162 replies to this topic

[dc-65x]

Hey Jairus, any chance you'd open it up to the many non-wood carvers by using model kit bodies?

[Jairus]

It's not a proxy race. I am done with those.

And... I might even use a model kit body myself. Got tons of them in storage from my static model building days. 
Some pretty rare.

 

289 Cobra you say huh?  Pretty short wheelbase dude.... 

[dc-65x]

Yes, but I just love this first racing Cobra. Slab sided with wire wheels and a little racing windscreen:

 

 

It's also got a short nose so a short guide lead. 

 

The great builder-racer Russ Toy got a hard body 427 Cobra racer to run absolutely fantastic. I know it can be done.....whether I can do it remains to be seen.

[SlotStox#53]

That's going to be an interesting build Rick Any thoughts on powerplant for the little Cobra?

 

Looks like there's been some more votes in the Concours Love Don's original find !

[Jairus]

Yeah, I had to put a pity post up linking to the proxy in order to drive those scale builders to actually take part.

Some of them are soooo narrow minded that they won't build or even look at something out of their interest zone.

[Jairus]

Rick,

How about Vintage NASCAR 1960 to 1965?  Big bodies, big motors and lots of guide lead. Bet we can get one of those DC-65x motors to push the car around the track at six seconds eventually.

[dc-65x]

Yeah, I had to put a pity post up linking to the proxy in order to drive those scale builders to actually take part.

Some of them are soooo narrow minded that they won't build or even look at something out of their interest zone.

 

Hmmmmmmmmmmm................perhaps we're showing our wares to the wrong audience. Do we need some slot car builders to chime in?

[dc-65x]

Rick,

How about Vintage NASCAR 1960 to 1965?  Big bodies, big motors and lots of guide lead. Bet we can get one of those DC-65x motors to push the car around the track at six seconds eventually.

 

Jairus, that sounds fun. The front and especially the rear track would have to be narrow to fit inside those bodies. I don't mind as I personally think that was an awesome era for NASCAR.

 

You can even fit a big DC85 in one those!

[Bruce Wayne]

 

I say, let them pile up! 

As Rocky/Professor Fate always said, "they're all doomed".... 

And if you can get one of the local drivers to nerf Rick's car, I'll send him some good French chocolate... 

Cheers, 

Don 

Hey, line 'em up!

I knew going in what they would be in for and am still willing to give it a go. I trust the big Merc is overbuilt enough to withstand the rigors of racing, and fully trust it's handling too  . As I told fellow racers at BPR all during the build, any dents or dings encountered in the racing would only add to it's story   

I do honestly fear an overly anxious Marshall as much as I do the racers themselves though

 

 

 

 Bruce, this is what we'll be doing with the R&C Proxy. The cars will be driven by the same great driver, on the same lane, on the same day. The best times and driving impressions will be recorded. A tech sheet similar to the originals in the magazine will also be provided.

 

Please consider building a car for that event. It's going to be a hoot! 

 

I would love to Rick, thanks for the invite!

I've built a Sports car to D3 specs , but really been wanting to do an early version F1 too. The work seen on them in the

The Independent Scratchbuilder

 blog so far has been awesome and inspiring! 

Trouble is, about the only thing I have in stock for a build is a Russkit motor bracket and the K&S brass. For sure I'll look into it. Maybe my buddy Jimmy Bling can help out  .

[Jairus]

 

Hmmmmmmmmmmm................perhaps we're showing our wares to the wrong audience. Do we need some slot car builders to chime in?

I am not sure how you can suggest that. These are pure modelers who delight in the details while they create dust collectors.  They're the perfect audience I think. They have no dogs in the fight and can be totally objective.
Yes I am a member over there, but not as well known as I used to be. So I doubt that my name (and I almost left off the builders names) holds any water there.  Besides, I was kicked off once because of my political views.

And... I did NOT post a build thread over there yet so as to not effect the outcome.

But I will later.

 

[dc-65x]

I am not sure how you can suggest that................

 

 

Well...........actually, I thought you were becoming frustrated with them:

 

Yeah, I had to put a pity post up linking to the proxy in order to drive those scale builders to actually take part.

Some of them are soooo narrow minded that they won't build or even look at something out of their interest zone.

 

But I gladly differ to your good judgment and vast modeling experience

 

Onward

[Jairus]

We have a bit over 20 votes so far.  I'll keep reminding and posting links to the cars in various sections of the forum.
Some of those guys don't go further than their favorite sections.
 

 

On another completely unrelated subject. I dug through some of my stored model car kits and found a very nice 1964 Galaxie 500 body and bumpers.

Also have one set of Ulrich steel wheel rims and looking for another set on eBay.
But all searches for a Pittman DC-65X motor have so far come up empty.
Any one out there have one to spare or trade for?
 

[dc-65x]

Hi Jairus,

 

I've got an extra DC-65X (6-volt) motor I can spare.

 

Also, just a thought, you could use resin or model kit wheels as inserts in Russkit set screw wheels instead of the threaded and expensive Ulrich wheels.

 

Rick

[slotbaker]

Rick,

How about Vintage NASCAR 1960 to 1965?  Big bodies, big motors and lots of guide lead. Bet we can get one of those DC-65x motors to push the car around the track at six seconds eventually.

That sounds like fun.

[SlotStox#53]

The hard body NASCARs sound FUN

 

Just found these on epay Jairus, if they would work? Bigger O.D than the I.D of the Riggen repop wheels but only being resin you could probably sand the diameter down easily,

 

 

Just $5 for pair of fronts & pair of rears , resin kit steel wheels, the seller has Halibrand & others available.

 

Resin Steels

 

 

Btw I've seen a few pairs of NOS Ulrich wheels of the Halibrand type & they are often $50-75 , only ever seen one pair of Ulrich steels before and they went for at least $80

 

That Galaxy is going to make a sweet NASCAR

 

 

[dc-65x]

Tom Anderson wheel inserts:

 

http://home.comcast....lsandresin.html

[Bruce Wayne]

We have a bit over 20 votes so far.  I'll keep reminding and posting links to the cars in various sections of the forum

 

 As of right now, depending on how you read and interpret them (some seem not to be able to simply vote once by car or post number as per your instructions)  there is a total of only 14 votes.

 

Sure, exclude the entrants, but I myself would rather be judged objectively by our peers here on Slotblog and the members of Slotforum (remember there is still an active post about this Proxy race on that site  ). 

IMHO these people have a much better understanding of what Concours means when related to a slot car event.

 

I also think since the drivers will get to touch and feel each entry up close, they should get a vote too. In fact, for a truly objective ballot add them all up, the more voters the better.

[Jairus]

Oh..... I suspect you will win anyway Bruce. 
But I will consider putting a like voting poll up here and on FOLM.  Not Slotforum tho. None of the members there finished a car and some even took offense and dropped out. I have hardly been on SF since then.

Rick, I will accept your motor in trade for a paint job. Is that fair?

[James Wendel]

Tom Anderson wheel inserts:

 

http://home.comcast....lsandresin.html

 

Rick - I really like those inserts; what size are they?  (wheel opening)

[dc-65x]

Hi James,

 

Eyeballing the picture I believe they are the same size as the repop Russkit wheel inserts shown. That would make them .500" in diameter. We should email Tom and make sure though.

[dc-65x]

Rick, I will accept your motor in trade for a paint job. Is that fair?

No Jairus, that's too much. I'd need to include some other goodies for a full paint job. PM me and we can work it out.

[Jairus]

All the cars will be at the track 4:00pm today.

We will run the race as soon as we get 4 drivers and enough people to marshal.
The plan is to coax the cars around the track in round-robin style, 4 two minute heats per car in each of the 4 lanes. Total laps determine the winner. Our normal race night is tonight at 6. I am going early in order to clean the track surface so all the rubber tires have equal footing. (Visited last night and after a week of running on it... it's pretty dirty and way too much glue.)

What's a good cleaner by the way?  Windex?

[don.siegel]

Great news Jairus,

 

We always use lighter fluid, or some derivative that comes in large cans (kerosene? gas?), but not sure what that would be in the States - Last time I cleaned my local track in Chicago was 45+ years ago, and I must admit I don't remember what I used...

 

Don

[Bruce Wayne]

That's great news Jairus, hope the drivers have some fun with them  .

 

Probably too late, I just checked in at 7 PM CST/5 PM PST, but popular track cleaners I know of are..

 

Coleman stove "white" gas or straight Naphtha, which is the cheapest as it is sold by the gallon.

 

Zippo or Ronsenal lighter fluid is the same, but much more expensive in the little cans.

 

Clean the track with a rag soaked in fluid, then wipe until dry with clean rags.

 

Note: Use with adequate ventilation and self protection or else...

[Jairus]

What a night.
Not sure I want to carry this race on for another round.
 

The podium.

Rodney took it by two laps over Ricks entry followed by Bruce and then Régis in 4th.

The breakout was pretty much what I expected after testing all the cars. 
What I didn't expect was found out in the first heat.

In the first heat we had Régis, Jairus, Don and Nicolas Cavoleau's car running.
Don's car beat the other three by one lap at 11 total with the rest running almost a dead even 10 laps.  It was almost magical watching all those hand made vintage F1 open wheeled cars magically power sliding through the turns they were that close together.

But.... the magic went poof pretty quick.
Second heat Bob got the Maserati 250f on the red lane and busted it.

The Rogues gallery of drivers......

Left to right: Bob Schafer my nemesis, Paul Painter the builder of this track and heck of a nice guy, Lightning Larry who builds vintage 1/1 racing cars (with his finger up his nose), and Dave Smith who has been in this hobby since... well, forever!

Yes, Bob rolled my car three times on the banked turn.  Didn't matter that I warned him time and time again to BE CAREFUL!!!
So... my car got a DNF... but it took him three wrecks to knock off the wheel. But it can be fixed and no major damage to the body other than my pride.
Ran better than I expected anyway.

 

On to the performance. 
Bruces car was very predictable as were the Rod and Rick entries. (no surprise)
Nicolas Cavoleau's  machine handled way better than I expected. The motor just didn't have the power to overcome that vintage machine Don found on eBay for some reason.
That darned vintage #7 car ran really well!  I really expected it to bomb.... but it drifted with smooth prediction and was blistering down the straight.
Régis' #22 had a great sound as it ran the bank. I could almost hear that open header in-line 4 crackle as it passed.... 

 

Okay.... the damage.

Jaak's #77 lost it's drivers head and the mirror which were saved and will be in place upon return or the next race, whichever comes first.

 

We also had a bit of a problem with the wheel and tire choice Jaak picked.

Seems they had a nasty habit of popping off the rim. Really effected the lap times I think.

 

Of course there were a few times when the cars traded paint......

 

 

No noticeable damage to #7, #22 or #11.
So... do we want to continue to race or is everyone satisfied?
I have another race scheduled for Monday the 27th at a local club track. Smaller venue with no long straight this time. Same drivers... and all cars will be repaired by that time.

But I already have a buyer ready to take the Maserati 250f off my hands provided I can fix it...

So I am happy with the results so far and I await the response of the other 7 entrants.
Let it ride or.... do we quit?

 

Respectfully submitted.