New and Improved AMT Slot Car Review

[Jairus]

AMT sent me a new Slot Car kit to review. This time it's an Oldsmobile 442. Came last Friday and it was not until this morning that I figured out a plan for this one! More on that later...

The last review can be found linked here.

At first glance I can see that a lot of great improvements have been made, including aluminum set screw wheels, a nice looking set screw crown gear and some set screw spacers which do away with the difficult "cut your own" spacers. Most of this fair is standard slot car practice and I applaud AMT for following suit.

Stay tuned this week for updates.

[Jairus]

Okay, I opened the box and took some pictures. First the parts, then my opinions on some of the changes followed by the build up.
Should get this done today sometime.

As before, the parts are arrayed out under the box top and packaged below in little plastic bags.

Window glass is both kit stock and vacuum formed tinted. (The latter eliminating the need for an interior.)

Decals are of course BEAUTIFUL!!!! Whom ever designs these (I think it's John G. himself) should do a line of decals aftermarket in my opinion. Because I would love to have extra sheets of all the Slot Car kit decals for other projects.

Chrome tree seems a bit empty. Probably because this is an old mold from one of the AMT model kits where they only run plastic through the body, chrome and clear. Wheels and extra parts are blocked off. But... no worries. I have some great plans for this one.

Stay tuned as the build up is next!

[Jairus]

The assembly:

All four wheels are now set screw and cleanly made. An allen wrench is provided to tighten.

Guide still remains two piece with "assemble yourself" brushes.

Allen set screw is same size as the industry standard! Way to go AMT!

Wheel inside measures about .575.

Assembled wheel measure 1" dia. exactly.

The motor goes together same as before, screwing the adaptor to the motor and then fitting the NEW brass gear. (previous was plastic)

But... found a problem. The armature shaft seems to drag slightly on the adaptor. I tried to reposition the adaptor and then tighten the screws but it still touched the shaft. Even swapping the screws and turning the adaptor around didn't help.

So.... 2 minutes on the drill press with a step-drill provided a solution. Unfortunately it's a solution that should not be needed.

But then... I might have simply gotten a bad adaptor so no judgments. Just reporting.

Now we're cooking!

Onward!

Edited December 4, 2012 by Jairus

[Jairus]

Continuing the assembly... I got the motor pod assembled. Gear is slightly wobbly with out the set screw. This creates a slight not-concetric rotation for the gear. But after a minute of running gets quieter and quieter since aluminum is softer than is the brass pinion. The more it works the smoother it becomes.

Wheels fit the axles with no wobble. Very clean tight fit and the set screw provides a good hold. But... the axles are about .0001 smaller than an industry standard 1/8th drill blank axle so replacing them will require some mill work.

The bearings are the same nylon and no problem. Cox, Monogram and Classic used these during the vintage years so no drama there.

Now we have a roller.

Brushes go together same as before. I suggest soldering the braids to the brass clips... or replacing them entirely. But.... I managed to follow the directions with one change...

The only change from the directions was soldering the wires directly to the brush clips.

Other than that... the above chassis is build directly from the directions.

Now... time to mount the body.
And I prefer screws regardless of what others might say!

[Chuck Most]

You might not be happy with the way the bumpers fit to the body on this one- as in, they don't fit too well at all. Other than that, looks like a fun project!

[Dr. Cranky]

J, you are really making it difficult to resist building one of these. I've seen them out at Hobby Love, the 66 Nova, which is a favorite of mine. Thanks for sharing the addiction.

[Jairus]

Finally made some progress on the project this evening. Mounted the body on the chassis and have a plan...

Yeah... decided to build the first version of the Hurst Hairy Oldsmobile built in 1966!
Here are two views.

I'd like to be able to afford to pay Chris Clark to lay down the glassy clear coat... but money is pretty tight.
At any rate, the next step is removing some of the molded in chrome trim, priming and then laying down some paint. (My worst thing)
Rather go to the dentist... just saying.

"Can't take the sky from me...."

[Dr. Cranky]

Looking good, can't wait to see the paint and graphics go on there.

[Tom Setzer]

Good Weathering job, and I agee that the decals accent it perfectly!