As I approach 5 years as a “Slot Head,” I think its safe to say I’ve become a decent T-Jet mechanic. I’m largely self-taught, but I’ve learned a lot. However, as with all self-taught people, there are holes in my knowledge, and one that I’m seeking to fill is to learn more about the history of what appears to be the first Model Motoring reboot from 2000.
As I understand it, some enterprising slottist(s) acquired the rights to the Aurora chassis design and the Model Motoring name and logo-or perhaps learned that the rights were expired-and commisioned or designed their own new bodies to fit this chassis, as well as re-popping some of the originals. I’m not sure how long this period lasted, but I understand it was for a few years.
The cars they released were unformly magnifcent, and I’ve gone on at length about how much I love the muscle car bodies made in this era, especially the series of 1967 classics like the Corvette Stingray hardtop roadster, Malibu, GTO, and Plymouth GTX, as well as the 2 versions of the ‘69 GTO (The Judge and the “regular” version without the rear wing) and the ‘69 Camaro (with and without hooded headlights, and as a hardtop and a top-up convertible). This series also gave us reproductions of the Willys, the Mustang (in convertible, notchback, and fastback form), the ’67 Camaro RS, and several others. It is my understanding that these same bodies are out of production today, although there still seems to be a supply of unsold/unmounted ones out there. The original releases from the early 2K’s, however, were the only ones that were sold as complete cars with chassis in clamshells with the original Model Motoring logo, emblazoned at the bottom with the awesome catchphrase “The Thunder Is Back!”
At least one of the figures behind this rebirth of the T-Jet platform today has a store on ebay under the unlikely name “ratherboring,” where he sells excellent reprodution parts for original T-Jets, including window inserts, chrome bumpers, and other parts; these are almost universally of very high quality and are extremely satisfying.
I have been unable to learn the names of the individuals connected with this reboot, but whoever the entrepreneurs are that gave us these magnificent cars, I am eternally grateful to them, and the last thing I’d want to do is take a swipe at them. However, as a self-taught but decent T-Jet mechanic, I think its time to point out that there was one area where these reproductions fell short: while the bodies were superb, the chassis they were sold on in that original series of reissues left much to be desired.
They appear to the eye to be faithful reproductions, and they are the right size, and made with actual copper just like the originals, which is worth something, considering that Auto World’s redesign has made do with lower quality plated aluminum. But I have now acquired quite a few of these ©2000 CHINA reissues and I believe only a single one of them has been a decent runner; with that one exception, every one of these I have acquired either hasn’t run at all, or has barely run; they are slow, noisy, and almost universally overheat within a very short time, becoming too hot to touch within only minutes of running and, if allowed, will melt themselves into oblivion.
I have messed around with these extensively in an attempt to “fix” them by replacing the brushes with brand new high-quality aftermarket repro parts, adjusting the tension of the electrodes, oiling the piss out of them, and it’s all been to no avail; the problem is the motors themselves.
These motors are easily identified by the gear plate which reads “MODEL MOTORING INC 2000 CHINA” and the motors all have light gold-colored windings. What I would like to know is: have any other enthusiasts out there learned some secret to getting these things to run decently? I have a little junk pile of them now, and I would love to learn if there’s some trick that can be performed to make them run enough to use, even if they are not hot performers.
As for me…well, every time I get one of these under a car I buy, I try it out, mess with it for a while, find it to be the barely running overheating garbage it always is, and toss it into the junk pile before spending $50 or more to mount that body on a NOS or used original Aurora chassis, which are still out there, although the prices of them keep going up all the time. Depending on the body, I will sometimes mount it on either a Dash Motorsports chassis or-if it will fit-an early pre-traction magnet Auto World Ultra G.
As a self-taught T-Jet mechanic, maybe I’ve missed something, and if so, I’d sure love to hear what your experience has been! Without knowing such a trick, however, my advice is: don’t buy these! They are a waste of money, and you’re better off just getting the Model Motoring body you want and providing a chassis of your own. Even so, there’s no denying that the excitement provided by these excellent bodies are what drew me into this hobby, and I wouldn’t be here without them! Hard to complain about a bad chassis when there’s so much awesomeness on top!
That is a a shame that the mechanics don’t match the exterior beauty! It reminds me of a British saying I heard once: “All fur coat and no knickers”. I wonder and hope that you’ll hear or learn about some tricks to improve their performance!