Vintage Motor identification.....

[TheGizmodi 211]

I picked up a new project this week and it came with a box of parts, controller etc... One of the spare motors is an interesting little gem, can't really find much info on it other than its unusual:

I have it roughly ID'd as a Trinity Monster Horsepower '1985 World Champion' motor, however, it seems pretty unusual in that it has an allow / removable end cap? (not sure that's the right term!)

Stripped it down to look at it, minimal rust so looks like its just been sat for a while as opposed to driven through a swamp! lol

Anyone got any more ideas? Is it worth anything?

 

 

 

[Frog Jumper 3661]

I did a Google search for “Trinity Monster Orange” and I found this:

https://www.rctech.net/forum/rookie-zone/414006-trinity-monster-horsepower-1985-motor-specs.html
 

[mtbkym01 4008]

It looks very much like one of these with a different sticker

[Saito2 6686]

Digging back in my memory banks, IIRC, Ernie Provetti, Trintiy's founder, originally sourced motors from Kyosho when they got started in the RC motor biz. It sticks in my mind (and anyone feel free to correct me) that he and his first sponsored driver, a young Joel Johnson went to some race in Japan with the hopes of getting a motor deal with Kyosho. Joel's good performance caught Kyosho's eye and they struck up a deal to source their motors from Kyosho. Eventually, as Trinity grew, they were able to cut out Kyosho (who was essentially the middle man) and get motors straight from the manufacturer.

[Juggular 4964]

20 hours ago, TheGizmodi said:

it seems pretty unusual in that it has an allow / removable end cap? (not sure that's the right term!)

Most 540 motors were rebuildable; to allow adjustment of timing. (Don't do what I did. I did the timing backward once; the motor was running faster backwards!)  

Only the cheap motors doesn't allow end bell adjustment, like the silver can and Sport Tuned, etc.  I have a bunch of 27t Reedy stock motors, and those things are just as fast as Sport Tuned, if not faster.  (If Tamiya allowed us to adjust the endbell, we'd all time the stock motor so they'd be as fast as the Sport Tuned. Nobody would buy Torque Tuned, and less people would buy Sport Tuned.)

You can lubricate the bearings, clean the commutator and brushes. It should run as good as new.  I prefer trusty old motors over a new no-name-brand motors of suspicious specs.  

 

[Unknown Driver 262]

I stumbled into this thread but it blew my mind. Before reading anything I thought "Gee, that looks like a Kyosho endbell..." - I never knew Trinity sourced motors from Kyosho early on. It was always pretty easy to tell who was sourcing motors from where back in the day...

Reedy = Yokomo
Epic = Trinity = Fantom = Twister = etc etc

I even have motors from Tower Hobbies that are re-branded Trinity motors!

When I was a kid I thought they all made their own stuff. LOL

[Unknown Driver 262]

I offer exhibits A and B.

[InsaneJim69 1584]

On 8/30/2021 at 4:10 PM, Unknown Driver said:

I offer exhibits A and B.

That brings back some memories. I used to run a Green Machine 3, Also had a Reedy Rage too. Also remember ordering a P2K and being blown away by its copper housing when it turned up. Both great motors, the GM3 was the pro version dyno at 34500RPM @7.2V. was ridiculous fast for a rebuild able 27T stock motor. Good old days messing with spring tension on the + side for that tiny bit more RPM 👍

James.

[Unknown Driver 262]

I do miss the days when motors had personality. The brushless stuff is definitely better for performance, but where are the crazy logos, names, colors?

I ran carpet oval in the late 90s, basically from the Green Machine 2 --> P2K. The rebuildable motors were definitely a game changer for folks like us that wanted to cut comms and replace brushes weekly. And they were plenty fast.

It does make me wonder how an old-school 27T would fare against a modern high-end 17.5 running the same batteries. I was shocked at how much a LiPo pack woke up my re-re Blackfoot running a $20 ebay 27T motor.