SteveinFrance

I am repairing several Formula Junior cars that I have bought over the last 6 months. On one or two of the cars it seems to me that the metal gear and plastic crownwheel are of different dimensions to the rest. I suspect that these are ealier cars with a thinner shaft. I seem to remeber reading that the shafts had to be strengthened after issues with breakages on earlier Juniors. Does this ring any bells? If so has anyone seen any replacements for the older parts? I

Thanks so much Woodcote. I hope you don't mind if I insist a little!. Do many Scalextric cars have front wheels that actually run on the track? Apart from the Formula Juniór ones the ones I have don't seem to. It seems to me that the FJ front tyres actually contribute to the cornering. I'm just curious to know why they didn't continue to use this. I guess your remark about high speeds must be the answer. My collection of cars and my track are all from the 60's and 70's. I suppose later cars are much faster. Earlier this week I held an evening's Scalextric racing with some friends. The FJ cars were the quickest. Only rivalled by my Exin models from the late 70's. Mind you the FJ cars are very suscebtible to setting the correct braid heinght and angle. On reflection this could have been the issue. if the front wheels are slightly off the ground the braid is fully in contact with the track.

I'm fascinated by the C81/82 cars from the Forumla Junior range. I admire their cornering and speed. A couple of questions I wonder if anyone can answer. These cars run with their front wheels on the track. Unusually in my experience, they also, unusually, have a front axle which steers, and finally they have a centering device ( a rubber band) to centre the front axle after a corner. Is this system unique to these cars? Does it work? Does it improve their cornering? interested to hear anyone's thoughts