Demon Red Base Plate motors (1986)

[dinglem]

So, with the recent untimely passing of Nick Adams of Demon, I have taken a bit of an interest in his motors recently, and in particular, with a few 1986-ish builds on the go i have been focusing more on his 1986 offerings, which as it turns out were the red base-plate Sagami versions. From what i have been able to find out, Demon were the only motor manufacturer to use this set up, and due to thread stripping and even base plate separations(!) the design itself was very short-lived.

The first adverts were seen in the Nov '86 mags, introducing the new red base plate range, but by April of '87 these had been dropped for the solid black can Sagami versions which Nick then used for several years thereafter.

Jan 87 red plate ads:-

April 87 black can ad:-

The range looked like this, including fixed endbell bushed motors, heading up to variable timing fully ballraced modifieds:-

Standard class - Graphite Sreel bearings Black can and red base plate
Single 27T Sagami Black N Grey £12.00 RRC Nov '86
Single 25T Sagami Black N Grey £12.00 RRC Nov '86.
Double 24T Sagami Black N Grey £12.00 RRC Nov '86
Double 22T Sagami Black N Grey £12.00 RRC Nov '86.

Off-road Modified - ballraced Black can and red base plate
Single 27T Sagami Black Y Grey Adj £20.00 RRC Nov '86.
Single 25T Sagami Black Y Grey Adj £20.00 RRC Nov '86.
Single 22T Sagami Black Y Grey Adj £20.00 RRC Nov '86.
Double 24T Sagami Black Y Grey Adj £23.00 RRC Nov '86.
Double 22T Sagami Black Y Grey Adj £23.00 RRC Nov '86.
Quad 19T Sagami Black Y Grey Adj £25.00 RRC Nov '86.


Having hunted around for a while I have managed to get my hands on a few of these red base-plate examples, and very sexy they look too.

Firstly, a 'Double Wind' came in the original Rory Cull Hotshot I purchased, being perfectly period-correct for that car and was one used by Rory himself.

I then more recently found a 22D modified, which in this range was the second hottest wind Demon offered, (19Quad being their top dog modified). This one has been sent off to motor builder Glyn Ward who has stripped and cleaned it, inductance-tested the arm to prove it to be a 22D, replaced the bearings, zapped it and realigned the magnets and installed new brushes. It now puts out 45,000rpm at 3 amps on his dyno, which isn't too shabby.

Last up is the one I had really been after, the Demon Mister T, which was THE standard motor to have when I was first starting out racing. I have been waiting for a good one to pop up and am pleased to have finally bagged this. On the UK scene at least, this motor is fairly iconic.

These are going to be perfect for a Hotshot build, SWB CAT or even a very late 834b.

[winner_evo]

I've managed to grab a couple myself. I've got a 27T, a 24T & a Modified 19T Quad.

The Modified is new, never run or soldered.

I had a std 27T & a Mister T BITD when I had the CAT

[dinglem]

Always wanted a Mister T. They were the big thing just when i was starting out so as a young lad made quite the impression.

That 19Q is lovely - that was top-of-the-range of the red base plate modifieds at that time. Fancy.

I remember you and I discussing the timing of these versus the silver can versions when I was on about the timings for a motor for my SWB CAT.

I think these were the very best looking of all of the Demon motors.

[winner_evo]

Yeah, these are nicest looking Demons by far, saying that, the silver can Demons always looked great in the back of a car, it's the whole sticker design & Demon name that always appealed to a youngster

Also, those Demons were the first black can motors I had, everything I had before was silver cans.

[dinglem]

A that time, in the UK at least, it was all about that red prism logo

[bluewormx]

Nice find Martin,

The Mr-T was the motor to have in 1986, when BRCA "standard" class simply meant sealed motors with bushings.

I'm not sure about the winds, here is what I remember.

HT, single 27
HT-special, single 25
Mr-T, double 24
Mr-T special, double 22

All of these motors "may" have been available also in the earlier "silver" Yokomo cans.

[dinglem]

Hi Francis (I sent you a PM btw) - yes i think you could be correct there. My HT is a silver can version and just says 'Single HT' on the label.

As i was just starting out in RC all of the tech tables listed 'Demon Mr.T' motors leading the way, and that memory has really stuck with me. By the time i was racing competitively the standard class motor regs had streamlined to 27T Single bushed with a 12pound price limit and that made things much more simple.