321 replies to this topic

[sidejobjon]

Doug,
Can you send better picture of your Chassis after i posted it ,i saw how bad this picture was?
Thanks John F

[A. J. Hoyt]

Guys,

I thought I would send a race report (from my perspective - a better race report is on another HO specific blog site).

I Doug's car was "zippy" fast down the straights; as fast as my 40 year old Tyco can scratchbuilt (still together after all these years - and not a bad car - just too touchy on silicone tires!)

Pat's cars were SOLID handling cars but did not have the zip on the straights.

I worked on my 40 year old A/FX scratchbuilt Pan car and it was the most "solid" handling car of the bunch, very consistent and zippy fast on their straights with a modern JL X-Traction arm (old A/FX gearplate). The crown gear started slipping so I tried to super glue it in place. It managed to wick all the way to the top of the gearplate and stuck the idler down. I repaired it only by transfering the arm to a replacement old A/FX gearplate that Scott Terry had laying around and did a "proper" bonding of a new crown gear (again, from Scott). It was the fastest car in my quiver (including the loaners) but had worn the silicone off one of the rear tires, forcing a last minute switch back to Doug's reliable (but ailing) car.

The fast car Doug sent me was very tired - I got the last laps the tires had to offer in practice and, when cleaning the motor, noticed that the comm was worn out, too. It became the car I raced but it was inconsistent - sometimes zipped down the straight, sometimes was slow, sometimes had brakes, sometimes didn't. I think I put too many practice laps on it and practiced my way out of contention. With a thoroughly worn out car, I finished right where I qualified - in the middle of the field.

Still, it was fun racing the Gravity class and it lived up to everything we hoped it would be when the old BRASCAR group came up with the original rules set (I think this group actually improved the rules set). You could call this group the non-magnet "open" series as the cars only have to pass the "pin magnet test" and pass through the tech block to race.

There was an absolutely amazing diversity of technical approaches demonstrated all the way down the field! I am sold! I wish we raced these in CO! Pat, my two cars are ready for your track! When are you going to host a race?

Keep it in the slot,

AJ

[Pat McGee]

Doesn't suprise me that my cars were down on horsepower, all with standard/stock Aurora "mean green" arms. I'm taking it for granted they did run at least 18 volts? Congrats on the good runs in gravity and T-Jets, AJ, looks like you've still got it (or, never lost it.....).

[sidejobjon]

I was able to get pickups & motor mounted last night. Still need to do Gear mesh.

little motors

SJJ

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[Pat McGee]

Hmmmm...... 4 A/FX chassis, 4 vintage Thayer Racing Shells Eagles, and a sheet of brass......

 

 

Looks like trouble to me.....

[chaparrAL]

Did you forget this?

[Pat McGee]

Heavens no, you can't forget the assembly lube!       

[sidejobjon]

Al,

This looks more you.

[iborg]

I've finally been able to get most of the parts. I'm lacking the bearings/bushings for the rear axle, threaded rear axle (if they're still available) and rear tires.

 

I'm thinking of turning my own hubs. I'm not sure if I should make single or double flanged hubs. I'm planning on doing a lot of scratch building on this.

 

Suggestions?

 

Thanks,

Mike

[Pat McGee]

A Flock of Eagles, continued.......

 

All carved up and no where to go.

 

 

Nearly time to cut some brass......

 

And, I guess I never knew this!  Funny what you find on the internet....... http://en.wikipedia..../Gurney's_Eagle

[Intimidator]

My hand made chassis from a few years ago modeled after the riggins. Are those chassis blocks still available???

[sidejobjon]

Kevin,

Looks good, contact Rick at rgeo for jig hes here on the blog not sure if he still makes HO Jig.

http://www.rgeoproducts.com/

John

[Intimidator]

Thanks John I will. I wish his sit didn't use java I could only see a few things on his site. there is a major exploit in java that allows a pc to be taken over by a hacker and why I do not have java installed anymore

[Pat McGee]

A Flock of Eagles, cont......

 

OK,OK, I know Eagles are not flocking birds, but these seem to be nesting together.....

 

Finally found time to get back down to the slot cave (aka the HO House...), brush tubes installed and wired, and the four rough cut pans.

 

[Pat McGee]

A Flock of Eagles, continued......

 

More progress.  No, I'm not the prettiest builder (cars or me!).

 

[sidejobjon]

SIDE JOB GARAGE introduces Chappy III

Here is some pictures of a  limited run  I been working on with Robert Kinney there will be 12 Running Kits . Starting to reserve sales now. 200.00

Body will be by Noose, Brass super II style top plate, Brass guid pin,16 ohm Yellow Jacket purple Arm not shown, brush cups , Treaded oring fronts & treaded oring silicone rears. Part can be upgraded with standard TJET or speed parts.

Thanks For looking

SJJ

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[sidejobjon]

SOLD OUT

Thank you

SJJ

[Pat McGee]

A Flock of Eagles, on hold......

 

Real life, mucho work, and lots of family/grandkid stuff has kept me away from the "HO" house, should be back at the build in a few weeks.

 

Before I forget, though, many thanks to Gary Rider, Ken Shepard, and Doug Morris for coming through with the Thayer Eagle bodies, enough that I just may build a second set of cars!

 

Stay tuned.....

[Pat McGee]

A Flock of Eagles, continued....(finally!)

 

Got one of 'em rolling!  Now, on to the shaker, and body mounts.  will figure those out before starting the other 3.

 

 

[A. J. Hoyt]

Pat, that really brings back a lot of special memories!

I'll bet an IROC race with these cars would just be a blast!

[Pat McGee]

Those memories are just why I'm building these!  I recall some epic battles (you, me, and Raisin in particular) on WHORA's Pipewrench!

[sidejobjon]

Look at these babies NOOSE did for my little Motors.

Thanks Noose your the best

SJJ

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[joegri]

hey sjj  i,m diggin the f-1 chassis nice man! you mentioned lil motors? what are you using for the f-1 cars? i do like the front end/suspention. very good

[iborg]

Are TycoPro motors worth using in a scratch build? I've got several and it seems like a waste to not use them.

 

Mike

[A. J. Hoyt]

Mike,

 

The Tyco can was the basis of the fastest scratchbuilt cars until the Aurora A/FX based pan cars took over (not always faster but smoother, easier to drive and just made more laps in the hands of a capable driver). Sometimes the can was a structural member of the chassis (and the motor parts put in after the soldering was done) and sometimes it was soldered in on top of a complete brass chassis.

 

It was soon proven that building the chassis with the motor can flush with the bottom of the car (not motor on top of the pan) had a significant handling advantage due to lower CG. That does not leave a lot of room on the sides to put bat pans so many opted for shakers (like the Riggen cars).

 

When the A/FX pan cars started dropping the magnets down flush with the bottom plane (closest proximity to the steel rails), the "pure" gravity racing was over and magnets were the name of the game.

 

When an "out of the box" G-plus could run faster than that, I was done.

 

There are LOTS of very good parts available for the Tyco style motors and lots of cool innovations on the endbells to make adjustments on the brush spring tension. In fact, some people made arms that were WAY too fast for ANY of the clickety-clack T-jet lock-and-joiner tracks of the day but those arms work great on modern tracks. 

 

The "Gravity" racing has made a resurgence and I am astonished at the variety of chassis designs that work well (as seen at the Midwest Championship Races in Milwaukee a year ago).  But newer, lower, smaller and lighter can motors are becoming cheaper and easier to find and allow some additional design freedom for scratchbuilt cars. That seems like the way to go, but the Tyco cans will make all the speed you will need, in my opinion. 

 

Keep it in the slot,

 

AJ