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Build or buy?


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#1 Jesse Gonzales

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Posted 08 July 2019 - 09:02 PM

Pablo's work is quite good, it is informative and shows the kind of craftsmanship that many on the blog wish they had. There needs to be more guys inspired to build their own chassis and quit paying to run a "Name Brand" chassis, look at Pablo and others for the examples and go for it.

 

I use needle nose to take my popcorn outside and slash it open with a number 11 blade to get that smokey flavor I cherish so much in my popcorn.

 

Keep it fun.

 

Jess Gonzales


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#2 Matt Sheldon

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Posted 08 July 2019 - 09:27 PM

There needs to be more guys inspired to build their own chassis and quit paying to run a "Name Brand" chassis,

 

That would officially kill Retro.


Matt Sheldon


#3 Tim Neja

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Posted 08 July 2019 - 11:06 PM

That would officially kill retro.


Retro was designed with the idea of being your own chassis  builder!! So how does that 'destroy' Retro?


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She's real fine, my 409!!!

#4 Matt Sheldon

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Posted 09 July 2019 - 12:27 AM

Retro was designed with the idea of being your own chassis  builder!! So how does that "destroy" Retro?

 

I understand that, Tim. But the fact of the matter is globally so very few that are active racers still build their 'own.' If the builders and chassis manufacturers didn't exist in today's current arena, this aspect of the hobby would be extinct. We need the commercial builders for it to keep moving forward in the current trend.


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Matt Sheldon


#5 Pappy

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Posted 09 July 2019 - 04:27 AM

Matt,

 

I agree with you but the commercial builder is one of the reason's I quit Retro. It took the fun out of it when someone could just buy a chassis and beat me instead of using their building skills and driving skills to beat me. I still remember the 60's when you worked all week trying to build a better mouse trap and then take it to the track and see how it ran. I'd probably start racing Retro again if they had a "builders class" where the only manufactured part you could use would be the motor bracket. That and the bodies started looking so crappy is why I race 1/32nd scale hard bodied cars. They look like real cars. I went back to my roots. We have one guy in our group that is so into realism that he even hates seeing lane stickers on the cars. LOL

 

We race a Formula Ford class around here where some of the guys use popsicle sticks to build their chassis. I cut my parts out on my table saw and drill press out of plastic or wood, no metal allowed. I even pull my own bodies and make my own decals for that class now. That's the fun of it to me. 


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Jim "Butch" Dunaway 
 
I don't always go the extra mile, but when I do it's because I missed my exit. 
All my life I've strived to keep from becoming a millionaire, so far I've succeeded. 
There are three kinds of people in the world, those that are good at math and those that aren't. 
No matter how big of a hammer you use, you can't pound common sense into stupid people, believe me, I've tried.

2000 Jackasses


#6 havlicek

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Posted 09 July 2019 - 05:32 AM

That would officially kill Retro.

 
Huh? Jesse didn't say the rules should mandate making your own chassis (which would probably be unenforceable), he said more people should be inspired to make their own. I can't even imagine how that would hurt Retro or even slots in general.
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#7 Bill from NH

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Posted 09 July 2019 - 06:21 AM

We race a Formula Ford class around here where some of the guys use popsicle sticks to build their chassis. I cut my parts out on my table saw and drill press out of plastic or wood, no metal allowed. I even pull my own bodies and make my own decals for that class now. That's the fun of it to me.

 
Pappy, can you sometime show some chassis photos for this Formula Ford class? I've seen your body and I'm somewhat familiar with popsicle stick chassis, but I'd like to see what else people are doing with wood & plastic. Has anyone tried 1/16" plywood? I take it motors are RPM limited. Are the tracks voltage limited, too?
Bill Fernald
 
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#8 Pappy

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Posted 09 July 2019 - 08:52 AM

Hi Bill,

 

I sent you a PM, don't want to hijack Pablo's thread.


Jim "Butch" Dunaway 
 
I don't always go the extra mile, but when I do it's because I missed my exit. 
All my life I've strived to keep from becoming a millionaire, so far I've succeeded. 
There are three kinds of people in the world, those that are good at math and those that aren't. 
No matter how big of a hammer you use, you can't pound common sense into stupid people, believe me, I've tried.

2000 Jackasses


#9 Matt Sheldon

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Posted 09 July 2019 - 06:56 PM

Huh? Jesse didn't say the rules should mandate making your own chassis (which would probably be unenforceable), he said more people should be inspired to make their own. I can't even imagine how that would hurt Retro or even slots in general.


John,
 
My reference was towards commercial/name brand chassis references. It is the majority in competitive Retro racing today, like it or not. Yes, people should be inspired, but there is nothing wrong with option B either. If it was based off of solely being a builders class, it would not survive at the level that Retro racing is today.

Case in point would be Jail Door racing. One of my favorite types of chassis. Successful in less than a handful of zip codes with regards to competitive racing.

Matt Sheldon


#10 havlicek

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Posted 09 July 2019 - 07:25 PM

I think it's most likely the case that having both racer-built and built-for-others chassis allows for the most participation. 

In any case, we're taking Pablo's thread sideways.
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#11 NSwanberg

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Posted 10 July 2019 - 01:14 AM

The final truth is total laps.


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#12 havlicek

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Posted 10 July 2019 - 06:05 AM

"No matter where you go, there you are"
                                       -Buckaroo Banzai

I'm glad this thread didn't get preemptively shut down and that it stayed civil. However, I can understand the impulse not to see other people "get into it" and drag-down the overall appearance of this place.

Pablo... keep doing that beautiful "BS" you do so well!
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#13 dalek

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Posted 10 July 2019 - 06:14 AM

The final truth is total laps.


I think what DZ meant was, as far as what a car is capable of, lap times are fact as opposed to theory.
 
As far as total laps, there are a lot of factors that affect it. As we all know, bad luck (other drivers mistakes) can reduce our total laps.
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#14 Cheater

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Posted 10 July 2019 - 07:20 AM

Dale,

You are correct but my tagline says it all, if one references racing instead of qualifying.
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Gregory Wells

Never forget that first place goes to the racer with the MOST laps, not the racer with the FASTEST lap


#15 Pappy

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Posted 10 July 2019 - 07:47 AM

Thus proving, you are a man of vision, Mr. Cheater.  :D


Jim "Butch" Dunaway 
 
I don't always go the extra mile, but when I do it's because I missed my exit. 
All my life I've strived to keep from becoming a millionaire, so far I've succeeded. 
There are three kinds of people in the world, those that are good at math and those that aren't. 
No matter how big of a hammer you use, you can't pound common sense into stupid people, believe me, I've tried.

2000 Jackasses


#16 Rick Moore

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Posted 10 July 2019 - 08:18 AM

An acquaintance of mine (if I had said “friend” some of you might have questioned the validity of this) and I are big fans of the same video series. We are both avidly obnoxious, each in his own way, especially when it comes to talking about the episodes. We’re always looking forward to the next episode or season, which can never come soon enough, with lots of opinions about what might or should happen.

 

The difference is, he watches it on a tablet wearing ear buds, while I watch it on the big plasma with a massive surround system…

 

Uh… What were we talking about?

 

“But it's all part of life's rich pageant, you know?” – Inspector Jacques Clouseau

 

 

(Not sure the analogy here is very applicable in this thread...)


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#17 Rotorranch

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Posted 10 July 2019 - 09:38 AM

... I'm OK - as long as I get to post some famous quotes from the past.

 
One of my favorite quotes "They must be cheating... 'Cause I'm cheating, and they are outrunning me!"
 
Rotor
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#18 Ecurie Martini

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Posted 10 July 2019 - 11:03 AM

I am fortunate to have survived to that stage of life where, if I am competing, I am competing with myself. I build my own chassis because that is what I enjoy doing - not to Pablo's standards but, hopefully, each representing an improvement over the previous one. If the new chassis gives me an edge in competition, say moving from the back of the pack to mid-field, that's a bonus that will instruct future efforts. Aside from a couple of models needed to participate in local classes, the only RTR cars that I have purchased in the last 10 years (three in total) have been "body donors" to be disassembled for parts.
 
Similar thinking governs my choice of prototypes to model, typically with two considerations: Are the dimensions congruent with my ideas of what makes a good runner? Is it a car that I like? - and the latter usually takes precedence over the former. (As an example, I have only one NASCAR model - a 1955 Chrysler 300 - Patto's vacform body and homegrown decals)
 
At the end of the day, it's a hobby, not a calling.
 
EM
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#19 Martin

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Posted 10 July 2019 - 11:22 AM

Surely if there was enough racers you would have an F1-like class, where the rules are you must build your own chassis.

Then you have Indycar and many other classes where all the chassis are factory built. 
 
If your passion is driving and tuning, go for a spec class.
If you love designing building your own design then an F1-style class is your game. Smaller pool would imagine?
Martin Windmill

#20 MSwiss

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Posted 10 July 2019 - 11:31 AM

Having to build your own chassis, is a noble concept, but short of having the racers gather in the morning and being monitored as they built something to be raced later in the day, how could it be proven that the chassis was made by the same person entering/racing it?

Mike Swiss
 
Inventor of the Low CG guide flag 4/20/18
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#21 Cheater

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Posted 10 July 2019 - 11:32 AM

This hobby is wide and broad.


Unfortunately, it is inarguable that only a very few participants see the slot car hobby as the broad and diverse landscape it is. The vast majority only consider the subset they practice as the only kind of slot cars with any 'value' and as the only kind of worthwhile genre of slot cars that exists.
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Gregory Wells

Never forget that first place goes to the racer with the MOST laps, not the racer with the FASTEST lap


#22 Pappy

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Posted 10 July 2019 - 11:46 AM

I disagree, Cheater.

 

Other than wing cars, HO cars, drag cars, flexi cars and vintage cars, I like all slot cars.  :laugh2:


Jim "Butch" Dunaway 
 
I don't always go the extra mile, but when I do it's because I missed my exit. 
All my life I've strived to keep from becoming a millionaire, so far I've succeeded. 
There are three kinds of people in the world, those that are good at math and those that aren't. 
No matter how big of a hammer you use, you can't pound common sense into stupid people, believe me, I've tried.

2000 Jackasses


#23 Martin

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Posted 10 July 2019 - 11:46 AM

You bring up a point, Mike. How many factory chassis manufacturers are there? I was thinking it was easy to spot a factory frame from a custom-built one. I am probably wrong? is there even enough builders that would want this F1 style class?
Martin Windmill

#24 jimht

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Posted 10 July 2019 - 11:54 AM

Percentage-wise there are probably more racers regularly building chassis now than there have ever been before.

 

In times past most tried one or two then moved on and left the grunt work to those that were good at it.

 

As I've said before, it's the ready availability of good kits and many pics on the board that make Retro work.

 

Doesn't much matter how well they work at first, finding out how to make them better now is way easier than building bunches of duds and testing to destruction.


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Jim Honeycutt

 

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#25 MSwiss

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Posted 10 July 2019 - 11:56 AM

I think more people are interested in racing than building.
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Mike Swiss
 
Inventor of the Low CG guide flag 4/20/18
IRRA® Components Committee Chairman
Five-time USRA National Champion (two G7, one G27, two G7 Senior)
Two-time G7 World Champion (1988, 1990), eight G7 main appearances
Eight-time G7 King track single lap world record holder

17B West Ogden Ave., Westmont, IL 60559, (708) 203-8003, mikeswiss86@hotmail.com (also my PayPal address)

Note: Send all USPS packages and mail to: 692 Citadel Drive, Westmont, Illinois 60559






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