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Tom - for a replacement tire that fits the stock rim, you'd be hard pressed to beat the ones that Paul Gage offers!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-24-URETHANE-S ... 234a6c8fb1
They offer notably better traction than the factory tires.

Motor options are various. The FC-130 (ex. Piranha) and FK130 (ex. Plafit Fox II) type motors that have the vertical screw holes are a direct bolt in without using the adapter (you can also solder these type motors in as an alternate)

For wheels/tires - if the Paul Gage tires don't get you the traction you want - or you just want additional options - the easiest thing to do is switch to axle bushings that allow 1/8" axles and then you can run a wide variety of wheels / tires. I did that with my Galaxy - and here is a shot of it with H&R rubber all the way around:





Hope that helps!

P1010009 (3).JPGI got a few of these kits and found out that after I replace everything with quality parts, there isn't much original kit left!!! But the bodies are good. We have built several of these as 60's Canam cars using the recent Tamiya 1/24 re-issue bodies.

Drill the frames for 1/8 axle oilites. Change to 1/8 axles and Protrack wheels and tires, silicone on the rear. these wheels accept most wheel inserts that you can make, cut down or buy. The AMT motor is actually not too bad. We gear them at 4:1 and they run pretty good. On the King track we run on, we gear 4:1 and run Plafit Fox motors, really nice and fast enough. Of course we throw away that silly excuse for a guide flag and replace it with a modern commercial guide. It still handles like ****. We cut a brass pan to fit under the frame and that low weight makes the whole thing corner pretty good. Oh yeah, soldering some bracing to the rear axle brackets is a good idea. Now we have a pretty decent chassis, but only used the original motor and frame.

I tried the axles in the kit, but they bend the first time you give them a hard look. Of course, I've put urethane tires on the stock wheels, but that is no comparison to silicone on the plastic tracks or wood tracks we run on.

I have a picture of a completed car.

I have 10 of these AMT cars. Some of them i have put other 60s NASCAR or drag racer bodies on, though none of them are set up for drag racing. Whatever livery is striking. I have at least one car color coded to each color lane on the 6 lane wood track we race on. We race them IROC, so it doesn;t matter if the cars are slightly different from each other, as everyone will race each car in its lane.
I usually leave the front axle alone, but i use either Parma or Pro Track foam slicks on the back. I prefer slicks that are at least 1/2" wide, and on a couple cars the slicks are ~17mm wide. The Parmas work fine even on the 3mm axles, but on some cars I have put 1/8 axles on the back after putting 3/16x1/8 brass bushings in. On some of the cars with 3mm axles i have bored out the hole to put a 3mmx6mm brass bushing in.
Since the stock aluminum crown is so noisy, I frequently replace the gear with a Parma 26t crown. Some cars have the stock motor, some have the generic 26k PM motor, one has a Plafit Fox, one has an SCX RX4H. The Fox seems to have the best torque. I always replace the guide with a Parma guide; i drill and put a screw into the top of the guide between the braids to serve as a turn limiter.
These cars are a hoot to race. I think they are more fun than the 'fast' cars.

Way - that Nova is SHARP!!!! I have that kit - but haven't finished it yet.
I did do up the 442 and the Concept Camaro though... Both fitted with 1/8" axles, and in the case of the 442 - it also has a Parma Deathstar motor soldered in, along with some rear bracing to stiffen things up. :)

Broman62 - I understand where you are coming from completely! I have had a lot of fun with my kits - and so long as you race them against other cars built from the same kits, they can make for a great time!
Glad to hear that I am not the only one that has had a good time tinkering with these kits. :D

Pic of the Camaro with 60's vintage Dynamic set screw wheels on 1/8" axles:


Pic of the 442 with 60's vintage Dynamic wheels on vintage threaded 1/8" axles:


With Deathstar and associated bracing and front guide mod:

All good and fine for playing with and learning building skills. Magnets, my opinion, forget that and use some weight to make a more conventional running slot car. Really the brass pan soldered underneath really improves handling on these things and the car acts natural, not like a magnet car. If you have some kids or beginners, I guess magnets are OK, but when they get experienced try to wean them off magnets.

Nice chassis upgrade Todd .

Gonzo

Thank you sir!
As has been commented on - the chassis leaves a lot to be desired in the performance end - but can be a LOT of fun with a field of like cars and I found them to be a lot of fun to work on. Kind of like an "in between" step from ready to run to scratch building. ;)

Agin'...thanks guys for all the info...did my first small upgrade to one of my chassis'!!! Went with H&R 27mm x 18mm 6 spoke wheels and silicone tires and a Cox 27 pin CG and a Carrera 9 pin PG and 3/16" x 1/8" axle bushings.....I'm learnin' and it runs great!!

For 1/24 scale you can't beat H&R wheels for quality and price. Motors, I use H&R hawk 18k in all my 1/24 builds.

Good job Tom . I have 2 of these kits that I haven't put together yet .

Gonzo

Good looking upgrades!
:text-bravo:

These cars are fun. The Ollies price was a good price, I should have bought more... You are basically buying a model car body with some slot car parts thrown in! :lol:

Have fun with the builds!

Scott