26 replies to this topic

[Slot Car Rod]

During the 60's, 1/32nd scale slot car club racing was big in the Mid-west.  I have been fascinated with the Mid-west club car construction, and not much has been documented in the slot car magazines.  Some of the features unique to the Mid-west club cars are the pin guides and the self-steering front end.  I have three other Mid-west 1/32nd scale cars, but none with self steering.

 

This car represents the Mid-west club racing scene.  It was made by Bob Von Stowver, and was purchased from nomad2race, who acquired the car from the Von Stowver estate.  

 

Pin Guide

 

The pin guide works great on the twisty, small radius Mid-west club tracks.  The February '69 issue of Model Car & Science has plans for a Jose Rodriguez Jr. pin guide chassis, and the May '68 Model Car & Science shows a Roy Moody pin guide sidewinder car on page 47.

 

 

Self-steering Front End
 

The self-steering front end is covered in the July '68 issue of Model Car & Science, in a build article by Robert Schleicher entitled, "The Latest in 1/32 Chassis."  Here is how Robert describes how the self steering works:

 

    "The chassis main point of interest is the self-steering front end, a purely Midwest creation.  The wheels are pivoted at or near their center line to "caster" like 

    the wheel on those one-wheeled trailers you see in real life.  This reduces the amount of friction in the corners as each wheel automatically finds its own path

    of least resistance, taking much of the deslotting strain away from the guide shoe." (or pin)

 

The May '68 issue of Model Car & Science shows a Glen Seeger self-steering chassis.

 

Restoring the Von Stowver Car

 

The chassis on the Von Stowver car is constructed with stainless steel rails and pan pieces.  I replaced the rusty floppy pan hinges (no easy feat).  The B-can motor is removable with three screws.  The pickup brushes are held in place with the body of a jet flag.  The pin is nylon, which I lowered to be deeper in the slot.

I cut down the original rear tires for 1/16" rear clearance.  The front of the chassis was constructed for around .047" front clearance.

 

The car came with a badly-damaged Russkit brand silver Cro-Sal Oldsmobile body mounted to the chassis.  It also came with a replacement Russkit clear body that I painted with Testors orange enamel.  The rear track was narrowed and the wheels/tires were narrowed so they would fit under the replacement body.

 

Rodney

 

 

Front wheels swing out in turns (as shown).  Rear tires/wheels were narrowed to fit the replacement Russkit body.

 

B-can motor.  The motor has a mild armature.  Heavy brush springs were replaced with light Mura springs to reduce braking.  Endbell hardware was cut down so rear track width could be reduced.  Stainless steel chassis.  Pin guide.  Self-steering front wheels.

 

The motor is removable with three screws.

 

 

 

 

 

1/32 and 1/24

[Isaac S.]

Will you show your 3 other midwest cars please? 

[Slot Car Rod]

Thanks, Mike Swiss, for sharing the Mid-west cars.  Isaac, here are a few more.  The Cobra and Porsche were posted previously.  I have a couple more cars from the Mid-west with guides stored somewhere.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Isaac S.]

The other chassis is cool. The extra pictures of the Porsche are helpful. Thanks. 

[Slot Car Rod]

More pictures of the Porsche 917 PA Spyder.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MattD]

Thanks Rodney.

[Alchemist]

These to me, are very cool cars!

 

Thanks for sharing Rodney!

 

Ernie

[Slot Car Rod]

Thanks, Ernie.  Here is my take on 1/32nd Mid-west cars.  I built this one around 1970.  It features a Taylormade Porsche 917 body.  The chassis has front-wheel steering, and the front half of the car drops with the drop arm.  Floppy pans have lots of movement.  The plywood tracks back then were far from smooth, and all of the hinges allowed this small car to glide over the bumps.  Handling was great.  You could almost floor it through the "S" turns.  The mild motor is a modified Mabuchi 16D.  The car originally had different rear wheels with sponge tires.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mr. M]

How does the steering work? There is a lot going on up there!

[Slot Car Rod]

The wheels are mounted on spindles, and the spindles follow the turning of the guide.  The car has been run a lot, and the front end has held up well.

 

Steering tie-rods up front and a center pivot mounted off of the guide post.  Right turn.

 

Center.

 

Left turn.

[Alchemist]

Hi Rodney,

 

What is the thickness of the chassis please?

 

The chassis' look "robust!"

 

Thank you.

 

Ernie

[Slot Car Rod]

Porsche #1 is .032".  Porsche #0 is.042".  Car #66 is .063".  The Cobra is .065"

[Slot Car Rod]

Thanks to Rick Thigpen, I found information on the builder of the Cro-Sal and the type of Mid-west tracks it was built for.  The twisty tracks have short straights.  I guess this is why when Mid-west cars are entered in proxy races, they seem underpowered.  Great handling is a priority for the twisty tracks with small radius turns.

 

The Cro-Sal was built by Bob Von Stowver, and below are pictures of Bob and his track located in Oak Lawn, Illinois.  (more on this car at the beginning of this topic)

 

The car is really fast, and was built for twisty club tracks.  Lap times were as fast as any car on my home track.  The pin guide and swing out front wheels allow the car to rotate fast for the small radius turns found on club tracks.  I was surprised at how well the car works with its original silicone tires.  No hopping, and the tail of the car slightly drifts out when powering out of the turns.

 

Running the Cro-Sal on the home track.

 

Bob Von Stowver, Car Model Magazine October 1964 page 18.

 

The road course.

 

Layout of Bob's track.

[ajd350]

What page can I find these pics? I went through this issue and can't find them. I remember going with my Dad to this shop in Oak Lawn, IL. It was probably where he and Bob first met, leading to racing together in the club racing scene. Bob was a regular at our house for club races. I have a number of cars that were raced during those events from the 60s and have been restoring what had been cannibalized as best I can get them. Some of the exact parts are hard to come by.

[Slot Car Rod]

Al, I got the issue wrong.  Try Car Model October 1964 page 18.  Like to see your cars.

 

Another picture of the road course at Oak Lawn, Illinois

[Alchemist]

Thank you for the specs on the chassis Rodney!

 

I appreciate it.

 

Thanks again.

 

Ernie

[Slot Car Rod]

Your welcome Ernie.

 

Here are a few more pictures from Car Model of Oak Lawn.  Last one is the drag strip.

 

 

 

 

[ajd350]

Aahhh the drag strip. Dad built a 40 ford coupe with a brass chassis and Wilson motor. He made several runs starting at 12 volts, then stepping up 12 volts at a time. At 36 volts the Wilson pooped it's pants and the gasser never ran again. 

 

Here are a few original cars that ran the MMARC circuit. The early two were just cleaned up and missing parts were sourced, right down to the BuzCo rear wheels with Veco sponge rubber on the Lister. Fortunately, my obsession as a kid with these cars let me recall how they were 50+ years ago in pretty good detail. The Mark IV was a bit less so, given the missing body, wheels/tires, axle carrier and plexi block, so I just used some of the other cars I have as exemplars of similar builds. I deemed the NOS Lancer body worthy for the project. If you like these I have a bunch more.

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[Slot Car Rod]

Al, very nice.  More please.

[dc-65x]

All the cars in this thread are very cool. And the angle winder 26D Ford Mk4 is a really something.

Thanks to everyone for posting these great cars.

[Isaac S.]

All very good. We would love to see more. I really like the 26D GT40, the almost stock armature is interesting. Would have expected at least a mild rewind, but a stock 26D probably had plenty of power for that small track. I love seeing these because they weren’t shown in most publications and I’m just used to cars built for large commercial tracks.

P.S. thanks Rick and Rodney for those great pictures.

[ajd350]

More...

In reverse order, the Chaparral 2F was in a similar disrepair as the Mark IV and sharing a similar design. Wood mount blocks were common as was painting outside the bodies. When the chassis was done the 2F body was the only one that matched up the wheelbase with the chassis. The Cobra is still as last raced over 55 years ago, as is the Mustang. Note the Dynamic motor pod used. I believe this was the last of the inline chassis before the anglewinder took over.

 

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[Slot Car Rod]

Thanks Al.  All are very cool.  What a variety of motors.  The Bonner powered car fits right in with the magazine article.

[Bill from NH]

All very good. We would love to see more. I really like the 26D GT40, the almost stock armature is interesting. Would have expected at least a mild rewind, but a stock 26D probably had plenty of power for that small track. I love seeing these because they weren’t shown in most publications and I’m just used to cars built for large commercial tracks.
 

Isaac, I saw many stock 26D motors raced in the late 60s from 67-69..They were the best $3 motor available at that time,  People would run them until they wouldn't run anymore. That fact, plus Mabuchi making fewer of them than 16Ds is why good 26D stuff is so expensive today. The first commercial race series I was in during 1967, I finished 3rd. Fist was a 707 in a Champion chassis, 2nd was a Classic 26D in a cast Dynamic chassis.  . .

[ajd350]

Many of the 1/32 26Ds were either stock or mild dewinds and/or balanced. They didn't need more power on those tight tracks. It just would have made them harder to drive.