“Old Reliable” in her original guise (left), and as she appears today with chrome reverse wheels added (right)
The 5th T-jet I bought as a complete car, this came new all pre-assembled and ready to go in an Auto World clamshell. At the time it was the fastest car I had, and although it has been eclipsed many times over, it remains extremely consistent; it still performs well, turning in respectable times even after hours and hours of racing with very little maintenance other than the occasional oiling and cleaning. For this reason, I’ve dubbed this Gen 1 GTO “Old Reliable.”
It remains almost completely stock today, the only modification being a change from the original Auto World wheels to identically size chrome reverses from MEV which still use the original axles and tires. This dresses it up just enough to make me happy; its lime green finish isn’t flashy but is realistic; unlike many of my cars I’ve resisted the urge at further decoration, preferring to keep this one looking like a “sleeper.”
A year of racing on 4 different tracks has yet to shake her down! She’s never won a tournament, but she’s always in the running!
“Old Reliable” leading a Ford Thunderbolt down past the grandstands at Drag City
I’m curious to hear from other builders/racers about your experience finding the screws needed to hold a T-jet together. I have found them to be quite difficult to obtain. Ace Hardware, which has rarely failed me on fasteners of any kind, has failed here: I’ve been to 3 locations in my area and all have said they do not stock and cannot get screws of the length, diameter and thread pitch needed. As a result, I have had to buy them all on ebay; that’s an acceptable solution for now, but I’ve only found one supplier who has them in stock regularly. All the other purchases I’ve made were “one-of” types of sales from people who seemed to be selling spares. My concern here is that if that one vendor goes away, what’s left?
Standard style T-Jet screws
Aftermarket Philips head
Auto World “collared style”
As for types of screws: I’ve seen 3. The most common are those essentially identical to the ones Aurora used back in the day, which are slotted. Although I like the traditionalism of this, I personally prefer a phillips head, which I think is just a little easier to use. The phillips head screws that I buy are infinitesimally smaller in diameter than the flat head screws (possibly one is metric while the other is SAE?) which is also useful, in that newer bodies with tight posts can accept the thinner screws while older ones that have seen some service and may be more opened up can use the slightly thicker ones (you know how this works, guys!)
A comparison of the 3 kinds of screws I have used on my cars; on the left, the original type slot head screw of the type used by Aurora; center: the new philips head version, which is allegedly self-taping; I personally prefer these to the originals, but they may be slightly too narrow for older cars that have been around the track a few times. On the right: the beautifully made Auto World screws that come with complete cars; these have a finer thread than the others, and also have a washer, or “collar”, built into the head.
The best screws I’ve seen are the ones that come on new Auto World cars on those rare occasions when I buy a complete car; these are beautifully machined phillips head screws with a washer/collar built in to the head. I would love to find a supplier for these, but have been unable to do so.
If anyone who may be reading this knows where I can get a set of these in bulk, please share; I would love to hear from you!
Even purists who strictly stick to the original Aurora chassis for their T-jets will sometimes find a need for a tiny amount of additional clearance beyond that which is afforded by screwing the chassis to the body. This becomes a common need when using the Auto World chassis or aftermarket wheels, or both. The solution to this is to have some shims on hand in order to insert them at the bottom of the screw posts.
There are many different types of shims available. Ideally you should seek to use something non-metallic, but these are not easy to find and are often too thick to allow the screw to bite into the post enough to keep the body on the chassis.
Some cars wiill need them on the front; more will need them on the rear; a few need them both front and rear
The best and cheapest solution I have found is to buy a set of tiny lock washers. I get these at Ace Hardware for $0.02 each, and they should be readily available at most similar types of stores. Although they are metal, they are so small that they will not add any appreciable weight to your car. Of course the shape of a lock washer would create an uneven mounting surface, but it’s simple to use 2 pairs of small needlenose pliers to pull the washer apart enough to butt the ends together, creating a flat shim instead of a ramped lock washer. In 95% of applications, I have found these to be the perfect diameter and thickness. On those rare occasions when the outer diameter rubs up against the front axle, holding the washer tightly with pliers while using the Dremel to grind down one side of it almost always provides the needed clearance.
The washer on the right has been ground on one side to clear a front axle; the nasty looking residue you see on the shaved side is a trace of model cement used to hold the shim in place on the post during assembly
The best part: these shims are thin enough that the same screws you normally use should hold the car together with no problem.
This “gasser” look with the body riding high off the chassis was achieved with thicker plastic shims and longer screws
On occasion, thicker shims may be needed. Care should be taken not to raise a T-jet body too far off the chassis, as doing so upsets the center of gravity and makes the car less stable in turns. There are cases where this is not a concern, such as when making a model of a pickup truck with a lift kit look, or when building a dragster. At one point I had a ’67 Nova that I wanted to look like a ‘60’s style gasser, so I fitted it with oversize wheels and added several shims to the bottoms of the screw posts. Thicker shims are available from various specialty hardware stores, but when using something thicker than 1 or 2 mm, you should seek to use something plastic or nylon, as thicker metal shims are likely to add enough weight to your car to affect its performance.
You likely can’t tell that this body is riding on thin metal shims at both the front and the rear; and you’re not supposed to be able to tell! Although this car needed shims at both ends to clear the wheels even with low profile tires, its hard to argue with these results!
This is one of 2 copies of this body I have acquired. Johnny Lightning/Auto World made a duplicate of this style but they chose to make it appear as a convertible with a raised soft top; I prefer this original, which is slightly smaller, since it is fitted with the rare removable hardtop option. It’s well-proportioned and, judging by the shape of the hood scoop, appears to be a 427-powered version, marking it as a ’66 or ’67 model. At the time I bought this one I didn’t have enough green cars in my sports car fleet. If I had to do over again I would probably choose a different color, but I can’t deny this one looks good, especially with the “Stones” wheels and the #6 roundel on the doors and trunk. It handles surprisingly well considering its short wheelbase. Its unlikely that many 427-powered Corvettes were actually used on racing tracks, but I know there’s some out there, and I’m always happy to push the envelope!
