Arden .099 VS Ohlsson & Rice "23"

nixthedoggie Mon Apr 29, 2013 5:52 am

I am brand new, and hopefully am in the correct area for my question.

When I was young (60 years ago) I saw "tether cars" running in Buffalo, N.Y. while visiting relatives. No way my dad said, "Too loud!!" End of story. Two heart surgeries + one for cancer & I am now going to enjoy some deserved down time and try to learn about these cars and rebuild one (fingers crossed). I purchased an original one that supposedly sat since the early fifties with an Arden ".099" engine. Turns out the Arden is an Ohlsson & Rice "23".

Apologies for rambling, but my question is: Do I continue with this car & "23" engine or should I find a different one to try to learn on? When I was a kid, engineering was my goal, but 40 years of being a tax accountant may have dulled that edge. Any input or suggestions about the desirability (not the value, but whether or not it will be a relatively easy one to restore, plus is it faster than the Arden would be?). Thank you for any help or suggestions!

ian1954 Mon Apr 29, 2013 6:16 am

Arden .099 VS Ohlsson & Rice "23" Arden011

Arden .099 VS Ohlsson & Rice "23" Or2310

I know absolutely nothing about tether cars but like the engines!

crankbndr Mon Apr 29, 2013 6:29 am

I too have been trying to learn more about these old models, even finding the books to learn from is not easy because they have been long out of print and costly.
This link shows the books

http://www.tethercar.net/publications.php

other links I've found

http://www.tlctethercar.com/shop.php

http://www.kirkfwhite.com/

http://tethercar.com/

I figgered I better learn more before I dive in because they are not cheap and there is a lot of repros out there.
If your cars drive train looks good I would run it as is, how about a photo or two of your car.

nixthedoggie Mon Apr 29, 2013 6:40 am

Thank you! I am almost embarassed to post a photo of the car (A fool & his money are soon parted) but I have learned quite a bit in the past couple of weeks. You are correct about the books, I need to read.

I really hope to run the car, or a different one if this one turns out to be as bad as it looks like it actually is! I did buy an engineless one a couple of weeks back and was hoping to transfer the drivetrain to the nicer looking Cox car based on this most recent purchase looking worse and worse as each day goes by. I ramble these days, and am totally out of my element here. Will put a photo of the engine up later today, hoping it wont be like the Mustang board where it seems the naive are used as cannon fodder!

crankbndr Mon Apr 29, 2013 6:56 am

Welcome to the forum, a lot of nice folks here. I learned there is three active tracks still running these cars in the US, one in Anderson Ind., my home town of all places.
Another link I found

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1642864