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Horsepower for Vintage racing?


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#26 Prof. Fate

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Posted 21 September 2007 - 11:17 AM

Hi,

The REH "American Line" chassis 1006 and 1006B are actually period Gp 15 chassis from the early and mid '70s, a contemporary of the Limpach 888 you show above. Originally a Parma product. Last I looked, they were $12.95.

I have a couple period survivors I built up from "the dark ages" which were essentially the Parma re-soldered, as the few tracks at the time were fairly restrictive. Mine mostly ran in Denver.

The period "Gp 15" motor was a Mura C-can that eventually became the "Wasp" or "Contender"(depending on stack length). This is a quality 65t/30 arm.

Because of the period rules, they are set up for 3/4 fronts and .875 rears. have found mine to be supremely easy to keep running. At that period, virtually all the regular "consumables" (bushings, braid, and such) are identical to today.

For non-builders, the surviving 888s and Parma 15s are excellent frames for can play.

Fate
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#27 tonyp

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Posted 21 September 2007 - 11:25 AM

I believe REH still has a ton of these 1/16" x 1" drop arms from the 1968-69 era still in stock.

Posted Image

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#28 Bill from NH

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Posted 21 September 2007 - 01:28 PM

They have the same style, whoseever they were, in 1-1/4" width, too. :)
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#29 Tex

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Posted 21 September 2007 - 01:37 PM

Cobra, I think(?).
Richard L. Hofer

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#30 tonyp

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Posted 21 September 2007 - 01:44 PM

You're right, I had some of the wide ones. The 1" have no name on them... I cut them up and use them for nose pieces on my cars. The bent-up part is way too high for today's guides.

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#31 TSR

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Posted 21 September 2007 - 01:47 PM

Are you guys challenged by the simple act of soldering a guide tongue ("tounge" to illitterates) over a rectangular piece of brass? That's what we do in D3... why bother to complicate matters?

This kind of a chassis shown below, devised by Mike Steube over a year ago is so basic and simple, yet works great and requires very minimal skills to cut and assemble:

Posted Image

Philippe de Lespinay


#32 Bill from NH

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Posted 21 September 2007 - 01:48 PM

Cobra, I think(?).

The Cobra solid arms used to be stamped with their name. These ones are just scratched. :D
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#33 dc-65x

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Posted 21 September 2007 - 02:03 PM

Here's the REH 1-1/4" arm. It's the one on the left:

Posted Image

It's more for an earlier car with a Cox guide. That would be another vintage class... say '69ish. The more the merrier. :D .

But I'm talking about a 1971-2 C-can class using the Parma style arm:

Posted Image

Cars like Tony P's $10 chassis car:

Posted Image
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#34 Fred_J

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Posted 21 September 2007 - 02:46 PM

Rick,

What's the width of that Parma drop arm? And does it have a REH part number? The last time I ordered some parts from REH, I didn't see any drop arms listed that looked so wide.
Fred Jespersen

#35 dc-65x

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Posted 21 September 2007 - 03:00 PM

Fred,

The Parma arm is 1-1/4" wide. They are only available from REH as part of a complete chassis and I believe the only version they have left has a rectangular hole in it.

The separate drop arms they have left are pictured above with the part number for the .040" thick version. I think they have a thicker one also.

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#36 Bill from NH

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Posted 21 September 2007 - 07:15 PM

Over the years, a number of different people have said they were going to reproduce the Parma-type droparms but none of them ever has come through. It's also sad that Parma doesn't have any idea what happened to their tooling for making brass chassis parts. :( :(
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#37 Jon Laster

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Posted 21 September 2007 - 10:09 PM

Back to horsepower. The problem with a limited, just us guys who want to do it, class, is that if it's faster it devalues the other classes. Everyone gets dissatisfied with their Falcon XXX and the rest is downhill. Although one could make a rule set for an ideal Open Vintage class, finding a series it wouldn't hurt is another story. More opinions from a non-participant...
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#38 Tex

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Posted 22 September 2007 - 07:47 AM

I don't know 'bout that, Jon.

Since I became aware of D3, there have always been some rumblings for power, MORE power, POWER!!! But those rumblings have been from a minority of the guys; most of the D3 guys seem happy enough with the way things are.

I can understand guys wanting to reproduce what WAS group 7 cars. They should proceed and form such a class. But I don't think that the formation of such a class will dillute the D3 driver pool that much. I think the D3 class(es) holds enough interest for geezers like me to not become devalued/discounted just because faster, more powerful cars exist. Faster, more powerful cars exist today already yet D3 has taken root and grown.

The D3 class(es) may not ever dominate the commercial slot racing scene but for the moment, I don't think we care; we are happy enough.
Richard L. Hofer

Remember, two wrongs don't make a right... but three lefts do! Only you're a block over and a block behind.

#39 Tex

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Posted 22 September 2007 - 07:50 AM

Greg, you shoulda been a school teacher! LOL! :D
Richard L. Hofer

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#40 Cheater

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Posted 22 September 2007 - 07:58 AM

My observation is that the faster the slot car, the more people there are who are uncomfortable, perhaps even afraid, of them from the standpoint of participation.

I would suggest that many of us who have been involved in the hobby for some time (or from the earliest days) now believe that worshipping unlimited power or speed as the Holy Grail was a dead-end for slot racing.

There's nothing intrinsically bad or wrong about unlimited slot car racing, but ironically it has shown itself to have limited appeal.

However, if enough guys find the concept viable, go for it!

Gregory Wells

Never forget that first place goes to the racer with the MOST laps, not the racer with the FASTEST lap


#41 Cheater

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Posted 22 September 2007 - 08:08 AM

Greg, you shoulda been a school teacher! LOL! :D

Tex, I assume this is response to my asking someone to tell the REHco story, and the one I wanted you to hear hasn't been posted. I've met Bob Haines but never seen his operation, so I was hoping someone who had would chime in.

As I heard it, when the hobby started crashing, Bob Haines began buying up inventories from distributors and manufacturers for pennies on the dollar and stashing them in trailers on his property. Supposedly, he has/had so much stuff that he had no idea what was there.

Over the years, many folks have spent time digging through Bob's "stash", and finding some really neat stuff, much of which has either ended up in collections/museums and on eBay. PdL has indicated the best stuff was taken years ago, but there still seem to be some goodies based on what certain sellers keep putting on eBay.

None of the above is based on first-hand info, so corrections would be welcome.

And me, a schoolteacher?!?!? Not a chance; I can't stand my own kids a large part of the time...

Gregory Wells

Never forget that first place goes to the racer with the MOST laps, not the racer with the FASTEST lap


#42 Tex

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Posted 22 September 2007 - 08:13 AM

Tex, I assume this is response to my asking someone to tell the REHco story,

No, actually. I say that because you edit all the posts to make them more readable, breaking up my "free-form flow of consciousness" style of one large paragraph into individual logical units. Ain't gonna be no untidy split-ends around the Gregster! :lol:
Richard L. Hofer

Remember, two wrongs don't make a right... but three lefts do! Only you're a block over and a block behind.

#43 Cheater

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Posted 22 September 2007 - 08:29 AM

Tex,

It's all about lowering barriers. There's lots of research that indicates making prose text more readable via paragraphs means more people read what you have to say.

My view is that Slotblog is a magazine with over 600 contributors, and correct spelling and grammar is important, along with consistency of style. It's the fourth mag I've done and the first that wasn't a printed book...

I appreciate the fact that virtually all the Slotbloggers allow me to edit their posts, and I hope no one thinks this is done because of ego or delusions of power. The sole purpose is to make Slotblog, its members, and the slot car hobby look better to the outside world.

Gregory Wells

Never forget that first place goes to the racer with the MOST laps, not the racer with the FASTEST lap


#44 TSR

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Posted 22 September 2007 - 10:47 AM

I would like to remind some here, that the current lap speed on a King track by the D3 Can-Am cars with their 10-dollar "rear-view mirror" motors is equivalent to that of world-record time in GP-7 in 1969-1970 attained with single-24 C-can motors.

Most D3 racers think that this is plenty fast enough, hence D3 has frozen the spec. D3 does NOT want the cars to go ANY faster.

Why?

Ask yourselves.

Philippe de Lespinay


#45 Prof. Fate

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Posted 22 September 2007 - 11:00 AM

Hi,

Errr, come on, P. That track is so so much faster than the Kings were in the period, that the idea that the "world record" of the time is a valid comparison is just off.

I kept cars, I remember their times from then, surface and design, the BP track is a good 40% faster than it was then.

Actually, every time this comes up, I am reminded of about a year ago, when Steube was looking at my surviviors. I handed him that Cooper/Maser "wide F1" that I have from then. He put it on the track punched and lifted immediately.

"Wow, I forgot how much power we used to run back then... this is fun".

And promptly started turning two tenths under my best time. He is the Froggmeister!

I have never stopped playing with my period bits. Horepower is fun to play with.

If my goal was to participate in a program based on popularity and participation:

I would take up GOLF!

Fate
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#46 TSR

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Posted 22 September 2007 - 11:06 AM

That track is so so much faster than the Kings were in the period, that the idea that the "world record" of the time is a valid comparison is just off.

Rocky,
You are missing the whole point. The track is still 155', the cars are fast ENOUGH if their lap times matches those of open-class cars of the time. In 1969-1970, those were the fastest slot cars on Earth.
Remember the "retro" concept?
You want to go faster? Fine and dandy. Go race something else. Most D3 racers are happy with "their" speed.

By the way, may I remind you of your two finishes in the two D3 races you entered so far? :D

Philippe de Lespinay


#47 dc-65x

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Posted 22 September 2007 - 11:34 AM

Please take note. I have nothing against D3 and God bless everyone who enjoys it. But, for me, even if a D3 is faster around a Blue King because it's punched most of the time, I bet my Eddie 20 1972 Neat Things Pro car replica will thunder past it down the straight with my heart pounding and my palms sweating as I punch the bank. Now that's entertainment… at least for me. I'm just a builder-duffer, not a real racer. I like building the chassis AND motor and doing it as period as I can. I know I’m virtually alone on this. :blink:

Again, long live D3 and everyone who enjoys it. I'm glad there is a good time for all with lots of comroddary. :)

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#48 Jairus

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Posted 22 September 2007 - 11:45 AM

I got your back, Rick! :good:

Dokk, I DO want my D3 car to go a little faster... just a little faster than YOUR D3 car! :D

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#49 TSR

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Posted 22 September 2007 - 11:51 AM

Jairus,
That's the trick, eh! :D

Philippe de Lespinay


#50 Larry LS

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Posted 22 September 2007 - 12:42 PM

Hey, drag cars are great on the straights also. But stink in the corners; you got to be be to handle that horsepower, Rick. Getting it on coming out of corner, can you control that wheel spin of those monster motors? :D I know I can't anymore. :blush:

So why should I bother anymore with that? :crazy:

Falcon 7s are just about enough now. For me! :to_become_senile:

Besides, you need some real Stick-It brown glue and a spugder to control those kind of motors nowadays. Spray glue does not do enough for them. :D

Just fussin with you, Rick! :drinks:
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