Snake Bite I
#26
Posted 02 February 2015 - 05:40 PM
Certainly some cool design touches like the angled main rails and those front uprights.
- James Fetherolf likes this
#27
Posted 02 February 2015 - 07:21 PM
Originally I intended to clean and assemble it "as is" - but that would have been too easy.
- wheelbase and guide lead updated to 4.00" / .875" for a Ti22 short body.
- bracket braced / square tube pieces reinforced / etc. for strength and redundancy .
- new Slick 7 bushings will be re-floated straight to the bracket same as original.
The rear brace may look skewed due to poor photography, but trust me, Greg, it's as straight as I could make it.
- James Fetherolf likes this
Paul Wolcott
#28
Posted 02 February 2015 - 07:31 PM
That main rail V-piece looks to be .078" (2mm) wire. Is it?
- James Fetherolf likes this
I intend to live forever! So far, so good.
#29
Posted 02 February 2015 - 07:55 PM
Your bifocals are working pretty well, Bill.
Paul Wolcott
#30
Posted 03 February 2015 - 08:40 PM
- changing the wheelbase to 4.00" required (temporary) removal of the square tubing pieces.
- semi-circular .020" wire bits form fit the gaps between bushings and angled bracket.
- redundant wire pieces brace the upper bracket sides near the bushings.
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Paul Wolcott
#32
Posted 04 February 2015 - 06:04 PM
Greg Wells' Snake Bite car is coming along slow but sure.
Changing wheelbase and guide lead created some challenges but no problemo.
I had to re-cut the groove in the tongue to allow the rail to go about .125" forward.
When I tacked it on and checked it, I realized it has to be soldered flush on top, not bottom.
Flipped it upside down on the Rick's Jig and found a new use for my flag blueprinter thingie - it doubles as a chassis jig thingie:
Passes tongue tilt test (again) in both planes:
To allow the pan section to move rearward, the notch up front had to be extended forward about .125":
Snake Bite lives!
Paul Wolcott
#33
Posted 14 February 2015 - 02:20 PM
Original front axle assembly was nice, but this chassis was built during the infancy of IRRA® when wheel sizes and chassis clearances were still being hashed out.
The axle height needed to be changed; as a result the original setup won't work. So I "duffied" it. Probably way overbuilt but that's normal for me.
Paul Wolcott
#34
Posted 14 February 2015 - 02:57 PM
That looks like it wouldn't move if you pounded it with a hammer.
I intend to live forever! So far, so good.
#37
Posted 15 February 2015 - 11:16 AM
Matt Sheldon
Owner - Duffy's SlotCar Raceway (Evans, CO)
#38
Posted 15 February 2015 - 04:36 PM
Greg can answer the theory questions much better than I. He had the attributes of a Champion TurboFlex chassis in mind when he built it, that's for sure.
I checked and "fine tuned" the tongue angle one last time before I doubled it with a .032" Slick 7 steel piece. Built a wire reinforcement nest for it.
Found a neat way to minitorch tongue doublers - alligator clips - much better than the way I have been doing it, and freed up a hand.
- Cheater likes this
Paul Wolcott
#39
Posted 15 February 2015 - 09:03 PM
Shortening the WB created a clearance issue between the original .055 wire/.125 square tube rear pan management setup and the rear wheels, so I changed to .047/.094
My goal was, a little vertical lift, some side to side wiggle, and close to zero droop. Greg's original setup was absolutely perfect, so I needed to meet or exceed that standard - hope I did.
Paul Wolcott
#42
Posted 16 February 2015 - 09:18 PM
Certainly been thorough with this refit/modernization finishing off, Pablo!
Look forward to hearing how it fares on its track debut.
Will it be doing duty in your stable of Retro cars?
#43
Posted 16 February 2015 - 09:37 PM
Hi Paul,
Track debut? My next trip to a track will be June 2015.
All the horses in the Pablo stable are sound asleep.
Maybe cheater can test it on March 14 in OH.
Paul Wolcott
#44
Posted 16 February 2015 - 09:45 PM
If it doesn't work as good as he expected it would, you know who is getting the blame.
I intend to live forever! So far, so good.
#45
Posted 16 February 2015 - 10:03 PM
Bill. no doubt in my mind she is capable of winning the A Main at R8.
Maybe with some tuning...
Paul Wolcott
#46
Posted 17 February 2015 - 08:37 AM
If it doesn't work as good as he expected it would, you know who is getting the blame.
No blame will be assessed.
This was an experimental concept I started years ago and never finished.
Will it work well? We'll have to see but I can say that way, way less than half of my chassis experiments panned out over the years. And as Edsion said, you usually learn more from your failures than your successes.
- George Blaha likes this
Gregory Wells
Never forget that first place goes to the racer with the MOST laps, not the racer with the FASTEST lap
#47
Posted 17 February 2015 - 09:58 AM
Now let's not be negative. If it doesn't handle, it can always serve as a bad example.
Almost any chassis can be made to work well if the fundamentals are correct. It has lots of movement, and can be tightened up little by little if needed.
Greg, if by chance you actually do race this thing, it needs .765"/.815" to (barely) pass tech, so I'm going to start you out at about .775/.820."
Out of the tumbler, time for a pair of Chicagoland BB wheels and a Hawk Retro...
Paul Wolcott
#48
Posted 17 February 2015 - 12:03 PM
Looks sweet! You have my address - can test for ya with help from the pros down here.
Charlie McCullough
Charlie's Speed Shop
Kelly Racing Wanna Be
#49
Posted 17 February 2015 - 03:42 PM
Thanks, Charlie, but Greg can take it with him to the R4/8.
The braids kiss the nosepiece at full lock flag rotation - that would probably never happen, but "probably" ain't good enough.
I installed .063" tube pieces to preclude that. Used paste flux for obvious reasons
Paul Wolcott
#50
Posted 17 February 2015 - 04:03 PM
Cool chassis, Pablo!
It appears that the triangle mainrails connected to the guide tongue are one piece and it slides fore-aft inside the front chassis (with pans), a little bit laterally and a little bit up and down.
Do I have that right? It is a very cool idea!
Sorry about the nerf. "Sorry? Sorry? There's no apologizing in slot car racing!"
Besides, where would I even begin? I should probably start with my wife ...
"I don't often get very many "fast laps" but I very often get many laps quickly." ™
The only thing I know about slot cars is if I had a good time when I leave the building! I can count the times I didn't on one two three hands!
Former Home Track - Slot Car Speedway and Hobbies, Longmont, CO (now at Duffy's Raceway), Noteworthy for the 155' Hillclimb track featuring the THUNDER-DONUT - "Two men enter; one man leaves!"