20 replies to this topic

[Slot Car Rod]

Victor sent me a Roger Moon MESAC Camaro to restore.  Roger told Victor he really enjoyed racing this Camaro.  Roger says this slot car was built with an AMT custom Camaro kit (customized by Gene Winfield).  The body was originally built by MESAC member Ron Von Klein; hence the car number 9 is used.

Thanks, Victor.  On with the restoration.

 

 

 

  

 

[dc-65x]

Hi Rodney,

 

This is an awesome car and a very cool project. Of course everything MESAC is VERY COOL!   

 

Glad you showed lots of "before" pictures Rodney. This car needs lots of love and when you bring it back to life it will be a real testament to your restoration skills.  

 

Thanks for sharing. 

[Don Weaver]

Rick,

 

It's going to need a pair of your special MESAC fronts  ...

 

Don

[Mark Onofri]

Can't get enough of these. I ran out of fingers counting hinge(s)and directions of movement.
Were hard bodies the original norm or the exception to the rule?

[Slot Car Rod]

Cracks were repaired and the body was sanded.  The missing side scoop will be replaced with one made of sheet styrene.

MESAC Trans Am cars were hardbody.  Most of the other classes used vacuform bodies.

 

The chassis was cleaned.  Broken solder joints were repaired and one pan hinge was replaced.  Front replacement tires are Russkit.  They were narrowed like the original tires.

Rear tires are magic MESAC rubber.  Diameter of the front and rear tires are 7/8".

 

The chassis has both front and rear plumber hinges.  The body almost floats on the chassis.

 

[Slot Car Rod]

Front hinges

Rear hinges

[Slot Car Rod]

The restoration is complete, and I tested the car today.

 

Front and rear spoilers from a current model kit were added.  A simple interior was made out of sheet styrene, a current model car dashboard, a Bradblohm painted driver, and an aluminum roll bar. The rear valence is also from the model kit.  The missing area above the rear valence was made from sheet styrene.  The front grill was purchased on eBay.  This generation model has the same grill as a promo model and is different from the current release model kit.  The car body was painted with Tamiya lacquer primer/filler and paint.  Victor found replacement decals for the car.  The white tape stripes were replaced.

 

The chassis was fitted to the body using existing pin holes in the body.  The car has a lot of suspension and body movement, so the body sits taller to allow for this.

This car was made to work on fairly rough tracks.  The MESAC track was rather bumpy.  My last pair of MESAC magic rear tires were used on this car.  These tires never dry out!  The guide has the usual MESAC short blade depth.  Most of the original components were reused.

 

The car handles great and is fast.  The motor is like a good NCC20 motor and has good brakes.  There is lots of body lean in sharp turns.  Looks cool.  Handling is neutral and will slightly tail out when pushed.  Fun to drive.  Thanks again, Victor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dc-65x]

The Camaro restoration looks great Rodney......they all look great! I'd love to see that body rocking and rolling in the turns.  

[Larry Horner]

Holy crap Rodney, that looks awesome!

[Pablo]

       

[Bill from NH]

Well-done Rodney. 

[Mark Onofri]

More

[olescratch]

  Awesome save!  Congrats!

[Slot Car Rod]

Thanks everyone.  The MESAC Camaro runs great on the road course at MoTown in Modesto.  The raceway does not allow any tire glue on the road course.  The MESAC magic tires work great there.

[Pablo]

[pn6]

   

[Tex]

I've read multiple times how the MESAC rubber tires work so well. Is MESAC still in existence? Does someone still make MESAC rubber tires?

[Jaeger Team]

I've read multiple times how the MESAC rubber tires work so well. Is MESAC still in existence? Does someone still make MESAC rubber tires?

.
Ditto!

[Slot Car Rod]

In 1977, the MESAC club closed its doors for good, according to MESAC member Victor.  We have never found anyone that makes tires like MESAC tires.  They never dry out!  I used my last pair, and Victor has run out of them also.  I have found some natural foam rubber tires that work with no tire glue.  These tires do dry out though.

[Bill from NH]

Rodney, do you know if the MESAC tires were made from a special batch of rubber, or did they have some kind of treatment on them?

[Slot Car Rod]

Victor thinks the MESAC batch of rubber had something added.  He does not know what was added.