20 replies to this topic

[mdiv]

Hello all,
As you all know over the last year, maybe more, I've been looking for some vintage late-70's, early 80's vintage motors in the swap shop.
 
A few years ago, Capt. Rick Thigpen, dc-65x did a restoration project on racer Ray Kallio, and another gentleman posted some photos of other chassis ray built and I immediately fell in love with one in particular, this one here (shamelessly stolen from Rick's thread!):
 

 
I immediately fell in love, and I knew I wanted something similar to add to my collection, so I started hunting for parts.  I found a vintage pre-cut Camen steel center section on eBay, I picked up a Camen RM640 setup and open arm from a fellow slotblogger, and came across some front wheels somewhere else.  I had a Truescale McLaren body sitting that I was doing nothing with, so I thought, "why not?"  
 
After having those basic parts, I searched high and low for someone to build the chassis, with nothing more as a reference than the above picture.  I got in touch with Dennis Samson, gascarnut here on SlotBlog, and he said he would undertake the job, along with some other projects I sent his way.
 
Dennis is amazing!   Not only did he build the motor, build the chassis to picture-perfect accuracy, he painted the body and made me feel like a champ! 
 
Here are some quick pictures.  As we all know the body is a little early for the era, but I couldn't come up with an early Wing Car body that would fit the bill, so the McLaren would have to do.  It drives like a dream, and Dennis is really great to work with - he supplied a bunch of extra parts I was missing and is a top-notch builder and painter!  I can't recommend him enough to anyone else looking for some work to be done...the man is a Renaissance man!
 
Here's the pics:
 
Bottom view chassis:
 

 
Top view body:
 

 

 
More to come later.......
 
Mike D

[Dave Crevie]

Nicely done!

[Tim Neja]

Absolutely BEAUTIFUL!! Dennis is a master craftsman at building nearly anything!! Slot cars are is long term  passion but he also raced RC cars --- I've learned a lot from him about building over the years!  Great work Dennis!!

[Half Fast]

Mr Picky says: It's Ray Kallio not Kalilo.
(fixed-mod)

Nevertheless, a great tribute car
 
Cheers

[Bill from NH]

Mikey, Ray used to come up to C&C Raceway in Coventry, CT when I raced in their monthly wing races in the 70's. Dennis does good work!

[mdiv]

Thank you guys, Bill B. for the correct spelling and -mod for the fix, I seem to always mess up his last name...the same thing happens to me...

 

Bill F. that's totally cool!

 

And yes Tim and others Dennis is fantastic...I'll get a top pic with the body off in a few and try to get some pics of the two pre-add cars that he did for me.

 

Mikey D

[mdiv]

Here are the top-views with the body taken off:

 

 

 

 

 

Mikey

[Phil Donaldson]

Hey Mike

 

If you still need a body I believe I can help you out.I have probably 200 or so clear wing car bodies from the '70s to the '90's.Let me know what you might be looking for.

 

Phil

[MSwiss]

NIce car.

 

Iconic body, from that era, would be the O/S Ferrari.

[mdiv]

Hi Phil, thank you for the offer, and Mike for the kudos and info...I'll shoot you a PM, Phil.

 

Mike D

[Half Fast]

That era with the transition from plumbers nightmare cars to perimeters is quite interesting!

 

Mike DiV your devotion to this project is commendable, I wondered why you were so insistent on getting the correct motor.

 

Cheers

[Bill from NH]

I think the Ferrari was O/S first body & numbered either 01 or 001. I ran them from the mid-70's to the early 80's in both Grp. 20 & opens.. 

[Jaz]

Hi
The Kallio chassis was mine. Sent to Rick and he did a great restoration.
I used it from 85 to 90 at Elmsfords Nuvolari track, exclusively.
Motors used were(in order):
Proslot Hex
Camen Rm640u
Fantom
Alpha

Bodies used:
Camen Lancia
Camen Corvette

Any other questions?

[NJ Racer]

The Camen Lancia handled great in G27 at Elmsford on the Nuvolari for us locals. Wish I could find a couple NOS for a restoration project.

[NY Nick]

Nice car, I have a new painted Camen vette if you want it?

[mdiv]

Thanks again all!

Bill B. - I appreciate the kudos.  The steel center section from ebay really made it go from, "eh, project in a box" to, "ok, let's do this!"

 

NH Bill - that's great to know!  Luckily for me, Phil has the body and is kind enough to send one my way!  Thank you, Phil!

 

Jeff - it was that article of Rick's that inspired this whole thing - and great info, thank you for that as well!

 

Ray - go for it!  See you end of the month?

 

Nick - Thanks, and you rock for hooking me up with the motor!  It really makes it a true replica!

 

Mike D

[Mr. M]

Not to be picky, but by this time with the lifter cars, they were full height wing side dams running the length of the body and full height rear spoiler. This will be a handful with the minimal wing body.

[mdiv]

Hi Chris,

 

You are correct, it is quite the handful as-is.  Luckily for me, Phil is sending me a clear O/S Ferrari.  Just gotta find someone local to paint and kit it.

 

Would love to see some folks' in-era wing bodies if they still got em floating around!

Mike D

[Mr. M]

I remember 0.007 rear wings for 27s and 0.010 for opens. Side dams were 0.005 with some using 0.007. Side dam stick tape ran the full length. Staples were used with 2 on the front side and one on the side behind the rear wheel opening. The rear deck was pretty stiff with tape on the inside and sometimes on top too to keep the rear deck from collapsing. Tape ran on the leading edge of the wing and up the side dam above the rear wheel opening at the back of the body. Bodies were 0.007. The front wheel opening was clear.

[SpeedyNH]

i threw away all my old wing car bodies but I still have some aero kits left.

[Phil Donaldson]

The Camen Lancia handled great in G27 at Elmsford on the Nuvolari for us locals. Wish I could find a couple NOS for a restoration project.

Ray

 

I know it's been a few months since this was posted,I recently got several NOS Lancia's.PM me if you still need some.

 

Phil