121 replies to this topic

[dc-65x]

Beautiful restoration Philippe and thank you for sharing it. Anyone wanting to build a clone now has an beautiful road map to follow. It's amazing how much more one can see in a modern digital picture compared to the fuzzy images in the 50 year old newsletters.

 

For this "inspired by" build I've used the design ideas from two different main event chassis of Bob's. Now it's time to choose the components to finish up the rolling chassis. I'll be choosing period components that I like best from what I have available to me NOW. Luckily most everything I'll be using is listed in the Tech Chart from the California Arco race:

 

 

I've decided on the Mura Team Cukras style A-can motor and will be building it out from a jig motor to a race motor soon..............

 

Gears will be a Cox 34 tooth spur and a French 7 tooth pinion. Yes it's brass and I'd use vintage steel if I had any. But these gears mesh together beautifully:

 

 

Rear wheels and tires are Riggen.  I was going to replace the black rubber but it's still almost fresh and they are the real deal. They probably survived to this day because the black rubber didn't make for as fast a lap time as the colored stuff. But I can't bring myself to rip off these 50 year old survivors:

 

 

Front wheels are RVM. Well, apparently others who would know, say they are a period RVM clone. They are indeed very close except for the slightly rounded edges of the front tires:

 

 

Lead wire will be either Cox Superflex or Marklin train wire:

 

 

Cox guide with Phaze III braid:

 

 

Next up I have a different but period "Korrect" looking method of getting a wobble free guide flag besides melting the hold down screw in place with a soldering iron............. 

[Pablo]

   

[dc-65x]

I came up with a different method of guide flag mounting that eliminates any sloppyness..........but the real reason was it gave me an excuse to make a little doohickey on my hobby lathe. From the bottom it just looks like the washer Bob soldered to his drop arm:

 

 

I left the thing a bit long and opened up a vintage guide spacing washer to fit over it:

 

 

The doohickey is bored to fit the guide post without any wobble and the top and bottom are perfectly flat and parallel. A Cox guide washer and screw now snug down the guide not to the big washer but to the doohickey..........

 

 

...........and the big faux guide washer is just there for the illusion of a typical installation:

 

 

Yes I know, I'm easily amused.  

[TSR]

Rick, beautiful job!
The RVM clones are RehCo products... I have a few sets still in the original packaging. Bob also used Mini Wheels mag fronts on some of his cars. But those are also difficult to find...
The original lead wires were white Champion stuff. If you need some, PM me and I will send you some for this car.
If you need any more detail pics of the car, please let me know I would be happy to help.

 

[tonyp]

If you trim the rubber to the width of the rim on the REH fronts you have RVMs.


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[strummer]

Beautiful restoration Philippe and thank you for sharing it. Anyone wanting to build a clone now has an beautiful road map to follow. It's amazing how much more one can see in a modern digital picture compared to the fuzzy images in the 50 year old newsletters.

 

Lead wire will be either Cox Superflex or Marklin train wire:

 

cox-marklin wire 1.JPG

 

This stuff is WAY over my head, but great craftsmanship is always a fun and useful thing to see.

 

Interesting about the wire: I started using this on my train stuff a few years back:

 

 

...and have found it to be really useful for this hobby as well.

 

It's scary to think that we came up with the same choice... 

 

Mark (also) in Oregon

[dc-65x]

I guess great minds really do think alike Mark.  

 

I'll try the trimming Tony, thanks.

 

Thanks for the offer Philippe.      Since I'm not building a clone I'll use the Cox or Marklin wire and save your offer for the Champion in case I do clone something that needs it.

 

Here's the rolling chassis:

 

 

Hey, there's a body mounted...........what is that?     It sure is low and swoopy  

 

[Half Fast]

That body fits like a (tight) glove!

 

Stay Sane

[Jay Guard]

Looks like an Elfin ME5 Can-Am body to me, one of my all time favorites.

 

I ran one of these in the 1969 Tampa Arco race at Stan's Hobbies.

[tonyp]

That was the hot East coast body for about 6 weeks.


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[dc-65x]

Boy that didn't take long. I can't fool you guys. 

 

 

This body has been pure unobtainium at least for me.

 

 

I was sweating bullets trimming and mounting it. If I slipped I couldn't just pick up another one at the local raceway.

 

 

I love the thing  

 

 

 

I don't know what the "M-W Elfin" is in the California Arco tech chart is but Russkit Elfin's are listed in race report tech charts both before and after the Arco race.

 

[Don Weaver]

Oh dear lord that is pretty    ...

 

Don

[Jay Guard]

Maybe M-W stands for Mini-Wheels, but I have no idea if they ever made an Elfin body.

[tonyp]

Mini wheels never made bodies themselves but repackaged them. I’m not sure if they just OEM’ed them from Russkit.


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[TSR]

Tony, not so sure about that because we have at the LASCM, Mini Wheels bodies of the McLaren M8 and Elfin that are copies of the Dynamic and Russkit bodies, but of lesser quality and a bit of cold pulls. So somehow, someone was making back pours for them? Maybe Noose knows as we also have a couple of them he painted in the day. If I recall correctly, they do have a logo on their back below the trim line (M-W). Not going to be able to take pics for a while I am afraid, but as soon as this mess will be over, I will.

[tonyp]

I wouldn’t put it past Tag to back pour someone else’s work. Possibly waters made them, as I know that’s were their Lola came from and the Waters Mclaren was the hot body after the Elfin. They also raced a lot at MWs and occasionally at Nutley.

[TSR]

Tony, the M-W bodies I have seen look very similar in their quality ("cold pull") and finish to the Charlie Waters bodies, so you might have something here.

As far as the Emott's California Arco car, it had a Dynamic Lola T160 body as per the race chart, and I was astounded when i was offered that original body with perfectly matching mounting holes no less than 10 years after we made the deal in your office with Bob. Apparently that as well as a few other goodies, was in his basement, and the bodies and parts were discovered minutes before the house in Florham Park was leveled... and luckily offered to me by the person who scrounged them. Beside others was an unused, unmounted, dark blue, Noose painted Mini Wheels McLaren M8, with Chris Vitucci's name on it.
 

[dc-65x]

Before I start the painting process on the Elfin body I need to paint the Mura can and finish up the motor. I want the iconic and much loved "Playboy Pink" - "Team Cukras" style motor like the one below. Which, of course, I don't have:  

 

 

First step is to find the right color. It's pink right? No problem I just buy some pink spray paint. Wrong. Somehow in our modern age along with political correctness the color pink has morphed into shades that are either too light or too dark or just plain wrong:

 

 

Finally I stumbled onto Ironlak brand in a shade called "delicious"     and available from Hobby Lobby:

 

 

Here's an original pink Mura can on the left and my version on the right:

 

 

Pretty close match. I tinned the can where it will be soldered to the chassis and masked it off before painting. Something PdL taught me. 

 

 

The Mura .015" semi can, Versitec magnets and Certus top and bottom magnet shims ready to go:

 

 

The end bell is already finished. Now I've got to dig up and salvage an armature.........

[Tim Wilkins]

Q.  Was the flower decal sticker used on the Mura pink Can prior to the Cukras sticker?

[dc-65x]

I don't know Tim. Was a pink can used prior to the Cukras motor? Here's a link to my buddy Martin's Cukras motor thread for some inside info on it:

 

http://slotblog.net/...er-power-motor/

[Jairus]

The pink looks good in my eyes Rick!
Nailed it.

[slotcarone]

The very first East Coast Retro race at Zeppelin the yellow body I ran was a NOS Mini Wheels. Still had the MW on the back.

[dc-65x]

Here's a small group of arms I found that look promising. These arms have thin laminations, fiber insulators on the stack ends, welded and wrapped comm wires and of course the Mura style flat bottom balancing holes.

 

I'm using the one second from the left:

 

 

It's a single wind and the wire appeared to me to be a bit smaller than the biggest wire arm of the bunch. Maybe it's a S25 but it's anyone's guess:

 

 

It had a comm that looked like it needed very little material removed in reconditioning. New comms are about .202". This one was previously cut by who knows who and measured .190". It just needed a "fuzz cut" to freshen it:

 

 

Motor assembly and testing time............

 

 

[dc-65x]

The motor is finished:

 

 

It's by no means any kind of killer build like Bill Steube Sr. but I do my best to use good components with careful alignment and assembly:

 

 

 

Those Cukras brush springs are pretty heavy. I've used my "invisible" spring insulation and tucked the shunt wires neatly out of the way:

 

 

I love the way these Mura's look with the holes in the can revealing the semi can with holes showing the unique flat bottom balancing holes:

 

 

Time to get this motor in it's chassis..........

[Pablo]

Pink Screamer