47 replies to this topic

[Alan Draht]

I recently acquired this chassis frame.

 

 

 

[Alan Draht]

Need help identifying which vintage components – wheels/ tires, motors, gears, bodies – belong on a Group 15 chassis.

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[Alan Draht]

I did my homework and found this definition of the Group 15 and 15B class on Professor Motor's website:

 

"Gp15 - Originally named for its cost. A Gp15 had to cost under $15.00 ready to run out of the box. The original concept of this box stock class is no longer around in USRA racing. It has melded into a new class of car that remotely resembles its predecessor. The only thing that remains the same is the armature which still retains 29 wraps of 29 gauge wire. More or less. Remember boys and girls, every car is legal until it is proven illegal."

 

This doesn't help me visualize what a vintage Group 15B racing slot car looks like.

[MSwiss]

It would have a Mura C-can, Fass gears, orange tires and an O/S Ferrari body. Someone else can come up with more details.

I never heard of 15B.

When I got back in, in late '81, 15's were just one class, with no hinged side pans.

Those front axles look really skinny.

.032"? I thought everything was .047" or .063".

Bando is on Slotblog.

He can most likely provide more info.

[MSwiss]

PS… His Slotblog handle is YetiSRP.

[Alan Draht]

Thanks for the input, Mike.

 

The front axle is indeed 0.033 inches. What should the front wheels be...  1/2" diameter w/ O-rings for 1/16" axles?

 

I Googled images for Group 15 racing slot cars and basically came up with zilch.

 

Photos would be great.

[Don Weaver]

I believe the "B" references 0.025" pans as shown on the card (A=.032" & C=.040") not a subclass of Group 15 cars.

 

Don

[Alan Draht]

Thanks, Don. I thought it was a coincidence that both "B"s were referenced on the label.

 

Still, I cannot find images of a vintage Group 15 slot car.

[Jaz]

15B was Box Stock. C-can and balanced or unbalanced arm. No shunts, IIRC.

 

15Bs had the full rear axle tube, 15As (Intl15) used pillow blocks by then.

 

Ahhh, the O/s Ferrari...

[Alan Draht]

Yes, I thought I'd read somewhere the Group 15B class definition involved an exact motor type. Thanks for that information, Jeff.

[MSwiss]

15B was Box Stock. C can and balanced or unbalanced arm. No shunts, IIRC.
 
15B's had the full rear axle tube, 15A's (Int15) used pillow blocks by then.
 
Ahhh, the O/s Ferrari.....

No.
 
Boxstock 15 came around later.
 
That could not be a Boxstock chassis with hinged pans.
 

I believe the "B" references 0.025 pans as shown on the card (A=.032 & C=.040) not a sub class of Group 15 cars.
 
Don

No.
 
The text on the card wouldn't of been composed like that.
 
You would have to have 3 different ones, and then there wouldn't be references to the other ones, on each specific card.
 
With Jim B originally being from Ohio, I'm guessing 15B was a Tri-State only class.
 
I do remember they had both a 27A and 27B class.
 

Thanks, Don.  I thought it was a coincidence that both "B"'s were referenced on the label.
 
Still, I cannot find images of a vintage Group 15 slot car.

Try Googling International 15 slotcar, or Parma International 15 slotcar.
 
Below is a pic of my modified 1981 Parma International frame that got be rehooked into slot racing.

[mreibman]

Back in the 1980's, it was "international 15".

 

Powered by a C-can motor with ceramic magnets (we would usually use white dots), bushings in the motor and on the axle, probably 13/16 rear tires (camen orange at our track). and a winged body. The chassis rule was single hinge frame, the example yeti would be illegal, because the pans are hinged 2-ways, I believe. I don't recall if the nose piece was allowed to be steel, that seemed to vacillate.  We were allowed to cut the cans, so we often went nuts on them (Proslot had a c-can that was pre-cut very nicely. I had both that (PS1A) and its predecessor PS1 cans... but usually a Mura.

 

I have 2 camen's from that era, both inside gear chassis. And I have an older chassis that is hinged completely differently that was legal many years earlier, but would have been illegal in this class at that time. If you had a Parma Monorail, it would be typical of the type of chassis we're talking about as legal.

 

My friend Ron Clark held a world record (for an American Orange) with a car he built that was a "plummeter" design. Our track (Not Just for Kids Hobby Center, Morganton NC) and Space Coast Raceway in Cocoa Beach, FL,  flip flopped back and forth for a couple months with the records.

[Alan Draht]

Mike, thanks for posting a photo of your Group15 slot car frame.

 

I Googled "International 15 slot car" and "Parma International 15 slot car" as you suggested but got nothing definitive.

[MSwiss]

Try contacting YetiSRP.

Guys around here are wondering when they are going to see your padlock rails make a pass on my strip.

[Alan Draht]

Try contacting YetiSRP.

Guys around here are wondering when they are going to see your padlock rails make a pass on my strip.

 

I'm getting close.

[Alan Draht]

Back in the 1980's, it was "international 15".

 

Powered by a C-can motor with ceramic magnets (we would usually use white dots), bushings in the motor and on the axle, probably 13/16 rear tires (camen orange at our track). and a winged body. The chassis rule was single hinge frame, the example yeti would be illegal, because the pans are hinged 2-ways, I believe. I don't recall if the nose piece was allowed to be steel, that seemed to vacillate.  We were allowed to cut the cans, so we often went nuts on them (Proslot had a c-can that was pre-cut very nicely. I had both that (PS1A) and its predecessor PS1 cans... but usually a Mura.

 

I have 2 camen's from that era, both inside gear chassis. And I have an older chassis that is hinged completely differently that was legal many years earlier, but would have been illegal in this class at that time. If you had a Parma Monorail, it would be typical of the type of chassis we're talking about as legal.

 

My friend Ron Clark held a world record (for an American Orange) with a car he built that was a "plummeter" design. Our track (Not Just for Kids Hobby Center, Morganton NC) and Space Coast Raceway in Cocoa Beach, FL,  flip flopped back and forth for a couple months with the records.

 

Mike,  Thanks for your detailed input.

 

I am pretty confused about the Group 15 body (Outisight Ferrari body vs. a winged body), and somewhat puzzled by the motors mentioned so far (stock Mura C-can motor vs. ProSlot cut-down C-can motor).

 

I admit that the 1980's era of slot car racing is a blank for me. 

 

I have reached out to member YetiSRP for guidance on building a vintage, though not necessarily legal, race car on this Group 15B frame.

[NJ Racer]

Had to dig this Box 15 out of storage:

 

[MSwiss]

Just to be clear, the chassis in the top pic is not a Boxstock.

It was made before Ray Carlisi's car, possibly by as much as 8-10 years.

[Alan Draht]

Thanks, Ray, for posting a photo of your Group 15 car, which I see features a wing car body.

 

Based on that and Mike's comment above, am I correct in concluding that Group 15 chassis, motors and bodies morphed from "stock" O/S Ferrari bodies and Mura C can motors in the early 1980's to wing cars later in the decade?

[Mbloes]

This is a pic from the 1987 Nats program:

 

Edit:  It looks like the bodies used for these would be the "Mazda", "Lola" and "Aston Martin".

[Alan Draht]

Thanks, Mike, for posting that photo of the 1987 Nationals Int 15 and Box 15 cars.

 

Did the Box 15 car use a stock body like the O/S Ferrari Mike Swiss mentioned or was it a wing body?  The Int 15 car used a wing body, I assume.

[MSwiss]

I meant to post earlier.

The OS Ferrari was a wing car body.

It was the body of choice, in that era, probably up to about 1982 or'83.

[Mbloes]

The O/'S ("outisight") Ferrari is a wing body.  Wing bodies have been the "norm" for pro racing since about 1973.

 

Both of those cars in that pic that I posted would use a wing body.

[Mbloes]

Mike would know more about how the wing bodies evolved through the 80's and 90's (and through now, for that matter).  I only raced scale so wing bodies kind of all look the same to me.

 

In the 70's, the wing bodies still had a pretense of detail though, with exposed stacks, coupes, roadsters, etc.  But that all went away in the 80's.

[Bill Seitz]

I was not active in slot cars for most of the 70s and started again in 1980. Already at that time, Group 15 chassis used a single hinge chassis, plummer only and no floppy pans as has already been mentioned. This Yeti 510 clearly has plummer and floppy hinges, so I would guess it is from an earlier period in the 70s. I have owned 3 Yeti Group 12/15 chassis from the 80s, and these had a semi-circular cutout on the winged nose and only plummer pivots. Should be set for 13/16" (.820) rears. 1/2" fronts, and would likely have run a 3-slot Mura C-can. Information above erroneously states the arms were 29 turns 29 wire; the wind is actually 50 turns 29 which has continued to be used for Group or International 15 and also for Group 12 and C12, although the 12 arms have a shorter stack. USRA specifications for Group 15 arms stated a stack length of .440" min, but I have old Mura 15 arms (also Group 27 C-can) that have almost a .500 long stack (.485 - .495).