71 replies to this topic

[Steve Deiters]

Well, it's close. This was under a Revell Lotus 23 body some years ago.
Interesting choice of rear tires, the very same on mine!

Mike

This chassis reminds me a lot of the "space" frame that was used in the Pactra Lola T-90 RTR and one other car they made but I don't remember what it was. The thing handled great and was fast even though it was so light and vulnerable to damage. It was limited in performance as were most RTR's of the era with less than adequate tires. I always wondered if those chassis were made in the States. PdL?

[TSR]

Steve,
The Pactra chassis on the Lola was more advanced, quite different and and basically 3 years ahead of the basic Russkit tube frame.
And of course Pactra was incredibly prolific with more litsd and RTR models than most other slot car companies!

[Steve Deiters]

Is that the same chassis that was used on the Graham Hill American Red Ball RTR?

[don.siegel]

... but the earlier Competition/Pactra frame, ca late 65/early 66, was not that different from the one shown above by Mike. It also used 4 tubes, but with a fixed pickup, not a swinger... Philippe, do you have a photo of that one handy?

Don

[TSR]

Yes. But this is the late "Competition" version, so is fitted with a Mabuchi motor instead of a Hemi, and has a different guide and larger rear tires. Otherwise almost identical save for a few details. I just found the exact thing:

[Steve Deiters]

I remember the Hemi powered version specifically. Were the chassis made in the States? Just curious.

[TSR]

Hi Steve, yes indeed. They were made in Santa Ana, California. Here is a brief extract from my new book:

Pactra Chemicals was involved in hobby paints, and they began making clear plastic bodies in 1965 after buying Stormer and Competition. Stormer was a vacuum forming company making clear butyrate plastic bodies and managed by Woody Bennett. By year’s end, the new conglomerate had made a deal with Strombecker for the supply of Japanese-made Igarashi motors and loaded them inside kits and RTR models sold in day-glow red window-boxes. The large variety makes tracking of these cars difficult. What was actually made and what was not is still debatable after years or research. Pactra Vice President Don B. Barber was in charge of the slot car program.
The unusual features of these models were the frames, made of brass rod and plates soldered together in an automatic machine belonging to Dante’s Inferno, set in the Competition works in Santa Ana. The models were pricey and kits body mounting required a certain degree of craftsmanship.
Their most popular cars were the 1966 Ferrari 3-liter F1 of which many examples have survived.

Etc.

[Jairus]

I think I have one of those frames in my junk frame box. Now that it is identified... I have yet ANOTHER future restoration project.

[Prof. Fate]

Hi

I don't remember how I got my first scratchbuilder kit. I had the bodies and was corresponding with Jim Russell. But was a 1/32 racer at home initially and only had the Mabuchi 15r and Pittman DC60 something, neither of which would fit the Lotus 25...my true love!

This lead to Jim trying to help. And that may be the way I got the first kit with a 22. Initially, the kits had drawings for frames, and I was sending him photos of a Pete Hagenbach plate chassis I had that I think led to a drawing of THAT showing up in the kits.

Anyway, the initial 16ds, the SP500s from Revell that I saw were 36 winds with really crappy stacks. As my dad was an electronics geek and had the tools and stuff, I had been winding my own stuff going back to 59 with the early strombecker stuff. So, I didn't pay much attention to the 500 wind because it was so weak. I THINK the sp510x was their first 110/34 wind.

I didn't much pay attention to ads or even articles back then. The short version is that anything I did see was usually 6 months behind what I was getting in correspondence with Russkit and the Midwest guys!

Actually, sort of like this forum. I hear from P or Don or someone and never bother to look at SARN or whatever for collectibles, or talking to current manufacturers rather than worry about what the ads and articles are doing. with MCR, I KNOW how behind the times anything there is, I write and edit in it!

As I keep saying I have been blessed in my friendships.

Fate

[TSR]

Rocky, Thanks God you keep remembering getting up every day...

[dc-65x]

Hey Mike, thanks for posting your space frame Russkit car .

I do a couple of things to these Russkit brackets that allow me to remove the motor from the chassis. My modified brackets are on the bottom:



I add a small notch to the endbell bracket so I can use 2 screws instead of one. I also notch the can bearing bracket so I can lift the motor up and out of the chassis IF......



.....the bracket is spaced away from the can the same distance as the length of the endbell bearing flange. That allows the motor to slide straight back then up out of the chassis. You also have to remember to cut a notch in those spacers used during building or the motor will be locked in. Don't ask how I know this .

Here's the front bracket attached:



To align the motor shaft with the rear axle I made a little gizmo from 1/2" aluminum bar stock. It has a slip fit hole for the armature and another slip fit hole for the axle. Hmmmmm.......does that axle hole looked lined up the armature shaft hole to you .



Nope, it's not . Check out the original build pic:



It's set up for that low slung hypoid effect baby . Old Jim set it up with the top chassis tubes going straight back to the axle and the bottom tubes angle up. That works out to a 1/16" offset and that's how I set up my alignment gizmo.

I messed around with several different steel pinions. A vintage Wilson works pretty well with the Revell crown even in an offset or hypoid setup. It's a short pinion and looks alot like the one in the article.

Time to heat up the Ungar iron......

[Hworth08]

The Revell crown gears were fairly bad about the "tooth part" coming loose from the set screw hub part.

We used to spin the gear checking for alignment and if good we would solder the "tooth part" (what a bad description) to the hub. Whatever plating it is solders real well.

[dc-65x]

Here's the little axle locating gizmo in action. The top 2 frame tubes are in place:



The motor is slung nice and low. In the rear the frame tubes are straight. They angle upward and inward to the axle tube in front:



This chassis has lots of swoopy bends in the 4 main rails and all of them have to be done in place. Once I started "bend'n" I just kept going until I got to here:





WHEW! That was a marathon. Now it's time to put "the buff" to it.........

[dc-65x]

OK, it's all shiny just like my favorite scratch builder used to make them back at Pasadena Speedway in '64:





Next up are the body mounts. Then I'm going to get it on the track and see if it's "worthy" of mounting my Lancer Porsche 904 on it. Will the "hypoid" setup really work with standard gears .......

[Pablo]

Love it love it love it. Love the GIZMO also !!!

[tonyp]

It's funny the chassis looks like it is built upside down with the straight rails on the top. Beautiful job. Obviously this is where the original competition chassis design came from. Party on rick.

[dc-65x]

Hey Tony and Pablo, thanks for chiming in . If you ever want to build a chassis without an axle bracket I'd be happy to loan you a gizmo. I have several "on center" gizmos for both 3/32 and 1/8 axle and 3/32 and .078 armature shafts.

Meanwhile, back at my Rick's Chassis Jig, the body mounts go on:



I decided to mount the rear tube on the "body mount" washer. Russkit did something similar on their Super Spyder chassis. They screwed a little bracket that had a pin tube soldered to it onto the rear body mount hole in their Super Spyder chassis.

Here's the roller ready to test on my home track:





The rear body mount:



I used a little 800 grit lapping compound on the "hypoid effect" gears and they mesh great...much to my surprise!



With the motors bracket spaced and modified like this the motor can slide back and out of the frame:



The famous (infamous ) full size Russkit Slant Guide:



The main rails drooping down to meet the guide tube reminds me of the front of a Romulan Warbird







Time to get it on the track and see if it's "Worthy" of that Lancer Porsche 904 body ........

[Jairus]

Your mind works on a slightly different plain huh Rick?

[Duffy]

If Tawny Madison isn't repeating everything Computer says, I'm not watching it.

Rikky, this technology (the SLOTCAR technology!) is where I left Slots in late '65--only we were running 1/16" drop axles up front, and I specifically remember stealing out of my sleeping Mom's purse to buy BB fronts.
In Montgomery Village where I raced, the fashionable body was the cool transverse Honda F1--we could stretch out our wheelbase in a most shameful manner under there.
The one race I actually won, they held up between heats while I frantically rewound my only-and-blown Russkit 22. Interestingly, there was no prize money afte; turned out the disbursement had been "pre-arranged," and my win was--awkward.
That was then.
I sometimes wonder what might've happened, had I not chosen a life of music and [as it turned out] procreation.

Passing that, everything fits wond'rous well, and the magazine scans send flashbacks. "--I was there, I looked at those pages!..."


Very cool indeed.


Duffy

[dc-65x]

That was a great movie Duffy ....stupid but mindlessly entertaining. Just my style

See Jairus, Duffy can see the similarity in my chassis with the universe and it's space-a-ma-ships .

Here’s the swoopster on the track earning the official Okie Dokie for that Lancer body:





She handles fine, does nothing stupid, has good punch and brakes....time to paint a 904 .

[Hworth08]

Nice car and good idea of modifying the motor mounts. I'll try that on my Super Leggera frames.

Hard to believe but now we have a Romulian running for president and even leading. Wonder what Gene Roddenbury would think of that!

[Jairus]

Really? Duffy is your wingman?

[Duffy]

Nah. I'm more the Guy Fleegman to Rick's Alexander Dane.
Ever since Top Gun, "wingman"----well, to quote my daughter: "Uhh, Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaay......"

[S.O. Watt]

I believe the very first chassis I built for a mabuchi used those brackets, sure brings back a very dim memory . It wasn't long before they all had the much more user friendly "horseshoe" bracket. Yup, the handwriting was on the wall for the death of the open frame motors then.

[mdiv]

Sigourney Weaver was HOT!@@@@@ in that movie!

Great build, Rick!