Scaley MGB

[Nor Cal Mike]

I have a 64 Spitfire Mk 1 and a 73 GT6 out in my shop. The GT6 was given to me as a parts car but it does run quite well but needs brake parts that I cannot source. It is a very late model car with bigger, self adjusting brakes that were put into the last 900 cars before the British Layland pulled the plug on GT6 production. Those 900 cars were sent world wide so parts are very rare and hard to find. One of these days, Ill have to get a set of brakes out of an earlier car.

Goosesnapper, I would be happy to take those tires off of your hands. I will send a PM. I am off to the coast for a few days. There is no internet at the beach house where we will be staying so I will be out of touch starting tomorrow.

Best wishes to you all for the Holidays.
Mike

P.S. Just caught the goose! LoL

[buspor63]

I really like my Scaley B, my original 1966 B had almost as much plastic in it as the Scaley model. Lots of fiberglass and Bondo holding it together...... and motor honey to keep the wrist....er....gudgeon pin slap noise down.

[Nor Cal Mike]

My Spitfire has it's share of bondo holding her up as well. Her motor is dog tired. I have another motor to rebuild and most of the parts to do it but these dang slot cars keep getting in the way. I have read that the 4 cylinder Triumph motor was derived from a Standard Triumph tractor motor from the 1930's. Your 66 B still had the original Morris motor. Later after Triumph merged with British Leyland and MG and Triumph became one big happy family, the MGB (plastic bumpers by that time) and Triumph Spitfires shared the same engine which happened to be that old tractor motor from Triumph.

Has anyone checked out the 14mm wheels from SCC yet? Do they look like a fit for this car? I am seeing Minilites all around and a more slammed stance. The spoke wheel sets will then move over to a fiberglass Maserati Tipo 61 Birdcage body that I have here laying around waiting for the right parts to appear. This is going to be fun!
Mike

[waaytoomuchintothis]

About those brakes, Mike... There may well be a bolt-on swap for those unique brakes. The Brits have always been great about interchangeable parts. The P-51 Mustang was a British design first, then modified significantly here during production, and the Mustang we had didn't have brake disks that were large enough to dissipate enough heat, which meant I was always turning the disks and using them up fast. We talked to some old hands about it and found out that the larger, better brakes from a P-60 would bolt right on perfectly. Again, a design that had its origin in England, so it was made to be able to fit others. I bet there are several cars made at the time in England that also have those brakes, and you can either swap the brakes or trim down a pad set to get what you need. As long as the caliper stays mounted, you can trial fit pads to be sure.

[Nor Cal Mike]

The problem on the GT6 isn't in the disk brakes up front but rather the drum brakes out back. I was able to get shoes and wheel cylinders OK. As you said, there were a number of other Brit cars that used the same parts. The problem is that there is a a ratcheting rod in there for the self adjusting brakes that went missing no doubt from a previous owner's mistake. There are no other cars that I have found, even from doing a search of used part suppliers in England, that has that part. I suppose an innovative do it yourselfer might be able to manufacture one from a piece of spring steel but that person is not I. The easiest course would be to just swapping everything from the backing plates on out with earlier production brakes for which getting parts is easy. Even the same 73 year model GT6's manufactured a couple of months before this one used those other more common parts.

I just got the B out again for a quick look before stashing it back into my Christmas stocking. She sure is a wee one. 1/43 Nascars are closer in size to that car than anything else around my shop in 1/32. Makes me wonder why are my SCX MGA's so big?

Mike

[Modlerbob]

I have the red MGB and other than truing the hubs and replacing the stock tires with Paul Gage tires it is stock. It runs better on our wood track at 10v. than it does on plastic. It won't compete with a Jag or a Cobra but neither would the 1:1 MGB.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

Mike, the MGA was longer than the MGB. That may have something to do with why I have never fit in a B, and I always fit an A.

Bob, that's the conclusion I came to also. I have both of them, and a scratchbuilt MGB from an Airfix kit, and they all run about the same. There doesn't seem to be much to do with them that isn't major overhaul, and as you say, they run fine.

[Ember]

The A was always the better looking car. Just such a shame they were so fragile.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

Yeah I always thought it was tragic. So many hot welds that made rust later, and in combination with that insane Lucas electric equipment, especially in the dash. I wasn't kidding before about the dash. When it rained, the humidity made the shorts and sparks worse (none of which I could ever find), and turning on the wipers created a fireworks display under the dash- but only sometimes. I loved that car. Right down to the little heater box with two door settings- "Off" and "Roast".

[PeteN95]

I have the red rally car and really like it, but it was too fast for my stock Scaley powered track without the magnet. So I installed a milder slim can, Urethanes, and added some weight and it runs very well now, if a bit slow. I have the SCX MGA and it leaves it for dead, bone stock non-mag.

[buspor63]

[Nor Cal Mike]