my old track I got the t-jets down to around 9 seconds.
I got the unlimited cars down to 2 seconds.
that is on a 75' Tomy track.

The difference? 1 car is faster than the other.
What's the same? Both cars are a blast to drive, AKA, they are fun!

Over the years, I have heard people say that magnet cars are not fun to drive. So, I have tune and setup their magnets cars and they were blown away at how much fun they are drive when setup right.

Now talk to people who simply no longer have the reflexes or eye sight to follow them. That is a different story.

But everyone is different, some people love drag racing, for me it is boring.
some people love oval racing, for me it is boring. some people love crash & burn, not me. some people love the 10 lap sprints, for me, it's ok.

my fav is timed road course racing with marshalls
That is just the way I am.

Bottom line do what you enjoy

if you like vanilla ice cream, eat it
if you like chocolate ice cream, eat it
etc...


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

You see guys, this is the problem... strawberry ice cream doesn't get a fair shake...


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## Dslot (Sep 2, 2007)

Dyno Dom said:


> There has been a recent call for calm within this BB, but this thread serves
> about as much purpose as a lit flame...


If everybody approaches it right, I think this can be a legitimate thread - that means everyone keeping in mind that it's really just a matter of personal preference. And making it clear that they are keeping it in mind. A phrase like "the Work of Satan" is pretty good indication that we're not being too serious here.

But everybody's a bit on edge from the problems with the changeover, so erring on the side of Goin' Easy would be an extra good idea. No sense in stirring up hard feelings by poking too hard on the subject of magnets, or even on the subject of stirring up hard feelings. Let's just chill, and let folks come to their own conclusions.

About the best advice my father ever gave me was: "Easy does it." 

Thanks, Dad.:wave:

-- D


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## Dslot (Sep 2, 2007)

NTxSlotCars said:


> You see guys, this is the problem... strawberry ice cream doesn't get a fair shake...


:lol: :lol: :lol:


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

Neither does pistachio...


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## mrstumpy (Oct 5, 2013)

By golly, somebody "get's it!" This thread, like the "AW gets no respect" one was never meant to upset anyone, yet it appears that there are some folks who DID get upset. 

I don't take myself or my hobbies TOO seriously, so I would have thought that such goofy titles and the use of "smilies" would have made it clear that no malice was intended. 

Being new here, I was unaware of the "unpleasantness" that seems to have been going on in the recent past. Perhaps my timing and sense of humor are out of place if there are so many "raw nerves" remaining.

Stumpy in Ahia


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## SouthLyonBen (Mar 14, 2012)

The problem with these threads imo is that it boils down to "what I had when I was a kid is the end all be all" I was born in 1976 so basically my whole life "Magnet Cars" have been around and that's what I started with as a lad in the early 80s. I mean bash Tyco, bash Auto World, bash Life Like, bash Tomy, the lord and savior Aurora has been belly up for 30 years so was the whole hobby supposed to end? I enjoy thunderjets but sometimes I think it's silly to spend what's getting towards $20 on a starter chassis then replace half of it's parts to just get it halfway functional when you can buy an inline chassis usually for $12 and it will run better out of the box and maybe you spring for some $3 sili tires I dunno


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## racer8nut (Mar 25, 2010)

I have been a fan of slot cars for many years. I did it as a kid and now am doing it as an adult with my own kid. I enjoy most any slot car that is stock out of the package. I enjoy the classic t-jet and sliding it all over my track as well as a magnet car when i feel the need for speed. I run my track at 12 volts and totally enjoy it. It takes alot of "punch" out of the car and makes it controllable. I am not a huge fan the rail suckers that don't require any driving skills what so ever. When my kid started out, I put him on very low voltage with a car and have worked him up to higher voltage, inturn making the car go faster for him. Now, he runs at 10 volts on my track and he is only 3 1/2 years old. He had a trigger in his hand at 9 months...so cool. 
All in all i enjoy the hobby no matter what and if I am having fun with my fellow racers and friends..then that is all that matters.


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## slotking (May 27, 2008)

> By golly, somebody "get's it!" This thread, like the "AW gets no respect" one was never meant to upset anyone, yet it appears that there are some folks who DID get upset.


just an fyi, I did not get upset, but I did see people agreeing with your post.

Hence i wanted to point out that some people like cookies & cream ice cream.

I hope that makes some people feel better


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## philo426 (Mar 4, 2009)

I think it is fun to race my original T jets with the skinny tires.They really fish tail the back when you take a curve too fast.


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## gonegonzo (Jan 18, 2006)

Okayyyyyyyyyy ,

Let me come to ours and Stumpy's defense here . I've been member here for some time . I know Stumpy personally and we race with the same group . We co-founded Outlaw Modifieds together as he said . 

For those that think he is sticking a stick in the hornets nest , I can assure you he isn't or at least not purposely . He is completely unaware of the very recent chaos that has hit HT . I am even unaware of the real problem behind a lot of the chaos . All I know is that tensions are high but Stumpy wasn't aware but probably knows it now .This was his way of saying , ( I enjoy non magnet cars , what do you like to run ) . 

On the other end , Stumpy , I want you to know this and believe me when I say : These guys on here are the BEST . They will do anything to help you . We all had a good thing going on here until just recently and some negative force started to show itself . I even thought that more people would be leaving . I'm happy we still have who we do , including you .

When we , you and I were going thru a political storm with our Yahoo group , I almost told you about HT . Then HT stated spinning like a toy top with some negatives and I held off . Suddenly , I seen your name appear . It was bitter sweet knowing what we had just been thru with the Yahoo group .

Stumpy and I have had the same "magnet " debate among ourselves . Nobody came out a winner but we knew in the end that we both have passion with our hobby even though we have varied interests . One thing for certain , we both came form the 1=1 dirt bull rings . We both carry these memories of our youthful escapades through our hobby today .

I hope all involved here now know where we all stand here . Stumpy , these guys and myself are still waiting for the top to stop spinning . 

Fellow HT members , Stumpy came on board ad was , well , just Stumpy . He was unaware of the recent shake up . He's an good guy . He is opinionated but who isn't . He is an asset to anything I've seen him involved with .

With that all said , let's all take a biggggggg , deeeeppppp breath , relaaaaaaxx and start out fresh . 

Stumpy , welcome to the best bunch of guys involved with the hobby of slot cars . We're hanging out here at HT for now at least . One day we might need to find another venue but for now , here we are . Pull up a "stump Stumpy and join us .

Gonzo


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## Ralphthe3rd (Feb 24, 2011)

If this thread gets Locked Down/Closed...then *This Forum is REALLY F*oul*'d UP !*


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## swamibob (Jan 20, 2009)

MMMMMMMMM.... Ice Cream.......

Tom


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## Dslot (Sep 2, 2007)

Hey, Gonzo,
Mr. Stumpy's okay by me. I'm still chuckling at the blender cars and the fridge magnets. Sorry to hijack the thread; I didn't mean it to head in the direction it took. I probably ended up causing more trouble than I prevented. I would certainly consider it a failure on my part if Stumpy took away the message that he's not welcome. He's not only welcome, he's appreciated. :thumbsup:

-- D


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## ruralradio (Mar 11, 2011)

*Deja Vu all over again....*

:beatdeadhorse:

Not really a dead horse, but, this debate has been going on since the dawn of time. Magnet cars, to my recollection, first started showing up in mid-west HOPRA circles in the early '70's, I'm thinking the first I saw at a race was when the K & K bunch from Indiana (Randy Kemp and Co.) came up to Michigan with bar magnets glued to the bottom of A/FX's. Remember, this was the end of the "Brass Wars" era- we immediately banned external magnets in Michigan. Soon, rules were in place limiting a car to 2 ceramic magnets to drive the motor (we were all running pancake motors at this time), with at least .025" of non-magnetic material below. So, we started dropping the magnets thru the chassis so they rested on the brass pan. Then, Aurora released the A/FX Magna-Traction cars, and in response, the magnets were suddenly dropped flush with the bottom of the pan. We were cutting up 1/24th Arcos or white and blue dot Champion magnets to fit in the A/FX cars. A brief fling with rare-earth magnets resulted in their ban. Soon after, 75-76, the pans and bronze wipers were disappearing, the cars utilizing stock type pick-ups, with the motor magnets dropped nearly to the rails. At the '76 HOPRA Nats, I think my car was the only car with any kind of pan that made the Pro main. When the original G+ was released shortly thereafter, AJ and Raisin took a brand new car off the card, trued the tires, and killed the unlimited 1 minute lap and section qualifying record on the Westland Michigan club's famed "Pipewrench" track by over two laps. Off the card. It was the end of the world as we knew it. (Cue the R.E.M. tune....)

However, many of us didn't feel fine, some drifted away, out of slots or to 1/24th. But it was what it was, the magnet wars were born. We had some very contentious meetings between the Michigan/Indiana/Illinois HOPRA clubs trying to hash out rules agreeable to all, and the magnets finally won out, mainly because they had been embraced by the manufacturers. So, who's to blame? Tell you the truth, every one of us who were racing at the "sharp end" back then were Mr. Stumpy's :wave: "satan". Many credit John "The Jet" Cukrus or Tony P (the HO Tony P), maybe so, but I think anywhere you had a bunch of geeks trying to outrun each other, we were scheming, planning, butchering and building, with racers in the mid-west and on both coasts thrashing toward the same end, a very "uncollective" collective effort. Just my thoughts and recollections....

As far as my box, I have AW's and T-Jets, LLs', Tyco's, BSRT's and Wizzards, and my beloved scratch built brass/gravity cars. I like them all, they're just different. But, the gravity unlimited/brass type stuff has my heart. I first heard this question from Keith Van Atta back when this BRASCAR/Gravity Series stuff started rolling around- "Where would unlimited HO cars be now if we hadn't discovered magnetic downforce?" It's a fun question to explore.


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## Ralphthe3rd (Feb 24, 2011)

Are these Mugs >







...available For Sale somewhere ?


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## torredcuda (Feb 1, 2004)

I started late `60`s with a model motoring t-jet set and of course eventually hopped them up to go faster. When the AFX cars came out I thought they were awesome- fast, handled well but still required you to drive `em. I of course got the magna traction cars when they came out and again thought they were an improvement over the older cars although I still enjoyed running the t-jets. Years later when I had been away from slot cars for a while my friend bought a Tyco set for his kid and he told me how much better and faster they were than our old cars. After trying to watch the isuper fast cars around a small layout and then trying them I was totally NOT impressed! All you did was hold the controller wide open and they cars screamed around for lap after lap til finally one would go flying off. There was no skill needed and they were just too fast to even watch. Although I do have a few newer style traction cars I will always prefer to run t-jets and both non and magna traction AFX cars as they need skill and throttle control to go fast around a track and you can enjoy watching them slide, beat and bang, catch air etc. :thumbsup:


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## grungerockjeepe (Jan 8, 2007)

I have most all kinds of slots. Not a big fan of t-jets or any of the other 'true 1/87' scale cars for whatever reason. But the cars I enjoy most are my 'regular' AFX, and tyco HPs. I don't mind some magnetic traction, but anything more locked down than an Aurora G+ and I start not seeing the point. Granted I do own 'super suckers' like a few Mega Gs but the fun factor just isn't there as much. For me, the perfect balance is the 1st gen Curvehugger with the black chassis and double wide flux collectors that spread out the grip. Those when tuned up have MORE than enough power to over ride the traction magnets, but they do keep the cars planted enough to hook up and not jump slot due to track imperfections.


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## mrstumpy (Oct 5, 2013)

*Traction magnets: the Work of Satan*

Okay, Gonegonzo has clued me in a little better, and my sense of humor doesn't work well here with frayed nerves. Let's all just take a Hot Fudge Sundae out of petty cash and cool down. (See, I didn't take sides on flavors.)

By the way Al, I drag raced a Super Stock '65 Mercury Comet with the 271 horse 289 in it. We were making "a bit" more horsepower than the factory advertised, but never needed wheelie bars. Won a pile of trophies. After a season and a half with it, I returned to racing Stock Cars because they were more fun.

My paternal grandfather raced Big Cars (Sprint Cars today) during the Depression and Stock Cars for a few years after the war, so I grew up playing in the dirt and never got too far away from it.:wave:

Stumpy in Ahia


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## vansmack2 (Feb 9, 2012)

I am a magnet car lover, but I take no offense at anyone who does not like them. I know quite a few of the regulars here are T-Jet guys, and that is just fine with me.

I have said it before, my first slot set was an Eldon 1/32 set. There was some fun racing, but those cars slid all over the track. I was a 10 year old kid constantly trying to find was to keep them on the track better. I went from the Eldon to T-Jets, then AFX, then MagnaTraction, and finally to the Aurora G-Plus cars. I loved the speed, so as faster cars came out I had to have them.

When Tomy bought Aurora I started buying those Tomy Turbo and Super G+ cars, and immediately loved them. I ended up abandoning all those pre-Tomy cars. Now nearly all my cars are running on Tomy chassis with a few Tyco 440X2 cars thrown in because I like the bodies they are on.

Everyone has there favorite cars so enjoy, and share your love of the hobby!

Dave


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

ruralradio said:


> :beatdeadhorse:
> 
> Not really a dead horse, but, this debate has been going on since the dawn of time. Magnet cars, to my recollection, first started showing up in mid-west HOPRA circles in the early '70's, I'm thinking the first I saw at a race was when the K & K bunch from Indiana (Randy Kemp and Co.) came up to Michigan with bar magnets glued to the bottom of A/FX's. Remember, this was the end of the "Brass Wars" era- we immediately banned external magnets in Michigan. Soon, rules were in place limiting a car to 2 ceramic magnets to drive the motor (we were all running pancake motors at this time), with at least .025" of non-magnetic material below. So, we started dropping the magnets thru the chassis so they rested on the brass pan. Then, Aurora released the A/FX Magna-Traction cars, and in response, the magnets were suddenly dropped flush with the bottom of the pan. We were cutting up 1/24th Arcos or white and blue dot Champion magnets to fit in the A/FX cars. A brief fling with rare-earth magnets resulted in their ban. Soon after, 75-76, the pans and bronze wipers were disappearing, the cars utilizing stock type pick-ups, with the motor magnets dropped nearly to the rails. At the '76 HOPRA Nats, I think my car was the only car with any kind of pan that made the Pro main. When the original G+ was released shortly thereafter, AJ and Raisin took a brand new car off the card, trued the tires, and killed the unlimited 1 minute lap and section qualifying record on the Westland Michigan club's famed "Pipewrench" track by over two laps. Off the card. It was the end of the world as we knew it. (Cue the R.E.M. tune....)
> 
> ...


Can you write a book on this era? Is there one already available?


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## Dyno Dom (May 26, 2007)

Rural, do you have info to share about Tony P. with regards to his early racing?
The story I've heard about was when he was young & racing at Buzzarama 
in Brooklyn. He had a T-Jet with cut out chassis for magnets that won and
caught the interest of Aurora leading him to work there as an advisor.
After Aurora closed he went to Tyco to develop the X-2. Not sure of accuracy
but Tony is definitely a talented designer & racer.


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## Gear Head (Mar 22, 2005)

To get back on target; I'm with you Stumpy and I like Hershey's vanilla moose tracks ice cream.


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

This is no different than the old Ford vs GM vs Mopar debate. No matter which you like, some people will swear by them and others will swear at them.


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

I never liked them Chevy starters...


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## mrstumpy (Oct 5, 2013)

Slotcarman, you said it well. Most of the "car guys" I know are a "Ford Man" or a "GM Man" or a "Mopar Man." Maybe I'm a "Dinosaur Man" because I like the older T-jet cars that slide around?

I'm not totally against magnet cars, I especially like the bodies that can be put on the low inline type chassis, particularly the new Tomy. As many bodies as there are available for the T-jet types, the chassis is disproportionally too tall and narrow to do really low slung bodies well.

I've been thinking about taking the chassis magnets out and turning the voltage down to make the Blender Speed cars run at sub-Warp speed and slide around. Then I could have sharp looking bodies on realistic handling cars.

Another goofy idea is to paint my four lane oval track a tan color to represent a dirt track, since I did a LOT of dirt track racing in my younger years. Has anyone done this? 

I'll give this more thought over a pizza...:thumbsup:

Stumpy in Ahia


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## Ralphthe3rd (Feb 24, 2011)

*Brown Track-options*

Stumpy, painting your sectional track brown is another option, but FYI, Tyco/Mattel Did make Brown track with 12" Curves and Dirt Berm/Aprons...




















mrstumpy said:


> .....Another goofy idea is to paint my four lane oval track a tan color to represent a dirt track, since I did a LOT of dirt track racing in my younger years. Has anyone done this?
> 
> I'll give this more thought over a pizza...:thumbsup:
> 
> Stumpy in Ahia


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## Dslot (Sep 2, 2007)

mrstumpy said:


> Another goofy idea is to paint my four lane oval track a tan color ...


Painting it's only goofy because there are excellent tan tracks ready made by Tyco for their big motorcycle models, and yellow-brown tracks for their "Hopper" offroad cars and Bandit trucks. Check out Rich's *Thunderbird Raceway* 










My favorite *dirt bullring* is on another forum, and is routed for 1:32 cars. Old Luf thinks outside the box on this one.


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## Dslot (Sep 2, 2007)

*Searching HobbyTalk*

Stumpy,

Unless they've changed it recently, the *search* function on Hobbytalk is close to worthless. If you were to search *Tyco dirt*, it would return every article that had _either_ word, and the Duck of Death would come to claim your soul before you got through them all. :freak:

Instead try a web-search engine like Google or Bing, and do a specific site search:
*Tyco dirt site:Hobbytalk.com/bbs1*. 
You'll get only the pages that have both words. This search happens to give a large number of hits from HobbyTalk's RC forum, so you might have to modify it to search only for hits that don't contain the term *RC*:

*Tyco dirt -RC site:Hobbytalk.com/bbs1*

-- D


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## Dslot (Sep 2, 2007)

Ralphthe3rd said:


> Are these Mugs >
> 
> 
> 
> ...


No. Sorry, Ralph. This is a dummied-up version of a projected Cafe Press product I made years ago. I never got round to opening up my Cafe Press "store." Occasionally I still think about it. 

-- D


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## vansmack2 (Feb 9, 2012)

slotcarman12078 said:


> This is no different than the old Ford vs GM vs Mopar debate. No matter which you like, some people will swear by them and others will swear at them.


You mean *F*ound *O*n *R*oad *D*ead. That is what we Chevy guys used to say.

I always liked that the Chevy's were easy to adjust the points. They were easy to work on in general and why many rodders used them.

These days I don't care which brand of car someone drives since, there are so many electronic devices that there is no a lot to adjust.

Peace out you Ford guys.


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## vansmack2 (Feb 9, 2012)

mrstumpy said:


> Slotcarman, you said it well. Most of the "car guys" I know are a "Ford Man" or a "GM Man" or a "Mopar Man." Maybe I'm a "Dinosaur Man" because I like the older T-jet cars that slide around?
> 
> I'm not totally against magnet cars, I especially like the bodies that can be put on the low inline type chassis, particularly the new Tomy. As many bodies as there are available for the T-jet types, the chassis is disproportionally too tall and narrow to do really low slung bodies well.
> 
> ...


Tomy made the Devil's Ditch set with tan track. It would probably take a few of them pieced together to make a decent sized track. Below is a picture from an unopened set I sold on EBAY a year or so ago for $100.00, which was about twice what I paid for it.


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## slotking (May 27, 2008)

I did a search using Tyco & dirt found 10 replies

you can do use quotes to get a phrase


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## Dslot (Sep 2, 2007)

*Ten? Nahhh.*



slotking said:


> I did a search using Tyco & dirt found 10 replies
> you can do use quotes to get a phrase


Only ten? Did you do the search from the HobbyTalk *Slot Cars* page or from one of the sub-forums like *Slot Car General Discussion* or *Slot Car Box Stock & Collecting*, or from a particular thread. I think the HT Search function searches only the thread or sub-forum you are in.

I did an HT Search for *Tyco dirt* on the HobbyTalk Slot Cars page and got 491 results. The maximum the search function will give seems to be 50 pages of results, so any search will truncate somewhere in the 490s. There could be thousands beyond that. I spot-checked three or four results and all had both terms, so I wondered if maybe HT had fixed the search function.

So I searched an very uncommon combination, *Allard dirt*. HT's search gave me 490-odd hits (50 pages). The first one contained Allard, the next many contained only dirt. Nope, not fixed.

I tried the _same search_ on Google with *site:Hobbytalk.com/bbs1* added. Onlyt six hits, all containing both words.

So I stand by my original statement, but I chose *a very bad example*. The combination of Tyco and dirt has many, many entries. The HT search gives up at 491, but the web search has over a thousand. 

To test the use of quotes to isolate a phrase, I tried an HT search for *Tyco "tan track"*, and got 498 threads (50 pages) back. I sampled three threads, looking through all pages of each thread for the highlighted words. One had only the words *Tyco* and *track*, another had only *Tyco*, a third only *track*. The first was interesting since it highlighted the phrase *Tyco track*, and the third highlighted *track* without *tan*, so it wasn't honoring my request for the phrase "tan track" which I put in quotes. There were undoubtedly hits in there which had both terms properly, but good luck searching thru 498 to find them. And if any existed after it reached 50 pages, you wouldn't see them at all.

Google's site-specific search returned five hits, all of which contained both *Tyco* and the phrase *tan track*, as requested.

Sorry, SlotKing, but I stand by my description of HobbyTalk's Search function as "nearly useless," and by my recommendation of web-search engines with the *site:Hobbytalk.com/bbs1* limiter added at the end. (Actually I'm not sure you even need the */bbs1* part.)If you get too many hits from other HT forums, limit them with minus terms like *-RC* or *-radio* or *-diecast*.

Happy searching. :wave:
-- D


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## slotking (May 27, 2008)

yes 
from the top

but you have the add the "&"

so it searchs both words


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## gonegonzo (Jan 18, 2006)

It's nice to see you boys playing toy cars nice now .

Tex , Ironically I found an old JM track Saturday in the garage . being a carpenter I had an old slab door that was cut of to 5' ( I don't know why ) . I laid out a 2 lane oval on it . I was asked to bring my T-Jets to 1/32nd scale race night this Friday , some of the guys wanted to see them . Well , I'm taking them in one hand and the mini track under my arm so we can have a show and tell . Your bull ring and Duba's are off the hook nice . 

Gonzo


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## Dslot (Sep 2, 2007)

slotking said:


> yes
> from the top
> 
> but you have the add the "&"
> ...


I'm sorry, Slotking. It's not working for me. 

I searched from Hobbytalk>*Slot Cars*, so I'd get the whole Slot Car forum – i.e. all subforums. I searched:
*Tyco & tan & track
Tyco & "tan track"
Tyco&"tan track"
Tyco&tan&track
Tyco + tan
Tyco+tan*
and a couple of other variations, I think.
I tried it on both the basic and Advanced Search.

Every search pulled up the "That Wild Auction Site" thread which has only the word *Tyco*, but not *tan* or *track* or *tan track*.

It's possible my old operating system (Mac 10.6.8) doesn't interface quite right with Hobbytalk's Search programming, I suppose. Would you please try it and see if you get a successful search (which won't include that thread)?

If you do, please tell me exactly what your search terms were, and I'll try.

Thanks,

-- D


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## slotking (May 27, 2008)

ok

your right:wave:

The advance search is the same as the basic 1??

normally the advance search on most BB's will let you pick "and" or "or"
same with the quotes!


yeah

I did not look at the results that said i was looking at the 1st 10 of almost 500.
I was to fast pulling the trigger to get out of the results page


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## SouthLyonBen (Mar 14, 2012)

I just got one of those motocross sets minus the motorcycles for $5 off the bay, thought the dirt colored track might be cool slot car central has some transition piece that start as black and turn to dirt color for a "pavement ends" portion of a layout :drunk:


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## gonegonzo (Jan 18, 2006)

For those needing dirt color for regular track , Krylon "Nutmeg " is a good choice .

Gonzo


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## dlw (Aug 17, 1999)

Hey Stumpy, ask Jeff Albeitz if he has any.... And on the magnet car thing and removing magnets? That the idea behind the G-Jet and Thunderstorm cars. But not many can afford $50 for a single car.

This idea can be used on Tyco/Mattel chassis ,too. In fact, JW's sells brass weights for Tyco chassis : $10/pr. I've been thinking of getting some to make a 'Tycojet', and with Tyco chassis come readily-available and inexpensive bodies.


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## Dyno Dom (May 26, 2007)

The brass inline cars with weights in place of traction mags are fun.
The BSRT G-Jet handles well using the 9 ohm arm at 12-14 volts and
offers a choice of Lexan or hard bodies. The 6 ohm cars seem to be more
difficult to drive. What voltage & type of rear tire are you using, such as
slip ons or silicone sponge???


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## slotking (May 27, 2008)

> The 6 ohm cars seem to be more
> difficult to drive


You need to hone your skills!!
LOL

we raced them with no problem at 12 volts
My 6ohm slottech T1 was easy to drive and won a lot of races.

the other guys had no issues either.

the only interesting times were when we could not get 12volts and had to race them at 18volts!!
but was still a blast


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## slotking (May 27, 2008)

this is the Greenbrier monster truck track










john worked at a waste treatment plant.
he used burnt poop(ash) to give that look


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## DonSchenck (Nov 14, 2012)

Yes, I HATE magnets in my ice cream.


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## SDMedanic (Apr 21, 2011)

I dont mind the magnet cars. I have three superstocks in the basement and a few other heavy magnet critters. I draw the line there. That's personal preference based on cost. I like T-jets and I think the G-Jet is a great concept. Unfortunately few in Illinois race them.


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## slotking (May 27, 2008)

> Unfortunately few in Illinois race them.


we stopped racing them as well

we felt like racing them was not really different then the magnatractions we raced


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

I like both, Magnet and non-magnet. The good thing about the hobby is the choices we have. But I've been showing favor to the T-Jets, A/FX, and Magna-Traction cars. 

You can be low budget or high budget if you want. I know some of the unlimited cars can be pricey. Or you can go a box stock route and keep your cost down. 

At my track we ran 5 different classes. The cars were Stock Thunderjets, JL/AW Tuff Ones, Magna-Traction, TYCO 440-X2, LIFE-LIKE Fast Trackers, TOMY SUPER G PLUS. The later 3 were in a Super Stock Class also. 

If you want, you can take the traction magnets out of the 440-X2 and run them. So many options and ways we can go. There's room for every car here, AND IT"S A BIG ROOM.

I'll have a good time with any car I decide to run or build.

Randy.


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## vansmack2 (Feb 9, 2012)

vansmack2 said:


> You mean *F*ound *O*n *R*oad *D*ead. That is what we Chevy guys used to say.
> 
> I always liked that the Chevy's were easy to adjust the points. They were easy to work on in general and why many rodders used them.
> 
> ...


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## mrstumpy (Oct 5, 2013)

*Traction magnets: The Work of Satan*

I'm watching the Nationwide race as I check my Internet groups and forums. Everything was just cruising along as usual until the second half when it suddenly became obvious that these guys took their traction magnets out on a pit stop! 

Did PIR put steel plates behind the "soft walls?" With 35 laps to go, it looks like the teams must have installed door magnets to suck them into the wall! There's gonna' be a lot of parts "recycling" after this race!

Stumpy in Ahia:wave:


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## Shadowracer (Sep 11, 2004)

I don't have anything against any type of slot car. I lean towards Magnas and Tjets, but my gang runs a lifelike NASCAR race when we have the kids around. I think there's something to be said by the way the young ones gravitate to the speedy magnet cars. 

Its to the point where I keep 4 Gplus F1 cars in my box...and tell the kids they can run some laps with them at the end of the night if they behave themselves during the races. They love how fast those things go. So I don't think the little bullet cars are all bad. 

Only think I really have against them is that you need a long table to really give them room to strut. And guys don't always have the space to build a 16 footer.


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