79 replies to this topic

[dc-65x]

This is my second car built for the Total Performance theme.



Below is a link explaining this theme:

Total Performance Era

It’s another Cobra roadster but this time it’s a famous 427 Drag Cobra, the Baldwin-Motion King Cobra:

 

I’ve been saving this model kit of the real car:

 

Here’s the motor I’ll be using in this beast, a RAM 850 12V:



Hmmmmmmmmmm……12 volt………hmmmmm……….that will never do!

 

How about this, a 3 volt replacement arm instead:

 

 

 

Check out the difference in the wire size between the 12V on the left and the 3V on the right. Rodney called the 3V, "ten turns of coat hanger wire!" 

 

 

Next up is the motor build..........

[Mark Johnson]

Replace the mag with a chunk of neo level 52 and hang on!!!!

[Mark Johnson]

Are you going to sculpt the lams and lighten the side plates ?

[SlotStox#53]

Very nice car to do for the total performance series! That RAM is a beast, even more so with that 3 volt arm

What size shaft has that hot arm got Rick?
The 3 volt arms I've messed with that were made by RAM for Kemtron were 3/32 ..

[dc-65x]

Are you going to sculpt the lams and lighten the side plates ?

 

The side plate are going to need to be strong so no lightening. All will be revealed soon........

 

What size shaft has that hot arm got Rick?

 

It's 1/8" Paul.

[SlotStox#53]

Thanks Rick, good to know They certainly did a lot of different spec arms for their own motor line & others. it's hard to get to grips with em all !

Seems their own 3 volt got the larger shaft than the Kemtron range, unless they also did a RAM 3 volt for the Mustang..

[dc-65x]

First thing was to make sure the armature shaft was straight. Then I checked the static balance. The same pole kept swinging to the bottom so it got the drill balance treatment:

 

 

Next up are these beauties. I'm using the heaviest of the 3 different springs:

 

 

Then a pair of ball bearings with the shields and grease removed. I had to drill and ream the motor end plates to .2495" as the stock bushings are just 7/32".

 

Removal of the stock bushings and installation of the ball bearings was a snap with the vintage Dynamic bearing tool:

 

 

I also drilled and tapped two 2-56 holes in each end plate because they are going to mount the motor to the chassis. This motor is going in an inline chassis.

 

When I reassembled the motor I discovered the factory had other motor mounting ideas. The motor's front and rear end plate surfaces were not parallel. So the chassis would not be square.......crud.

 

The motor came apart again and the end plates back surfaces were lapped flat and the front surfaces were machined flat:

 

 

Now the motor is good to go:

 

 

 

 

The motor sounds pretty good on the power supply. We'll see soon how it runs........

[SlotStox#53]

Very nice bit of motor tuning, the drill balanced arm looks sweet.. looks like you tied & epoxied it too.

Should be a screamer

[don.siegel]

Another great project Rick. That photo showing the two arm wire sizes is downright poetic! 

 

(Paul, a Ram 3V arm for a Kemtron? show and tell please!)

 

Rick, having just experienced an overpowered motor in a short coupled chassis for the padlock proxy drag, I suggest you plan for lots of weight up front on that Cobra! Of course, as an inline maybe it won't jump out too easily, but still, sounds like it's going to be a torque monster.... 

 

Don 

[SlotStox#53]

will dig out a picture Don, but if you can dig through the Drag Proxy thread the RAM/Kemtron 3 volt arm is in the Inch Pincher Bug

Just needed a stronger magnet, lighter spring and 3:1 gears to of been quicker.

Would probably think this car "maybe" ok as its inline, but could prove interesting off the line

[dc-65x]

...... looks like you tied & epoxied it too.
 

 

Right Paul, I tied the comm wires with Kevlar thread, piled on the Devcon 2-Ton epoxy and hit it with a heat gun. The epoxy just sucked into the windings.

 

This car is REALLY short and has almost no guide lead. It is certainly not the "smart" choice for a fast drag car......but I can't help myself. I like the darn thing!

 

I am trying the inline configuration in the hopes it will help the cars off the performance. I'm also setting the massive motor a bit farther forward.

 

 

............I suggest you plan for lots of weight up front on that Cobra!

 

Don, I got room in front of the axle for added weight. Maybe I should just plan on needing it and install some kind of a mount to add varying amounts of weight.

 

Hmmmmmm...................

[SlotStox#53]

Your technique with the Devcon and the heatgun sure seems to work, will have to look at doing that with some of these vintage arms,especially these large arms with lots of wire! Got a static balancer too, although with some vintage stuff it's kind of daunting to take a drill to the lams

 

Would definitely recommend getting the motor further forward that a "normal can motor" inline would be, sure seemed to work for the VW dragster despite the weak magnet. With that RAM motor & full strength magnet & 3 volt arm that thing is liable to rip the tires off!

 

Here's the Bug's chassis referencing the motor position The center of gravity is fairly close to the middle of the frame and appeared to help it off the line.

 

 

 

[Pablo]

"with some vintage stuff it's kind of daunting to take a drill to the lams  :shok:" 

You mean like this, Paul ? :

 

Don't try this without a drill press, Bunky   

[dc-65x]

I don't know Pablo, he might mean like this

 

 

 

Don't try this without a drill press, Bunky   

 

Good advice 

[SlotStox#53]

that's exactly what I mean !!! Ouch!! Those arms are just painful to look at

[dc-65x]

It's was a live and learn experience. I always epoxy my arms now and don't rely on the "varnish" the manufacture smeared on. AND, I look at the web thickness and when the web itself starts to decide on a drill diameter and drilling depth to use.

 

Piece of pie now.......go for it!

[SlotStox#53]

I will go for it Rick Look forward to seeing what you do for the chassis that's going to be sitting underneath that sweet Cobra body !

[dc-65x]

Chassis time.........

 

I'm using the motor as a stressed member of the chassis starting with front motor bracket. It was inspired by the Russkit 22 motor brackets and cut and machined from 1/8" brass:

 

 

Next was the drop arm made up from these vintage bits:

 

 

The finished drop arm with two 1/16" brass rods, a large drop arm weight and a rod down stop added:

 

 

 

Four 1/16" brass frame rails added to the front motor mount:

 

 

The finished front chassis section with body mount installed:

 

 

 

I still need to make the hanger for the front "anti-wheelie" weight...............

[SlotStox#53]

Some heavy industrial style chassis work going on Rick ! Neat idea using the Russkit style of motor brackets, the drop arm is suitably beefy! !

[dc-65x]

For the rear end I'm using a French 26D rear axle bracket. These things are about an 1/8" longer than say a Russkit bracket and made of steel:

 

 

Here she is all beefed up including the rear body mount:

 

 

 

Here's all the pieced parts ready to assemble.........once I figure out the front "anti'wheelie" weight mount:

 

 

Getting close to "seeing it move".

[Champion 507]

Sub-assembly required. Batteries not included. Close cover before striking. Action figures sold separately. Your actual mileage may vary. Includes scenes not suitable for younger viewers. Recommended by 4 out of 5 dentists for their patients who chew gum.

 

All nonsense aside, you are amazing, Rick. Your "imagineering" just gets better with each passing year.

 

Ever wonder who that 5th dentist was???

[Gator Bob]

 

All nonsense aside, you are amazing, Rick. Your "imagineering" just gets better with each passing year.

 

 

 

Double DITTO!!!

 

Outstanding work Rick T.!

Those motor mounts are stunning  

 Doing a short run would be a huge hit with the padlock passionate and a sellout. Please consider me on line for a pair if you do.

 

The finished car will Definitely be .. 'Best Engineered', 'Best Appearing' and Ultimate Quality of Workmanship (UQW) material.

 

 

Other: AMT putting Baldwin in the title is a misnomer.

This car was...

• Owned by Clem Hoppe and run out of his shop in Ridgefield, NJ (go Jersey)
• 427 powered, Tuned and driven by Joel “Mr. Motion” Rosen in 1965 and 1966.
• This car did not have any association with the Baldwin Chevrolet dealership in Baldwin, L.I. New York.
• Joel Rosen's (Motion) association with Baldwin started in late 1966 when the Chevy Camaro was first introduced. The rest is history all the way up to the 454 Vega.  

[Marty N]

Oh can't wait to see this one as a roller. Just lovely.

[dc-65x]

Guys, here's what she going to be rolling on. Up front, Revell skinny wheels and Goodyear front tires. I at first used some McMaster Carr big o-rings (same as used by Riggen) but I wanted the sidewall detail of the skinny Revell Goodyears:

 

 

For the rear, I'm using Russkit Dragster set screw wheels and some beautiful MDC silicone drag slicks. The front axle is an unknown (to me) independent rotating job. Unlike the Ulrich version that has the axles staked in place by a few punch marks, this baby has a nice roll crimp all the way around the axle. It doesn't bind when you put a side load on it like an Ulrich:

 

 

Also using Cox precision flanged axle nuts and 3-prong knockoffs:

 

 

Finally, I wanted to make the wheels look something like these:

 

 

The method I use seems to be controversial so others might not like my approach. "Your results may vary"

 

Personally, I'm really unimpressed with threaded wheels and axles especially when used on the driven axle. I'll go through over a dozen NOS axles before I find one that is only a bit "off". I check them by clamping the axle in a collet in my lathe and spinning it slowly.

 

Then there are the wheels themselves. I went through 10 pair of NOS skinny Revell front wheels to find 2 that only wobbled a little. The wheels are machined nicely but they dropped the ball when they threaded them. Also if you have to remove a threaded wheel it will never go back on the axle exactly the same.

 

However, I think the die cast threaded "mag" wheels by Cox, Dynamic, Revell and especially Ulrich are truly beautiful to look at:

 

 

I choose to enhance these wheels by machining off the dreaded threaded mounting system and fitting them into set screw wheels.  Now I have the performance of a set screw wheel with appearance of a threaded die cast wheel:

 

 

I did the same approach with the skinny Revell front wheels as the cast wheels were way to wide. Check out that MDC drag slick sidewall detail.....NICE!

 

 

The Russkit drag wheel had to be turned down to a smaller diameter of a scale 15" wheel as shown on the left:

 

 

Anyhow, there they are. Everyone is free to do as they please. For me, I think they look really nice and I know they will perform well too.

 

On to the "anti-wheelie" weights..........

[Gator Bob]

Rick, That is beyond perfection!

 

Or.... at least the new meaning of.