85 replies to this topic

[dc-65x]

This is one of my favorite chassis from the early '68 "end of the inline" time period. It's George Parks beauty and he finished 4th place in the main against stiff competition from Pro racers.

 

The author of this period race report, Mike Morrissey I believe, liked the Parks chassis too:

 

 

 

Here's the 3 page race report of the Dallas Car Model that Parks raced this chassis in:

 

(Click on the pictures to enlarge)

 

 

 

 

Time to plug in the soldering iron........

[Don Weaver]

Love the end of the in-line era slot cars and their frames.  What a time it was and if you weren't there you really missed out!  Glad to see Rick doing this one 'cause I know it will be done right...

 

Don Weaver

[Bill from NH]

I had never heard of George Parks. Just found out he was a Texas independent pro from Dallas.

[dc-65x]

George Parks was one heck of a craftsman too Bill. 

 

Don, I'm going to really try to do his chassis design and workmanship justice. I've been studying all the little details and I can't find anything I would do differently. Well, except I have a preference for ball bearings in lathe turned "duffys".

 

But this chassis will be all George Parks starting with the rear axle bracket. Look at his workmanship:

 

 

I'm using a Russkit bracket, 3/16" X 1/8" Dynamic oilite bearings, 7/32" brass tube to slip over the bearings and .050" thick brass plate from Cobra for the "stiffening plate":

 

[Jaeger Team]

I guess that stiffening plate also served to move the engine forward a bit

[dc-65x]

I don't know what Parks had in mind with his "stiffening plate" with the big hole in it. But when I saw it I thought of using it to mount a Champion 517 motor with the big goofy end bell bearing. 

 

Here's a comparison of the Champion 517 end bell (on the right) and a Mura or Mabuchi end bell. Note how the the big Champion bearing interfers with the motor mounting screw head:

 

 

I'm going to use the "stiffening plate" to also allow the big bearing to fit inside it and then the motor mounting screws can sit nice and flat against the Russkit bracket.

 

[Jaeger Team]

I don't know what Parks had in mind with his "stiffening plate" with the big hole in it. But when I saw it I thought of using it to mount a Champion 517 motor with the big goofy end bell bearing. 
 
Here's a comparison of the Champion 517 end bell (on the right) and a Mura or Mabuchi end bell. Note how the the big Champion bearing interfers with the motor mounting screw head:
 
end bell comparo.JPG
 
I'm going to use the "stiffening plate" to also allow the big bearing to fit inside it and then the motor mounting screws can sit nice and flat against the Russkit bracket.
 

Clever!

[dc-65x]

The .050" thick Cobra drop arm plate clamped in the mill to make my "stiffening plate":

 

 

I found a .3205 diameter reamer on eBay that makes the perfect size hole for the Champion end bell:

 

 

After the holes were drilled, the bracket was cut out and shaped around them and finally soldered to the Russkit bracket:

 

[James Wendel]

Nice.... I would have liked to have seen how you aligned, secured, and soldered those two parts together.  Must have been a fair trick.

[Bill from NH]

Not necessarily Rick's way, but I might have tinned the stiffening plate, screwed it to the Russkit bracket through the motor mounting holes, then sweat-soldered the two parts together. If aluminum screws & nuts are used, they don't get soldered in. Now let's wait for Rick to tell us how he did it.

[dc-65x]

Soldering the stiffener plate was easypeasy:

 

The Russkit bracket is tinned.

The stiffener plate is bolted to the bracket with stainless steel hardware that solder doesn't like to stick too.

Touch a tiny drop of solder down and run it back and forth on the bracket on each side of the plate until you see it weting inside of the big bearing hole.

A quick wipe with a Q-tip removes the excess solder while it's still wet.

Finally a little bit of sanding reveals the brass where the soldering iron was moved back and forth on the Russkit bracket.

[James Wendel]

Ah, stainless through the motor mount holes... of course.  Where was my head at?

[Larry Horner]

Ok, you just have to do the gussets ... never seen them before but they are uber cool!

[dc-65x]

More work to do on the other side of the Russkit bracket before I tackle the gussets Larry:

 

 

A couple of 1/16" piano wire braces:

 

 

[Dave Crevie]

I have to admit that I thought you had bit off more than you could chew with this one. Obviously, I was wrong.

[Bill Breck]

More work to do on the other side of the Russkit bracket before I tackle the gussets Larry:

 

MCJ V1N6 p8 - Copy (4).jpg

 

A couple of 1/16" piano wire braces:

 

parks chassis (5).JPG

 

parks chassis (6).JPG

 

 

 

I didn't notice that the brace was in 2 pieces until I looked at it more closely. Was thinking that would be a bitch to bend as a single piece. 

[Mad Mark]

This will be a good build cant wait to see more

[Sloter]

Awesome work!

 

Bob

[dc-65x]

Thanks to everyone for your interest in this tribute to George Parks beautiful chassis.  

 

One last thing to install before tackling those super cool gussets. Dynamic oilite bearings are installed with the flanges on the inside of the Russkit bracket. Short lengths of 7/32" tube are slipped over the bearings and soldered in place:

 

 

 

 

Gusset time...........

[Larry Horner]

Finally!      So are you still going to put ball bearings on the outside?

[dc-65x]

Hi Larry,

 

No ball bearings this time. Sorry if I infered that. I do prefer them but as I mentioned, "But this chassis will be all George Parks........."    

[Dave Crevie]

That's keeping it period correct. As a newbie to jaildoor, I was surprised that most rules outlawed ball bearings. Or even bushings in some cases. But I learned to deal with it, and to build rear ends that worked.

 

Stick to the prototype, Rick, and you will gain a diciple. 

[Bill from NH]

Rick, are the main rails on this chassis all brass rod, or a mixture of brass rod & piano wire?

[dc-65x]

I'll be sticking to the original chassis Dave.     

 

I'm basing my interpretation of the Parks chassis on 4 old black and white newsprint photos. But that is just part of the fun of the process of trying to figure things out.

 

For example, Bills question about whether brass and or piano wire chassis rails were used. I've studied this picture and based on the different shades of the rails have decided to use all brass except for those indicated by the red arrows which will be piano wire:

 

 

Of course someone else my see things differently but on my version that's what I'm going with.  

[dc-65x]

Gusset time. 

 

I found some spur gears to use as jig wheels that allowed the Russkit bracket to sit level. Square aluminum stock supports the gusset and is spaced up to the right height with shim stock.

 

 

Well this was quite a project and it's only the motor bracket:

 

 

 

 

 

Now I need to switch gears and get the motor's end bell and can together to use as my "jig motor"..........