53 replies to this topic

[dc-65x]

Hi Pablo,

It was right up to the top and then some!

[Pablo]

Sounds about right.
Glad the distilled water worked better for you.

[One_Track_Mind]

Hi Captain Rick,

Wow!
Looking real good as always.

Didn't I read somewhere on another post of your's that you leave the chassis soaking in the WD-40 for upwards of 7-days?
Curious also why you've chosen the glass air tight container?

Thanks for sharing your build's. It's always Fun to watch,and I really do learn something.

[dc-65x]

Hi Brian,

I’m trying the air tight container to try and slow down any evaporation of the WD-40. I hope to pour it into a glass jar to save and reuse it. I have some B’Laster oil to try but I didn’t want to experiment with it on this chassis.

So far using distilled water seems to have worked for me. The TonyP steel chassis I tumbled in plain local tap water started to rust as soon as I blew the water off it. Having the chassis in 4 separate pieces meant there were no steel hinge pins in place to rust. I tumbled all 4 pieces together and that worked just fine.

As for how long to soak, I’m not sure. I’m storing the chassis as pictured above until the next time I have a chance to work on it. I’m hoping that corrosion won’t happen while the steel is submersed and not exposed to the air.

Fingers and toes are crossed……..

[tonyp]

The buffalo arms stuffs works the best for me. I just rinse off in hot water when done and stick the chassis over the light in my work room so the heat drys it. No rusting. When the foam looks gray I rinse everything out and reload. I still have to try distilled water.

[Pablo]

http://water.usgs.go...alkalinity.html

Look at the second chart down.

Tony, I believe you are in the white zone; Rick, I think you are white or blue.

I'm purple.

Makes sense to me. Tony, you may benefit from distilled, as your zone is harder than mine

[tonyp]

Ill try it when I get back from Thomasville for sure.

Has any one tried those steel pins for polishing jewelry? I bought a bag and tried them. They turned all the solder black. Now I am not sure it was because I was using it in the rubber tumbler or I used them dry. I was afriad to ever try again...

Rick, Have you tried soaking the chassis in mineral oil between builds. Should do the same as WD40 but not dry up into a sticky mess. I used to do that with my steel chassis 1000 years ago.... Haven't tried it lately.

[Bill from NH]

If you want those chassis to smell good, you could use baby oil. It's actually a scented mineral oil. Mineral oil has got to be way cheaper than WD-40.

[Pablo]

I'll bet once the WD-40 dries, it leaves a visible film on the sheet brass.
I use it also, but I'm not museum quality either......
Mineral oil sounds better, it will leave a better coat than WD-40.

[dc-65x]

The chassis came out of the WD-40 soak and all of that stuff was wiped and blown off. No pitting so far . Into my "Rick's Jig" it goes to connect the two chassis halves:



These are Gugu's Gizmos that connect the chassis together:



Here the Gizmos are in place. You can see a piece of steel shim stock sticking up. 4 of them aligned the inner and outer halves:



After soldering there is a nice even gap between the center section and the "outer-pan-hanger-bumper-thingie":



We lucked out Ron ! Back into the tumbler it goes.......

[Ron Hershman]

No luck Rick....... excellent planning and execution on your part and the original lazer cutter behalf. LOL

[dc-65x]

The chassis, less pans, came out of the tumbler and the wheels were installed:



Then the pans were installed last and it's now.........DONE:













I tried to build it so the parts looked like they were held together by "magnetism". A "race chassis" would have nice sized solder fillets on all the joints but I thought that wasn't the point of this one. I hope you like it Ron

[Tex]

You need to publish a hardbound book of your chassis.

Beauty, eh?

[Ron Hershman]

I hope you like it Ron [/size]

Like it???? I LOVE IT!!!!! Beautiful, awesome, perfect craftsmanship. Unbelievable!!!

OK so some history and the story behind the car/race. In 1991 or was it 92?? LOL Anyways there was a "World Championship" race at JK Raceway in Lombard, Il. Several classes were contested over four or five days and there was a "points" system where the overall highest finisher of all races was to be crowned "World Champ". It was a mixture of USRA, IMCA, CASRA classes.

There was a "team" Euro Sport endurance race of three hours. Two man teams. Gugu had approached me at another race a couple month prior to this race and asked me if I would be his team mate for the Euro race. Gugu and I had both been winning Euro 32 and 24 races at the previous USRA Nats so we hooked up for this race and put out best effort forward to beat the local Chicago racers on their home track. They were a tough crowd to beat for sure.

The only stipulation I had being I worked at Parma at the time was for Gugu to build and use a Parma Euro 24 chassis kit. He said "send me a kit and I will build a car." So I sent him a kit and he showed up at the race with a car identical to what Rick has re-created.

Gugu used everything in the kit except he made brass pans and used them instead of the steel pans that came with the kit. The car was awesome and so much faster and better handling than any Euro sport car I had ever raced at that point and the locals were amazed and shocked at how well the car handled in practice by watching the lap times.

We won the race quite easy and both got first place points towards the "World Championship". I has also won the Production 32 and Group 10 races and we both had mixed results over the rest of the classes. We were tied or only a point or two apart heading into the Gr 7 race and at that time I was a Gr 7 rookie and hoped for the best. If I had made the semi, I would have won the Championship, but I didn't move up out of the Consi and Gugu made the Gr 7 main and Gugu would up winning the Championship by a couple of points. I was good with that as he did have a win or two and several high finishes through the event to become the "World Champion" that year.

The car was powered by a Koford 459 single mag set-up with a 31 T 27 Ga arm. We ran 80 pitch Sonic gears and Parma "Tuna" tires. The body was a Parma Toyota.

I had asked Gugu about getting the Winning car from him for my collection of personal race cars and of course he kept the car. I always figured that someday I would try and replicate the car from the pics I had.

Well since that thought and seeing all of the beautiful cars/chassis that Rick builds....... I knew Rick was the man for the job to replicate a beautiful copy for my collection. I can't wait for the chassis to arrive and see the beauty and awesome chassis he has replicated.

A MILLION Thanks to Rick for bringing this beauty to all of us.

THANKS RICK!!!!!!

[Bill from NH]

Ron, do you have plans to build this chassis into a completed car? You probably have most of the other parts you'd need.

[Ron Hershman]

Ron, do you have plans to build this chassis into a completed car? You probably have most of the other parts you'd need.

Yep I have everything needed to complete the car as a complete car. It will wind up in a display case and in the "museum" here.

[Bill from NH]

Show us photos when complete. Thanks.

[Ron Hershman]

Sure will

[dc-65x]

Thanks Tex.

I'm glad you're happy with it Ron.

The chassis has been on "rust watch" for almost a week now. It's in a zip lock bag and I check for any signs of rust twice a day under a bright light. Last night I found some starting in a small scratch in the steel center section. It came off quickly with a Q-tip and some paste metal polish.

I'm going to put some automotive spray wax on the chassis tonight and watch it for a while longer........

[dc-65x]

OK, time to send her back to Ron.

I coated the chassis with a rather thick wax called Birchwood Casey Gun Stock Wax for wood, metal and plastic. It's been almost 10 days and no signs of any rust so the "corrosion watch" on my end is over. Ron, it's up to you now!

You may want to consider soldering the motor in with 60-40 solder and paste flux, not acid flux. It will still rust if not cleaned up but that acid seems to splatter everywhere. Cover as much of the chassis as you can while soldering. I slip the chassis into a plastic bag with the zip lock top cut off. I cover everything I can that's sticking out of the bag with tape. Polished steel will RUST in a heart beat.

So far I like paste wax instead of oil to prevent rust but, "your results may vary".

PM or email me the return mailing address and I'll ZOOM her off to you next week.

Rick

[endbelldrive]

PM and my address sent, Rick...just kidding.

[Alchemist]

What a gorgeous looking chassis Rick!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was good to see you at the track the last weekend!!

Ernie

[dc-65x]

Thanks Ernie. It's always fun to meet you at the track.

I'm looking forward to Ron posting pictures of the finished car.

[Champion 507]

Any updates on this car? As usual, Rick's chassis looks like a museum piece!!

[Champion 507]

Rick,

Ron showed me this chassis when I met him in "Indyanna" last month. It's still in the zip lock bag and is just as beautiful in person as it is here on the blog.