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Not sure many folks on here will have heard of Ian Oddie. He was and still is, a famous racer from the late 80's and early 90s, and is in fact still racing and winning today competing in various classes.

I chat to Ian occasionally, and have a particular interest as he was once an Team MG sponsored driver. I actually watched him race alongside Craig Drescher for Team Yokomo at Weston park running their then brand new Yokomo 870c's when they had only just arrived in the UK.

Ian was well known for fiddling with his motors, calling them 'Oddifieds' and he dabbled with putting together 4 pole motors, rewinds and the like.

In a batch of old MG motors he sent to me not so long ago we have uncovered one of his attempts at a rewind, although what is interesting apart from the obvious details is that he has initialed and dated the segments on the armature.


What immediately jumps out at me is that a 13Double would have seemed extremely wild in August 1987!!!

He obviously knew what he was doing as the windings look great, there is evidence of extensive balancing, there is significant Reedy-esq threading below the tabs and plenty of lacquer covering the windings.

Quick skim and a clean of the MG can (which is an early Yokomo with a very basic MG label), new brushes and onto the dyno it went.


39,000rpm at 3.4amps.

It must have been pretty crazy at the time, and I am not too sure the cells of the late 80's would have coped!

Does anybody know what the small pock marks all over the armature segments btw? I don't mean the balancing holes, but the smaller more subtle dents??

Man you always have the cool motor stories bud, on the small dimples it can be clamp marks or maybe even manufacturers imperfections?

Yeah, I have been quite lucky recently with some of the interesting motors I have picked up. People in the UK tend to know I am a bit MG crazy so whenever something pops up I generally get a few messages tipping me off, and others just message me directly with their own motors.

Another cool 'Oddified' I am getting rebuilt is actually another very early MG Magnum can which looks to have been wet-stored in a puddle for about 30 years. The one side of the can is in perfect black painted condition, but the other half, including half of where the label covers, is really badly pitted and rusted. The label has survived pretty well, so I think I am going to clear-coat it and have a bit of a ratty motor but put something tasty in it. I have an unused MG 14Single armature available and have just sourced an early Yokomo endbell, so I think it will be kind of cool having a very rough looking motor that will run well. Plus I won't be afraid to use it and knock it about hanging out of the back of one of my 2WD cars. Something a bit different anyway

Just another way to balance is my guess. Probably trying to do a dynamic balance. Easier to nip off tiny bits rather than plunge the drill