I use the Artin F1 chassis as a motor pod in other cars and scratch builds. Here is a pair of cars that I have done. They are a Monogram March 83G and an
older Scaley Jaguar X19. I made the switch in each car for completely different reasons. The March was a very beautiful but woeful handling shelf queen. My
main purpose for modifying the Jag was to tub it so that I could fit a pair of my new K&D Fatboy alternative tires. These tires are very wide and could not
be fit under the fenders without a "tub" job.
My theory on the reason why the stock Monogram March 83G doesn't handle well rests in the high mounting position of the sidewinder configured motor. For some reason I cannot fathom, Monogram chose to mount the motor in a very high, approximately 7:00 o'clock, position. This was done to allow mounting of the traction magnet below the motor. Running without magnets, the car would car would get very squirrelly in a slide and launch the guide out of the slot unpredictably. After experimenting with different guides, added weight without improvement, I decided that surgery was in order. After cutting down an Artin F1 chassis to it's elements, the motor mount and the axle tabs, I traced the shape of the donor "pod" onto the Monogram chassis I simply cut it out and glued the Artin F1 pod to fill in the hole. A few strategic patch panels and hot glue reinforced the model cement. An Auto Art motor replaced the original because the original sidewinder motor shaft was too short to be used in the inline Artin configuration. The original Monogram axle and wheels went back in with a Ninco Pro crown gear. K&D tires meant for a Carrera F1 wheel replaced the stock Monogram tires. The March has a full interior. This required some strategic scalpel work to make room for the inline motor. It is hard to see this in the assembled car.
You may notice that the Monogram now has four bushings on the back axle. The Artin F1 bushing tabs are much narrower than the original sidwinder mounts. Installing an axle in all four mounts when gluing up the donor pod to the chassis made it easy to insure proper alignment. After the glue set up, the axle spun so freely, I decided to leave all for bushings in place. The Artin F1 pod transplant made the car handle MUCH better than the original car. It is a smooth and predictable slider that now competes pretty handily with my Slot It 962 Porsche which is famous as a fine wood handler. Sitting on the track it is hard to tell the car has been modified.
The Scaley Jag now is powered by a SCW green end bell motor, Artin Fatboy rear axle fitted with K&D Fatboy alternative tires (molded from early Scaley F1 tire) and Artin Mercedes CLLK front axle, wheels, and tires. This car handles very nicely and is pretty quick. I'm still tuning it but I predict that it won't be embarrassed to run with the March and Slot It 962 on my wood track.
This pic illustrates the primary reason that I grafted the Artin pod into the Jag. I wanted to use wide K&D FB Alternative meats on the car. This was not possible without "tubbing" the chassis. The narrow F1 rear bushing mounts made that possible. The switch also converted the car over to use the much more common can drive type of motor.
Mike A
My theory on the reason why the stock Monogram March 83G doesn't handle well rests in the high mounting position of the sidewinder configured motor. For some reason I cannot fathom, Monogram chose to mount the motor in a very high, approximately 7:00 o'clock, position. This was done to allow mounting of the traction magnet below the motor. Running without magnets, the car would car would get very squirrelly in a slide and launch the guide out of the slot unpredictably. After experimenting with different guides, added weight without improvement, I decided that surgery was in order. After cutting down an Artin F1 chassis to it's elements, the motor mount and the axle tabs, I traced the shape of the donor "pod" onto the Monogram chassis I simply cut it out and glued the Artin F1 pod to fill in the hole. A few strategic patch panels and hot glue reinforced the model cement. An Auto Art motor replaced the original because the original sidewinder motor shaft was too short to be used in the inline Artin configuration. The original Monogram axle and wheels went back in with a Ninco Pro crown gear. K&D tires meant for a Carrera F1 wheel replaced the stock Monogram tires. The March has a full interior. This required some strategic scalpel work to make room for the inline motor. It is hard to see this in the assembled car.
You may notice that the Monogram now has four bushings on the back axle. The Artin F1 bushing tabs are much narrower than the original sidwinder mounts. Installing an axle in all four mounts when gluing up the donor pod to the chassis made it easy to insure proper alignment. After the glue set up, the axle spun so freely, I decided to leave all for bushings in place. The Artin F1 pod transplant made the car handle MUCH better than the original car. It is a smooth and predictable slider that now competes pretty handily with my Slot It 962 Porsche which is famous as a fine wood handler. Sitting on the track it is hard to tell the car has been modified.
The Scaley Jag now is powered by a SCW green end bell motor, Artin Fatboy rear axle fitted with K&D Fatboy alternative tires (molded from early Scaley F1 tire) and Artin Mercedes CLLK front axle, wheels, and tires. This car handles very nicely and is pretty quick. I'm still tuning it but I predict that it won't be embarrassed to run with the March and Slot It 962 on my wood track.
This pic illustrates the primary reason that I grafted the Artin pod into the Jag. I wanted to use wide K&D FB Alternative meats on the car. This was not possible without "tubbing" the chassis. The narrow F1 rear bushing mounts made that possible. The switch also converted the car over to use the much more common can drive type of motor.
Mike A
