So, I have stripped out somewhere around 20 different slots to component level. I was going through the slew of parts to throw most of it away, and happened across something I hadn’t noticed before.
These are all chassis with a mold number of one. The thing I never noticed before was the lack of the through hole that the Fire Engine uses to secure the top part that holds all the mechanicals.
These are mold number two chassis, also missing the hole.
This is mold number three, with the hole. This is from a stripped fire engine, as I can see the wear/residue where the drive gear was located. And given the fact I remember tearing one down.
These are riveted pick-up shoe chassis. The interesting thing is they use both mold one and two, and both have the through hole.
I do know that some first gen chassis used riveted shoes, but, most of the G.I. Joe and Army Transport slot chassis were also riveted. (I gather this from having 3 Joe Pete’s, 5 cobra transports, 6 Army COE’s and 3 Army dumps…).
Going back to my first pic, the chassis on the left has a one and also the hole. Given what I saw, I can ascertain this was a riveted shoe chassis that was converted, no?
So, what I learned is how to distinguish early ‘81 and ‘82 chassis. By ‘83 they switched to the chassis with the hole, specifically for the 3911. At the same time it seems Tyco used up whatever stock of chassis that had riveted shoes to make the Army Transport trucks, and again in 1984 for the Joe trucks. Other than the absolute very first ‘81 trucks, and the 04 and 17 set trucks, I’ve rarely seen riveted shoes on much else.
These are all chassis with a mold number of one. The thing I never noticed before was the lack of the through hole that the Fire Engine uses to secure the top part that holds all the mechanicals.
These are mold number two chassis, also missing the hole.
This is mold number three, with the hole. This is from a stripped fire engine, as I can see the wear/residue where the drive gear was located. And given the fact I remember tearing one down.
These are riveted pick-up shoe chassis. The interesting thing is they use both mold one and two, and both have the through hole.
I do know that some first gen chassis used riveted shoes, but, most of the G.I. Joe and Army Transport slot chassis were also riveted. (I gather this from having 3 Joe Pete’s, 5 cobra transports, 6 Army COE’s and 3 Army dumps…).
Going back to my first pic, the chassis on the left has a one and also the hole. Given what I saw, I can ascertain this was a riveted shoe chassis that was converted, no?
So, what I learned is how to distinguish early ‘81 and ‘82 chassis. By ‘83 they switched to the chassis with the hole, specifically for the 3911. At the same time it seems Tyco used up whatever stock of chassis that had riveted shoes to make the Army Transport trucks, and again in 1984 for the Joe trucks. Other than the absolute very first ‘81 trucks, and the 04 and 17 set trucks, I’ve rarely seen riveted shoes on much else.
