523 replies to this topic

[Lowrider]

The current list, as far as I'm aware:

Al Bond
Barney Poyner
Bob Suzuki
Brian McPherson
Darryl Vance
David 'Maximo' Siller & Jairus Watson
Jaak Beentjes
Jim Struckel
John Austin
Kevin Cosgrove
Mark Patterson
Mike Zimmerman
Pablo Wolcott
Ray Fellows
Ray Price
Rod Morrison
Sam Weldon & Graham Walker
Steve King
Steve Ploskunak
Team Evil Minnows (Duffy, Marty Stanley and Rick Moore)
Team Lowriders (Steve Kempson and Kathryn Bartlett)

Reserves:

Dennis 'Foamy' Hill
Gary Vogeler
Andy Brown-Searle
Tony 'Bigtone'
Tony P.
Ben Kernan

I like the idea of people teaming up very much indeed. Any more?

Pablo: I have an Evil 9 motor in front of me that measures .600" for most of the can and stretches to .607" where it expands for the 'endbell'. Adding .125" to that (for .062" clearance under the motor) comes to .732" with my stubby pencil. Tires of .820" should allow you some wiggle room in your build.
I admit that I hadn't actually measured it when I came up with this spec. I was relying on my memory of building my early Retro cars with a forward inclined motor going into a 'straight' bracket to get the correct clearance. The JK brackets that I used to employ had a lip that extended below the motor which always needed removing with a Dremel for optimum adjustment room. Perhaps your bracket has the same?

The Chief: I'll be happy to road test your car at North London and discuss the results with you when it's built. Same goes for Jaak and anyone else without a track near at hand.

Thanks to everyone for their interest and enthusiasm. Much more than I'd hoped for.
Regards,

[Duffy]

Team Evil Minnows (Duffy, Marty Stanley and Rick Moore)
Evil chassis geniuses at work--everybody run!

Huh. Listen, Honey, I'm no stranger to flattery. Don't try to drink me into bed, y'know? I can be had, but I'm no pushover. A girl's got standards.

Man, you guys have very distinct building styles (Although Duffy's last beauty reminded me of Rick's work). I'll be fascinated to see what "United Bad Bait" come up with!

Two things: while all the rods & angles look similar, we have very different origins: Wrick has actually put some thought and a good deal of experimentation & experience into his Weird Wire Wonders, while I am simply errified of putting a solder joint in some weak spot & so I just try to bend around them all. See? Totally different.

And I've been specifically assigned the body-painting part of the job; they figured that would be safest. Putting me on a design team with two other chassis builders is like handing Keith Moon a hammer & a blowtorch and sending him into a Modern Jazz Quartet recording session.

Duffy

[Lowrider]

With the condensing of the series entry list as people have teamed up with friends, I have elected to expand the maximum number of cars enough to admit the reserve list into the circus. I hope nobody will have a problem with this, although I do specifically apologize here to Pablo whom I know has a strong dislike of the goalposts being moved once the game is underway.
There are some great people listed here now and I'm confident we'll all have a good time with the series.

Al Bond
Andy Brown-Searle
Barney Poyner
Ben Kernan
Bob Suzuki
Darryl Vance
Dennis 'Foamy' Hill
Gary Vogeler
Jaak Beentjes
Jim Struckel
John Austin
Mark Patterson
Mike Zimmerman
Pablo Wolcott
Ray Fellows
Ray Price
Rod Morrison
Steve King
Steve Ploskunak
Team Evil Bucks
Team Evil Minnows
Team Lowriders
Team Maximo-Watson
Team REM
Team Weldon-Walker
Tony 'Bigtone' Davey

Makes 26 by my reckoning.
Team Evil Bucks consists of Tony P. and Gator Bob.

A date has also been set for the Raceway 81 round, Sunday 28th April, '13. You can see the official announcement here.
I hope to find a convenient time for the North London round soon. It'll also be in April if it can be managed.

Regards,

[Captain]

Is there somewhere I can find a list of bodies with pics and info on where they are available from? I know that Tru Scale has them, and I can get some from Brian at REM Raceway, but I wanted to see what other options are out there.... THANKS

[Pablo]

I'm all for including more people.

Steve, I mocked up a motor and bracket last night, a JK hypoid with .820 wheels makes the motor clear about .062, but the bracket hangs down too low. So with an application of Mr. Belt Sander to the bottom of the bracket, it will work.
Hypoid bracket is legal, yes ?

[Jaak]

Steve,

Try Ray Fellows aka One27Ray or Mike Zimmerman aka 32deuce.
Ray has more versions of Thingie bodies then anybody else.

[Lowrider]

Hypoid brackets are not banned. If you can make .062" rear clearance, Pablo, go for it.

Mark Patterson has unfortunately withdrawn his entry so we're down to 25 now. Still great.

Regards,

[Gator Bob]

 Too quiet over here.

 

 

  After the Balls Out race you guys had me thinking the the words Retro and Thingie could not be used in the same sentence.

 

This is going to be big fun !

[Pablo]

I'm at work, what can I do ?

[Pablo]

Hey Bob, think you can meet the deadline this time ? 

[Lowrider]

Update time.
A Wednesday club night in early April '13 at North London has been requested by me for the first round of the Lucky 13 series. The calendar is currently being drawn up so I'm hoping it's either be the 10th or the 17th April, whichever one falls within our fortnightly schedule.

Jairus Watson has kindly granted my request to hold a round of the series at ASA Hobbies in Albany, OR.
Thanks again, J.

There's the possibility that John 'Howmet' Dilworth may build a car for us as a wild card entry, personal commitments permitting. John is a close friend and has been a stalwart of Thingie proxy racing since Day 1. His Dyna-Rigg was a race winner in the Dynamic Challenge on Speedzone's Jersey Devil. My fingers are crossed that John can be with us.

I'm loving Pablo's chassis build so far.

Flame ON!

[garyvmachines]

Hi Steve

 

 Nice real flame's ..... I like your Burning Ember's

Is this a Peek of the Kempson Paint ????

 

 GAV

[macman]

Angled pinions ok?

[Jairus]

I hope so... I'm using them and so is the Pablo team. 

[Lowrider]

Yes, Ben. 21st century Thingies.

[Gator Bob]

Hey Bob, think you can meet the deadline this time ? 

 

I don't think so, I'm too busy thinking about the podium.

 

That's a great build ya got goin on, thanks for all the tips and tricks.   

 

I'm learning alot and since I got that Stock Car chassis from you I know you Are a "Builder"

[Pablo]

I really like Steve-O's rules, that's why I showed my hand early in the game.

[macman]

Since there seems to be a track owner or someone involved in this series who can't solder a motor in, can we use super glue instead??? I gave up on motor screws in 1987, because they are way too unreliable & responsible for lots of stripped gears!!! If you can't solder then what are you doing in this type of racing; go back to Womps.

Just my opinion, & just like navels, every one has one. BTW My car is mostly built & has been track tested twice. Adding some rear up-stops now to limit excessive pan movement.

[Pablo]

Ben, Ben, Ben,

Lowrider made the rules with a lot of forethought.  This style motor works perfectly with screws only. Easy to swap motors when 2 screws are used.  No, they don't strip gears.  Maybe you stripped gears in 1987 but this ain't 1987. Nobody is having problems screwing in these type motors.  Also, you do not want to be introducing lots of heat to this type motor. 

 

I screw in my FK type motors in IRRA racing and never, ever have problems, and, YES I CAN SOLDER.  ALSO I like WOMPS.

 

I don't see any rule that prohibits using glue on your motor, but if she goes sour and the proxy guys wish to replace it for you, and it's been super glued, well, there may be a problem for you.  Super glue away !!      

[macman]

Problem is my bracket only takes one screw... at the bottom.

[Jairus]

You had better drill two new holes Ben and use the standard machine thread screws or go home. It's a solid rule... so states the rule maker.

[Pablo]

Ben, I understand your problem now. Sounds like you have a bracket not designed for FK motors.

I have 3 possible suggestions for you:

 

1. Change it to a modern bracket like a non-hypoid JK retro. They make them in 1" and .750" widths.

2. Use a modern retro bracket (like the above) and use the 2 holes as a pilot for marking, then drilling, 2 new holes in the existing bracket.

3. Send me the car, I'll fix it, no charge.

 

You have several months, plenty of time......

[macman]

Pablo, since the car is already built, option 3 sounds good. This is an REH bracket... 

[macman]

Steve: Raceway 81 looks like a Kingleman to me, & at 141', is of commercial length... Looks fast too. Hopefully the rest of the tracks will be smaller. Any idea when we will see the others??? An 8 tooth pinion will be fine on that track, but what about smaller venues, like the Kingie's track?