Sometimes, I marvel at how seriously we take ourselves, within this hobby . . .
The beauty of Division III has often been the realization that we're all still just grown men playing with miniature toy cars, powered by automobile batteries and small electric motors
. . .Oh, sure . . . I'm just as guilty as the next character . . . :roll: . . . I'm always trying to improve my racing program . . . and the stress of searching for a new job, and the financial burden of trying to maintain my household, makes the time I spend relaxing and building just that much more important . . . if not for slot racing, I'm sure I'd be staying with "friends" in Norwalk! :roll: (For those not here in Los Angeles, that's the location of the constant-care mental facility
) . . .So, when my wife came home last weekend, with two model kit boxes containing "some slot car stuff I found at a yard sale . . . maybe you can do something with some of it . . . it was only $2 " . . . I figured, hey, let's see what's in the box! :mrgreen:
Well, this body sure looked familiar, and sure enough, It was an original 1/24t scale Du-Bro Volkswagen body, part # 24-35 . . . $1.79 !!! . . .
. . . the BIG 5-40 threaded front wheels were pretty sano, and I'd saved a 1.063" pair of 1/8" axle JK rears for a "special project" (in other words, I kept 'em, but didn't have a CLUE what to DO with 'em! ) . . . well, after looking at the body, "build-it-itus" came over me . . . AGAIN! :roll: . . .
LOL!
. . . I left it up off the ground, to simulate the "extra" ground clearence that these cars always had, with BIG wheels and tires! . . . The "antenna" is a piece of red hook-up wire, attached to the body just above the license plate light, and looks pretty cool, eh? . . . Pulled the white Jet flag off of another car from the $2 "stash", and found an old white endbell Womp motor in some stuff from my Dad's estate . . . so . . . 
I'll take no credit / blame for this deal! . . . LOL!
. . . Our "Fearless Leader", Mr. Paul Sterrett, has been after me to build with something OTHER than piano wire for a while now . . . :roll: . . . so, when I saw this 1/4" x 1/8" rectangular tubing in amongst the K&S stuff that Mr. Bell had "fronted" me, it reminded me of some of Mr. Ken Dylke's designs . . . 
. . . so I cut two pieces to use as main rails, and found a .900" wide x .050" thick nose piece I'd cut for a Hardbody project, and . . . VIOLA! :shock: . . . Instant chassis! . . . Using an REH inline motor bracket, I used an old set of looong axle bushings, but inserted them "backwards", to use-up the length and allow more gear clearence! . . . Then I measured the side pan size I needed, and by attaching 3/4" x .032" scraps from Can-Am side pan stock, and overlapping them an 1/8", I could get the 5/8" wide dimension I needed to support the body securely . . . only one piece of piano wire, .078" dia., for a gear guard! 
I punched a 1/4" hole in the nose piece, & used 5/32" axle tubing to cut a spacer to allow the guide to sit at the correct height . . . Soldered in place, it worked pretty well . . . guide flag BARELY sticks-out from under the nose!
. . . The lead wires are some silicone leads that I'd found brousing thru my local electronic surplus store . . . hey, double-leads, for that atomic-powered Womp motor, right? LOL! So, a "play car". . . Just like the JK-powered Hardbody NASCAR anglewinder I built . . . something to "run for fun", and practice my driving technique with . . . Without worrying about losing that "racer's edge" on my big-$ FK race motor!
Thanks, guys . . . Hope everyone enjoys the week's fun!
. . . Catch everyone later . . . and, of course (this one's for you, LEE!! :mrgreen: ) . . . good racing!!!! 
