Before I'd gotten really into the swing of T-Jets, I was scouring the pages of e-Bay looking for cars I'd had as a kid. Of course, there was some terrible demon who'd ruined a lot of what I once had, if I ever catch up with him there is going to be trouble. Anyway, one of the most common things I find people in our hobby doing is replacing the cars they had when they too were younger and the demons got ahold of them as well.

I've gotten a few AF/X cars from auctions and re-built a few from the pile of parts I had left over. Of course cleaning them up and looking things over led to a small discovery that leads me to the point of this article. Cross-Over Tuning Techniques, which for all intent of purpose is REALLY.... creating a "VHORS Style" Tuned AF/X car. This can and will most likely be misinterpreted, so let me clear the air right now. by saying "VHORS Style" in quotes I'm in no way indicating that VHORS racing deals with AF/X cars. We're strictly T-Jets, or better yet V-Jets, but I digress. I decided to take what tuning style I'd learned and developed and applied it to an AF/X Magna-Traction chassis.

If there was ever a time when I'd enjoyed the hobby as an adult it is seeing cars change from undriveable annoyances to pleasant cruisers with some kick. Basically the changes I'd done to the AF/X MT chassis brought the, for lack of a better description, hyper-activity OUT of the AF/X and grounded it a bit, making a car that's fun to drive! For me at least, and I'm sure there are a few of us out there that have done this already. In other mediums as well, but the beloved "pancake motor" is a topic holding special meaning to many. Therefor the cross-over technique application(s), simply apply without too much difficulty.

What I'd done was to "de-wobble" the armature on the gearplate using SCM Performance Blueprint tools. This is one thing that's important I feel. I check the spin with a wire brush on my dremel, hit the gear on top, wind 'er up and let it run down till it stops. If it's smooth, then it's good!

Next I cleaned the comm, another simple task. First clean the oil and gunk off the comm with LifeLike track cleaner, then I use a chunk of a "pink pearl" eraser to remove the "baked on grease". Once it shines, I clean it up again with LifeLike track cleaner and a clean spot on the paper towel, of course. The arm is good to go now.

The chassis itself, cleaned with the track cleaner, same with the magnets. Another inportant thing is to make sure you get the small bits of fuzz from the axles, it's amazing how much that junk constricts your cars! Replace all the parts when cleaned off, but I replace the brushes. The button brushes... outta there! Get this... I use Thunder Brushes instead. Surprised? Well OK if you have them... try the silver one's from Galinko, made by the same manufacturer as the Thunders, but a little "hotter". Anyway the regular Thunders... right in there and reassemble the chassis.

There isn't too much technique to all this, the hardest part is getting the chassis plate on there without the brushes hopping out! Something I've yet to master, but someday maybe I will. Lubrication is important, I use "Breakfree CLP" on the gearplate and crown gear area. On a fresh cleaning I'll use some on the bottom arm end oiling area too, sparse though. I don't want to flood the motor out.

Down the line for the majority of the quick lube-ups I use the track cleaner. Go ahead and gasp or laugh, but the stuff works pretty darn well as a lube for the comm and brushes. You have to go by your own performance of the car to adjust for when it's time for oil again but the track cleaner works pretty good. It keeps things clean and you can hear the difference. Now there is a small secret to this, the dropper I use for the track cleaner used ot have a light oil in it and it helps to do a good shake of the bottle before use. Put the math together and I figure the track cleaner delivers a little oil as it cleans. Maybe? Who knows, but I am happy with the results.

Now, back to the AF/X car... when cleaned and lubed, affix some silicone tires to the chassis, your favorites of course, and it depends on the ride you want. I go low center of gravity most the time, so I do a small degree of pickup shoe adjustment as well to get the angles right. Once that's all set, the car runs like a champ. Maybe not the fastest thing in the world and it might not break any landspeed records, but it works well enough to make the cars driveable! Now try it with a new JL Tuffy chassis and you get similar effects, but it takes some more work than the AF/X does, there's some issued with brushes contact with how the arm is set in the JL chassis. But that's another subject entirely!

Hope this helps some of you bring your AF/X MTs out of the pitbox for a little diversity in the lineup of what you enjoy to run. Yes, they do fishtail with stock magnets! They're a blast!