17 replies to this topic

[TSR]

John Gorski Jr. was a teen when he won his first important event in open-class racing, at Nutley Raceway in 1969. I am sure that John will come here to give you some details but on that day, driving a chassis he built and fitted with a Kean modified Champion "517", he smoked everybody with a big name at Mike Tango's famous raceway.

John kept the chassis all these years, and eventually sold it to Scott, the great enthusiast who built the LASCM with the will and determination that have made the place such a unique island for slot car enthusiasts.

Well, as I am restoring many cars, one at a time, for the museum shelves and the last pics for my (never ending) book, today I addressed this particular car. Fortunately, Morrissey or someone had taken a picture of it after John Gorski won (that's "Goysky" in New Jersey...   ), and that made my job a bit easier. John told me today that the tires were blue rubber over Associated hubs, and the fronts were RVM of course. The guide was a black Jet Flag. So these pieces will be switched before the book's photos. Easy job now that the car is back together after 50 years...

I had to build the motor with a Kean 25 arm, a Champion can with DZ mags, a Mura endbell tapped for machine screws, Champion "Pent-roof" hardware and spring posts, and Champion springs and shunted brushes. Those tiny Champion tapered and slotted motor screws are a royal pain, you need to precision grind a miniature screwdriver if you want to succeed in assembling them without damaging them.
The motor fitted in the chassis perfectly without any grinding needed, using the Cox 8-32 ratio that was originally on the car.

Joe "The Noosester" Neumeister sent a body for it, painted as described by John, a nice "Bloom Replica" to which I fitted period correct aero devices.
Came out nicely...

(All pictures copyright LASCM.com)














The "Team Nutley" drop arm is especially hard to find today as a spare.

Next in the wings, awaiting my butchery are a Tony P 1969 "customer" car, then a couple more Emott cars from 1969 and 1970.
There are still over 100 such cars to put together in the LASCM's vault drawers... while we will keep many chassis "unbuilt" for people to inspect how they evolved over time.

[John Gorski]

John Gorski Nutley International Winning Slot Car 4/12/1969

 

John Gorski's  Pro Winning Slot Car that won the Nutley International Slot Car Race

at Nutley Raceway Franklin Ave. in Nutley New Jersey U.S.A. April 12, 1969.

 

As a kid I was infatuated with racing. I got an Aurora HO slot car racing set and I was hooked.

 

My Dad took me to the Modified Stock Car Races at Flemington Raceway.

 

There I watched the racers very closely learning about going fast and competing at the top levels I was addicted. I got my 1st Slot Car a 1/32 Scale Car for a Confirmation gift. My Dad took me racing at a figure 8 track in Clinton N.J. Then we found a racing series in Lambertville N.J. in the back of Klines Stationary Store a great home built track. I got a Cox Chaparral car and won my 1st race and the CanAm series I was in. I also won the Modified Stock Car & F1 classes. Each month was a new series. The Flemington Slot Car Track in N.J. opened up in my home town with a American Hill Climb Track. I continued winning big races & championships  there. I started reading Car Model & Model Car Science magazines. Reading all the articles on Pro Slot Car Racing. I new this is what I wanted to do. We traveled to many raceways. Then we saw Nutley Raceway in N.J. was having a big race May 25 1968 and it was not far away we decided to go. It was an awesome place and some of the Top Pro Racers in the country I had read about were there. It was super sano I was stoked. The sidewinders style chassis had just hit the scene. We started going to the weekly races which the Top Pros would run in. Dad & I connected with legendary Motor Builder Bob Kean who I thank for the awesome horsepower. Back then we use to go to Bob's house in Piscataway N.J. where he had his workshop. I started building my own Chassis & winning the weekly Pro races at Nutley Raceway. Mike Tango owner of Nultley Raceway ran the best track in the country at the time. That’s where I met Tony P. & Noose. I remember hanging out in the famous small back room where Tony built tons of chassis to sell. We would talk all night about chassis designs. My  Dad who was an electronic & TV repair man he started to fix my controllers which started him building the world famous Gorski Micro Custom Controllers.  

Then on April,12 1969 I got my first Big Pro Race win at the Nutley International Race. Beating a field of the Top Pro racers I had always read about. I set a new Track Record for a Blue King Track of 465 laps in 40 minutes. This car was Awesome it just handled perfect ND with the help of a Bob Kean Motor, Emott blue rear tires in was on rails. A Dynamic Mclearn M8 Painted by Dave Bloom. The Chassis was 2 rails .055 spaced on each side with .032 pans & .050 Nutley drop arm. I will post the A Main tech sheet below. There were race result and write-ups in the two top model car racing magazines about this race.

Model Car Journal issue #12 Volume #1 & Car Model Magazine July 1969. I was only 15 years old and they nicked named me "The Pro Killer". This chassis also was Top Qualifier at a race in Hatboro Pa. It had other top finishes & wins but through the years I've forgotten & have no records of the races. Nutley Raceway was known for breeding fast young racers I was glad to be a part of that History. Beating the best in the East at age 15 was a young racers dream come true. I loved Slot Racing and new it was a big part of me. I've always been a Fan as well as a competitor. Slot Car Racing is an awesome sport it's so close to real racing an exciting phenomenon in my generations lifetime. It's a rush! 

 

John Gorski Jr

 

Awesome job on restoring the car, Philippe!!

 

 

[Mbloes]

Are those RVM fronts? They look like Riggen to me.

[tonyp]

RVM.

[TSR]

Mike, all the magnesium wheels we have (RVM and others) are corroded from 50+ years of sitting in their original baggies. The cleaning process involves sticking them on an axle, then in a lathe, and carefully brushing off the corrosion with a small but stiff paint or acid brush. Then, the outer edge is machined, removing a few thousands of an inch, to reveal clean metal. We have to go through the same process for even aluminum front and rear wheels. Nothing is easy, it is not an assembly of Lego bits...

[Bill from NH]

I heard or read somewhere that Lou del Rosario, who formerly owned Elmsford Raceway, was involved in the manufacturing of RVM fronts. Anyone know the story? I recall once buying two pair at C&C Raceway in the early '70s.  I remember the light blue header card at the time indicated a NY city or town.

[tonyp]

Lou was involved but not sure how or how much. They were originally a 1/32 front tire.


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[TSR]

RVM also made rear wheels, setscrew type with boss, about 3/8" wide. Tony is correct, these RVM wheels were originally designed for 1/32 scale cars.  The card says "RVM racing products inc., "precision products for the true enthusiast" (that would be us).

Meanwhile, here is the car now with the correct wheels and tires:



(all pictures copyright LASCM.com)

[Bill from NH]

Thanks for the followup gentlemen.

[John Gorski]

 Philippe that car looks so Sano! Brings back lots of great memories!

Attached Images

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[TSR]

John, it was a pleasure to bring it back to life. It is now on one of the "pro" shelves at the LASCM, in good company!
Only 50 more historic cars to restore! 
A Tony P car is next, followed by one of the last Bob Cozine cars, and an early 1968 Steube inline. And that von Ahrens record breaker of course! and so many more!
We need at least one car from each "region", to have a representative sample of "how it was" in the Classic Era.

OK, I admit it, I need professional help... 

 

[dc-65x]

Hi Philippe
 

Mike, all the magnesium wheels we have (RVM and others) are corroded from 50+ years of sitting in their original baggies. The cleaning process involves sticking them on an axle, then in a lathe, and carefully brushing off the corrosion with a small but stiff paint or acid brush. Then, the outer edge is machined, removing a few thousands of an inch, to reveal clean metal. We have to go through the same process for even aluminum front and rear wheels. Nothing is easy, it is not an assembly of Lego bits...

I have another method I stumbled across for restoring corroded magnesium wheels. I thought I'd share it in case it might help with the many cars you have to restore!

 

Here's the before picture of a mag pro car wheel:
 

 

Without taking the tires off the rims.......I media blast them in this little blasting cabinet (note the 1/24 car on top for scale).

 

 

I use the finest glass media from a jewelry making supply house. The stuff is not like typical glass bead blasting media that a automotive machine shop would use. It is so fine it's more like powdered sugar than the typical stuff:

 

 

Here is the result:

 

 

And a before and after on Associated mag wheels:

 

 

[Martin]

Great tip Rick, I have been using Baking soda in mine. It is really gentle on mag parts, aluminum chassis etc.also.

[TSR]

Rick,
it all depends on the amount of corrosion of course. I have advocated the use of media blasting to save the Cox magnesium chassis and wheels for like 20 years now, using clear polyurethane varnish mixed with 5% of candy apple red paint and sprayed with an airbrush.
As far as pro-racing mag wheels, if the corrosion is minor, I just use an small stiff brush to restore the black finish, then re-cut the outer lip on a lathe. But if they are as corroded as the set you show, yes, media blasting is warranted, followed by repainting in black paint, re-cut of the outer lip and clear coating with polyurethane. 
 

[John Streisguth]

By any chance does anyone have a template for the rear air control as seen on this car?  I have some NCC "group" type cars I would like to restore, but I've tried in the past to cut them in one piece and the results are terrible looking. 

[TSR]

John, I do, so I will make a copy of it and PM it to you in the next day or so. The same pattern was used by Parma, Pete von Ahrens and several other businesses, and is a perfect fit for the Champion/Bloom/Waters McLaren M8 body almost universally used by East Coast racers from the last quarter of 1968 through most of 1970. To fit narrower bodies such as the Dynamic Lola T160, it needs to be folded at its narrowest position on each side.

 

[John Streisguth]

Awesome, thanks so much!  Now I just need to find the appropriate bodies.  But I know someone....

[Isaac S.]

That is beautiful. I need to get some glass beads.