124 replies to this topic

[dc-65x]

The chassis is finished and in the tumbler until this afternoon. I'm using just plan water with the ceramic media. I don't want any "mysterious pitting" to happen to the steel center section.......

..............It's Time! 6 hours of tumbling is over. Time to see the results.............

PITTING!!!!!!!!!!! CORROSION!!!!!!!!!



WHAT THE HELL IS IN THIS TAP WATER?

I've got to try and save it.........

[Phil Irvin]

Rick,

I too have had some come threw with some corrosion. What I found was that I had not put enough baking powder in the tumbler. I do put a level tea spoon in when ever I clean the tumbler out. I was going to do a wire brush in baking soda before going in the tumbler if that didn't work.

OLPHRT
PHIL

[Tex]

And there's always good ol' steel wool.

[tonyp]

Now its starting to look like they did when I made them. Thats weird.... Maybe because you did not use the soap? I have had good results lately using laundry detergent..

[Gary Mayeda]

Hey Speedy-

It's amazing reading all this history. I was wondering if you still have your Mike Shepard box or pics to see. And the dimensions too.

Thanks, gary mayeda

[TSR]

WHAT THE HELL IS IN THIS TAP WATER? public/style_emoticons/default/shok.gif public/style_emoticons/default/shok.gif public/style_emoticons/default/shok.gif public/style_emoticons/default/angry.gif

Rick,
My experience in this since having to restore and maintain a flotilla of now hundreds of pro-racing cars from the early 1960s to the late 1970s is that automotive spray wax such as Eagle One is the secret of protecting the chassis (brass and steel) from corrosion. The minute you tumble the chassis and it is exposed to air, the oxygen will bite at it and corrode it. If the steel already has retained some microscopic oxidation, it will simply grow like fungus.
Clear coating is bad (except for sealing magnesium bits) because the corrosion will occur under it. Wax seals quite well, polishes well and is easy to remove for eventual repairs.

[dc-65x]

..........The minute you tumble the chassis and it is exposed to air, the oxygen will bite at it and corrode it. If the steel already has retained some microscopic oxidation, it will simply grow like fungus.............

That's exactly what happened. When the chassis was still wet I thought I could see some very tiny spots. After I rinsed it and blew it dry the plumes of rust started growing before my eyes. That picture above was taken only minutes after the drying.....amazing. I think if I'd left it untouched for 24 hours it have returned to the earth

I've done some initial research and balancing the PH of water between low (acidic) and high (caustic) might be tricky. Luckily I've worked for the Superintendent of a corrosion test facility experiment at the Lab. We both like "John's Char Burger" so we'll be going to lunch soon .

Back to the problem at hand, my one and only Tony P replica center section. I sanded the rust off with 600 grit sand paper and popped it into a WD-40 soak for 24 hours. Time to take it out and go from there........

[dc-65x]

This is what came out of the tumbler:



Here it is after polishing and a coat of Mothers Spray Wax ("There's no shine like Mothers!")....thanks for the tip Philippe :



In the picture you can still see the pits, they're not going to go away. But in person they thankfully don't show without a magnifying glass.........at least to my eyes.

I've been investigation the corrosion problem and will address it in my "tumbling" post in the future. For now I want to finish building this car and get it on the track. The chassis is ready to go:













Time to finish it up........

[tonyp]

WOW!

[dc-65x]

Hey thanks Tony but you're Da Man! You designed the original, cut it out by hand and raced it at a Pro level. Thanks for the inspiration to build this laser cut tribute.

I found these old magnesium wheels with orange rubber:



I thought I'd try to clean them up to use instead of the older era Associated I had planned. The wheels measure only .750" wide and a biggish .450" in diameter. They are in pretty gnarley shape:



Micro blaster to the rescue!



Don H. gave me this advice:

The diamond coated manicure files work well on wonder rubber. Pretty expensive at 30 to 50 bucks each but they last a long time and make very smoothly rounded edges.

Thanks Don! it worked great to clean up these tires:



Here they are on the finished roller:



The Pacesetter fronts installed:



The motor soldered in place. Tinning the can and masking the area before painting works slick. Thanks for that tip too Philippe:



All ready for an O/S #00 Ferrari Coupe I got from Ron a while back:









I love the one on the right. Look at that DA SPYDER!:



I guess that's an 80's paint job but.......look at dat SPYDER!

[Old pink can guy]

What's to say Rick. Double WOW!!! Can't wait to see a body on it. Another Master Piece by the Master.

[TSR]

That turned out real nice. Hey Tony, don't we wish that we could have built that good in the day, hey?

[Pablo]

Would distilled water prevent that ?

[tonyp]

PDL. For sure. But we built the whole car in the time it took to clean that one. LOL...

[TSR]

That's for sure!

[dc-65x]

Tony and Philippe,

I'm glad you like the car. When I build a car like this it's really a tribute to you Pros. I have the fun of building at my own pace. The pleasure of spending as much time as it takes to make it as nicely as I can. And, when it's finished, I can "see it move". I can listen to the scream of that open motor and try to get the balls to punch the bank with a big heavy 70's Pro car replica. Now that's FUN!

What I do is easy compared to what you guys did.......for a living!

[TSR]

Rick,
You are a true artist. We were long-haired bums with funny shirts and bell-bottom pants trying making a living building slot cars that would end up being raced, then sold until the next one. Most of the time it paid the rent, sometimes the rent was late...
But I have to say, it DID beat a real job, for a while...

[team burrito]

Does anyone know if that more modern Fass gear is currently available??

Frank's got boxes of them in the back of the shop, call em'.

[dc-65x]

Cool. Thanks Russ

[Horsepower]

Would distilled water prevent that ?

I don't think it will stop the steel corrosion (rust) but it might slow it down because there are no impurities (i.e. chlorine, calcium, or acidic compounds) to cause the black stuff you see in those pits.

[Noose]

And now the car is complete.

[tonyp]

My all time favorite paint job. I love the British racing green fogged in black with the orange fogged stripe. If I could see it i'd still be using it today. Had to lose the green and go with the orange. Lol.

Great job guys, absolutely beautiful and way nicer than the originals ever were. You guys rock!

[Matt Sheldon]

The best 7 pages I have read! What a beautiful car, cannot wait for the tumbler how to!

[dc-65x]

Noose did the whole enchilada. He trimmed and mounted the body and, of course, did all the paint and hand lettering. Then he did all the air control the way he would have done it back in 1978.

It looks great Noose, THANK YOU!

Thanks TonyP for all your help with the project and for letting me use your name and logo on the finished car.

This car will always be in my shop car box when I go to Eddie's. I can't wait to hammer it on the Blue King and (thanks to Ron Hershman) listen to that S24 open motor scream .

[Larry Labounty]

Rick , Noose . Great job on bringing back some slot history and giving Tony an the rest of the pro builders the credit they deserved !!