Dug these out of my old racing toolbox
- GeneralZod
- Approved Member
- Posts: 415
- Joined: Sun Dec 09, 2012 7:19 pm
- Location: Colorado
- Has thanked: 150 times
- Been thanked: 161 times
Dug these out of my old racing toolbox
I just bought the LeMans motor to put on my re-re Tomahawk. It needed a good cleaning and tune up. Its now quite the screamer and should be at home once the build is complete. Not the best looking but still not bad for its age. This tuning up made me want to dig out my old racing stash from long ago and do the same for those.
Gosh, most of these I forgot the specs on because I have been retired from racing long ago. Anyone heard of East Coast racing motors? I dont remember where I picked that one up but that one fired right up and runs smooth like butter after sitting so long. All the others required a little coaxing to get them to run again. It was funny to hook them up to a power supply and hear them barely run and slowly spinning faster and faster. Guess they needed the ol cobwebs blown out! One I brought back from the dead is the Joel Johnson. That had so much play in the bushings that it made a horrible sound when it was trying to run. Lots of miles on that one in my RC12L. Popped it open and put in new bushings from a revtec donor and now runs like it should. One of my favs back in the day. Was wondering if I should have put ball bearings in that one.
The fastest one is the black and gold label one. Not sure whose signature is on it but I remember that one chewed through my SCR1700s so quickly that my car would slow down before the race was over. I put it back in the toolbox after that so it has lowest mileage of the bunch.
The final one I bought when I was racing is the Green Machine 2. That one is also a hot little runner and I was quite impressed with it in my 1/12 scale pan cars. It did take quite a bit of effort to get running again but it now draws 4 amps for some reason. Not sure why. Even replaced the old caps but still drains too much current. Any ideas?
I had fun bringing these back to life, brought back many good memories!
Gosh, most of these I forgot the specs on because I have been retired from racing long ago. Anyone heard of East Coast racing motors? I dont remember where I picked that one up but that one fired right up and runs smooth like butter after sitting so long. All the others required a little coaxing to get them to run again. It was funny to hook them up to a power supply and hear them barely run and slowly spinning faster and faster. Guess they needed the ol cobwebs blown out! One I brought back from the dead is the Joel Johnson. That had so much play in the bushings that it made a horrible sound when it was trying to run. Lots of miles on that one in my RC12L. Popped it open and put in new bushings from a revtec donor and now runs like it should. One of my favs back in the day. Was wondering if I should have put ball bearings in that one.
The fastest one is the black and gold label one. Not sure whose signature is on it but I remember that one chewed through my SCR1700s so quickly that my car would slow down before the race was over. I put it back in the toolbox after that so it has lowest mileage of the bunch.
The final one I bought when I was racing is the Green Machine 2. That one is also a hot little runner and I was quite impressed with it in my 1/12 scale pan cars. It did take quite a bit of effort to get running again but it now draws 4 amps for some reason. Not sure why. Even replaced the old caps but still drains too much current. Any ideas?
I had fun bringing these back to life, brought back many good memories!
- Coelacanth
- Approved Member
- Posts: 7421
- Joined: Thu Jul 29, 2010 6:20 pm
- Location: Alberta, Canada
- Has thanked: 16 times
- Been thanked: 325 times
Re: Dug these out of my old racing toolbox
Ahh, the Le Mans 240SB...yes, it's quite a screamer, indeed.
I enjoyed restoring some of my Le Mans motors too, and they look so nice on the shelf with their anodized end-bells and can ends. 


Completed projects: CYANide Onroad Optima | Zebra Gold Optima | Barney Optima | OptiMutt RWD Mid
Gallery - Coel's Stalls: Marui Galaxy & Shogun Resto-Mods | FrankenBuff AYK Buffalo | 1987 Buick GNX RC12L3
Gallery - Coel's Stalls: Marui Galaxy & Shogun Resto-Mods | FrankenBuff AYK Buffalo | 1987 Buick GNX RC12L3
- GeneralZod
- Approved Member
- Posts: 415
- Joined: Sun Dec 09, 2012 7:19 pm
- Location: Colorado
- Has thanked: 150 times
- Been thanked: 161 times
Re: Dug these out of my old racing toolbox
R Cane - can you upload a pic of yours? Wonder if it the same one. I am guessing its a 27 turn motor due to having standard bushings. Its very smooth running and I could always get long run times out of it.
Still working on the Green Machine 2. I did get the motor to run shortly with pulling only 2.8amps at 7.2V but then it slowly crept back up to 4amps. The can of the motor will heat up quickly within a min of running. All the others will stay cool at the same run time. I pulled the caps off and tried it again with same result. Even the caps would get hot with them attached. I wonder if there is a mild short somewhere.
jwscab - thanks for the Neisinger info! I haven't seen these much anywhere...wonder if they are rare or not.
Coelacanth - The LeMans series were some of the best looking motors around. I wish I could get replacement labels/parts for them nowadays. I also wish I never sold my original 240S that came with my Turbo Optima many years ago.
Still working on the Green Machine 2. I did get the motor to run shortly with pulling only 2.8amps at 7.2V but then it slowly crept back up to 4amps. The can of the motor will heat up quickly within a min of running. All the others will stay cool at the same run time. I pulled the caps off and tried it again with same result. Even the caps would get hot with them attached. I wonder if there is a mild short somewhere.
jwscab - thanks for the Neisinger info! I haven't seen these much anywhere...wonder if they are rare or not.
Coelacanth - The LeMans series were some of the best looking motors around. I wish I could get replacement labels/parts for them nowadays. I also wish I never sold my original 240S that came with my Turbo Optima many years ago.
- R Cane
- Approved Member
- Posts: 1098
- Joined: Mon Apr 21, 2014 9:06 am
- Location: Northeast Ohio
- Has thanked: 159 times
- Been thanked: 64 times
Re: Dug these out of my old racing toolbox
Been a while since I had this motor out...it's a bit different than yours. Either way, I don't know anything about them...
- GeneralZod
- Approved Member
- Posts: 415
- Joined: Sun Dec 09, 2012 7:19 pm
- Location: Colorado
- Has thanked: 150 times
- Been thanked: 161 times
Re: Dug these out of my old racing toolbox
Noticed your Revtech ultima stock next to it. I have one just like it! However, it was torn apart to donate it's bushings to the Joel Johnson. 

- R Cane
- Approved Member
- Posts: 1098
- Joined: Mon Apr 21, 2014 9:06 am
- Location: Northeast Ohio
- Has thanked: 159 times
- Been thanked: 64 times
Re: Dug these out of my old racing toolbox
Motors are kinda my jones. I have somewhere around 70, 75...don't really know why I like them so much.
There are still quite a few that I need to research info on.
There are still quite a few that I need to research info on.
Create an account or sign in to join the discussion
You need to be a member in order to post a reply
Create an account
Not a member? register to join our community
Members can start their own topics & subscribe to topics
It’s free and only takes a minute
Sign in
-
- Similar Topics
- Replies
- Views
- Last post
-
- 1 Replies
- 654 Views
-
Last post by Hcp22
-
- 8 Replies
- 818 Views
-
Last post by justinspeed79
-
- 16 Replies
- 2535 Views
-
Last post by RC10superfan
-
- 0 Replies
- 236 Views
-
Last post by Dangeruss
-
- 108 Replies
- 10198 Views
-
Last post by Ucsdmutt
-
- 30 Replies
- 3665 Views
-
Last post by JK Racing
-
- 11 Replies
- 1547 Views
-
Last post by Losi4life
-
- 16 Replies
- 2086 Views
-
Last post by MelvinsArmy
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests