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Thimble Drome Champion Conversion
Powered by a McCoy 36 "cheater" engine
This car is fitted with all of the parts which Pac-A-Lite Mfg. Co. offered for converting an unpowered Thimble Drome Champion toy race car into a competitive tether racer: the Mini-Mount drive unit, the bridle bracket kit, and the ball bearing front wheels and axle kit. Thimble Drome tires were mounted on the front wheels and 2 1/2 inch Veco tires and wheels were mounted on the rear. The installation of the Mini-Mount drive unit was rather crudely done, so the car was obviously not one which was purchased as a complete ready-to-race car from Pac-A-Lite.
But what makes this car unique is the engine.
At first glance, the engine appears to be an early McCoy 29 ignition engine which had been converted to glow plug ignition. But a closer examination reveals that all of the identifying marks on the engine bypass have been filed off, and there are file marks near the upper corners of the by-pass indicating that material had been removed from those areas of the engine case as well.
After disassembling the engine and checking the displacement, I found that the engine is actually a 1948 McCoy Sportsman Jr. 36 and not a McCoy 29 as expected.
The cast-in reinforcements between the by-pass and the exhaust port had been filed off, and after removing all of the identifying marks on the side of the by-pass, the outward appearance of the McCoy 36 was identical to that of a McCoy 29.
This car had obviously been raced. But since there was no .36-mite class at that time, the car must have competed in the .29-mite class ... but with a .36 cubic inch engine which had been modified to look like a .29-size engine.
This car was a "cheater".
