664 replies to this topic

[Gator Bob]

More pictures -  

[hiline2]

I thought the yellow Rod has a reverse gear !!

[boxerdog]

Rodney works his again

Superb cars!! That Camaro mmmmmm...

Rodney's cars always make you think about that next build.....great work!!!!

[dc-65x]

Glad you like them guys. I always enjoy seeing his builds too. And that extra gear in the yellow hot rod threw me for a loop too!

[dc-65x]

More pictures -  

 

Here are a few more pictures of the the 1962 Hawk Monte Carlo and the 1978 IMSA Camaro from Rodney.

 

The finished IMSA Camaro. 

 

 

New stainless steel version of the traditional Plafit chassis.  Very fast.  Powered by Hawk Vll.

 

 

This long car drives great.  Very smooth neutral handling.  Go figure!

 

 

Thanks Rodney

[dc-65x]

Here is Rodney's latest beauty in his own words:

 

Rick,

 

The late Fred Pierpoint's "Modified" race car has been completed.  Some may remember the "Fred dragster" set low E.T. at the NorCal V-Town Proxy Race.

 

The unveiling was a big hit at Eddie's slot car raceway today. As we discussed, Fred passed away and never got to finish his scratch-built masterpiece. 

 

 

 

 

Fred got around to building about 90% of the brass and steel chassis.  There is a main lower steel Champion chassis that has the guide flag and running gear attached to it.  There is an upper brass shaker pan with a space frame structure (including front suspension and cage).  I finished the chassis by adding the front suspension, adding the rear bumper, and adjusting the ride height for the larger diameter tires I supplied.  A Falcon 7 motor and other running gear was installed. 

 

 

 

The body looks like it was from a kit, but Fred actually sectioned stock body and added styrene sheet parts to make up the body. 

 

 

Fred would draw scale plans and build off of his plans.  Enclosed is a picture of another Fred "Modified" project that was not completed.  

 

 

Ron, one of Fred's slot car buddies, advised me on the color scheme for the car.  Janet dug up some of Fred's stickers for the car.  Yellow with the red graphics was advised by Ron.

 

 

The car was supplied with a plastic engine, interior, and other detail items.  The hood was shortened to fit the location of the plastic engine.  It took hours to get the engine headers to fit, even if it looks like a simple installation.  Wheel inserts are from a DTR "Modified" model kit.

 

 

It was a joy to finish Fred's "Modified".     

 

It was a joy for us to admire too Rodney. Thanks for sharing it with us!

[Rick]

Too Kewl!.......

[dc-65x]

SURF'S UP!

 

Here's Rodney's latest builds....a pair of beautiful Woody Wagons, in his own words:

 

Rick,

 

I always wanted to build a Ford Woody like the one on the cover of the March 1966 Model Car Science magazine.  Well I finally got around to building one.  

 

 

The original issue model is molded in red and tan.  The "wood" is decals. The Woody is powered by a blue printed Pittman 706. The slot car wheels and tires were notched for the whitewall tires and model wheels.  A K&B Model-Rama chassis kit was used.  Side windows were added so I could use the cool surfer decals I found in a later model kit.

 

 

The Woody is quite stable due to the heavy 706 motor balanced out with a heavy guide weight. This is Eddie's favorite hard body car.

 

 

Here's a second later version Woody:

 

 

Same Pittman 706 motor:

 

 

Bitch'n rides Rodney, thanks for sharing them with us!

 

 

[dc-65x]

Rodney sent these pictures of the cars at a CanAm Reunion at Eddie's:

 

 

 

 

Rodney said he has more CanAm cars coming........

 

Nice cars! 

[Tex]

Are those all "Rodney builds"?

[dc-65x]

I recognize most of them so I'm guessing.......yes!

[SlotStox#53]

Sweet! Those Shadows are particularly awesome looking

[dc-65x]

Here is an earlier post with Shadows and other cool cars Paul:

Kool cars at Eddie's Slot Car World

[dc-65x]

Here is a wonderful variety of "Holiday Builds" from Rodney in his own words"

 

Rick,

I just purchased this Al Hall Indy car on ebay.

The car appears on the cover of  the July 1966 Rod & Custom.

 

 

 

Here it is with a gentle cleanup:

 

 

Some pictures taken at Eddie's attached.

 

First up is aDragster built for glued track.  Trying for more speed.

 

 

Porsche 935s

 

 

 

Here are some construction photos on Rodney's resin bodied "SACHS #6" Porsche:

 

 

 

 

 

T-Bird Modified and lap time on Road course.

 

 

 

Ron's Camaro Modified

 

 

Ron's Mid-West Modified

 

 

Ron's Pacer Modified

 

 

Chaparral 2C with working wing

 

 

Ferrari Daytona

 

 

Porsche 924 Turbo race car

 

 

 

Wing, hood scoop and front air dam are fabricated.  Plafit chassis.

 

 

Lap time on Mother Load. 

 

 

Eldon Challenge.  Lap times were in the 12 to 13 second range on the Mother Load.  Eldon cars have the 12 volt Eldon motors and Paul's tires.

 

 

Wow, that's a cool bunch of cars! Thanks for sharing them Rodney

 

 

 

 

[dc-65x]

Here's another cool build from Rodney:

 

Something different to share.  Jack's GTO.

 

 

I made this slot car years ago for a NNL model contest.  The "food" was made by my older daughter.  The GTO started out as a coupe and was converted to a convertible.  Custom brass chassis with Falcon motor power.  Riggen wheels and tires.  The car launches off the line like a real muscle car with tires spinning and biting for traction. 

 

 

Video of Jack and his GTO at Eddie's. The car is very easy to drive:

 

 

Thanks Rodney!

[SlotStox#53]

Love the GTO ! I'm sure Jack would approve

Thanks for sharing Rodney & Rick

[hiline2]

Im surprised "Jack" hasnt asked to use the car in a commercial ! Luv it !  

[hiline2]

Ok, the padlock rail in #114 post, what was done different to set up for glue ? How did it perform ?

[dc-65x]

Hi Paul,

 

Here's Rodney's response:

 

Padlock/drop arm dragsters when run on the normal heavily glued track pop massive wheelies off the line and de-slot at Eddie's.  Also, the vintage dragster has to pull through the glue.

 

So with this dragster, I added more nose and drop arm weight to help prevent wheelies.

The gear ratio was lowered from 2.5 to 1 to a little over 3 to 1 to help pull through the glue.

The spring tension on the motor was also reduced to up the motor RPM.

The rear tires are slightly narrower than usual.

 

The dragster motor acted up.  I will make more runs after an armature change.

[dc-65x]

Rodney's latest project is this STP Indy Turbine, 26D anglewinder beauty. Here's Rodney's description of his build:

 

"Finally got the STP turbine car done.  Revell wheels cut down and used as inserts.  The soft Paul's tires worked well.  No hopping."

 

 

 

 

Thanks Rodney!

 

 

[Tex]

Beauty, mate!

[dc-65x]

Here's is another of Rodney's truly unique and amazing cars. In his own words:

 

Rick,

 

I showed you a picture of the Oakland Speedway Stockers on the top tray of the Hoffman box.  The cars below are also pretty interesting.  I am featuring one of the wildest cars first.

 

This featured car could go under many headings:  Oakland Speedway Memories; Philippe de Lespinay's visit to Oakland Speedway and his interview with yours truly; Chaparral 2J slot car thread; or another Multi Motor Madness entry (no rules for what the motors do).

 

I built this reverse ground effects (suction traction) slot car around 1969.  I completed the slot car prior to the unveiling of the Chaparral 2J vacuum cleaner car.  It was interesting to learn that General Motors and Jim Hall originally tried having the air exit the top of the car instead of having the air eventually exiting the rear of the car as configured on the Chaparral 2J. 

 

The slot car is based on information gained from a Car and Driver Magazine issue that leaked details on the upcoming Chaparral 2J race car.  Also there were books on hovercrafts and reverse ground effects vehicles back then.  In one of the books, it was envisioned that reverse ground effects or suction tractor vehicles could be used to move jumbo jet aircraft during adverse weather conditions.  Suction traction (reverse ground effects) would allow the aircraft tractors to have enough traction to move around the large aircraft.  The book discussed using skirts to seal off the partial vacuum area and the use of fans to evacuate the air for suction traction.  So the slot car was based on the information provided by the magazine and a book.

 

Vacuum Traction for a Slot Car

 

The slot car uses Mura HO motors to power the fans.  The rather crudely made fans are made from tin.  The fan housings were made from Scotch Tape plastic centers.  The frames for the fan housings are made from Classic round motor cans.  The "vacuum chamber" is made with a mylar sheet, and the vacuum area is sealed off with tiny vinyl skirts and sheet mylar side skirts.  The vinyl skirts flex with changes in the chassis ride height, and the side skirts articulate with the floppy chassis pans.

 

Car Construction

 

The chassis features a full sidewinder motor installation.  The cut-up A can has a 25 single armature installed.  For chassis flex, a ball bearing center pivot is utilized.  The car has conventional plumber and floppy pans.  A Lancer Chaparral 2H body was chosen.  Riggen wheels and tires and a Cox spur gear are installed. 

 

Testing the Car

 

Back in the day, pro slot car racer Greg Wells was quite helpful and encouraging with this slot car build.  He suggested testing the car with the fans on and fans off to see if the suction traction worked.  To our amazement, the car was notably faster with the fans running.  I do not remember the difference in the lap times, but the car was visibly faster.

 

Running the car on Eddie's road course revealed that the motor has more than enough power to haul around this heavy slot car.  The car is very easy to drive and the handling is neutral.  The fans whirl away while the car is running.  The skirts help clean the track as you can see from the dirt pile-up.  The car was tested with a set of soft compound tires.  The Blue King was clogged up with retro slot cars today, so no Blue King runs were made.

 

Upcoming cars from the lower shelves include:  the floating front axle slot car; the A arm front suspension F1 slot car (the precursors of the L arm suspension slot cars); one of the first modern pan chassis slot cars; and the Keiji slot car chassis with what would be called decades later Eurosport Italian movement.  The last picture is a sneak peek of a Keiji chassis car.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amazing story......amazing car.......THANKS RODNEY! 

[Tex]

Amazing...

[Bill from NH]

Rick, that last picture also shows the Lancer "Porsche Coupe" body.That body was "the" body on the east coast when I started racing wing cars about 1970. Later MAC, O/S(?), & now HRE produce this body. I have one old body left, I think it's a MAC.

[old & gray]

I saw this on eBay:

 

 

Is this the "Porsche Coupe"?

It was sold as a "1969 McLaren MBA."

 

Thanks for the information and please pardon the interruption.