27 replies to this topic

[Jairus]

Yet another "Thingie" from the work shop of Jairus!

This one I call "Rooster Tail" from the regular article that used to be published in the pages of Hot Rod Magazine during the '60s and early '70s featuring Drag hydros!  

...and I love them!
 
Peter Newman contracted me to build something along the lines of a '60s Drag hydro using the Unicar chassis and a vac-formed body.
This is the Unicar slot car as it is from the land of Spaghetti, pasta and the leaning tower of Pisa.

 

They are well designed, quite fast, and very popular. Much like spaghetti... I suppose.
 
The defining feature of the chassis is the pivot midway between the motor and the rear axle.
 
Like Maximo, Peter is quite the artist and very specific about what he wants. He always sends drawings showing most of the features of the final car.  Here is one of the drawings sent.

 
So... I started out by constructing the chassis:
 

 
 
Note the pivot.

 
Front wheels and pin-tubes installed.

Bit of a close up...

I think it's time for paint!

 

[Mark H]

This is going to be cool! I think it's going to need a big supercharger and dual quads between those headers, but looks like he didn't want that.

 

Cool chassis too with that Pisa (sp?) joint.

[Don Weaver]

Jairus,

I have a pair of NOS Champion 13/16w, 5-40 threaded orange tires if you want them.

Don Weaver

[The Bugman]

hmmmm i thot ROOSTER TAILS is what you tied on the end of your 4-6lb test
to fish for kokanee-salmon & trout,,,,,,,lol

[SlotStox#53]

Excellent Thingie in progress! Love it Really neat chassis design/build. Look forward to seeing the paintwork & the

finished Thingie

[Jairus]

Oscar, I cannot believe you don't know what a "Rooster Tail" is?

 

Get it?

[Jairus]

Anyway..... back to the build.

The motor is a 26D ably rewound and built by John Havlicek. 

The tires are glued and trued by me and the guide a Dynamic clip in. (Thank you for the offer Don, but....)
 

 

The tires are made up of three layers of rubber: 1 layer of natural rubber on the inside, 1 SBR orange and one SBR black on the outside to resist the forces of the turns.

That combo has already been tested on the track and it works very well by the way. Next step is to try it in an actual race...

Anyway, this baby is REALLY low!

 

 

 

[Jairus]

Alright, now we have the wiring in place finally.

 

Peter wanted a light in the nose so this little electronic doody (also called an NTE 1904 3-terminal positive voltage regulator) bleeds off just 3 volts anytime the power is applied which lights up the single headlight. That way the light stays a steady glow instead of fading in and out with the pull of the trigger. 

 

[Pablo]

To Die For beautiful and well engineered!!!!!!!     

[Jairus]

Thank you Paul!

Well, enough fooling around. Here are the final pics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Took the car to the track today for some at speed shots.

Wait.... what????

Lets try that again.

Dang, that thing is fast!

Okay, lets try this set up shot since I can't seem to catch the car as it makes it's laps. 

Had my 21 year old daughter Karli doing the driving and she is such a natural and loved driving the car that she wouldn't slow down to allow me to take a decent pic so I had to put something under the car to keep it in place when the power was on. 

But... this girl is REALLY good!  She graduates from college next month and hopefully be joining us on Saturday mornings for race day. 

Anyway, the car is done, very quick with the Havlicek motor and handles perfect, so... onto the next project! 

 

* More pics here.

[SlotStox#53]

Beautiful paintjob that finishes off an amazing Thingie Great job!

[spudboy]

A beauty, and very clever!

[Regis4446]

 beautiful car

[Mark H]

dang you nailed the vintage drag boat look perfect! what mill is that? the plastic one lol. i like the 3x2s.

[Jairus]

The plastic V8 engine, exhaust and intake are out of an old AMT 3-in-1 speed boat kit I had hanging around. I think it's been re-released a time or two, but the original was issued around 1960.

[Michael Rigsby]

Beautiful build, Jairus.  Great craftsmanship and imagination on that one.   I love the frame and motor setup. The body paint is gorgeous.

[Don Weaver]

Your tires are way better than anything I had to offer! Beautiful and unique build.

Don Weaver

[Pablo]

Again the bar is raised        

[98arturo]

Beautiful interpretation of the body ! It really looks like a Rooster Tail !
Beautiful frame and certainly a great engine !
To see your designs is always a pleasure !
Leaving the motor movement as in the original frame is a sophistication!

Really very very beautiful  !          

[MantaRay]

Cool as always.....I did not see what body that is....

[Jairus]

The body is a "Unicar Super Aerodynamica Barchetta" repop.  Not sure who made the copy but it is a direct replacement for the Unicar chassis for which the originals were also vac-formed.

[John Miller]

Nice work.

[Noose]

Excellent job!

[Dennis David]

The term thinge doesn't do it justice. A true work of slot car artistry.

[Maximo]

I applaud this combined effort of Newman and Watson!

This just goes to further demonstrate that "thingies" are the true cutting edge of slot cars. No where else is there such an effort to experiment, invent, innovate, replicate, influence and stylize as there exists in the world of "thingies".

No rules and No limits! To the future and beyond.

Congratulations gentlemen!


-maX