314 replies to this topic

[Howmet TX]

They'd show up much better if you got them painted, your Duffness. What's keeping you? Your period of grace & exclusivity is rushing towards its end, when I will release Lotus 19 bodies into the air by the thousand, like doves at an Olympic Games opening ceremony.

[Duffy]

They'd show up much better if you got them painted, your Duffness. What's keeping you? Your period of grace & exclusivity is rushing towards its end,

Oh no, damn--John, I never meant that bit of silliness seriously!! Was I too vague? I'm truly sorry, I have not the right nor privilege. (...or maybe this is actually your bit of silliness coming back and I am not subtle enough to get? In which case--

when I will release Lotus 19 bodies into the air by the thousand, like doves at an Olympic Games opening ceremony.

That's kinda Daliesque. But so's slot racing.

Look for a Lotus XI body in your mailbox next week. Oughta make a few guys happy.

Duffy

[Gary Donahoe]

Thanks to the wonderful people at the Autosport Nostalgia Forum I was able to locate the attached picture and quote regarding Jerry Grants Lotus 19:

From Sports Car Graphic's report on the 1965 Pacific Grand Prix at Kent, Wa. USA (text and photo credits to Pete Biro):

"...during a Thursday practice run, the body blew off the Lotus, shattering sponsor Alan Green's nerves as well as the expensive new fiberglass body he had just purchased from Dan Gurney - and had painted pearlescent, yet. Then, after an all-night patching session, the car fell off the trailer on the way to the track Saturday morning. If this wasn't enough, new big tires wouldn't fit under the front fenders, so tin snips now did even more damage to Green's nerves. Finally a cobbled up Mobil sign, being used as a spoiler, fell off the car at speed. This was cured by switching to a more reliable Bardahl sign (sponsor plug). So with no bodywork over the front tires, plus a few other minor details, you can see why it was impractical at this time for the tech inspection chief to give Jerry the go-ahead."

[Horsepower]

Hi Rocky,
Actually it is neither one. The motor in that car is a "1968" Mabuchi FT16DBB with the aluminum ball-bearing housing and oval can hole.
The Cox TTX150 is always a Mabuchi FT16D with can-side drive. The only endbell-side driven motors issued by Cox were the TTX100, a Mabuchi FT16 (first version with rectangular can vent holes and no brush heat sinks, as used in the Ferrari and BRM F1, the Ford GT in both the 1/24 and 1/32 scale as well as the 1/32 scale Cheetah, all "series 1", and the TTX200 that was a Mabuchi FT36 without the brush heat sinks.
As far as the Russkit 22 motors (FT16, no brush heat sinks), yes they are readily available from BP as well as Electric Dreams.

Is that or is that not an FT-160?

[Duffy]

Thanks to the wonderful people at the Autosport Nostalgia Forum I was able to

God, I love this stuff.

In '78, my then-wife talked me into giving our friend & vintage racer Jim Shield my entire collection of R&T and SCG '61-'72 as a birthday present. What Did I Do That For. (Hey, that could go on my headstone!)

Duffy

[Prof. Fate]

Hi

"It seemed like a good idea at the time".

Fate

[TSR]

So with no bodywork over the front tires, plus a few other minor details, you can see why it was impractical at this time for the tech inspection chief to give Jerry the go-ahead."

Indeed, but I have a picture of Grant driving the car in this configuration within a grouping of other cars, but not sure if it was in a qualifying race, a later practice session or the actual race. My memory may not serve me well but I seem to recall that he actually started the race and actually led it until an oil leak sidelined the car.
I will have to research this now, just to see if my memory cells still connect or if i am totally falling off my branch.

Is that or is that not an FT-160?

No.
The actual Mabuchi definition is "FT16D020". We call it "FT16DBB" for "ball bearing, referring to the un-caged assortment of steel balls directly in contact with the armature shaft, the same as used in the FT26 ("26D") motors on both sides, that have the tendency of grooving the soft armature shaft.
The FT16D020 was issued in 1967 and was a definite upgrade on the previous FT16D motor: a new stronger can, a lighter bearing housing of the same design as previous but now made of aluminum instead of brass, better magnets similar to that of used on the Igarashi "Hemi" motors and a "hotter' armature. The endbell remained identical to that of the earlier model.
The new motor was marketed by Mabuchi in Styrofoam trays directly to distributors and raceways, but can also be found in some late-series Cox and Monogram 1/32 scale kits as well as the 1967 German Carrera kits. All had a nickel plated can save for ONE model issued in limited quantities by Classic, sold un-boxed from Styrofoam trays.
Of course Mura used these motors as the very basis for their 1967 rewinds, selling them in all forms of configurations. Champion had their own versions of this motor, the "5001" being a stock motor while Mabuchi produced for them a version with one flat side of the can "blind" so as to increase magnetic field. A later model had a black can but remained identical in specification.
Another very rare rewound version of the FT16D020 can be found in late-issue Dynamic Super Bandit RTR models.

[Mike Steube]

Thanks, John for the bodies. John Dilworth has these bodies for those of you that would stoke on the Lotus 19 for JD racing.
Hope you can get an idea of what they look like. Clear bodies are hard to photograph. The second pic shows John's Lola T-163 for D-3 Can Am racing. I'll show the bodies to D-3 for approval.

[MSwiss]

Mike Swiss, do you have more?

Fate

I've gotten numerous requests so here's the story.
My guy is 95% sure he can find the mold.
He's willing to pull some more if the quantity is decent(at least a dozen which doesn't seem to be a problem)
The more the quantity, the harder he'll look and the cheaper the price.
Expect at least $6 ea. They would be in Lexan which I'm just about sure the one pictured is.

FWIW, I think the pull on that one is real good.
I sent it to Rick Thigpen today.
When he receives it, hopefully he'll comment on what he thinks.

Bottom line. If you're interested, PM me with how many you want.

[TSR]

I seem to remember that Terry Rheno gave me one of these a few years back. It was very nice.

[dc-65x]

I've gotten numerous requests so here's the story.
My guy is 95% sure he can find the mold.
He's willing to pull some more if the quantity is decent(at least a dozen which doesn't seem to be a problem)
The more the quantity, the harder he'll look and the cheaper the price.
Expect at least $6 ea. They would be in Lexan which I'm just about sure the one pictured is.

FWIW, I think the pull on that one is real good.
I sent it to Rick Thigpen today.
When he receives it, hopefully he'll comment on what he thinks.

Bottom line. If you're interested, PM me with how many you want.

Hi Mike,

The beauty showed up this afternoon........WOW! It's 95% as nice as my original . So much so that I didn't wait to trim it for photos. I just took pictures of my original. The repop is that good:



Original on the left:



Here are some shots that I hope will give you guys an idea of what the body looks like:







The only thing I would wish for is the option to get it pulled in a little thicker material. I ASSume this one is .010 Lexan. Would a .015 Lexan be an option? Or maybe .020" PETG? Anyway, I would buy 4 at an optional price increase for the thicker stuff

Thank you Mike. This is a great body, so much so that I can offer my original up for sale to collector's. The reproduction is a great body for builders like me.

Thank you again,

Rick

[MSwiss]

Holy cow.
I shipped it Saturday at 2:55 PM, First Class, and you got it already?
I guess that's a rhetorical question.

Latest info.
I'm 95% sure they will be $6 each. They can be done in either .010 or .015 Lexan,
My guy prefers doing one or the other, not both, if possible.

I'm leaning towards .015.
I'd like the guys who have already PM'ed or E-mailed me to please confirm if .015 is OK.

While the body is obviously not an original,I'm not 100% sure the mold my guy has is a backpour.
If it is, somebody else did the backpour a long time ago.

[Steve Deiters]

Seeing this Lotus 19 with the integral spoiler and diaplane makes me want to ask the questions is there anyone out there making rebops of the Riggen 1/24 Lotus 40 and Lola T-70 that had the built-in aero devices? If so how much and where? I think Brimhall carved the original molds.

[MSwiss]

I got the Lotus in yesterday in both .010 & .015.
I was able to get some of the .015 shipped out to a couple guys.
Hopefully Rick & Jeff will comment when they receive them.

I haven't had a chance to ask my body guy but he apparently cleaned up the mold.
I think they look way nicer than the 2 samples I had.
He did confirm earlier, IH(is)HO, the mold is original.
He said he has never seen anything like it before in it's appearance & design.

[dc-65x]

Thanks Mike! I'll comment when they arrive

What did you mean by

.......IH(is)HO, the mold is original.

[MSwiss]

In his humble opinion, he has the original Select mold.

[dc-65x]

Thanks, it's a dead ringer for my Select body.

and.....me no habla "text" I guess

Gee, I feel almost as old as PdL Happy Birthday Philippe!

[macman]

That body is SWEEET!!!
So would a Hemi w/tradeship e/b in a Dynamic sidewinder fit under this???

[Prof. Fate]

Hi

I haven't seen it yet. I did get a similar body from John Dilworth that is 3" wide, so, ya, you could do such.

Though, I expect that in the day, I might have used the shorter Eldon can with hemi magnets just to give me more tire width.....

maybe.

My cooper/monaco survivor has an inline 36d. But then it was never competitive and that might be the explanation.

Fate

[TSR]

is there anyone out there making rebops of the Riggen 1/24 Lotus 40 and Lola T-70 that had the built-in aero devices? If so how much and where? I think Brimhall carved the original molds.

Indeed, Gordon Brimhall added the huge front and rear spoilers on these Riggen molds, to create some of the first bodies such fitted.
I am not aware of replicas at this time. They would not be legal for retro racing but were used by some racers in the day. Originals pop up sometimes on E-Pay.

[dc-65x]

Hopefully Rick & Jeff will comment when they receive them.

They arrived and do look even BETTER than the sample! . Mine are in .015 and I personally like this option. You can't go wrong with these .

This is not a D3 handling body. I consider it a more or less a "scale" body in that it seems to be proportioned after the real car. If its size is to scale I'm not bothering to find out. It is what it is.....which is:

Wheelbase 3 3/4

Width at the rear fender flare 3 1/16

Width at the front fender flare 2 15/16

Width at the bottom of the curved in body sides is about 2 1/2. If you straighten out the curved body sides you might get 2 5/8.....but you shouldn't IMHO.

Distance from the front axle to the end of the nose spoiler is about 1 1/8

I'm thinking the minimum tire diameter that would look good would be about 7/8 front and 15/16 rear. A little bigger would look even better.

My first thought for the running gear on mine is a brass tube space frame based on a pair of those flat brass motor brackets that came with the first Russkit 16d motors. I just bought four pair off of Ebay for $.99. Nobody else even bothered to bid

Onward

[MSwiss]

Here's the other original sample on a JD chassis.

[MSwiss]

I'm not sure if anyone is interested in something like this Chaparrel 2 with the driver cooling duct.
I can get a limited number of these in .020 Lexan that I can sell for $10 ea.
(my guy doesn't have the mold anymore)

[Duffy]

Kind of jarring to see the Bardahl car in Pacesetter livery... 'course, I'm the guy who can't envision anything outside of a Scale paintjob!!

Considering the Lotus 19 is listed as having a 95" w/b, you could have a scale body close to 4". My Dilworth bodies are packed & moved, so I can't lay a scale on 'em now.

Check out Tom Anderson as well for a Chappy II, muttonchop diaplanes and all--has stacks and pipes for same, too, & decals. I'd have that car done by now, with all those nice bits, if I hadn't prepped the shell with contaminated alcohol and turned the white paint--umm, corrupt, in a very Lovecraftian way. Oh well.

Duffy

[dc-65x]

I'm not sure if anyone is interested in something like this Chaparrel 2 with the driver cooling duct.
I can get a limited number of these in .020 Lexan that I can sell for $10 ea.
(my guy doesn't have the mold anymore)

Hi Mike,

May I buy 2 please?

Thanks,

Rick