70 replies to this topic

[dc-65x]

......Never saw anything like that in 65.

You know, I never did either, at least not that I can remember. I did see inline padlock Pittman 84's and 85's. I even have a Kentron inline chassis kit for their X503. The inline thing works so well with the Pittman 65 I'm going to try it with those other big padlock motors .

Hmmmmm........an inline Kemtron X503 with 3:1 bevel gears.....hmmmmm......

Fun stuff! .

[don.siegel]

Beautiful work Rick, and thanks for the race report! Those factory-painted bods do have a charm of their own (certain a yellow Harvey!) and you detailed it perfectly for the context!

One quick question: so far, which of your open frame and/or padlock motors has been the fastest, overall and in a straight line?

Don

[Jairus]

Noose, I kept thinking if I had the skill with a paint brush that artists like you and Jairus have, this car could have livened the car up quite a bit.

I disagree. Noose and I tend to overdo it and if your goal was a possible factory+ job you succeeded in spades! Very clean and marvelously restrained. I like it and and have been doing just this of late (restricted and clean detailing) for some of my more recent projects.
Two

[MrWeiler]

!!!!!!!! NICE

[dc-65x]

One quick question: so far, which of your open frame and/or padlock motors has been the fastest, overall and in a straight line?

That's a good question. So far I've only worked briefly with the Pittman DC-84-6V. It was a bit disappointing but I'll be giving it another go.

The Kemtron X503-6V has been getting faster as I've lowered the gear ratio numerically. It has fantastic brakes and I'm going to drop the gear ratio again to 3:1 and try for a little more top speed.

The Pittman DC-65X is just a darn good motor plain and simple. Geared 3:1 and with modern Alpha tires the Harvey is almost as fast as a vintage "jail door" car on Eddie's flat road course. It's down on top speed compared to the wilder Mabuchi rewinds but the handling on the road course is excellent.

I've buzzed up a KTM 4 volt and it sounds much stronger than my Kemtron. That one will be interesting.

I also have some Ram 85's and 850's and one sacred 3 volt armature......hmmmmmm......

[Old pink can guy]

Rick simply beautiful! Please quit testing our memorrys of the past! Great job!

[The Bugman]

That's a good question. So far I've only worked briefly with the Pittman DC-84-6V. It was a bit disappointing but I'll be giving it another go.

The Kemtron X503-6V has been getting faster as I've lowered the gear ratio numerically. It has fantastic brakes and I'm going to drop the gear ratio again to 3:1 and try for a little more top speed.

The Pittman DC-65X is just a darn good motor plain and simple. Geared 3:1 and with modern Alpha tires the Harvey is almost as fast as a vintage "jail door" car on Eddie's flat road course. It's down on top speed compared to the wilder Mabuchi rewinds but the handling on the road course is excellent.

I've buzzed up a KTM 4 volt and it sounds much stronger than my Kemtron. That one will be interesting.

I also have some Ram 85's and 850's and one sacred 3 volt armature......hmmmmmm......

heya rick;
well remembering something about those ol' Kemtrons,KTM's,Pittman 85's,they werent ever used for road coarse racing,they were the DRAG RACE motors of "the day",
Having spent many days in my yout's (1960-63)at WESTERN SPEEDWAY ,in Gardena,Calif.they had a great drag strip,where you "dial up" the voltage to 36VDC,those big "padlock" motors were Drag race stuff,we used Pittman 196,and of course the 65 was a really good road race motor,i had a couple built for me by Bob Braverman,i was friends with him and his son.

[dc-65x]

Hi Oscar,

At Pasadena Speedway, in the back room, we had a super high banked track with catch fences. It was an oval or figure 8, I can't remember. The big padlock motors were run back there. We didn't have a drag strip. Everything found its way to the road course too but the smaller motors were the faster way around.

I think every raceway was a little different, especially as you went to different parts of the country.

One thing is for sure, these big old cars are a lot of fun today on both the road course and the Blue King.

[Alchemist]

Hi Rick!

What a "jewel" of a car - beautiful! It's amazing to see your work on the website but when I get the opportunity to see the cars you build/are building in person at Eddie's track - I can't help but stop and stare! What craftsmanship!

Thanks for all that you share Rick!

Ernie

[Old pink can guy]

Oscar brought up an old memory. I remember the Drag guys spraying the motor with Black Flag insect repelent before they ran. I ment on the com and brushes. no bugs on the starting line! LOL.

[dc-65x]

Yes, it's back in one piece much to my surprise.

Below is the wreckage followed by the rebirth

I was at Eddie's Sunday and the Wilson really is a "Screamer"....for a Wilson! It is much faster than I expected. It WAY over-powers the tall and narrow Maserati 5000 GT. Punch it from a stop and it does wheelies! It lights up the "German" rear tires exiting corners at will. When I switched to sticker Paul's Urethane repop Cox Firestone's, the narrow rear track and light weight chassis caused the car to just roll over. I'm going to put a stock Wilson in the Maserati. I think the hot rodded motor needs to go into a lower, wider and heavier car. Maybe a lotus 30....... On another note, all the years I've been running my vintage cars at Eddie's I've never totaled one...until now.



That nice factory painted Lancer bodies nose is all busted up.










This is the LAST car I have I would have thought I'd wreck. It's one of the most stable and forgiving carsI have. On the Blue King, I clutched for the bank then punched it like I've done a zillion times before. This time as it exited the bank, it lifted out of the slot and rocketed into the wall of the deadman. When it jumped out of the slot it looked like it actually picked up speed. When the mighty Pittman hit the wall it sounded like it was hit with a sledge hammer. Oh well, I build it I guess I can fix it.....

I was able to keep more of the original chassis than I thought. I replaced the front axle tube, one main rail, the front body mount tube and the right side outrigger rail:



To hopefully keep this thing in the slot I added 1/8" thickness of lead to the drop arm......



.....and modified a big brass guide weight to slip down over the 7/32" guide tube. I also added a drop arm down stop:



The guide weight is also counter bored so the screw and washer nestle down inside it:



The chassis and running gear are back in one lump....



...and the body got a nose job . It's filled with epoxy to hold it together, sanded smooth and painted with Tamiya rattle can red on the outside to hide all the crack marks. Pactra RC black stripping tape finished it off and sorta matches the red and black stripes on the sides....sorta....kinda:



For better or worse at least. "It's alive!" again.

[Mark H]

same thing happened to me at BPR, i was running a vintage scratch built that i put a falcon motor in (big mistake) and full speed down the straight it deslots and and slames straight into the banking wall. and like yours it seemed to go faster as it was desloted lol.

good job on the repair, the body looks good and i like the red nose.

[dc-65x]

Thanks Mark. It's interesting about our cars seeming to speed up when they deslot.

[Pete L.]

Rick,

Nice save !!!

[Tex]

Just like crashing a real race car. You see the bent wreckage, sick to your stomach, and trailer it home to the garage. You tear it down and take stock of what can be salvaged. Then you rebuild, and.... it emerges from the garage, rolling into the light of day again, to RACE yet again! Good job, Rick.

[dc-65x]

...You see the bent wreckage, sick to your stomach...

That's how I felt Tex. A fellow racer standing near the impact zone kindly offered to re-slot my car. I thanked him but told him it wasn't capable of going anywhere. Ah, brass pin tube.

[Duffy]

I told the story elsewhere, when it happened--I was dicing with a nice talented young person on her fist rental outing; she inadvertently stop-nerfed me and launched my F1 off the bank, slamming the wall and tumbling over to fetch up in the decorous cleavage of a soccer mom presiding over her son's birthday party.

I haven't managed to address the damage to this day; I presently have to work on this one's sister chassis and I could jig 'em both and do it all, but--there's still some Victoria's Secret lace clinging to the front pan. I'm just not comfortable going there, you know what I mean?

[Tex]

Heck NO; leave it just as it IS, a MEMORIAL!

[BWA]

Excellent as always. Rather than make an offset bracket, why not use an extended bearing tube thingamy for the long side?????

 

Would look nice with the same size tube poking out both sides of the body.

 

Almost cried when I saw Mr.Mill. My Clausing Is still in the shed in pieces from when I moved out here two and a half years ago, along with my Myford Lathe.

[dc-65x]

Hi Al,

 

I don't remember why I built the rear bracket the way I did. It must have seemed like a good idea at the time.

 

 

Almost cried when I saw Mr.Mill..........

 

That's right! You've got a Clausing milling machine too. I hope you get yours going. They're a great old machine. I got two watch to movers struggle relocating mine while it was all in one piece. Some scary moments as it teetered back and forth coming down the ramp from the moving van.

[BWA]

Mine was down the basement. There was no other option, but, to take it apart. And, even at that the guys almost had double hernias getting some of the big bits out.

 

I mostly just use my Sherline Mill, and Lathe these days. Amazing machines, and, I highly recommend them.

 

Almost forgot, I'm just starting a DC65 Sidewinder in 1/32. Vac bodied Cheatah.