81 replies to this topic

[dc-65x]

I’m really looking forward to this build, a MESAC Veteran class club racer. But first let’s look into what this class of car was about.

 

The best place to start is with Victor Ferguson's MESAC devoted Facebook page where he states:

 

“Imagine finally being old enough to join the best Slot Car Club! That was 1976. In 1977 the MESAC club closed its doors for good. As the last MESAC member I’ve saved all the club items given to me over the years.”

 

Below is a link to Victor Ferguson’s Facebook page:

 

MESAC Slot Car Club

 

Rodney and Victor supplied the following photos and information about the MESAC Veteran Class.

 

Below is Rodney’s information:

 

During 1971 John Luthi came up with a new MESAC class called the Veteran Class.  Here is John's proposal drawing:

 

 

Victor interviewed MESAC member Dan Wilson regarding the Veteran Class.  This is what he said about the class:

 

"I believe this was an idea that John Luthi put forward to somewhat simplify the building of 1/24th scale sports cars, which by then (roughly 1970-71) had become full plumber rewound go fast cars.  They were harder to build and more expensive.  The club got a box of 36D motors to hand out to help with competitive parity."

 

Victor has this John Luthi Veteran Class car:

 

 

Here is Victor's Lister Veteran Class car:

 

 

 

Some bodies for the class:

 

 

One of the MESAC cars I restored is the Ferrari that has a body Roger Saletri used (#20 at MESAC). It uses the red body in the box of bodies pictured above. The car handles well and is easy to drive, with a little tail out when pushed:

 

 

The car uses a Don Sloan chassis. The rear tires are medium compound MESAC rubber. Victor says the white can 36D motors were the handout motors mentioned in the proposal drawing.

 

You can see that the cars are not exactly like the proposal drawing rules but are built in the spirit of the rules.

 

(I’ll add this here: Rodney and I discussed that the Veteran Class cars likely evolved over time from the original proposal drawing shown above)

 

 

Victor was kind enough to supply this information on a little known MESAC class of racing called the Veteran Class.  Thanks, Victor.

 

And thank you too Rodney for all your photos and info.

 

My build:

 

I’m interested in building the prototype car from that 1971 design proposal drawing. I want to keep my build as close to the proposal drawing as possible. But since the Veteran class cars evolved after their introduction in 1971, I’ve discussed one possible addition to the chassis with Rodney. We will see how things develop during the build.

 

And speaking of the build, time to get started.

[don.siegel]

Great project Rick, and this indeed sounds like an excellent class, in fact it gives me an idea for our vintage guys here! 

 

That evolved chassis looks like they put back in all the bells and whistles, or at least a plumber setup and floppy body mounts... 

 

Don 

[dc-65x]

Hi Don,

 

I'm interested in driving a "Gen 1" version with a 2 1/2" max track width, .417" max tire width and of course the mighty 36D in stock form. It should be a hoot.  

 

The class started in 1971 and MESAC ceased in 1977. I'm not sure how long it took for the cars to evolve all those bells and whistles. Those guys were scratchbuiders so they probably couldn't help themselves.   

[Martin]

I love this class Rick.

Is there a year (s)of body that you think would fit this class. The reason I ask is I have a body from the Don Sloan collection.

 

The body I have is a Lotus Eleven or a Lotus 15 not  sure ? . Do you think this would be appropriate for the "veteran class"?

Thanks Rick,  you have inspired me to build my own car for this fun class. 

 

Doing a bit more research I can imagine that sports cars from the "fabulous 50s" would be what MESAC members intended ?    

[dc-65x]

Hi Martin,

 

I hope Rodney will chime in on this.   

 

He said he has talked to Victor and Victor is looking for the "homologated body list" mentioned in the proposal drawing. What Rodney and I have discussed are cars from the "pre- mid engine race cars" era. Cars from the glory days of the front engine race cars:

 

 

A body I have immediately came to mind for this build and I asked Rodney if he and Victor thought it was in the spirit of the class. It is my prized Auto Hobbies Maserati 450S:

 

 

 

[don.siegel]

+1 for the Maserati. 

 

Martin, I'd be surprised if a 36D would fit under a Lotus 11 without making it look like the reverse of a low-rider... It's even hard to get a 16D under one and maintain a good stance. 

 

A friend had a real one here and I rode in it once - it's really low! As a near 6 footer, they'd have to take out the seat for me to drive it - can't imagine doing 24 hours in one of those, no matter how tall one is! 

 

Don 

[Slot Car Rod]

I agree with cars from the "pre- mid engine race cars" era. Cars from the glory days of the front engine race cars.  

With the Veteran Class rules, early sports cars would look correct with the narrow and tall tires.  

Victor is still looking for the body list.

This is going to be a fun build.

[Bill from NH]

What scale is this Veteran class? Some of the bodies appear to be narrow enough to be 1/32 yet long enough to be 1/24. I know 36Ds don't fit under most 1/32nds. I checked the MESAC sketch in post #1 for a range of wheelbases but found none,

[Martin]

Here is a pic of the Lotus, taken from the e-bay auction. It does fit the 2.5" rule.

 

 

 

I will check to see if a 36d fits under the body.

[Slot Car Rod]

They are 1/24th scale.

[dc-65x]

Thanks for your input Rodney. Please keep us informed with anything you and Victor can come up with on this class.

 

Hi Martin. Better check if a 36D motor and 1 1/16" rear tires will fit under that great looking Lotus 11. The 2 1/2" width is a maximum chassis width. You can go narrower if needed.

[Martin]

I had to put an 1/8" rod under the body to get the 36D to fit. Not the worst thing.

 

 

[Slot Car Rod]

My opinion regarding the Lotus 11, go for it.  Have fun. They ran at Le Mans. 

[dc-65x]

"Have fun." You nailed it Rodney. That's the most important "rule" for this class of cars today.

[Jaeger Team]

My opinion regarding the Lotus 11, go for it.  Have fun. They ran at Lemans.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/204669955390

[Steve Okeefe]

Did some digging last night and came up with some possible candidates for a Veteran class car.

 

A DuBro # 24-04 Scarab Mk.I Chevy:

 

 

Per Ultimatecarpage.com, the prototype width is 59.5" (2.48" in scale) and the wheelbase is 92" (3.83" in scale).  Most of the sports cars from the "pre mid-engine race cars" era seem to have wheelbases that scale between 3.500 and 3.875 inches.  This front-engine Scarab is right in that range.

 

To fit 1-1/16" rear tires and 15/16" fronts, the body has to be raised up as shown in the photo.  At that height, a 36D will easily fit underneath, but will require a "flat" interior.  Look at how short those sides are!  To use this body, I will have to install "extenders" to get the sides down to the chassis. 

 

Here's a motor I found (a K&B Royal Bobcat) and matching bracket:

 

 

I'll keep digging to see what else I can come up with.  That "homologated body list" will be most helpful. 

 

[Martin]

I will leave you guys to all the fun, I am tapping out with this Lotus.

1 and 1/16" wheel diameter sets the body at 7/16" above ground. So I will save this body for a 16D and 7/8" diameter wheels.

To be continued on another day.

But I will enjoy your builds none the less.  Play on 

 

[dc-65x]

Hey Steve and Martin,

 

I found this repop Lancer Lister at PCH Part Express:

 

 

[Martin]

Thanks for that Rick, I have not looked in my stash for a suitable body and I do have a few other projects on the bench.

 

But I will watch with interest. Enjoy.

[Steve Okeefe]

Nice find! 

 

It's on order...  unfortunately, I think I got the last one...

 

At 1-1/16" diameter the rear tires are near correct scale size (25.5") and from a chassis design standpoint, a "natural" fit for a 36D.  But good grief those are some tall boots to be fitting under these shorter, narrower bodies!

[dc-65x]

Speaking of "tall boots" Steve, the first thing I want to do for this build is get my wheels and tires sorted out. The Maserati 450S had 16” wheels and tires that would probably scale out to well over the 1 1/16” rear tire minimum diameter in the rules.

 

When discussing wheel diameters, I mean the “overall diameter” which is typically 1” or more larger than the tire size diameter. A wheel for a15” tire is actually 16” to 16 1/2" in diameter.

 

I tried a scale 16” wheel like the Russkit dragster rear wheel and it looks goofy with a 1 1/16” diameter tire as it has very low profile sidewall. The typical Russkit rear road wheel, which is less than a scale 14”, looks small with that tall sides on the scale Maserati body. I want something in between like a scale 15” set screw wheel that nobody made.....or at least i don't have.    

 

A 14” wheel is too small, a 16” wheel is too big……… YIKES!  I have the Goldilocks Dilemma.      

 

 

Sherline hobby lathe to the rescue:

 

 

I cut down some Russkit dragster wheels to a scale 15” shown in the center in the photo below:

 

 

For rear tires I'm starting out with urethane replica Cox Dunlops from Slot Car Tyres in France:

 

 

Mounted and ground to 1 1/16":

 

 

Now, what to do for fronts...........

[NJ Racer]

I was always thinking of putting this body on top of a Pittman 196B

Attached Images

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[Steve Okeefe]

Hi, Ray,

 

That's probably a good motor and body combination, but unfortunately won't work with 1-1/16" rear tires.  I have one of those K&B Maserati bodies too, and tried it out.  It's a 1/25 (not 1/24) scale body and simply too small.

 

BTW, are you the same Ray Carlisi I remember (vaguely) from Gran Prix Raceway in the Bronx (1967-69)?  You may also vaguely remember me, I used to hang out with David Liebenthal and Jim Damerell.

[Mark Onofri]

Been a while DC, I had two (2) of the lotuses and now, I wish I had kept one.

[dc-65x]

With the rear wheels done I finally had an idea for fronts that I had to try. Stock Russkit dragster wheel on the left and modified for a Russkit front tire on the right:

 

 

The resulting flange on the inside of the wheel is only half the height of the outside flange. This is not ideal but it aligns the tire and the 2-ton epoxy is holding the tire on with a vengeance so it is not going anywhere:

 

 

I made the wheels rotate independently. One wheel is screwed down to the axle and the other is counterbored for a stop soldered to the axle so it free wheels:

 

 

Time for a chassis with a Russkit motor bracket leading the way.........