173 replies to this topic

[Pablo]

"Hey Bunky, I wonder if 13/16 Briggs Jig wheels will provide 1/16 clearance with 15/16 wheels on my RGeo jig?" No way, he says, "Apples and Oranges don't mix". So I showed him the math and with a scowled face he retreated back to his trailer  

 

 

Rear axle setup is ready for tack soldering the bracket in place. Jig motor is ready, and I'm setting my jig pins to mimic Capt. Rick's tapered setup. It's approximate because my jig is a different version, and I'm learning Rick moves his .063 pin alignment wires around as needed

 

 

 

[Bill from NH]

Briggs jig wheels don't have any chassis to track clearance build into them. The clearance is built into the jig itself. The actual jig wheel sizes are 3/4" & 13/16". This is the only chassis jig I've seen that had clearance built in.

[Pablo]

Are you speaking to me? Or Bunky? I've built more vintage chassis on Chris Brigg's chassis than any man alive. I hope you aren't trying to micro-manage me again 

[Pablo]

Just copying dc-65x with a bracket face doubler here. I found an old weird 26D bracket with the spring gizmos - the one where somebody thought it smart to allow the rear axle to move up and down, "suspending" the rear wheels. I guess they didn't consider what that would do to the gear mesh 

 

So I sliced off the part I need - the face. Sides, springs, and bits went to the recycle bin 

 

 

Trimmed, flattened, and aligned the doubler with slightly oversized screws, then tacked using mini-alligator clips

 

 

Screws removed and floated the works little by little. Now all I need to do is trim, true, and clean

 

[SpeedyNH]

cool. 

[Pablo]

My "arm guy" is custom winding a 26D masterpiece to the following specifications:

 

-OD about .590 and stack length about .470 (same as stock)

-Wire size 29 or 30. # of turns is up to the expert

-About 20 degrees or less timing

-In house blade balancing

-Mags will be zapped in can

-.200-ish commutator

 

Jig setup is complete, ready to lay rails. My choice of size for the "Big" outer rails is .081 rod, en-route from Professor Motor. The .063 wire "goal posts" and the X-Acto straightedge helped align the motor and bracket as true as possible for tacking the tube in place

 

[Pablo]

Three brass rods each side tapered inward just like dc-65x showed. .081 brass rods arrived from Professor Motor. First one I pulled from the blister pack was straight as an arrow 

 

[Pablo]

Jesse James (custom car builder) said there is only one way to learn to bend pipe, and that's to ruin a lot of pipe. I had a steep learning curve today working with .081" OD brass rod. It's harder to cut, burns your fingers, bending points are different, etc. 

 

Good thing the pack came with three 12" lengths, because I ruined almost all of it before achieving success. My "Big" rails are ready. They tilt inward at the rear and are straight up in front. Pretty much just like dc-65x   

 

[dc-65x]

Looking good Pablo. I've ruined so much wire and rod K&S Metals should give me a share of the company.  

[Pablo]

Running out of it concerns me more than anything. The shipping kills me 

 

My notches are done, filed down to about .060 and tacked on

 

[Pablo]

Body management tubes n rods left long to be trimmed later, outer rods set at 2 7/8", jig blocks n wheels removed 

 

 

"U" bracket brace done, pin tubes and rear axle tube trimmed

 

 

Drop arm hinge done

 

 

 

 

 

[Pablo]

Russkit 704 slant guide flag arrived, brand new and perfect. Braid mikes at .022, shaft angle is 10 degrees, and GL will be 5/8"

 

[Pablo]

This drop arm requires some thought to get right. I don't know why Russkit marketed a 10 degree shaft slant flag, nor why the pro's used this part in a race car. But it's what I have to work with. A 10 degree shaft angle plus a degree of natural tilt for better handling is 11 degrees, so that is my goal.

 

dc-65x said he used a pair of .063 X 1/4" brass strips to center the flag in the jig so I made a pair of them and "tacked" them to the flag with a micro-thin film of CA. Shaft tube is about .20 long and this is going to be tricky - too long and the shaft will conflict with the body

 

[old & gray]

A. This drop arm requires some thought to get right. I don't know why Russkit marketed a 10 degree shaft slant flag, nor why the pro's used this part in a race car. But it's what I have to work with. A 10 degree shaft angle plus a degree of natural tilt for better handling is 11 degrees, so that is my goal.

 

B. dc-65x said he used a pair of .063 X 1/4" brass strips to center the flag in the jig so I made a pair of them and "tacked" them to the flag with a micro-thin film of CA. Shaft tube is about .20 long and this is going to be tricky - too long and the shaft will conflict with the body

 

B. Clever very clever.

 

A. I remember these guides. At the time it seemed like a good idea, a very short time.

 

Very nice looking build.

[Pablo]

Thanks Bob 

 

A buddy told me these flags are not heat or acid tolerant. Instant pitting, just like a Tradeship endbell, no matter how fast you run to the sink and wash it. So I got smart and made a correction before starting to solder a drop arm - removed the shims from the good new flag, cleaned off the slivers of CA, and re-glued them onto a nasty ol' jig flag of same type

 

 

It's the long version, but it matters not - it's only job will be to get the tube set at the proper angle, GL, and height. I secured it to the jig with microdots of CA

 

 

Outer and inner rods were bent around 3/16 and 9/64 drill bits (using my meaty fingers) to make the proper curves. Sharpie marks are the upward bend points, right at the center of the axle. Tacked and ready to "get bent" in a vice

 

 

 

[Pablo]

dc-65x gave his drop arm a mile of drop so I did the same 

 

[dc-65x]

Looking good Pablo.  

 

The old R&C series cars usually had lots of drop arm travel. Probably because of the rough and bumpy old tracks.

 

Look at how much travel Morrissey has in this chassis:  

 

[Pablo]

Thanks Rick. 

 

Yup, back in the day there was no attention to detail with lead wires as far as flag centering on a deslot. The marshal picked the car up, looked at the flag, then placed it back in the slot. At some point it all changed for the better, in the name of speed.

 

Uncharted territory - I've never done this before. Thanks to Capt. Rick for his tutorial and photos - without that, none of this would be possible for me. He paved the road, I'm just enjoying the ride 

 

The Russkit flag is a strange bird. The lead wires attach directly to the braids, and a flag piece gizmo up front screws into the main part of the flag, squishing the braid in place. I tinned the braid ends and wires with paste flux, then soldered the lead wires on

 

 

[Pablo]

My smart Slotblog source tells me the Russkit braid is hard as nails and sucks. So I made a second set of wires soldered to thinner and more supple braid. The owner can use whichever he chooses and use them as tuning devices. These are about 12 thou thick

 

 

Time to fiddle with clearances, wheel fine tuning, lead wires, flag spacing, etc. One Chicagoland .032 spacer under the flag does the trick (for now). The flag screw up front needs to be shaved down a hair on the bottom. Easy day. 

 

Front wheel OD's need to be reduced just a tad. Otherwise everything meets my OCD standards so far LOL

 

[Rotorranch]

I never really understood the thinking behind Russkit's "Slant Guides".  I've got a few of them in my stuff, but never had one on a car.    

 

Rotor

[old & gray]

I never really understood the thinking behind Russkit's "Slant Guides".  I've got a few of them in my stuff, but never had one on a car.    

 

Rotor

 

Grind, creak, grind, Engaging old memory drive.

 

"Braids on guide flags are lifting the blade out of the slot. Our new 10 degree flag will put more of the blade in the slot at the front where it will keep you in longer."

[Pablo]

LOL I'd like to see a car with 10 degrees of forward tilt without having a tilted tongue/tube - it seems to be a recipe for failure 

 

Custom arm and my setup arrived from Havlicek today. 57 turns of 29, 20 degrees of timing. Absolute perfection, and he added a set of custom wound springs special designed for this motor. Can't wait to assemble it 

 

 

Hurricane IDA has distracted me somewhat. The eye is forecast to land a long way to my west, so I'm riding this one out. Max wind speeds in my location are predicted to be < 40 mph, with a surge of 4-7 feet. I live upstairs so I'm staying. JoJo and I are excellent swimmers LOL I do plan to move my car, however.

 

If power goes out I may not post for a while but don't worry. If the wind speed forecasts climb to 45 or 50, I'm outta here. So far that is my decision    

[Martin]

Just looked up Ida on a weather channel. 

 

Sorry you have to deal with this every year, hope you get to stay and work on this build.

 

Stay safe, thinking of you.

[Bill from NH]

The Gulf get annual hurricanes just like CA gets annual forest fires. The big difference is man can't control where the hurricanes go. New England had hurricane Henri last week, our first in 30 yrs.

[Pablo]

Thanks Martin. No need to feel sorry for me, I've lived in this area for 21 years now, well trained in weather and I make smart decisions. Came out of Hurricane Katrina smelling like a rose. 

 

The ones you need to pray for are New Orleans, Baton Rouge, etc. Sometimes the worst damage occurs well away from landfall on the coast, even as far away as Atlanta.

 

The biggest problems today have been freeway accidents involving towing boats, which creates problems for evacuees just trying to leave the area.