88 replies to this topic

[Pablo]

Larry and Steve, both excellent posts with great questions and info. I have thought about these issues for years.

Danny Zona says it best - "Lap times are the only truth. Everything else is just theory"

 

I'm just copying the masters, and right now I'm in uncharted territory building a little tiny drag funny car 

Which I have zero experience with    But I'm trying .........

 

 

 

 

[Alchemist]

 

I'm just copying the masters, and right now I'm in uncharted territory building a little tiny drag funny car  

Which I have zero experience with     But I'm trying .........

 

An admirable effort Pablo!

 

I'm sure it'll run very well as well as looking good at the same time!

 

Can't get any cooler than that!

 

Ernie

[Dan Searcy]

Just curious.  Are you going to add wheelie bars?  If the motor is powerful, you may need them to keep the car from just popping out of the slot.

[Pablo]

Yes of course, similar to the ones on the Gangster Caddy. Maybe even better 

 

The twin 3/32 square tube body mounts will have .050 - 2 3/8" long steel tubes rattling inside.

The rear square tube is a few thou shorter than the forward, allowing the rear to be slightly more wiggy-waggy than the front 

 

 

More bracing added to the tube. Motor and gear installed just long enough to make the "U" brace.

As long as I'm slathering acid on the motor, I tinned the wire tabs, left rail attachment area, and permanently soldered the "U" brace

 

 

Motor, gear, and chassis now get a bath 

[Pablo]

Guide lead measurement still TBD but it will be a standard "chunk and tongue" arrangement.

The next step all depends on where I go with the wheelie bars and front wheels.

 

I have been thinking of a way to utilize wheelie bar forces to influence the front wheels.

Chances are it won't work. But who knows? 

 

 

[Pablo]

I gave some thought to my "wheelie bar influencing the front wheel" concept and still think it's an interesting idea.

But it would involve some complexity I'm not willing to use on a 3" wheelbase mini-car   So I'll go with what I know.

 

.039 wires govern ball bearing wheels. Is the assembly overbuilt? Probably. The motor has so much HP it won't notice.

I haven't had a proxy car fail yet and now isn't the time to start 

 

 

Guide lead will be zero. Flag is a (blueprinted) thin Parma with the blade shortened in front. Collar is a Chicagoland.

Tongue is .032 steel. Chunk will be .032 brass sheet .615 long X 1" wide. That is where the lead weight will go

 

[Pablo]

.032 front chunk in place. Front wheel assembly consists of independent .063 brass rods soldered to the tops of the body mount square tubes. This design will enable bending the axles to fine-tune the front wheel heights.

 

The wheelie bar axle can be adjusted in the same manner by bending the .039 wires.

I marked the points where the bends should take place with blue tape 

 

[Pablo]

Chassis complete. I think a tumble on this little guy would be overkill, so I just hand scrubbed it with SOS/Dawn/Baking soda.

Followed by a WD-40 soak and oiling all moving parts as standard procedure 

 

 

[Pablo]

Axle cut to proper length. Spur goes on with one thin Slick 7 steel spacer. I test spin the axle and she spins super free.

That tells me everything is aligned and clean. But the gear continually ends up set screw down. Imbalance caused by too heavy of a set screw.

 

 

Easy fix - switch to a short hollow screw

 

 

Problem solved, the balance is much better. This is the kind of attention to detail that makes a car happy  

 

 

[Pablo]

Peanut installed. For those who consider slot cars "toys", take a good look - a lot of really smart men put their heads and hearts into these parts. I simply assembled them 

 

[SpeedyNH]

we used to balance our rear ends in G7 and euro on a magnetic fixture designed for RC propellers. and you're right- it's amazing what a difference the hollow setscrews can make. good catch. 

[Pablo]

Thanks, Speedy   Most modern rear wheels and gears are well balanced. Some are not. The magnetic gizmo taught me which ones need a set screw swap to improve them.

 

TQ wires attached to brass clips. Modified Parma flag held by vintage Duffy weight, shined up and ready for battle.

Time to experiment with forward weighting. My goal is a balance point midway between the axles

 

[Pablo]

I soaked .032 and .063 lead weights in lacquer thinner to remove the self stick glue. 

First layer of weight is a piece of .032 lead JB Welded to the chunk. It ain't pretty but it's just a shim to make things level

 

 

Followed by a twin layer of .063 contact cemented lead. Then a Team Associated iron weight attached via double sided wing tape

 

 

Now the balance point is approx. midway between the axles. I'm just guessing, and hope it's right 

[Pablo]

I have decided on a paint scheme for my Mini Cooper - "Talladega Nights" Chevelle

 

 

[Martin]

Love this color combo.   I am having problems with color combos at the moment.

[Pablo]

All 6 wheels on. Wheelie O-rings secured with a thin bead of CA.

Looks to me like I nailed flag spacing and clearance 

 

Drivetrain test scares me      No problems 

 

 

 

 

 

[Larry Horner]

Stunning Pablo ... it looks fast just standing still! I think the zero space guide is exceptionally cool. But what ... no Pablo Plaque? 

[Bill from NH]

  Larry, I couldn't convince him to get an engraver!   

[Pablo]

Thanks Larry. I actually ran out of "Pablo"s. The guy who did them for me has disappeared.

So I found a place online who is currently doing a bunch more, and they will actually cut the pieces for me   

[Larry Horner]

Thanks goodness! For a second there I was feeling a disturbance in the force...

[Pablo]

Larry, if I started hand engraving them that would be truly disturbing LOL

 

To pin the body, I made a pair of .063 tubes same length as the .050 steel ones.

That way I won't have to chase moving targets with the harpoon 

 

 

Pinning complete. My plan of giving a little more wiggle to the rear than the front works nice.

Or at least, here at The Ranch it looks good 

 

 

I marked the center of the wheelie bar axle so the proxy staging crew has a visual reference to center the rear end 

 

 

Trimming and pinning complete, now the body goes to Noose for a "Talladega Nights" paint job    

[Pablo]

Stunning Pablo ...  But what ... no Pablo Plaque? 

 

Here ya go. This time, my trophy guy actually cut them for me with a shear.

No more fumbling with scissors then having to flatten and square them up 

 

[nomad2race]

Wonderful!  

 

This is exactly the what I hoped to see for the World Challenge! 

 

Looking forward to making the videos of this car in action! 

 

Thank-you, Pablo!

 

[Pablo]

Noose paint 

 

 

 

[Bill from NH]

Smokey Yunick will be rolling in his grave laughing when he sees that paint job! Nice looking car Pablo.