57 replies to this topic

[dc-65x]

Good grief Steve.     Talk about capturing the look of the period.    It seems like you've traveled back to the 1960's with Mr. Peabody and Sherman in their "WABAC machine"!

 

All I can say is WOW!

[Steve Okeefe]

Thanks guys.

 

There is an unmistakable aesthetic beauty to it, partly by original design but also relying on meticulous construction; the parts must be properly proportioned and also fit just so.  It can be quite frustrating to have to cut and shape certain parts (especially the more complicated ones) several times to get them to fit and "look" right.

 

Such are the requirements for building good replica; it has to "look" right in addition to fitting and functioning correctly.  Each original builder had their own "way" of doing things, which is to say design and construction.  Over the years I've been doing this I've replicated parts of various chassis without having a clue why they were sized or shaped the way they were, or how they were intended to contribute to the performance of the car as a whole.

 

Anyway, this one is nearly done, and then I'm going to take a break and build some stuff (not a replica of anything) for no other reason than it's just fun to do. 

[Jairus]

So... what's the fun project? Hints?
Pick an era and I bet Rick and I and someone else just might play along..... 

[dc-65x]

Jairus, I'm THIS close to "pulling the trigger" on a little bit different Pro car build. Just deciding on the motor I feel like building, A-can, B-can or first gen Green-can. Circa 6/69 to 5/70.

 

You and Steve have inspired me to build a Pro anglewinder before I forget how

[Steve Okeefe]

Jairus,

 

I was thinking about a series of 1966 R&C cars.

[Jairus]

Cool!
I'd love to build another Morressey McLaren!
If that's alright with you sir...

[Steve Okeefe]

Finishing up the build:

 

Tinned the drop arm hinge pin to prevent rust.  Filed two small holes in the drop arm hinge tube, inserted the drop arm in the center section and the hinge pin in the hinge tubes.  Soldered through the holes to retain the pin.

 

Added an .032" spring down the middle of the drop arm and a pair of wire loops to the tops of the drop arm hinge tubes.

 

Added an .063" pan hanger bar with .032" piano wire shackles, tied the plumber rails together with .032 piano wire and added .015" side pan springs.  Filed the tops of the front body mount tubes flat.

 

Added an .063" motor brace to the rear axle tube, along with an .032" body support to keep the body from rubbing on the tires and spur gear.

 

Did a final sanding to smooth out acid flux stains, fingerprints and trace scratches, and a final thorough old-school scrub with Comet and a toothbrush followed by a final rinse in clean water.

 

Blasted the excess water off with compressed air, and baked the chassis for about 25 minutes in a 250 degree toaster oven to drive out any remaining water from the hinges.

 

Oiled the hinges while the chassis was still hot from the toaster oven.

 

Whew!  Done:

 

 

[Pablo]

Awesome, of course !

[Steve Okeefe]

Jairus,

 

You wrote:  "Pick an era and I bet Rick and I and someone else just might play along..."

 

I was thinking more than just playing along, maybe we could make it a cooperative effort.

[Steve Okeefe]

Pablo,

 

Thanks!    

[Jairus]

Deal!

Beautiful Emott chassis!  I doff my hat to the master   

[slotbaker]

Beautiful chassis...

[SlotStox#53]

Perfection in brass superb chassis Steve, top notch

[Steve Okeefe]

Steve and Paul,

 

Thank you! 

[Bob Emott]

Beautiful....   If only my piles were so pretty...   Sure wish I had a tumbler "back in the day".   Did they make them then?

[Steve Okeefe]

Hi Bob,

 

Probably, but they would have surely been much more primitive then, and likey not available as a home appliance.

 

By the way, just to keep the record straight, the chassis in the photos has not been through a tumbler; just fine sanded and scrubbed with Comet and a toothbrush.  I'm not yet convinced tumbling a freshly constructed vintage replica is appropriate, because that's not what would have happened in 1969.

[Jairus]

I totally agree!
Actually, I am of the mind that to build a "korrect" replica, one should add a bit of age to the bits in order to create the correct look.
But that seems to be just me.

[dc-65x]

Actually I had the smaller version of the Thumler's tumbler we're using now back in the 70's. I used it for polishing cartridge cases before reloading. They were also used for polishing rocks.

 

I sure wasn't a Pro back in the day but I did polish my finished chassis to "shiny goodness" with Brasso metal polish

[Pablo]

Only a fool would judge this stuff on shine quality alone.

It looks shiny enough to me.

[SlotStox#53]

Looks perfect to me great original design (awesome design Bob!!!) Superb recreation giving inspiration to aspiring anglewinder chassis builders .

Keeping the pro cars & scratch building alive for the future

[Hworth08]

Pretty frame! Top notch.

 

Maybe the most realistic look might be to wipe the frame off with an oily paper towel and finish up the car. Seems like I always finished a frame the morning before a race and did some more "fitting" after we got to the track.

 

Frames didn't usually over a month or two. The only really clean chassis I had were slow ones I was trying to sell or trade.

[Steve Okeefe]

Rick,

 

You wrote: "I sure wasn't a Pro back in the day but I did polish my finished chassis to "shiny goodness" with Brasso metal polish"

 

Neither was I (a pro) back in the day, or ever actually, and I do surely appreciate shiny goodness! 

 

However, that's sort of my point; the pros did not have the time, or the inclination, to polish their chassis.  In fact, they pretty much did the opposite; Bob would sand a diagonal or crosshatch pattern on the bottom of his chassis to make them more recognisable from a distance (as in across the track from the driver's panels).

 

In the photo; you can clearly see the sanded pattern in the center and right chassis, both built by Bob:

 

 

I thought of sanding this chassis the same way, but simply chickened-out... 

[Bill from NH]

 The only really clean chassis I had were slow ones I was trying to sell or trade.

 

Don, my weekly race car in the early 70s had a Phaze III chassis. I used to clean it every week using a scouring powder & a SS steel braid brush. One weekend at a special endurance race, I tied for concours with another racer. His paint was as nice as mine, but when they turned both cars over, my chassis was clean, his was badly tarnished. My effort that day had earned me the 1st Place Concours trophy.

[Hworth08]

Hi Bill,

 

Our track was about 10 miles from Fairgrounds Speedway in Nashville and we were much influenced by the way the cars there looked. If a '62 Impala body had been available that might have been the only one we used and all numbered 711 copying Coo Coo Marlin's very popular Late Model.

 

Their cars started the season looking nice but they couldn't afford to replace the bent sheet metal so they got awful junky looking but the crowd liked that raced look.

 

Sports cars weren't popular at our track and only had four or five racers on Tuesday nights mainly because of the high cost motors they used. They did gain popularity with the advent of the anglewinder that made them much better handling. We didn't keep those shiny either, just didn't see the point.

 

I'd pull the axles and guide each week looking for bent pieces and broken joints. Wash the frame with a tooth brush and dish soak and clean the tire dust and oil from the body with lighter fluid on a paper towel but I don't remember ever polishing a frame.

[Bill from NH]

Don, I first saw Coo Coo Martin with a NASCAR Ford (red #4 ?) at an Oxford Plains Speedway, Oxford, Maine, race in 1968. Those were the days NASCAR ran dozens of smaller tracks & Oxford was a 1/3 mile oval. "Gumball" tires were usually used by everyone in qualifying, only to be outlawed a couple years later. De-stroked big blocks in lightened cars were run at many short tracks. Chrysler had a 404 Hemi, Ford ran a 396.   Bobby Allison with his Chevelle & one beat-up '66 Impala represented GM.