664 replies to this topic

[dc-65x]

Here's another one of Rodney's amazing builds in his own words:
 

1966-67 was the beginning of the "lower and wider" generation of slot cars.  They were lower and wider than their full size counterparts for better handling.  This Dynamic "Handling Body" McLaren Mk2 is representative of one of the first low and wide slot car bodies.

 

With the lower bodies, smaller diameter wheels and tires are used.  This car has blue-colored sponge rubber rear tires.  The dye color affects the hardness of the sponge rubber.  Blue tires are stiffer than black tires, for example.  So slot car handling could be tuned with the choice of tire color/hardness of the rubber.  The wheels are Riggen.

 

The chassis is my representation of a scale space frame chassis with working suspension.  I got the idea to build this one after seeing a full size McLaren Elva at a local race shop with most of the body panels removed.  The rear suspension is basically a four link set up with coil over shocks.

 

All components on the car are from around 1966-67.  A Mura/Mabuchi-based motor (made locally in San Leandro back in the day) powers the car.

 

The car handles great, and there is no rear axle hop.

 

Rodney

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's an amazing car. Thanks for sharing Rodney!

[TSR]

Nice chassis, cool design. Just to make sure, the Dynamic McLaren body on it was first produced in mid 1968 according to my Dynamic catalogue listing. Is it possible that Rodney updated the car at that time?

[Dave Crevie]

Dok; You would be the one to answer this. I seem to remember from my trips to LA that the west coast often got new items before they appeared in the

manufacturers catalogs. Before I went totally scratch built during the early summer of '65, I used a lot of Dynamics components, and if I remember correctly, (debatable!), the rear chassis section to fit the Ruskit 22 was in the track inventory before it appeared in the next catalog. I built a car using that frame while I was out there, and when I brought it back to the Chicago area, guys complained that it was not legal because it had not been released yet. This thread brought back that memory. I can't swear to the timeline, but I'm pretty sure about the incident. 

[don.siegel]

The first Dynamic handling bodies were advertised in mid-67, so may have come out a bit earlier than that - and 67 seems more like a "lower and wider" timeline than 66, at least for the pro style cars. Of course, some guys were already doing lower and wider right from the beginning. 

 

That's a beautiful and very intriguing chassis Rodney, and thanks to Rick for posting. I can't quite tell how the suspension works in back, ie, what exactly pivots and where? Seems like a solid axle in any case, so does it just pivot around the motor center line? In any case, those "shocks" really look the business! I've been thinking about doing something like this, so am looking for a nice, simple design to copy... 

 

Keep em coming guys! 

 

Don 

[dc-65x]

Rodney replied:

 

Rick,

 

As we discussed, Dynamic labeled these McLarens as Mk3.  The part number on the box is 1508.

 

Regarding Phillippe's comment, the Dynamic Mclaren MK3 body was run by Team Dynamic in the first MC&S/U.S.R.A. race February 24th, 1968.  I still think I got my hands on mine in 1967.  The ones I have differ from the ones Team Dynamic used in the race.  The ones used in the race have different carburetor intakes and a slightly flatter look.  My slot car has an earlier version of this body with a provision for an inline gear cutout (No cut out appears on the Team Dynamic version).  Mine has the side-draft Webers (like the Lola T70) and the Team cars had down draft intakes.  Not that it matters.  I was in junior high in '67.  I think of 1968 being the time of the anglewinder revolution 

 

Thanks,

Rodney

 

(A picture of the Team Dynamic car can be found in Model Car and Track magazine May 1968 page 57)

[Dave Crevie]

A fellow racer at Chicagoland gave me a motor bracket (thanks, Andy) that has the bushings in oval holes, and springs that allow them

to travel up and down. I intend to use that in a mid-sixties style F-1 car, with full suspension and steering. Might be a bit ambitious, but

I'm retired and trying to make my days a little more interesting.  

[dc-65x]

Rodney replies:

 

Rick,

 

The rear suspension is based on a drag race car 4 link solid axle set up.  Basically two links per side to locate the solid axle and coil over shocks to keep the axle suspended.

 

Don is right about the low and wide history.  We were cutting downthe sides of scale bodies in 1966.  

We ran the Dynamic Chaparral 2F and the Dynamic Mirage and of course the Harvey Aluminum Dynamic body  in 1967.

 

Rodney

[TSR]

 

Before I went totally scratch built during the early summer of '65, I used a lot of Dynamics components, and if I remember correctly, (debatable!), the rear chassis section to fit the Ruskit 22 was in the track inventory before it appeared in the next catalog. I built a car using that frame while I was out there, and when I brought it back to the Chicago area, guys complained that it was not legal because it had not been released yet. This thread brought back that memory. I can't swear to the timeline, but I'm pretty sure about the incident.

That's pretty radical when you had bought this in a store... talk about a case of slotty discrimination! 
 

 

A fellow racer at Chicagoland gave me a motor bracket (thanks, Andy) that has the bushings in oval holes, and springs that allow them

to travel up and down. I intend to use that in a mid-sixties style F-1 car, with full suspension and steering. Might be a bit ambitious, but

I'm retired and trying to make my days a little more interesting.

I think that those were produced by K&N or even Du-Bro, but I will have to verify that. They worked OK, but affect the gear mesh, so beware. Use 48 pitch gears, because a 64 pitch crown may not survive too much movement.



 

[Flathead]

I think that those were produced by K&N or even Du-Bro, but I will have to verify that. They worked OK, but affect the gear mesh, so beware. Use 48 pitch gears, because a 64 pitch crown may not survive too much movement.

I have a couple of rear brackets that fit the description, but they are Buzzco.
Lee

[don.siegel]

I think they're DuBro, but will have to dig out my packages... wanted to try one of those as well! 

 

Don 

[Dave Crevie]

Thanks guys for investigating the source of the sprung motor bracket. I'm sure that once the car is built there will be people asking about it.

I'm sure it didn't work that well. If it did, we would all be using them.

 

There were a few things I picked up in the LA area before I saw them in the Midwest. In fact, there were a few that never made it here. I

remember that slot racing slowed down in the Chi-town area during the summer months, and it seemed that the tracks I went to let inventory

run down some until late summer. Just like skateboards took a while to catch on here, slot car items often didn't show up here for a month or

so after I saw them out there. It was why I would stock up when I was out there.  

[Flathead]

Don is correct. My memory must be fading.

[Dave Crevie]

Looks like it. Be nice to find another one for $1.49. I have a 1/32nd scale Lotus 30 body from AHP that is priced $ .49. Damn inflation!

[dc-65x]

A new and more contemporary project was sent to me by Rodney:

 

Rick,

 

As we discussed, an interesting slot car body came out late last year.  Ralph Thorne Racing is producing McKee Can Am car bodies in 1/24th scale.

 

I decided to build one.

 

First about the real car:

 

 

During the mid 60's and early 70's there was a "Formula Libre" sports car series with very few rules.  This series was called Can Am.

 

One car built to push the envelope was the 1969 McKee Mk 14.  This car was sponsored by Armco and featured the following:

 

Twin turbo factory/Gene Crowe Oldsmobile 455 cu inch engine

 

 

All wheel drive

Stainless steel components

Automatic transmission

Active aerodynamics

 

The car did not compete in any races.  The car was very complex and needed much sorting and development.  Also Chevy did not like Oldsmobile competing against them in Can Am racing.

 

The Slot Car:

 

Ralphe Thorne Racing produces the clear bodies in .010" Lexan.  Crisp detail.  They are made for retro-racing where rear tire sizes are about .8" diameter.  I wanted a more scale look and am using 1.2" diameter rear tires.  The body was cut "tall" for the large diameter tire.

 

 

The blue and white color scheme follows the colors of earlier McKee Can Am cars.

 

 

Champion chassis with raised axle tube installed.  Motor is a C-can 16D American armature motor.  Faas spur gear with a Sonic pinion gear.  Gear ratio is 5 to 1.  New fish foam rear tires are mounted on Pro Track wheels.

 

 

 

 

Very cool Rodney and a wild looking car. Thanks for sharing it with us.   

 

Rodney

[TSR]

Nice job. The late Gene Crowe, who developed the twin-turbo Olds engine for Ralph Salyer, was my engine mechanic when we ran the Cooper-Climax Indy car in the early 1990s. He was also the man behind the development and racing of the Bob Sharp Racing, Paul Newman Nissans in their various forms. A nice, modest man, he unfortunately picked the nasty habit of smoking fags and that effectively, killed him at a fairly young age.

[dc-65x]

Here's Rodney's latest build. He calls it his "fly by night" version. As you will see it's far from that. It's a solid "built to race" version and will be track tested soon.

 

Here's Rodney's description of his build:

 

Rick,

 

Your Slot Blog article on how to build a 1968 Bob Emott slot car chassis gave me the incentive to build an FBN (fly by night) version of this one.  I do not remember having built an early anglewinder chassis from scratch since the late '60s.  Thanks sharing your slot car build.

 

Rodney

 

Some building notes:

 

Printing out pictures of your build helped immensely.

 

I used the usual Dremel tool, pliers, diagonal cutters, and an Ungar soldering iron to construct this one.

 

Regarding the motor box, I was determined to only try making it once, and use it.  I did have to adjust it mid-build, hence the lazy bend on the tire side of the motor box.

 

I did not try to replicate the rail spacing offset of the original chassis.  Mine ended up with the offset by accident.

 

The vintage DYNA REWIND motor is A-can or 16D-sized.  Thanks to your research, it is period correct.  The endbell used by DYNA REWIND is a Mura with 16D  size motor brushes.

 

As you pointed out, most cars of this era were geared 7-34.  This car, like Jerry Brady's DYNA REWIND team car, is geared 8-34.

 

The build:

 

Center section on the jig.  Note the vintage Champion jig wheels. 

 

 

Narrowing the Drop Arm with the Dremel cut off wheel:

 

 

The pans were also Dremeled out:

 

 

Finished chassis with reference photos by bench:

 

 

The period survivor 16D size DYNA REWIND motor:

 

 

The finished car ready for its body. I borrowed the Riggen wheels from another car.  The front wheels are a pair form the sets you drilled out to 1/8" axle hole:

 

 

I ran a Crol Sal Olds body in an amateur race at Oakland Speedway in 1969 that is similar to this one. FBN International version.:

 

 

 

Great build Rodney. Looking forward to the track test. 

[dc-65x]

Rodney added some finishing touches to his car with some period blue tires..........

 

 

...........Riggen wheels:

 

 

Nice!

[dc-65x]

Another cool build from Rodney,

 

I finished the Porsche 908/2 slot car.  It's made with a wonderful custom made MESAC Porsche body.

 

I used flat enamel paint as suggested.  The paint works great. The decals are covered with clear acrylic.

 

Russkit set-screw wheels are used all around along with 7/8" diameter tires.  Rear tires are modern treated rubber.  Front tires are Cox Dunlaps.  Wheel inserts are cut down Academy McLaren wheels.

 

I built a 1971 style 4 rail chassis with a wheelbase of around 3.7"  The chassis is 3" wide.

 

A Mura NCC 20 powers the car.  A Cox 34 tooth spur gear is used along with a 7 tooth brass pinion gear.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great build Rodney. Thanks for sharing it.  

[dc-65x]

Rodney emailed me this project I want to share:

 

Rick,

 

Here is a slot car model of  a 1959 Dodge Royal Lancer Stock Car.  The real car ran in 1960 Daytona 500.  The body colors are correct on the model

 

The body started out as a resin promo model and was painted and detailed by Todd Brannon.

 

I hand painted the red number 54s ( decal numbers did not look good).  Decals are Cady, ACE and Powerslide.  Acrylic clear applied.

 

I found a rear window that fit the body.  The front window currently installed is a piece of sheet clear plastic.  I ordered a JoHan windshield to replace the sheet one.

 

I made the interior out of sheet styrene plastic.  A 1959 Dodge dash was added along with a roll cage made out of round styrene tubing.

 

The resin body was thinned out and then completely coated with high build acrylic resin on the inside to add strength.

 

The running gear is rare mid '60s Tamiya stock car that features a Mabuchi 26D motor.  The wheels and inserts are original Tamiya.  Rear tires are Professor Motor brand,  Chassis has rear coil spring suspension.

 

Still have exhaust detail to install.

 

Take Care,

 

Rodney

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great car Rodney, thanks for sharing it with us.

[dc-65x]

A new Can Am car from Rodney's stable:

 

Rick,

 

Here is the McLaren Mk8B slot car we talked about.

 

I never did like the vacuform McLaren Mk8 slot car bodies back in the day.  They never did look quite right to me.

 

I decided to build a slot car body using a used Academy model kit.  The body sections were glued together and the sides were flattened out using sheet plastic.  The body was lightened and painted with lacquer paint.   The low mounted wing was not used and a simple rear spoiler and a front splitter were added.  A BRM brand driver was added.  The tinted windshield was achieved with yellow armature dye,  The body ended up weighing about an ounce with the detail bits added,  Note the injector stack detail for the big block Chevy. The rear view mirrors are Lancer brand.  I think this slot car body captures the look I was looking for.

 

The real Jerobee McLaren was driven by owner Oscar Koveleski in SCCA regional/national races and by Tony Adamowicz in the 1971 Can Am series.  Tony was quite successful in the Can Am races.  This McLaren was an ex-factory team McLaren car.  Many think the McLaren Mk8B was the best Can Am car ever.  None exist any more.  There is a replica one that has many original parts.  Jerobee was an RC car manufacturer.

 

I wanted the slot car running gear to be mainly period correct for 1970.  A Phaze lll anglewinder chassis was used.  I raised the front and rear axle tubes for the larger diameter tires,  The chassis was placed on the chassis jig and was found to be built quite straight.

 

The motor is a Lenz BOSS MOTOR with a double 29 wind.  The motor can was melted into the packaging sponge, so the can was replaced and Arco 33 magnets/shim were installed.  I salvaged the Lenz sticker as best as possible and glued it onto the replacement motor can.

 

The wheels and tires are not period correct and are B&E SLOTSPORT road race ultralights (firm compound tires).  

 

A Cox spur gear and Dynamic guide flag are used.

 

Chassis and motor are from the Ben Jones collection.

 

Take Care,

 

Rodney

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Very cool Rodney, thanks for sharing it with us. 

[Slot Car Rod]

Thanks, Rick, for posting my slot cars over the years on this site.  We have been helping each other with slot car builds and enjoying this hobby for decades now. 

I thought I would try posting some...Here goes.

 

There was quite a lot of car diversity in the United States Road Race Championship (circa 1965-66).  I managed to fill a slot car box with cars from this era.

 

Rodney

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[Martin]

Always great to see your builds hear on Slot blog. 

 

The Porsche Spyder # 97 is that a modified body? can you tell me how that came to be?

It is a hard body, correct?

[MSwiss]

Super-awesome news that you are posting.

You collect and create the coolest stuff.

[Bill from NH]

I don't know who Ben Jones is, but the McLaren's chassis center section & pans look like Ferret/Phaze III items.

[dc-65x]

Hi Rodney and welcome aboard the forum!

 

I'm glad you are here to share your great builds. Nobody can talk about them and explain their details better than the builder himself.