918 replies to this topic

[Lowrider]

Hi John.

You can contact Mr Secchi directly, either here or at SlotForum. 'John Secchi' is his handle at both places if I recall correctly.
John returned your motor last night so I got it back into place and managed some very satisfactory laps with your car. Rather than transfer all your hardware over to a new endbell he has epoxied the bushing in the correct position and he has the opinion that it'll hold satisfactorily. Your comm appeared okay to him (he's a motor guy too) but he took the precaution of soldering your loose brush tube to the base plate to match it's partner.
My notes say that your car had good acceleration and brakes but was a bit tippy in corners and, in common with about half the field, light in the front end. Able to be driven quickly, in other words, but you wouldn't want to explore the limits in corners.

Most of the cars ran well when asked, some like Jairus' Red Wedge went extraordinarily well in last night's conditions. It wasn't all good news though and I still have some work to do before the race.
Pablo's Mabuchi-racha managed less than one very slow lap before arcing brushes induced me to stop. His standard motor has discoloured windings and I'm assuming, without a post-mortem, that the arm is toast. I put in his hot motor and that proved to possess a pleasing turn of speed but was not overly blessed with braking ability. It lives.

Phil Smith's Banshee ran okay but was distressingly noisy. I'll look again at it's drive train.

John Austin's Stinger roadster hopped on right hand corners so I suspect that the axle may need replacing. It was okay aside from that.

Joe Lupo's rear tires had less grip than everyone else's, not unexpectedly, but the car was still drive-able. More Zip Grip coming up.

Gary Vogeler's Rocket 88 unfortunately melted a brush tube into the endbell which limited his car's track time. I recall this happened at Buena Park in the warm up as well but I'm hoping to be able to pull a rabbit out of the hat for Gary before race day. Fingers crossed.

One27Ray's car chattered badly even on straights so something is wrong somewhere. A similar problem for the REM Raceway Bat car which was hopping under acceleration. Both, to me, are symptoms of a loose motor/bracket and that's where my investigations will start.

I'd love to stay and chat, but I believe the work bench is calling me.
Regards,

[Pablo]

Thanks Steve Run her like a bat from heck until she drops

[JohnnySlotcar]

Please replace the rear axle, I will pay whatever it needs. The rear axle upright should not have any movement as it was superglued tight. If it is loose, please glue it again! Thanks, John Austin

[slotbaker]

Thanks SK1 for seeing to poor old Dynogram.
Hope that body hangs together with all the sigs on her.

Running the race will be a breeze after all the effort you've put in so far.
It's much appreciated by all of us.


Bring on the main event.

[Edo]

Hi Low

seeing your attentive and tender care for our adorable toys warms my heart!

THANK YOU!

E.

[John Secchi]

Sire
Looking forward to play with your "thing" on Saturday [indeed all the thing's!], how warm is your heart now!
Ciao
[oneofwos]

[Jairus]

Hey John, thank you for the axle!

[Lowrider]

John has been repairing motors on our behalf, Jairus. It was Phil Smith who kindly donated threaded axles and a replacement 16D endbell to the Thingie cause. One of Phil's went on to John Austin's car last night.
Thanks to everyone above for their kind words.

With about 17 hours remaining before the racing gets underway, I thought it might be time to take our gallant little band of trans-global Dynamic Challengers on a tour of the town. This follows the tradition started by the Thingie Kingie during his proxy series and later resurrected by Agent Z, our man in St. Louis, during the SunChaser jaunt.

We start beside the English National Stadium in Wembley. A leisurely 10 minute stroll from my door.



The Shadow knows ...



I thought that Madam Toussard's Planetarium would be the ideal spot to introduce Marvin to London but the main building was unfortunately shrouded in scaffolding.



Plan B involved a trip to 221B Baker Street, a well known London address. Busy street frustrated the photographer a bit. There's a Victorian policeman standing in the hidden doorway.



Titanic was lucky not to get a parking ticket in Oxford Street. Wardens are everywhere.



Joe eventually pulled up beside Selfridges.



English Rose, new in town. (Call the number if you dare, it'll make somebody's day. Maybe even your own!)



Marble Arch, site of the old Tyburn gallows.



Miss K is NEVER let down by her bra. You'll have to take my word for that.



I hope the Kingie won't be grinding his teeth at this because there's worse to come ...



Always time for a nice Italian meal when you're touring the town.



Washed down by a hearty ale or perhaps two ...





Mr Mabuchi-rachi outside the historic department store Liberty.



Scorpions in Carnaby Street? It must be the second ale affecting my eyesight.



Continued tomorrow ...

[Jairus]

LOL, great stuff Steve!

(Thank you Phil for the axle!)

[tonyp]

Steve you are killing me with those pictures. One of my goals is to visit the UK. Good luck to all the entries at the race tomorrow.

[Pablo]

Beautiful photos, I like # 5 the best, looks like the car is really driving down the street

[garyvmachines]

Pic #5 ROCKS Titanic looks to be stoped for a bit of fish & chips !!!
Cool LOW !!!

GAV

[Lowrider]

Thanks again, guys.
Tony P, we have an Evil Bucks Racer-sized space on an uncomfortable sofa bed any time you feel like dropping in. Just leave the lizards at home. Our foxes are already over-fed.

After a short interlude spent entertaining the patrons of The Crown on the Cowley Road with an Epiphone and Fender Twin, we're back on our sightseeing tour. Where did we get up to?
Ah, yes. Agent Z was cocking a suave eyebrow at the dolly birds dahn Carnaby Street.
If we hang a left down Broadwick Street we will enter the enchanted parish of Soho. Lovely.



Hungry again so soon after our earlier pasta? Oscar was.



Don's Derrière. It sort of slipped into naughty Soho and somehow felt immediately at home. All comfortable like ...



Fellow musician John Havlicek was more interested in checking out the local players and maybe copping a gig himself for his combo.



The unimpressive little doorway across the road with the orange awning is the 100 Club. I managed to catch Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee there, when I first came to London in the mid-'70s, and another show with Freddie King, who simply blew my impressionable young mind.





Manta Ray thought he might catch a show too. Not sure about that particular one, Ray ...



The light is starting to fail but we're still going strong.
Aculeus in Piccadilly Circus. That's the famous statue of Eros on the left of the picture.
Once upon a time they used to crank up Eros' fountain so that it overflowed on to the steps and kept unkempt people from hanging around on them. They seem to have mellowed since I stopped going there ...



'London's Sweetest Attraction', you say? Where?



The Swiss Centre, which was a landmark in Leicester Square for decades, is no more. Say 'hello' to the new M & M Centre.
(Well it's nearly chocolate, innit?)
They do have a Routemaster bus in their entrance, which is something in their favour. Our Stern Leader will of course be noting down it's details for later use.



It's a glow-in-the-dark Swiss Thingie. Impressive!



Short walk south to Trafalgar Square. Nelson's Column with The Stern Leader again (slight return ...)



Mopar Rob and one of the four lions guarding the base of Nelson's Column.



Another Routemaster, and a rare short one too! Where's Jairus? Nice paint job there to be emulated.





A last look back across Trafalgar Square with the National Gallery in the background. It's culture, innit?



Admiralty Arch and the (fuzzy) view down The Mall. Churchill's wartime bunker was just to the left as you go through the arch facing us directly. The blurred lights in the distance through this same arch are Buckingham Palace - don't get me started! (Where's my guillotine?)
SK2 might prefer to see the palace and it's inhabitants from an even greater distance?



Another disappointment. The side entrance to the palace grounds is swathed in scaffolding as well. What's wrong with this place that everything pretty is being polished up for the summer. Is there something going on?
Also, one of the Horse Guards ... without his mount. Were the horses not cost effective? "Come over here, Sonny Jim with the pointy sword. Not so tall now, are ye?"



Downing Street. Home of our other stern leader.
Blacklight, even without full stealth mode, seems to have slipped effortlessly past the armed police (and I'm not talking pointy swords here) standing guard.



The Cenotaph is the United Kingdom's official war memorial, erected after the first world war. Remembrance Day is the closest Sunday to November 11th when the queen lays a wreath here in a very solemn ceremony. The son of Pink Floyd's Dave Gilmour was recently given a 16 month jail sentence in part for hanging off one of the flags during one of our periodic entertaining riots. You don't mess with the Cenotaph! I thought you should know that.



It's getting really dark now. Soon be time to go back home.
Ralph's Budweiser with Westminster Abbey in the background.



The Houses of Parliament, aka the Palace of Westminster. The place that Guy Fawkes came close to blowing up in 1605. We still celebrate the nearness of his miss with fireworks every November 5th.
Hi Barney!



Roadkill in front of Churchill's statue in Parliament Square with the Abbey again in the background.



Rocket 88 blasting off beside Big Ben, which is so-called because that's the name of the large bell inside. Not many people know that!



The last stop of this particular tour.
The REM Raceway Bat Car looking out over Westminster Bridge at County Hall (blue) and the London Eye (red).



A funny thing then happened. I was just about to put the Bat Car back in my bag ...



... when a passer-by accidently bumped my arm. Before I knew it - CALAMITY!
The REM Raceway racer had fallen into the Thames with the softest of plops - barely audible at all really - and was lost to sight. I did consider organizing a search party for the car but, you know how it is. It was late, it was dark, I was tired, soooo, Kate and I went home instead and had nice kippers for supper.
Sorry, Brian.



Only 25 cars to race now in about 10 hours time. At least the box to Ohio will be lighter now.
Pip pip!

[Jairus]

[32Deuce]

Great job Low & Lady K! I did miss the shot though where Lady K holds Scorpion & Aculeus in her arms so tight......Well maybe next time
Z

[Gator Bob]

Steve, These are absolutely wonderful and over the top and out of the box creativity. Your presentation of "the circus is in town" adds a whole new dimension as to how much fun proxy racing can be.

Just getting the strength up to get caught up after not being able to get to the computer.

Sorry about your car Brian, good luck to the rest.

[Lowrider]

Glad you're enjoying it Jairus and Bob. Having fun is the whole point, isn't it?
Previous critics complaining about things being done outside of the spirit of the Challenge haven't quite got a handle on what that spirit actually is, in my opinion.

I'll have a word with Kathryn, Z. I suspect that she may feel obliging in your case.

The 1:1 car is due to be loaded up with cars, tools, provisions for a small army of Dynamic Challengers and a group of willing slot car volunteers. Time for the last photos before the race in ... 3-4 hours.
First up the repairs made after Wednesday's testing.

Gary's new endbell and his melted ex.





Rocket 88 has moved to a 7 tooth pinion in the interests of motor longevity. Go forth, Young Endbell. Live long and prosper.
I notoiced that Gary's front pans had sufficient lateral movement to allow the front edges of them to touch the front tires. Any kind of friction like that could upset the delicate motor so I took my Dremel and removed a small amount of brass.



The next shot may not suit those with a nervous disposition. I've known Ray Fellows, and we've been good friends, for quite a number of years. I felt able to take an executive decision with his car that I wouldn't have dreamt of with most others.
When I tested Ray's car after repairing it everything was fine and it ran strongly. This time around it was almost undrivable. Everything was running straight and true on the chassis and so the only diagnosis I could come to was that Ray's ultra-low slung body was rubbing on the rear wheels and causing the problems.
Out came the tin snips and off came any sheet metal that came anywhere near the rear tires. Final results resemble Edo's Italian Cucarachas so there's a Thingie tradition being followed here ... to a degree.
Sorry, Raymundo.



Pablo's cooked motor. Discoloured windings but the endbell still looks resonably straight.







REM's Bat car was still a bit damp in this photo. Can you tell?
I rounded off the tire on the gear side to match the one I did earlier. More body contact problems as far as I could see as everthing else checked out okay.



I replaced John Austin's rear axle which wasn't running true and realised that his front tires were very lumpy indeed. I stabilized them both on the wheels with CA glue and trued them very carefully indeed until they were round. So much had to come off that a guide spacer needed to be removed.





Joe Lupo's tires marinading in Trinity sauce.



I replaced Phil's Cox gear with a pink one, just for the enjoyment of imagining his face when he sees what I've done. You're welcome, Phil.
No charge.



Phil's motor seemed noisy on it's own until I put a single drop of oil on the endbell bushing. I'm not familiar with these motors. Does this look in order to everyone?



Finally, Dyna Rigg rejoined the gang last Wednesday. What can you do to impress such a piece of obviously high class totty?
Why, buy her a slap-up meal of course and show her some sights the like of which she may never have seen before of course.

Dinner with Dyna at the Diner.







She belongs to ME now!

Time to go.

[Edo]

I gotta say that that Kiwi guy is real funny!
Bravissimo Low!
E
PS Signor Secchi, please keep Chopper away from my thing if you want to keep my heart warm!
(sorry guys, inside joke between me and the London racers)

[Howmet TX]

You make me proud to be a Londoner, Steve. Must go and look at some of those places......
Excellent report, and sharing a plate of eggs and bacon with Dyna Rigg has long been a fantasy of mine. You lucky dawg!

[don.siegel]

Thanks Steve, a wonderful tour of London! You have a second career ahead of you as high-class tour guide for traveling slotters!

Of course, I did prefer the photos where Miss K models, nothing personal you understand...

And my Derrière loved SoHo, felt right at home, I could tell... I think he'll be returning after the race, either to see a show or put one on...

Let the Festivities begin!

Don

[Jencar17]

Nice to see Needle in Soho and thanks for the sightseeing tour! Good luck and much fun for the next round!!

Jens

[Pablo]

That's not what Brian meant when he said "water break in"

Miss K looks lovely when she's not mad, I must say

[One27ray]

Bravo !! Sir Steve, the clippings are OK by me it looks like a winner to me . Lady K just made #44's day hopefully he recovers from his excursion. London look delightful at this time of the year, wish we were there too
Have Fun with the racing !! Thanks

[MantaRay]

Steve, Above and Beyond........You have set the bar to a new level
Our thanks......
Ray

[JohnnySlotcar]

What a great tour! I hope racing these beauties give the drivers a " knee trembler"!!!!