523 replies to this topic

[MantaRay]

Looks like the "Last Minute Men" entry will not be making the first race.
Shipped last Monday 3/25........Finally left Chicago 3/27......
No tracking after that........No one to blame but myself....
Steve, please tighten and adjust as necessary.
Good Luck to all.......
Tx
Ray and John

btw Pablo......postage gotten from internet usps at home and given to postman.

[Gator Bob]

Good Luck (y13) to y'all.

 

Based on time demands a late decision was made to not provide an entry for this round.

 

Go!!     

[garyvmachines]

Congrat's  Sir Kempson  And ALL the proxy racers that made it " I will get you next time "

Hope all the driver's had fun " Good J.O.B. "

 

GAV

[Lowrider]

Thanks, Gary.

Quick results:
P1 - 91.36 laps: Team Lowrider
P2 - 87.39 laps: Washington Slotcar Club
P3 - 87.25 laps: Tony Davey
P4 - 86.82 laps: Mike Zimmerman
P5 - 86.56 laps: Steve King
P6 - 86.53 laps: Team Evil Minnows
P7 - 84.90 laps: Team REM
P8 - 83.61 laps: Pablo Wolcott
P9 - 81.32 laps: Rod Morrison
P10 - 79.37 laps: Graham Walker/Sam Stephen Weldon
P11 - 79.12 laps: Andrew Brown-Searle
P12 - 77.77 laps: Al Bond
P13 - 77.51 laps Jairus Watson/David Ray Siller
P14 - 74.16 laps Jim Struckel
P15 - 70.32 laps: John Dilworth
P16 - 59.85 laps: Ray Fellows

Remarkably, no car suffered major structural damage although there were a few minor hiccups - mostly gear related.

From the driver's perspective, winner of the 'Lightning McQueen award' was Bob Hallums on red lane who made 324.86 laps in 32 minutes of racing 16 cars. Second was Steve Francis with an incredibly close 324.79 on yellow, followed by John Secchi on blue with 323.9 and Chris Musto on white with 320.29. Is that close or what?
1293.84 laps in total.

Photos, etc., will follow when my recovery is in a slightly more advanced stage.

I'd like to thank all the friends, old and new, who contributed to making it a very enjoyable evening. Allan Feldman for manning Mission Control all night, Richard Mack for his aid in car placement and quick repair work while I was recording lap scores, the drivers of course and the marshals, also my partner Kathryn and son Danny who kept us all fueled and caffeinated.

Onwards to Raceway 81 on the 28th!

[MantaRay]

Steve, Thanks for the update..................tracking and complaint to usps still shows no sign of my car

 

What format of cars and drivers did you run? Did all drivers run all cars?

[macman]

Pictures??? Drivers commentary on how cars drove, as in past series???

[Pablo]

I looked at the Facebook site and couldn't find any word on Concours. Edo was going to be the judge, last time I heard.

[Lowrider]

Concours hasn't been judged yet, Pablo. You'll know here when it has.

I was operating on a couple of hours sleep after the race. Since then I've been contacting the racers whose cars have issues and making plans to remedy them. Race photos are going to be unloaded in the next hour.

Manta Ray's, Jaak Beentjes' and Ben Kernan's cars are all in my hands today. Ray's got held by customs but the others came direct. Jaak is based within the EU so customs weren't an issue for him.

To answer Ray's question: all four drivers drove each of the cars for two minute heats each.

Photos as soon as I can.

[MantaRay]

Thanks Steve for the quick reply....................was a 60.00 value too high?

Like the format..............

Looking forward to the photos

Thanks for taking the time to make this a success............

[Lowrider]

I don't know what the problem is, Ray. $60 doesn't seem too high to me. You, and some others, dutifully ticked the 'Gift' box but we're still getting scalped. Another ransom demand from HM Customs was received today for the highest amount yet. I'm thinking that Gary Vogeler might have to start saving up his pennies ...

The first video has just gone up on YouTube and you can watch it HERE.

There will be more to come and the photos are now ready for posting but I'm simply too short of time tonight. I hope you'll appreciate the speed that these things go around our short flat track and the skills that the drivers demonstrate in getting them home in the shortest time they can.

Regards,

[Pablo]

Water under the bridge at this point, but I read the rules today.
To be duty-free, the value must be under approx. $15 US (L9)

Thanks for the video, Steve ! Having seen the track now, I feel pretty good finishing mid-pack !
Amazing how well the cars actually handled on that tight of a track !!

I can hardly wait to see them stretch their legs out .......

[garyvmachines]

Sir Steve

 

I Have Those Pennies , How meany do you need ..... ( Pennies I got Dollar's ????? )  

GAV

[Pablo]

Apparently, the Rick Moore chassis worked very well on that tight track.... <G>

....wish I knew Duffy's secret to have shipped the Evil Minnow so late, so fast and without the customs penalty most of us incurred....must have done his homework <G>

[Lowrider]

Team Lowrider arrived at the club early to set up the sound system and disco lights. Bob Hallums had requested dancing girls for his appearance.





The race cars, plus John Dilworth's entry that made it to the track under its own power.



Al Bond and Andy Brown-Searle:



Mike Zimmerman and Steve King:



Team REM (Brian McPherson and Kevin Cosgrove) and Pablo Wolcott:



Ray Fellows and the Graham Walker/Sam Weldon cars:



Jim Struckel and Rod Morrison:



Team Evil Minnows and Team Lowrider:



Team Washington Slotcar Club and Tony Davey:



Tony Davey and Team Lo Bucks (Jairus and Maximo):



John Dilworth's amazing entry:



When the racing got underway we had Chris Musto on white lane, Bob Hallums on red lane, Steve Francis on yellow and John Secchi on blue. NOT John's favourite ...








This being Britain, everything stops for tea.








Full results to follow.

[Duffy]

Apparently, the Rick Moore chassis worked very well on that tight track.... <G>

....wish I knew Duffy's secret to have shipped the Evil Minnow so late, so fast and without the customs penalty most of us incurred....must have done his homework <G>

 

...Ahhhh, so it's SECRETS you want, is it???.....

 

 

Well, I've been through this shipping thing a gazillion times with Lord Velcro, in our repop-sharing travails, and he'd warned me about the $15 customs cap (I didn't think to call this entry a "gift," because that would carry a presumption of somebody actually wanting to have this monster in their life). So, figuring the most expensive thing in the package was the brand-new motor (all else being arguably "used") and calling all our time "Hobby" & therefore un-billable, I'd say my $15 worth is an honest estimate.

 

& then I bled bucks at the post office: $72 for guaranteed shipping by the date (made sweatier by the Easter holiday) but it did just-okay. Making sure my documents were all in order on this end vis-a-vis customs addresses phone numbers &c.&c.&c., fingers crossed & off - and it was okay.

 

duf

[Mike K]

I enjoyed the YouTube video. Would it be possible to post a photo of the entire track? Looks like an interesting club layout.

[Bill from NH]

...Ahhhh, so it's SECRETS you want, is it???.....

 

A Canadian friend & I used to exchange slot car parts, sometimes complete cars. We always wrote on the customs slip, "Toy car parts for evaluation & return." We never had a provlem with customs delaying a shipment or digging into a package to see what was in it.

[Pablo]

Thanks for the pics n whatnot, Steve !

 

Thanks for the postal info, Duffmaster and Bill

[Lowrider]

Track photos will be posted when I locate them, Mike.

The full detailed results from Round 1:

P1: 23.66(bl), 22.60(y), 23.07®, 22.03(w) = 91.36 laps - Steve Kempson
P2: 22.51(bl), 22.06(y), 22.12®, 20.70(w) = 87.39 laps - Washington SC (Steve Ploskunak)
P3: 21.66(bl), 21.19(y), 22.24®, 22.16(w) = 87.25 laps - Tony Davey
P4: 23.65(bl), 21.62(y), 21.07®, 20.48(w) = 86.82 laps - Mike Zimmerman
P5: 22.84(bl), 22.20(y), 19.84®, 21.68(w) = 86.56 laps - Steve King
P6: 22.68(bl), 19.84(y), 22.85®, 21.16(w) = 86.53 laps - Team Evil Minnows
P7: 20.11(bl), 21.05(y), 22.58®, 21.16(w) = 84.90 laps - Team REM
P8: 21.60(bl), 19.84(y), 21.42®, 20.75(w) = 83.61 laps - Pablo Wolcott
P9: 18.58(bl), 20.84(y), 20.70®, 21.20(w) = 81.32 laps - Rod Morrison
P10:22.39(bl), 20.60(y), 22.21®, 14.17(w) = 79.37 laps - Weldon Walker
P11:18.56(bl), 19.07(y), 19.84®, 21.65(w) = 79.12 laps - Andy Brown-Searle
P12:19.86(bl), 18.31(y), 20.19®, 19.41(w) = 77.77 laps - Al Bond
P13:17.85(bl), 19.05 (y), 20.10®, 20.51(w) = 77.51 laps - Team Lo Bucks
P14:17.98(bl), 18.85 (y), 19.22®, 18.11(w) = 74.16 laps - Jim Struckel
P15:12.02(bl), 19.08 (y), 19.83®, 19.39(w) = 70.32 laps - John Dilworth
P16:17.95(bl), 18.59 (y), 07.58®, 15.73(w) = 59.85 laps - Ray Fellows

As a sidebar, the drivers were John Secchi (blue), Steve Francis (yellow), Bob Hallums (red) and Chris Musto (white).
Their respective lap totals were as follows:

1st: Bob Hallums - 324.86 laps
2nd: Steve Francis - 324.79 laps
3rd: John Secchi - 323.90 laps
4th Chris Musto - 320.29 laps

How close was that! A total of 1293.84 racing laps were turned in the round.
Podium shots:























Since the race we've had three new arrivals. Jaak Beentjes car which was unfortunately damaged in the post.




The entry of Manta Ray and John Austin. This one definitely looks like a contender.




And Ben Kernan's Choti car.




Thanks for your interest. I have a few repairs to perform now.
Regards,

[Lowrider]

Apologies are due for my failing to mention that Team Washington Slotcar Club consists of Dennis Krivacek and Ron Culp as well as Steve Ploskunak. Steve was my first contact with the WSC and his name stuck in my mind although I was aware that there were other people in the team with him.

More YouTube footage, of the Ray Fellows, Team REM, Team Evil Minnows and Weldon/Walker cars this time, HERE.

Regards,

[garyvmachines]

Hi Steve

 

 Did you get more late comer's ???

Is my car under the bench , rolling around some wear ?????

GAV

[Lowrider]

There's a package at the Parcelforce depot that had the Customs charge paid last Monday, Gary. They normally deliver the next day but ... didn't. I went back to their website yesterday and the Customs charge link is now dead, as you would expect once it's been paid. The package tracking number however shows the item as 'Held'. My guess is that one department hasn't got the message through to the other side.

I emailed them to (politely) ask them to get their act together but, so far, no response. If nothing happens by next week I'll drive over there and demonstrate my unhappiness in person. Yours is the only car still outstanding that I'm aware of.

I've started repairing the cars that ended the first round with problems. Ray Fellows' car is first up. Photos will be posted as the work is completed.

Regards,

[Lowrider]

Work has been going on, repairing some of the defects that arose during Round 1 a couple of weeks ago and also fixing a Jaak's car that arrived with severe postal damage. There is more work still to be done before Round 2 and that will also be documented.
First up was Ray Fellows' entry that suffered from a seized axle and gear problems during the first race.



New rear braces were added, ball bearings were fitted along with replacement gears and a new axle. The geometry at the front of the chassis was checked and tweaked and some lead added to try to resolve the car's desire to go straight on in corners.











Next up was Rod Morrison's Highland Hot Rod. Rod had employed a motor bracket that wasn't designed for FK motors and things didn't go too well in consequence.
His bracket had holes drilled in the right location and a new motor was fitted. Note the loose winding visible in his old motor in the first picture.







Then we had Jaak's car ...
It arrived damaged in the post with the body ripped completely off the chassis, not totally the postman's fault it has to be said, and about 50% overweight at around 183g. Jaak is a nice young guy and still on the steep part of the scratchbuilding learning curve - although it appears he is one of very few people on mainland Europe capable of soldering together a scratchbuilt car at all. Jaak was happy for me to shoot some holes in his chassis to lose some weight (about 10g in the end) and to generally tidy up a few things.
The car as received:



After a little marksmanship practice:













The body re-pinned and with some protection added inside. There is body armour beneath the reinforced tape.









In other news, Gary Vogeler's great looking car has finally been extracted from the sticky fingers of Officialdom - at large expense. Check out Gary's chassis!







This is the last car that I'm expecting for the series unless someone springs a surprise entry on me. There are a few people capable of that but time and health concerns have prevented them up until this point. The series has a long way still to go and entrants will be welcome at any point along the path.

Regards,

[One_Track_Mind]

What is the total entry count then at this point? Thank you, for all your hard work and dedication to the Lucky 13 series!

[MantaRay]

Steve, Nice work on the repairs........
AND......the series....
Thank you