11 replies to this topic

[Ted Bier]

Who made this funky blue chassis? Or is it a chassis jig?

 

 

[Dave Crevie]

That is Gar-Vic, from the early 1960s.The nuts are missing for the threaded rod, which is how you adjusted the length of the chassis. I have one, my first purchased chassis, with a Bonner motor, pin guide.], and stranded speaker wire for braids. Still have it somewhere. It has my first fiberglass body on it.   

[Tim Wilkins]

eBay:
 
Blue Chassis Adjustable Kit for DC 704 Pittman Motors + More Gar-Vic #003 NOS

 

 

 

[Ted Bier]

This is very similar to the one I have. But mine has a sort of handle that probably goes around the motor when installed.

[Bill from NH]

Your "handle" is not required for installing every motor. Its slot is for installing open-framed motors. The one on eBay says it's for a Pittman 704, which probably screws to the back plate using some of the four holes. I don't have one, but someone posted they have a Bonner mounted on one of these.

[Dave Crevie]

There were additional brackets available to mount different motors, as well as a couple different rear sections. I don't remember exactly how the Bonner was mounted, but I am sure there was a bracket that screwed to the baseplate that had a hole that fit the rear bearing of the motor. 

 

I have no idea how this chassis is supposed to fit a Pittman 704 motor. The 704 had a rear axle and spur gear already installed. 

[Bill from NH]

Me either!  I looked at the sketch that comes with the eBay chassis and have no idea what the motor is it shows. Maybe they made a back plate without a U-motor bracket for the 704s?

[Dave Crevie]

If the holes in the baseplate line up with the holes in the 700 series, you could cut the bracket off and use it that way. Otherwise, I don't remember there being a version with no bracket. But then, 60 years is a long time.  

[don.siegel]

The chassis shown is for the Bonner motor; it has 4 threaded mounting holes that line up with these holes. GarVic made a few different chassis like this. 

 

Don 

 

Here's the motor and how it's used in a Porsche found on ebay - don't have one using this chassis. 

 

 

 

[Dave Crevie]

The Bonner motor does not have screw holes that match up with the ones in the base plate of the Gar-Vic chassis. Only in the pinion gear end. The Bonner mounts by being sandwiched between the axle/motor bracket, and another bracket not shown in post #3. That bracket is held on by the threaded rods just like the other chassis components, and the motor is located by the holes for the bushings, and being squeezed between the axle end bracket and the brush end bracket that fits on the threaded rods. Nuts on the threaded rods accomplish that. I don't know if the holes in the base plate align with those on a 700 series Pittman, but if they do, since the Pittmans already have an axle and spur gear on them, the motor bracket of the chassis in post #3 is not needed. So there must have been a version of the base plate without the motor bracket.

 

 

 

The chassis in post #1 is for the Pittman DC77 or Revell RP77. The elongated hole in the "handle" bracket is for the long screw that passes through the magnet. The "handle" holds the motor down tight against the base plate.

 

 

I don't have pictures of my car, and since it is already packed with my other "keepers" for moving, I won't have any soon. 

[don.siegel]

I have this GarVic chassis for a Bonner, but not sure where I put it, so here's the page from the chassis roundup in the first issue of Model Car & Track, Winter 63. 

Don 

 

[Dave Crevie]

Do they show a picture with the Bonner motor installed? There would have to be a version of that motor with screw holes in the sides of the endplates, mine did not have them. In that case, the chassis in post #3 is probably for that. But difinately not for a Pittman 704A, which has an axle and gear reduction already installed. That was the idea I was trying to get across. The axle shaft would have to pass through the bushing hole of the bracket, and a near 1 to 1 pinion/crown gear ratio would have to be used. The armature and axle would in an "in-line" configuration. The notation on the instruction sheet is wrong.