78 replies to this topic

[Duffy]

This began with the new event they're running at Slots-A-Lot, Tuesday Night Jalopy Racing ; I got stage-mommed into doing a car and playing along. Some of what will appear here has already been there--but then, Craven wanted a Diary thread for this. At this early time I personally don't see what I can contribute to the extant body of knowledge about these things, but I'll try to get inventive & hopefully at the very least entertaining.

In keeping with the loosely-applied sensibility of '50s-modified, here's my (late) 50's delivery car-turned-racer:




I just basically went out to the garage and looked at the car--it was a Tuesday, and take-out orders were slow--cut the fenders for the wide wheels, helped the rust along a little and lost the bumpers; they'll be replaced later by proper channel iron, just like my '64 Polara had. I may tear out all the chrome too, if I can find the tools to do it.

The chassis, per rules, is thr stock FCR pan. Craven had got half of this put up for me already, and I just added the front end. A quick check on my Event-specific Jalopy Stockers Tech Block--




--showed a definite twist in the pan. Strangely, my Industry-Standard Mayonnaise Jar Lid does not show the same twist; but I must go with the Rules on this one, I'm a Dapper Dan man.

More to come as I find time to build.

Duffy

[Victor Poulin]

Its gonna look good Duffy,
I like the old fords, in fact I think my next ones going to be a 55-56 ford. That is , if I can one with out spending 22 bucks !! What can I say, Im cheep
btw- you can save yourself alot of work+time if you use a dremel tool with the round sanding drum to form your wheel arches.

Vic

[Duffy]

btw- you can save yourself alot of work+time if you use a dremel tool with the round sanding drum to form your wheel arches.

True, but at that moment my Dremel was jigged up as part of Tire Grinding False Start #3. Besides which, I may need all the drums I got to pull the chrome off this bad puppy. I'll think about it after dinner.

[Pablo]

[Horsepower]

To the right side of the screen...WIMPY!....bringing the hard workin' body and fender guy his lunch!

[Duffy]

So, I called up Prof. Fate this afternoon--I do this occasionally on my ~1hr. commute, and we while away the BQE--and we sorta speculated on the pedigree of these cars getting built for the Jalopy class. Agreed it's likely some outlaw pre-Modified sort of thing; and started figuring what my car would and wouldn't have.

Now, I've already lost the bumpers, and was half-complaining that I didn't want to buzz off the chrome trim...and Fate started going, "Yah, the chrome would definitely go, and then you drill a little hole at 6" centers for where the press-in snaps went; oh, and the front lights might just be the open metal disc with no lamp, but you do want the brake lights in the rear..." Damn it, I wanted to NOT grind the trim off, I wanted to be supported, can't this guy catch a HINT?

Jeez. Some friend.

So, here's the ruf removal, pre-snap holes. And I also took the liberty of removing the windshield wipers, considering there'll be no glass up there either.

Do not ask about that bulgy rim along the roof line. Pay no attention. I do not want to hear. I am going to bed now.

Duffy

[Horsepower]

Nice work! What are you going to do about that bulgy rim along the roof line?

[68Caddy]

Duffy great stuff, love to see those old rides racing on the tracks and sand of the chrome stuff around the roof.
What color is it going to be?


Nesta

[Hworth08]

For whatever reason I can't copy a link now but search Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway History and you should find six pages of the so called red neck cars. At least a person will know what the cars are supposed to look like.

[Duffy]

Ohh man, that is just way too damn cool; exactly what I've been looking for, this gives us some real perspective on what was going on, so that now WE can head out to our garages and make "Informed" Speculations. This evening, as I continue to tear chrome off my car & weld doors & trunk shut, I'm beginning to mull over what my roll cage will look like. Got some great data now to apply.

Thanks, Don, & after a half hour of trying I couldn't successfully post the link either! You lot will just have to Google like us weejuns.

From now on, anytime I'm in doubt as to how to continue with this build, I'll just set back, pull my lower lip, and muse: "--What would Flookie Buford do??..."

Duffy

[MrWeiler]

--showed a definite twist in the pan. Strangely, my Industry-Standard Mayonnaise Jar Lid does not show the same twist; but I must go with the Rules on this one, I'm a Dapper Dan man.

More to come as I find time to build.

Duffy

Do I hear the Soggy bottom boys "Man of constant sorrow"?



I know this is NOT a jalopy race but it's fast short oval stuff--racing starts @ 4min. Watch for the stupid idiot passing the leader under yellow just @ the end.

[Hworth08]

From now on, anytime I'm in doubt as to how to continue with this build, I'll just set back, pull my lower lip, and muse: "--What would Flookie Buford do??..."

Flookie Buford was one tuff person, ask Darrell Waltrip. Except for an accident at work that put out his left eye, Flookie would have been a front runner in the Grand National cars. Flookie was driving for R.C. Alexander who had Huterson Pagan build the best Sportsman car in the country. Flookie told Mr. Alexander to put Waltrip in the car so he could get his career going.

Flookie's son Joe wound the most total wins at the Fairgrounds, a pretty impressive acheivement considering some of the drivers that came through Nashville.

If Flookie won't answer any questions maybe Bobby and Donnie Allison, Red Farmer, Coo Coo Marlin, Bob Burchum, Friday Hassler, or Benny Parsons will. They all made their way to the top through Nashville's Modified division.

[Duffy]

Do I hear the Soggy bottom boys "Man of constant sorrow"?
http://www.youtube.c...h?v=08e9k-c91E8

"...Damn! We're in a Tight Slot!..."

[MrWeiler]

"...Damn! We're in a Tight Slot!..."

Hi Duf:
Is that a 4.5" FCR?
Can you run weights?
What are the rules?
How big is the track?

[Duffy]

Flookie Buford was one tuff person, ask Darrell Waltrip.

How come all the great heroes have these weird names? Like Flookie? Or Beowulf?

[Duffy]

Is that a 4.5" FCR?
Can you run weights?
What are the rules?
How big is the track?

Here're answers from the ORIGINAL THREAD:

Yes, all cars have to be hardbody, FCR chassis, sealed Deathstar motor, 9t pinion, 1/8" axle. All cars must measure a minimum of 2 inches from the tech block to the top of the roof with body on the chassis. Sounds like a lot of rules but it helps keep a level playing field. This is how i set my car up which works as well as Marks car he is just a much better driver, first the front wheels you have look good after getting the rear tires you will be using set the finished chassis on the track and make shore your front tires are just barely scraping the track surface or give yourself the clearance of about 1 or 2 sheets of paper this is a good place to start you will have to experiment with this, you want a very small amount of clearance to much and the car will tip out in the turns, clear coat or nail polish your front tires less rolling resistance, you should also try to run independent front wheels solder a brass tube or axle spacer to the axle on the out side of one front wheel and use the set screw to tighten the other now you have independent front wheels. Both Mark and i run our weight just behind the front axle in the middle of the chassis. Rear tires this depends on how you drive if you like some slide get the harder tires if you like grip get the natural rubber i run natural and i believe Mark does also but we have a few drivers who do well with the hard tires depends on your driving style. A few small things get rid of those brass spacer Parma give you for the rear axle if you hit the wall hard once they tend to crush and you lose your gear mess, also get rid of the Parma pinion it sucks sonic press on or solder on are great, and above all have some fun.

i would like to have our first jalopy points race on our new king track but i doubt that will happan so i am guessing the hillclimb is the track of choice for this tuesday

[Hworth08]

Here is the 1966 Southern 300 from the Fairgrounds:



Number 711 is Coo Coo Marlin, F-97 is Red Farmer, 777 is Marty Robbins, and Friday Hassler is the orange and white 48 Chevy. Friday started driving for P.B. Crowell with the same paint colors. P.B. is the person that brought Waltrip to Nashville. Darrell kept the paint scheme the second and third years he went to the Cup cars. Today, Clint Crowell, P.B.'s grandson uses the same scheme. The same colors show up on a slot car around here every now and then.

[MrWeiler]

MrLiterateButLazyWeiler, on 20 May 2010 - 07:06 PM, said:

"Mr Literate" says: Bite me Duff, you shamelessly esoteric freak! By the way, thanks for the tip on "ANY OLD IRON" Just started it but it looks good.

Anyway, I looked at the first thread and the info was all over....I was looking for a link to a rules page but I didn't make my self clear...

[Duffy]

"Mr Literate" says: Bite me Duff, you shamelessly esoteric freak!

I was looking for a link to a rules page but I didn't make my self clear...

I'm not biting anything with THAT avatar.

Yah, "The Rules Are: There Are NO Rules..." Myt kind of event.

[Victor Poulin]

Hey Duffy,
What are you going to do about that bulge around the roof line?

Hehehehe, sorry I just couldnt resist

[Duffy]

What are you going to do about that bulge around the roof line? Hehehehe, sorry I just couldnt resist

Paint over it. Now shuddup, all of you.








Actually there's precedent for such. If I really want to go into deep denial, I could say I welded on some strips to shore up that limp roof. There'll be a significant roll cage inside in any case. It's really time to just get this puppy out on the track, & then I can get all picky about my NEXT body!!


Played a little last night and discovered my compressors' about as asthmatic as I am; may need a new diaphragm in that ~20-yr-old thing (at least I'm older!)
EDIT: Well, tore down the regulator and fiddled with it & now I can get 30# if I need it, so I'm doing fair now. But--

Windex. How could I have forgotten WINDEX?? Am I DIM?




So, I got a coat of paint on this body, a very light blue. Immediately the mold parting lines on the rear roof support just jumped up and keened, "Look at MEEEE!!" but I don't care. I'll get fancy on the next one dammit. Now to call Carmine the Sign Painter ("Call Car-MINE for Car-SIGNS!") to do the advertising.

Duffy

[Marty Stanley]

Duffy,

I Like It!

Redneck Retro

I mean I'm all over that! Here, hold my beer, now watch this!

BTW, as a musician, do you know what happens when you play a Country and Western record backwards?










You get your trunk back, your job back, your wife back, your money back and your dog back!

[MrWeiler]

Hey Duffy,
What are you going to do about that bulge around the roof line?

If you leave the bulge you will have to put Viagra or Enzite decals on it...

[Duffy]

Ahhhh, Musician Jokes! Now Thread Creep sets in (but it's all right, I've been called worse than that):

In my bar-band days I was mostly a pretty good harmonica player-- you know what a harp player is, right? This guy who hangs around with musicians?
Whaddaya call a harp player who breaks up with his girlfriend? --Homeless.
How d'you tell if a harp player's gone into your refrigerator? --He's still there.
How d'you get a harp player to stop playing? --Set sheet music in front of him.
And (my favorite) What's the difference between a harp player's girlfriend and a bag of garbage? --The garbage actually gets taken out sometimes.

Now, back to building. Gotta weld on some bumpers and a roll cage while I wait for Carmine to show up. Put on a Charlie Musselwhite album...

Duffy

[Duffy]

Carmine's late.

Took a while to get the Lincoln L-200 chugging, but Doxy & I got the pipes formed up for the roll cage. Here's the layup before and after first coat of rust.






The bumpers and "Grille" are also good ol' American A36; since I've already lost the frame to the necessities of slot racing, this is just tacked into the body sides--it won't get me past the first wall shot, I know, but I'm building this car for that, whaddayacallit, "CAWN-COORS" (for you uneducated types, that's Forin-talk; means "Pretty As A Beer.")




And here's the paste-up, before the rust and grime set in. Mos Duf over to the left is reminding me of an earlier Commandment I must also address this weekend.




--Oh, Carmine's here. Gotta get some signs painted.
Duffy