169 replies to this topic

[SlotStox#53]

Just when you think this car can't get any better Great improvement Rodney.

[boxerdog]

Great job, Rodney. One of the things I like about vintage drag racing.....NO wheelie bars.

[Gator Bob]

I have a pair of those fronts but never knew who made them?

 

The engine detail colors look great.

[dc-65x]

Here's something you don't see everyday. Rodney's latest raid dragster in his words:

 

I finally completed this AYK (Aoyagi Metals) dragster.  I had the chassis kit for years.  The brass chassis kit came with gears, guide weight and axle bearings.  It was very corroded and took quite a few hours to restore.

 

 

A blue printed KTM 6 volt motor is used along with Russkit rear wheels and tires.

 

Classic guide and unknown brand fronts.

 

 

The length is about right for a 1/24th scale dragster.

 

 

Hope you guys like it.

 

 

She's a beauty Rodney, thanks for sharing it with us!

[don.siegel]

Love it Rodney! 

 

Don 

[hiline2]

Fantastic ! Exactly what im going to do with my Gator-B Hybrid, got the chassis kit and parts ! yeaaaaaaaaaaa !

[dc-65x]

Here's a followup on the AYA-KTM powered rail dragster from Rodney:

 

"The AYK dragster turned 1.548 ET at 35.05 mph.  Not bad for a blue printed KTM powered car."

[dc-65x]

Rodney's tribute to Jeff Gordon's retirement....one cool hot rod with a 1/24 Jeff Gordon at the wheel!

 

Jeff Gordon. a Vallejo, California native had a farewell run at Sonoma Raceway today.  Sonoma almost next to Vallejo.  Vallejo is where Slot Car World is located (owned by Eddie). 

 

There was a Jeff sighting at Slot Car World today.  Jeff took his car down the drag strip. 

 

 

 

 

Times shown. 

 

 

 

Jeff's ride is powered by a blue printed KTM motor. 

 

 

Special hand cut "German" white wall tires were used on the Jeff's Hot Rod.

 

 

 

 

Three different weight front axle weights were available to be used to balance out the car off the starting line.  The heaviest weights worked the best to keep the front end down .

 

 

Another beauty Rodney.....Thanks!

[SlotStox#53]

Sweet looking ride! With some superb detailing Great job Rodney

[dc-65x]

Here is Rodney's latest project, a Jose Rodriguez Jr. inspired 1/32 scale rail dragster: 

 

Rick,

 

As we discussed, this 1/32nd scale dragster build is based on two Jose Rodriguez Jr. Car Model Magazine articles published in 1963.  Jose was Mr. 1/32nd Scale as far as I am concerned.  I wanted to build a period-correct version of his dragsters.

 

 

 

 

 

As Jose stated in his articles, the key to building a 1/32nd scale dragster is having a small enough electric motor that could be concealed as much as possible by the plastic model car engine.  Jose's motor of choice for the dragsters was the KTM-N motor.  Gordon, our local model train expert, said the KTM-N motor was used in smaller HO locomotives.  We have found that the KTM-N motor is smaller than a Pittman 196.

 

Jose also stated he was looking for a more powerful motor in this small size but did not know of any.  Running the 1/32nd scale dragster with heavy glue conditions (glued for Neo Gp12s) at Slot Car World resulted in 4 second runs at 10 mph.  Slow, but cool-looking going down the strip.  The dragster was faster on the road course with normal spray glue.

 

The chassis is mainly 1/16th brass rod.  The body is made out of scrap model kit plastic.  The model engine was found at a swap meet.  The guide is a cut down Revell.  German airplane tires are used for traction.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The photo showing the 1/32nd scale dragster next to the 1/24th scale production vintage dragster illustrates how small the 1/32nd scale dragster is.

 

 

The body is held on with for pins.

 

 

 

This little slot car was one of the most fun and challenging to build. Time to blueprint the motor.

 

 

Thanks Rodney! Be sure to let us know how it runs after the motor blueprinting.

[don.siegel]

Nice job Rodney! 

 

And thanks for sharing Rick... Rodney really has some great projects. 

 

Don 

[SlotStox#53]

Such a cool and neat looking little thing

Superb article and build, given plenty of ideas for a project

Thanks for sharing !

[Gary Bluestone]

Regarding the AYK , I am working on one which is missing the front cross tube. I thought I'd just use a piece of brass tube, but yours looks larger ! Is that modified for extra weight ?

[dc-65x]

Thanks guys

 

Hi Gary,

 

Here's what Rodney wrote me about your question on the AYK chassis brace:

 

 

Rick,

The chassis cross brace that I think normally goes behind the front axle was moved to the front of the chassis.  The chassis holes were bored out a little bit to fit this brace.  The brace behind the axle is not part of the kit and is made out of brass spacers,washers and a nut and screw.

 

 

 

[SlotStox#53]

Does Rodney know who's front wheels are on the AYK car Rick?

They look really neat and never seen them before .

[dc-65x]

Hi Paul,

 

Those are probably the coolest 60's dragster wheels ever created. The box says:

 

SPEEDWAY #S110 $2.98 ea.

Fully Extruded

Ball Bearing

Dragster Front End

Spoke Type

[SlotStox#53]

Ah, from the Speedway company, that explains why they're so cool!

Thought the moon disc ball bearing fronts they did were sweet but these are awesome. Time to look for a set although I'm not holding my breath

[dc-65x]

Here's Rodney's update on his latest 1/32 scale rail dragster. He's cut the cars ET by more than half!

 

I ran my 1/32 dragster with Ron today. 

 

Since the last report, the motor was rebuilt and blueprinted.  Another armature (with a thicker gauge wind) from the Oakland Speedway parts box was installed.  The armature was epoxied and balanced and the commutator was cleaned up. The spherical bearing was replaced with a conventional bushing and the motor frame and motor brushes were aligned..  A magnet of the same size was installed because the alternate magnet took a better charge from the magnetizer.

 

 

 

The dragster turned consistent 1.7 E.T.s at 30 mph.  Wow what a difference from last weeks 4 second runs!

 

 

 

The car is very fast off the line.  For the first third of the track the front wheels are off the track.  Kind of ironic that some questioned the value of the drop arm in the beginning.  If the track was cleaned, the runs would have been the usual .2 seconds faster.

 

[SlotStox#53]

Sweet decrease in times!

Proves the drop arm does work well. Unlike your Cobra

[dc-65x]

Rodney just finished up a magnesium frame rail dragster. Here's his comments and pictures of the build:

 

Rick, here are the pictures of my latest project, a mag frame rail:

 

 

 

 

 

Car has a Pittman 85/Ram 857 based motor. Pittman end plates with Ram laminations and  6 volt Ram armature.  Armature is epoxied and was checked for balance.  Ram magnet took a crazy strong charge. 

 

 

R Geo drop arm added to the mag frame.

 

 

 

The mag dragster was tested today. 

 

 

Good an E.T. of 1.33.

 

 

 

More runs would have resulted in faster runs.  Like always, these cars do not stop.  Janet through out my towels and the front axle was bent on the second run.  It was fixed at the track but no more runs were attempted.

 

 

 

I added a driver figure to the car to finish it off.

 

 

Thanks Rodney. That's one fast rail on a full scale 1/4 mile strip!

 

 

[SlotStox#53]

Well I think we can call Rodney the rail dragster king !

One sweet mag rail Nice combo of motor parts and sounds like the RAM 850/857 mags take a better charge than the Pittmans.

[hiline2]

WOW !! luv it !  ok, maybe Ive asked before , if so my apologies     but tires and wheels? Russkit ?  

 

Also did the chassis have BB's installed originally (just what it looked like) 

[dc-65x]

Thanks Paul.....and Paul!

 

I'll verify this with Rodney and get back to you but I believe we have.......

 

Russkit dragster set screw wheels

40mm "German" tires

Ball bearings original to the vintage chassis

[hiline2]

40mm "German" tires 

 

Like the the ones still available for RC Model planes ? or just a large old stock pile ?

[dc-65x]

When Rodney gets back to me I'll let you know for sure but we have been using vintage "airplane tires" like these: