That one is ~4 weeks old. :(

IDK how old the other one is, it came in my mini and I never used that diff(outdrives are fubar)

You'll find these and a couple of other methods on the Silver Can Motor thread. Generally, using motor spray is not a good idea cause it "dries" out the brushes, the exception being if you use VooDoo comm drops.

Method 1. Start with a motor with an old pinion gear. Find an old oil bottle with a needle tip, fill with a metal polish like Brasso, or my favorite, Mother's chrome polish. Apply the polish directly on the comm, run the pinion back and forth on the table top, or spin the motor over by hand. Be sure to put a towel down to protect the table top, before running the pinion on it. Do not spin the motor over under power or you can "clog" up the slots in the comm. Flush the motor out with a stream warm water or with a water syringe. Check the comm, it should be perfectly clean, copper colored, with a "satin" finish. If not, repeat until it does.

Method 2. This is one that Doc Mertes posted as the one he uses. He takes a few drops of VooDoo drops, spins the motor over at low voltage, then uses motor spray to flush out the gunk. This method will give you a comm that looks polished and will not dry out the brushes because of the use of comm drops. Also, if you use 1 or 2 drops of VooDoo drops before each run, you won't have to clean the motor nearly as often. Don't use too much cause your motor will run slower if you do or can create a small fire. VooDoo drops are used by the slot car guys and can be found on e-bay-----not cheap. but worth it.

Some additional stuff. If you have run the motor with little or no attention it could use a general cleaning. A 50% solution of Simple Green, soak the motor a few minutes, then run the motor in the solution for a few seconds. Flush out with water, dry. lube and reinstall in the car. I imagine, regular liquid dishwashing detergent would work also, but don't know for certain, having never done it myself. Sounds like a whole lot of hassle, but a clean motor is usually a few hundred rpms faster than the same motor "dirty". I've seen motors that have picked up as much as a thousand rpms at 7.2 volts. If the motor was really dirty, use Method 1 before Method 2.

You'll find this stuff on the Silver Can thread and a bunch more. Some of the early stuff is preoccupied with "black magic" and tall tales, but the later stuff is more valid.

Thank you for taking the time to write all that, very useful!!

On another, but similar matter, I've taken the motor out of my 1980's Kyosho Outlaw and it turns out to be a very shiny Johnson motor with a metal black end bell.

Are these any good for Mini racing??

Cheers!

That motor may be a 540J which is the motor of choice. Be careful cause some of the older 540J motors had soft brushes that wore very quickly when run under water. The most recent examples had CS molded into the side of the brushes. These, generally, were a tad faster than the "older" ones.

With a little research and a little effort, you'll have a motor advantage over most of your competitors. Strong motors and good set ups have kept me competitive with much better drivers for quite awhile.

I've stocked up.

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...psyicjcmgv.jpg

Granpa-Thanks for the motor cleaning tips, heaven knows I need to clean mine.

What body is that? :confused:

Blitz Racing - Jazz, RS1, GTI and C30. Got them in for a group buy, retail packaging on the side. Saves a lot on shipping.

I quite fancy trying the C30, that's 210 (swb) isn't it?

so im about to start assembly of my m05. my oldest son is going to be racing occasionaly with it. ill be driving it most of the time. for the time being i will not have either the ball diff or a sealed gear diff. can i lock the stock diff with some putty? will i make much of a difference? im sure it will push going into corners but it shoud have some drive coming out am i right? i allready drive my 4wd with a spool up front. will this hamper performance or will it help? just qurious on what it may do. ill get a good diff later. i just remember when i had my m01 it liked to diff out alot. (spin inside tire in the turns).

Yes, I believe the Volvo is a SWB.

It is, yes. The rest are 225mm. The ones right on top are the RS1. The nice thing about these shells is they are available in both 0.8mm and 1mm thicknesses. I've been running a 1mm and it's a tank.

EDIT: Forgot to mention. I've been running a really crude M03 the past few days and it's absolutely magic compared to my M05. The only alloy on the car is the old style TL01/M03 steering knuckles. Everything else is plastic, right down to the dampers. Here's the part i don't understand completely. I'm running a fairly loose ball diff and I'm actually staying closer to the cars with oil filled diffs and spools than I could with any car I had equipped with the same stuff. I'm generally lucky to be in the bottom of the A, but I seem to be in the running with this little beast. As much as anything else, I think it may just be that the car is much easier to drive well. Damn you, Tony Gray and your timeless mini wisdom and insight!

just looking thru my Kamei vw rabbit M05 and it came with slicks. #42214 39244. anybody know what slicks they are? they seem to be non reinforced so im thinking super slicks? anybody know what compound they are? they seem pretty grippy. i dont think they will ever hit carpet since we only have 3 races left for the winter series. they it on to pavement. its still fairly cold so i dont think these will be very good till its hot out. any help is greatly appreciated.

Saturday finally - TCS testing awaits!

I always believe that the minis seem to get better as they get older and looser, like they've 'settled' down a bit? My new M05 was unpredictable for months, I could not seem to make it work. Admittedly I've made changes but it seems to have 'settled' down into an M03 pestering racer.