322 replies to this topic

[Edo]

Quack!

[havlicek]

Hi Edo,

Your enthusiasm for these cars is contagious! Just wondering; when I was young, there were a few of us that made cars around the plastic "blisters" used in packaging some goods for retail sale. I had one I built that was originally a rectangle exactly 3" or so wide and the right length that I cut on an angle at the sides so as to form a "wedge" body. Others used some pretty wild shapes creatively to build car bodies and cars with. To me, these were sort of "thingies" as they of course didn't represent any real cars. The bodies were pretty stiff and thick, but it was fun. Have you ever done one like this or seen or heard of anything like it?

-john

[Horsepower]

That's perfect! What a great car! I just can't believe you still remember that old song.

[don.siegel]

As a matter of fact John, my 1/32 car for the first Proxy Thingie organized by Edo & Allan was along those lines....



The "Blue Emerald" body was actually a paint sample sent by a paint company to a friend of mine, to illustrate this shade of blue. It inspired me, so I mounted it on a 4WD chassis with a 26D and X floating body mounts - yep, totally undrivable, especially since I never tested it before sending it off... I think the proxy drivers are just beginning to forgive me now....

More to the point, I have seen some cars like you describe on ebay, and others have described building cars like that - but sounds like yours is the purest expression of the principle!

Don

[havlicek]

Hi Don,

It's hard to figure out which end is the front on on your car, but guess what? I was in the drug store today and happened to be buying Q Tips and one of the packages they come in has a clear plastic (PETG?) blister about 3" wide by maybe 5" long... a perfect rectangle about an inch + tall (I went and borrowed a ruler from the stationery aisle). Of course I didn't see Q-Tips, I saw a car Cut the sides on an agle to form a wedge, paint it red and put an STP logo on it and go racing! The thing costs less than a real body and you get a couple of hundred Q-Tips in the bargain!

-john

[One27ray]

Ya ! that's a cool idea
can us the Q-tips for what ever





from the Dragon Quest series

i-ray

[Edo]

... when I was young, there were a few of us that made cars around the plastic "blisters" used in packaging some goods for retail sale.
...Have you ever done one like this or seen or heard of anything like it?...

Hi John,

no, I never did that but I did cut up Cucaracha bodies when we were racing them in early 67!

Here my original Cucs I found in my then room at my parents, in 2004 when I came back to slot:



But I did find a couple of examples of what you're talking about a couple of years ago on Ebay:









Tata for now.

E.

[havlicek]

Ray,

I don't know what those bodies are made from, but that's pretty much the look...minus the red paint and the STP logo

Edo,

Those Cucarachas have been hacked to within an inch of their lives...but yet they lived! Those other three cars are all but unrecognizeable...although I see a couple of nice motors there!

-john

[macman]

Edo the GammaRay is AWESOME!! We should have another Thingie Proxie so U can race it! Possibly... I will get a car built in time for it if I rebuild the one I finally finished last fall...

[Edo]

Gentlemen,

unfortunately "not every donut comes out with a round hole", or you could also say "not everything that shines is gold"!

Here We get this beauty from John Dillworth, who called it the Fotherington-Thomas Special:



(obviously conceived by somebody who, went to those public schools in England, at a time when corporal punishment were administered by stern mature ladies.
Note the peculiar theme of the decoration underneath the wings, like a cry for mercy addressed to an angel):



...with quite clever details:





Then trouble starts when mounting this beautiful Mura D short can tuned by John Havlicek:



Right away we noticed that mounting it can side, the thin strip of steel which hold the bushing and the 2 mounting holes, once the motor is screwed in, somewhat deforms itself and binds the motor axle.

We tried different screws and especially we delicately tried to turn them in a synchronized way as to not unsettle it. To no avail!

The Kaiser was on the verge of a total nervous breadown...

But wait! Don't despair Kaiser! We do have another Havlicek beauty (in endbell fashion) ready:







Helas Madam!

The tests revealed that the Fotherington-Thomas Special flexes too much with a super-duper motor!

The wings, at considerable speed and full RPM given to it, start to flutter, perturbing the stance of the Thing!

The Edolf, now was looking down the abyss of anguish and torment!

But hold your horses Your Majestic (said I, in one of those particularly brilliant moments I'm known for)!

Why don't we try an OEM Mabuchi 16D BB by Classic?

Those are honest goody two-shoes motors, the equivalent of Levi's 501 jeans worn over a pair of 400$ Alden shoes, which are good for every occasion!

And so we went for it:



And like magic, the Fotherington-Thomas Special Hammerhead (body by Nostalgic, painted by Jairus in pure Detroit style) now works beautifully, smooth and steady and still very fast on my track (6T pinion, 27T crown with OD 18mm tires).





Kaiser Edolf is now out of the pitch black tunnel and thanks the Howmet and the other boys once more for making Him the One, the Only, the Monumental Thingie Kingie !

[havlicek]

Another beeeeautiful car completed in royal fashion Edo! Kudos to all involved for such a wonderful job. The engraving in particular is a marvelous touch!

-john

[Maximo]

Brilliant! A wonderful new style thingie for all to enjoy!

What kind of beer did Sir Howmet desire?

-Max

[Edo]

Thanks gentlemen,

I will forward your compliments to those involved .

Now I would like to go back to the problem I encountered in mounting the Mura D short can.

In my limited assembling experience, I've encountered such problem every time I would try to mount any of those same Mura D type motors can side to a U-bracket:



Now, is it possible that the part you see marked in red can distort itself to the point of binding the arm axle?

I would like to underline the fact that anytime I mount a motor I'm always extra careful in "synchronizing" the way I tighten the mounting screws, meaning I gently turn one a bit and then the other another bit and so on.

Mounting those motor edb side to the U-bracket never had that problem as the edb is way more rigid once fastened in.

Any of you had the same problem?

Suggestion, gentlemen?

Regards

Edo

[TSR]

King E,
If you use self tapping screws there, GUARANTY you that you will twist the can.
The proper way to do this is to take the motor apart, then solder two 2-56 nuts inside the can exactly facing the holes, then thread through the nuts from the inside with a 2-56 tap.
Then line up the can bearing win an alignment tool before re-assembly.
Then check your mounting bracket. Is it flat? Any burrs? If not flat, it will help unline the mess when the screws are tight. Use a wide flat file to find the high points and get them under control.

[Prof. Fate]

Hi

I have only had the problem with endbell drive when using too large screws.

Fate

[gascarnut]

Edo,

There's something else to check:



It looks to me as though the screw heads have been touching the motor bushing before they touch the bracket face, so as you tighten everything down, it will definitely distort things.

You have a few options:

1. Use screws with smaller heads
2. File two flats on the bushings so that the screw heads do not touch them
3. Use a thicker bracket so that the bushing does not stand proud of the bracket surface
4. Use small washers under the screw heads that touch the bracket only and lift the screw head away from the edge of the bushing.

[havlicek]

Wow Dennis, you've got GOOD eyes...you must eat a lot of carrots or something! It DOES look like the screw heads were binding on the bearing!

-john

[gascarnut]

Thanks John, but it's mostly Edo's excellent photography that should get the credit.

[Edo]

It looks to me as though the screw heads have been touching the motor bushing before they touch the bracket face, so as you tighten everything down, it will definitely distort things.

Hi Dennis,

I think you're right.

Maybe I should demote myself back from "maverick" to "troubled" assembler!

That said, I now believe that mounting can side with self tapping screws is a perilous move, since I've seen that problem rise time and time again (in my limited experience with can side mounting).

Anyway thank you all for your input!

And now, VROOM VROOM:





Anybody interested to see what's under the other two HammerHeads's dress, please send 1.99$ to

Kaiser Edolf
c/o Thingie Kingie
Swaziland

[havlicek]

Ciao Edo,

I wouldn't worry too much about can mounting at all as long as the bushing strap hasn't been badly bent/damaged. After all, it's pretty much the norm now for decades...even those Chinese motors are done that way and they don't have problems with them because of the can-mounting. Even if the can were significantly bent/deformed...that should affect gear mesh long before it deformed the can bushing enough to bind the motor.

Maybe I should demote myself back from "maverick" to "troubled" assembler!

I don't think so. MANY people have had this happen to them and we all learn from stuff like this!

-john

[Edo]

Jeez,

cannot believe how deep in forgotten land this thread was!

I bet you guys even forgot who the Thingie Kingie is!

Anyway,

here is a supercute thingified Dynamic Chaparral 2H (replica by Patto, I believe), painted by Dave Larsen in 2005:



It seemed to me that giving it a Mura chassis was the proper thing to do:



Given how short and low in the front the body was, I had to drill another hole for the guide:



Arm is something which was in a bunch of parts I found on Ebay, looks like a 28AWG:



Can, edb etc are Champion, with all the bells and whistles added by yours truly:





A bit of break-in in water for 3 minutes@2Volts could'nt hurt, could it?



And here with her brother, the Vitter's Bandit (seen in the 2008 Thingie Proxy Race):



Ta ta for now!

E

[Edo]

Warm leatherette
See the breaking glass
In the underpass
Hear the crushing steel
Feel the steering wheel

Warm leatherette
Melts your burning flesh
You can see your reflection
In the luminescent dash

Warm leatherette
A tear of petrol
Is in your eye
The hand brake
Penetrates your thigh
Quick - Let's play slots
Before you die

















Credits:
Chassis, body + body paint by Ray Fellows (inspired by Rick Thigpen’s pictures of Rodney‘s Bay Area Box of Thingies).
Mabuchi K&B Jaguar 26D Motor de-wound by anonymous builder.
Front wheels by Kai after a technical drawing by Rick Thigpen.
Rears by Twinn-K, Inc.
Quick-change Cox guide.
Crown Cox 33T
Assembly by Kaiser Edolf (all by himself).
Warm Leatherette words and music by The Normal, adapted by KE
Model: Miss Crsitina

[One_Track_Mind]

Model: Miss Crsitina

Did anyone notice a slot car?

[havlicek]

Ciao Edo,

Another lovely car (and Ms Christina's OK in my book too). The body is one of the more swoopy and aero thingies, what with the molded in air dams and all. The K&B seems to be one of the less common 26Ds, at least from what I've seen, and I bet just being dewound it's a nice runner!

-john

[Horsepower]

I....I just..... .......... ....redhead....