22 replies to this topic

[dc-65x]

I'm an avid scratch builder but there were several kit cars I admired back in the 1960's.

A pair of my favorites were the Monogram 1/32 scale 1964 Ferrari 158 and Lotus 33 GP cars.

 

I love the artwork on the kit's box tops too:

 

 

 

I found a period track test in the December 1965 Model Car Science magazine:

 

 

 

 

I scanned an original Ferrari instruction sheet........

 

 

........and I thought I'd share the assembly process following the instructions

step by step and showing the correct parts. I hope this can help anyone else

who is gathering parts for one of these one piece at a time like I have.

 

Most of the parts I've gathered over the years are used but I have 2 really

cool new old stock (NOS) boxed motors:

 

 

Here's what you get in the box:

 

 

Time to crack open the instruction sheet and start building..........

[dc-65x]

Rodney advised me to check out the brush springs on the new motors.

Sure enough they had taken "set" and provided almost no tension as seen on the left:

 

 

With the motors squared away, all of the mechanical components are

restored and in the component assembly tray:

 

 

Here's the first page of assembly instructions:

 

 

I'm skipping steps 1 thru 4 of the body assembly for now.

 

Here is step 5 with the parts shown on top and the assembled

components on the bottom:

 

 

Step 6 is adding the chassis pan:

 

 

Step 7 in the instructions call out for a 2 31/32" wheelbase for the Ferrari

and a 2 15/16" wheelbase for the Lotus.

 

It's easy to set this up by measuring over axles with calipers

and adding 1/8" to the desired dimension:

 

[Lone Wolf]

Superb.

 

May I ask how you get that sunshiny yellow glow to on the brass parts?

 

I like it.

 

Mine come out a darker brass color.

 

Let me preface this with I'm probably wrong, but I believe the short pan head screws are meant to be used on the chassis itself.

 

The longer screws with the flatter binding head that you are using to attach the motor bracket may be incorrect there.

 

I know they are actually easier to use there as a little extra length comes in handy when installing them.

 

I've only seen those larger head longer screws used to retain the guide weight on some Monogram chassis.

 

Again, I could be wrong.

 

According to the instructions in this application all the 2-56 screws appear to be the same size and style.

[dc-65x]

Assembly continues with the next page of the instructions:

 

 

Step 8 gets the drop arm installed with the little wire gizmo:

 

 

Step 9 and the wheels and tires are ready. My rear tires are NOS but the

fronts are used. A careful cleaning of the tread with lighter fluid and a cotton

swab followed by an hour or so soak in the old Trinity Zip Grip with the good old

oil of wintergreen.

 

Wheels were cleaned up with Scotchbrite pad and sandpaper then polished.

One pair of rear wheels had the tires epoxied on. With the tires finally ripped off

I had to remachined the wheels in my hobby lathe:

 

 

Step 10 gets the cool rear suspension piece installed:

 

 

 

[dc-65x]

Hi Joe,

 

What you brought up is exactly why I posted this thread. I want to show

what parts are correct to build these cars and input to "get it right" is appreciated. 

 

You are right about the shorter screws being shown in the instructions.

 

One of my chassis was NOS in the package but the blister was opened and

resealed with staples. Inside the package were the longer screws?????

 

What to do.........

 

The shorter screws are just barely long enough to work when attaching the thick rear axle bracket.

 

The machinist in me said to use the longer screws from the resealed NOS package.......

So, I used the longer screws from the NOS package there and attaching the front suspension piece.

 

I believe Rodney has a sealed NOS chassis kit and I'll ask him what length screws are in it.

 

I used Tarn-X on all the brass parts. Even after straightening, sanding and polishing the used

chassis pan I soaked it in the stuff. I think it gives the brass a "factory new" look:

 

[Lone Wolf]

Wow, thanks on the Tarn-X.

 

I have a bottle somewhere I bought about 30+ years ago.

 

I wonder if it will still be liquid when I find it

 

Please understand that I am in no way being critical of your work.

 

I would be interested in finding the correct answer on the screws.

 

The only way I can catch the inside chassis nuts on these is by using a pair of spring loaded tweezers.

 

Totally concur on the longer screws on the bracket for ease of assembly.

 

Take my advise and don't get old.

 

I've restored at least 20 of these chassis over the years and they rarely have all of their original parts/hardware when found used.

 

Joe

[dc-65x]

No criticism from either of us Joe, we are both just trying to "get it right".  Again, the purpose of this thread. 

 

If Rodney's sealed chassis kit has the long screws then I'll be wondering if the "car kit" had the short screws but 

things were changed with the chassis kit.

 

In any case, maybe I should make my car match the instructions even if the machinist in me says the screws are to short.

 

Changing out a couple of screws is easy.      

[Lone Wolf]

OK, let us know what you find.

 

Don't tell anyone but I've been collecting slot junk for years.

 

I have some 2-56 brass screws that match exactly but are just slightly longer.

 

Makes life a little easier on that rear bracket installation and they'll never know

[dc-65x]

Long screws or short screws.......that is the question.

 

I installed a short Monogram screw for the axle bracket and it barely catches any threads in the nut:

 

 

OK, I know this isn't the space shuttle and I'm sure it would hold everything together but.............

...........I'm going with the longer Monogram screws that came in my particular chassis kit.

 

 

Onward to steps 11 and 12 to get the rear end finished up:

 

 

Steps 13, 14 and 15 get the front suspension trim piece, wheels and tires installed:

 

 

To finish the rolling chassis off.............

 

 

.........the guide is installed is installed per steps 16, 17 and 18. I used "mystery"

silver plated thin braid which I tinned and punched for the screw.

 

I added a little shrink tube loop to help arrange the lead wires. They need to clear the body

mounting post. Once the body is on it hard to get to the wires if they are in the way:

 

 

The finished rollers:

 

 

 

Time for paint.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bill from NH]

Rick, are you using some sort of thread locker on the screws & nuts so they never end up out on your track someplace? I have been told its use was almost mandatory with the Plafit & other screw-together chassis kits.

[Lone Wolf]

The hell with the bodies, just put them in the case like they are 

 

I think you were probably on the right track when you said the separate chassis had the longer screws than the kit.

 

Look how nicely the short screws fit on the front part of the chassis.

 

Not so much on the rear.

 

Maybe something they got complaints on, we may never know.

 

I'm sure those longer screws with the flatter heads were something they had in stock.

 

One design flaw IMO is that lower motor lead sits so close to the chassis but it's easily rectified.

 

At first I thought you put the crown on the wrong side.

 

Silly me 

 

For some reason I always put the crown on the right.

 

Just think it looks more natural that way.

 

Back in the day I set up many rears in my shop.

 

I think the machinist in you would appreciate the attention to detail it requires to be done correctly.

[Phil Smith]

Rick, are you using some sort of thread locker on the screws & nuts so they never end up out on your track someplace? I have been told its use was almost mandatory with the Plafit & other screw-together chassis kits.

 

Rick soldered those nuts and bolts. You can't see it because of Rick's insane soldering skills.

[dc-65x]

In hindsight I wish I would have used a little piece of that heat shrink tube over the bottom lead wire connection to the motor.

It is really close to the chassis pan and the front motor mount bracket.

 

Careful bending of the wire at the motor allows it to clear everything.  

[Martin]

I was thinking you could make a bolt on wire guide and use some of the extra thread on the bolt. It would keep the wire right where want it and justify the use of the longer bolts. ......and if you make it something like this you can bend over the corners and it will act as a lock washer too.

Just a thought

Attached Images

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[dc-65x]

Hi Martin,

 

The longer "bolts" are used in the rear on the axle bracket to chassis pan connection. The could also be used in the front for 

a wire retainer gizmo.........or simply use a little piece of heat shrink tube to arrange the wires like I did.

[Martin]

I understand simple is best. I was trying to incorporate a lock nut washer. As you would on a race car or motorcycle. I do realize that even with my gizmo the screw could still back out. Loc-tite may be the answer if you enter that F1 endurance event . 

[dc-65x]

Yes it's fun to incorporate trick features into our slot car builds. I even earned the nickname 

of the "Master of Overkill" at one time.        I had fun with things like that on my 1/32

Monogram Lola GT that I stuffed a Pittman 196 into.

 

But for these GP cars, I'm keeping them as close to "stock" as I can.

[dc-65x]

OK............moving forward with these neat little cars, I started working on the bodies.

 

Here's what I started with. For the Lotus it was a complete body kit that was "used" but in pretty good shape:

 

 

The Ferrari was a new body kit that had been cut off from the rest of the kit parts:

 

 

All the parts were removed from the "trees" cleaned up and put into their assembly trays:

 

 

 

I removed the parting lines from both bodies and sanded them smooth with 600 grit paper.

 

The sun came out today for an hour or so and the temperature got a little above 40 degrees

so I got them both in primer:

 

 

[dc-65x]

The sun came out, the wind stopped and the temperature got a little above 50 degrees................lets go!

 

I opened the lid of my trash can spray both and went to town on the Lotus with Tamiya Racing Green.

The color was supposedly developed for Tamiya's Lotus GP model kit and I think it's perfect:

 

 

The results were all I hoped for, no runs, no dust and good coverage. The "orange peel" is

shrinking over time as the paint cures.

 

I know "master modelers" can get a glass smooth surface with various techniques.

I think a coat of Future Floor Finish over the decals will do the trick.........

 

 

.........but I may happily leave well enough alone and take what I've got.  

[dc-65x]

The sun came out, the wind stopped and the temperature got a little above 50 degrees...............take 2!     

 

I heated up a new can of Tamiya TS-26 Pure White paint in hot water and let her rip:

 

 

The new can sprayed very nicely. No runs, dust and very minimal orange peel.

Maybe "practice really does make perfect" and I'm starting to get the hang of this spray painting thing.     

 

 

I'm attempting to do the livery of John Surtees 1964 US GP car.:

 

 

Monogram includes decals for this in their kit. But, as the directions state, 

part of the body side still has to be painted dark blue:

 

 

I did a couple of spray outs to see if I could match the decals:

 

 

My current thinking is that if I have to paint part of the blue,

I might as well paint all of it. 

 

But for now I'm waiting until the white paint is fully cured.

 

 

 

 

[Larry Horner]

Not that I doubted you (ok, maybe a little) but I didn't remember Lotus racing green as being quite that ... well, green. So I looked up some images of the Lotus 33 and that color is spot on!

[dc-65x]

I did some Google searching and found a modeling forum talking about this very thing. It was said that Tamiya developed the

green I used for their Lotus 25 GP model kit so I went with it. Tamiya also has a darker shade British Racing Green.

[Mark Onofri]

I have to really, really convince myself to use mint parts. If I'm lucky enough to find a used one to go with the new one, I'm ok with that. But there's nothing like using new parts, is there?

 

The other thing is, they're getting expensive. Not that they are going to break the bank, but they are definitely cheaper than the real thing. It's like my friend Dr. Joe says: They're only going to throw them out when you're RIP.