106 replies to this topic

[Pappy]

Thanks for posting the pictures, Greg.

See guys, Greg ain't so bad after all.

[Cheater]

Hey, if you ask my wife and/or kids, you'll probably get a different opinion...

[Mike Patterson]

I had trouble getting the width under 1-5/8" using a 1/4" wide pan, so I made my pans using two 1/16" brass rods and one 1/16" piano wire.

Butch,

I had trouble getting mine to tech also. Don't you have a file? One thing I have learned from building these chassis' is that a file, or files, are your best friends. On the second one, I shaved 0.008" off of each pan to get the necessary movement. It took a while, but you can really fine tune things by doing it that way.

[Pappy]

Mike,

I tried to shave a little off of the pans with my ban saw but the blade just flexed and was screwing up the brass plate. I think next time I'll just put the first rail on the inside of the motor bracket.

[gascarnut]

Nice frame, Butch! Some of my early D3 F1 cars were done like that.

What you need to do when building these is to build from the outside inwards, kind of.

I set up my Rick jig with pins in the 1 5/8" holes, then put a length of 1/4" brass strip down each side and set up the rails inside them before I solder anything. Then I solder the rails to the bracket, to the nosepiece and to each other. Even then it's tight and I usually end up having to file the edges of the pans and/or the outer brass rail a bit to get some movement. But it's not much that needs to come off, just a thou or two on each side. As long as everything just "rattles" nice and free, it seems to work.

Next time I have one on the jig and have my camera close by I will take some shots as I build.

[NJ Racer]

Dennis:

I ran some laps on the 220 Engleman Tuesday with the F1 you made for Jay Kisling and it again was really hooked up. Keep an eye open for it in August when Jay will race it at Speedzone in Mount Holly, NJ.

[Pappy]

Ray,

I see you have lead on your chassis, do you know what it weighs? My car came in at 108.8 grams.

[NJ Racer]

It's Jay Kisling's, but it weighed in at 112.9 G as pictured at the last Retro East race at Doms Raceway.

[Pappy]

Thanks Ray, it's good to know what the fast guys are running.

Ray, I like the picture you have of the number 20 Porsche from the movie LeMans on all your posts. I have a die cast model of that car on a shelf about 6" from my computer monitor.

[Mike Patterson]

I finally got to do some testing with the car today at Tom Thumb, and the results were much more promising. I was able to run 5.3's pretty consistently. While not blazing fast (TSR motor), the car felt pretty good. I added one gram of lead to each pan (car weight 114.6g) right behind the front pin tube, and that seemed to help smooth car out more. One thing I noticed, is that the left rear tire tends to "shred" the sidewall. I'm running my standard Big Hub Alpha's. Any thoughts?

[NJ Racer]

Mike:

Ron Hershman made his statement on tire choice Here ProSlot (Fast Ones or PRI) horsepower should be upwards of .1 or more sec. faster.

[Richie]

Mine has seemed to work well in initial testing, although I do need to add the center weight. As without it, the car straight off the track weighed 98.7 grams. Works great on fast king, needs a little weight to calm the car on a very slow king... Thanks for starting this Mike!!!

-Richie

[Mike Patterson]

Another loose end tied up. Chassis #2 is almost a race car! The body is a Red Fox Ferrari that has had the driver figure surgically removed. I went with a more traditional Team BOZO paint scheme this time around:





I wish we could advance the era of the cars we are modeling a few years, to when they had mostly/fully covered engines!!

Unfortunately, the car is just a roller. Eagerly anticipated sponsorship money has failed to materialize, therefore, no motive power, and no reason to test. Maybe next month...

[Pappy]

I finally got to race my Dennis Samson look-alike F1 chassis yesterday in Cleveland, TN. It handled "GREAT".

I won the F1 race by 6 laps and we only ran 2 minute heats. It is as fast as my Can-Am car.

[Mopar Rob]

Did you ever post a picture of your interpertation?

[Pappy]

Never did Rob. With my dial-up connection it's a real pain. It looks just like Dennis' chassis except I used three 1/16" rods (2 brass, 1 piano wire) on each side for my pans instead of a 1/4" wide piece of brass. I also made the wheelbase 4 1/4" long with a 1" guide lead.

[Mopar Rob]

With my dial-up connection it's a real pain.

We need to get you into the 21st. century

Shouldn't say that. I live in a small town out in the country. It wasn't until a couple of years ago that we obtained a high speed internet option. The option is dial up or the cable internet provider, that's it nothing else.

[Mike Patterson]

The option is dial up or the cable internet provider, that's it nothing else.

That's the way it is around here. And I refuse to give Time Warner any more of my money !

[kvanpelt]

Nice looking build!

Does the shaker plate move in all directions, i.e. up, down, side to side & front to back? If so, does the IRRA allow this?

[Mopar Rob]

Kevin:


It moves front to back, left to right, and up and down. Can't comment on the legality, but they have passed tech at major IRRA races. Built 2 one for Bill and one for me. You thinking of building one?

[Noose]

Shaker pans rock and yes they are legal.

[Rick]

Here is the F1-050 test car for this weekend. I am gonna dub this one the "Columbus Killer". hehehehe It will also be at Tom Thumb next weekend barring tragedy at Fat Boys.

[kvanpelt]

Thanks for the quick reply Joe!

Yes Rob, I too plan to copy Dennis, it would look nice in my car stable next to my Hanson/Wardon tripod! Hint! Hint!

[Mike Patterson]

I finally go to race chassis #1 (the green #6) at Tom Thumb today in the Ohio Valley Retro Racing series opener. After allowing for numerous brain farts and a few senior moments, like arriving at the track 10 minutes before tech closed, and then putting the wrong (too small) tires on the car, and briefly arguing with track owner about paying $5 for a pit pass and getting zero track time, it was time to race.

As luck would have it, I was in the first main. The first heat (purple) wasn't too promising. I was taking it easy, still trying to feel out the car. Had quite a few offs. Black was more of the same. But once I got on yellow, the car really came in. I held fast lap (brag!) for most of the race with a 5.050. It wasn't until the last main (of 3) that Tom Lauterbaugh and Ron Hershman overtook me. Tom had a 5.04 and Ron ran a 4.98. I was VERY impressed, especially since I was running my handout TSR motor from the R4. I had it geared 9-27, and it was smooooooooth! Total car weight was 114 grams. I had one gram behind each front pin tube on the pans. I ended up 16th (ou of 24) overall.

And I even won Concourse (most realistic or best appearing, I'm not sure) with it.

Can Am was a different story. If you're curious, check out my other thread, Team BOZO builds again!

[Mike Patterson]

Since Rob posted the photos of his race-damaged F1 chassis, I thought I would post these pics. I did all this damage at ORS race #3 last November. I was in the white lane when I deslotted in the finger at Tom Thumb. The car slid up and into the red lane, just as he was going onto the main straight. I managed to get out "RI..." before the car slammed into the wall in the ninety. Here's the results:


It doesn't look too bad from the top, the unsoldered front axle appearing to be the major damage. What is missing is the rear axle. I already pitched the bent rear wheel and busted bearing. But on closer inspection...


Here's the right front. Notice how the pan is waaay in the air, and the mainrails are on the test block? This is not good.


Here's the left front. On this side, not only are the mainrails bent, but the pan appears to have suffered the same fate.

I think the main center section (nosepiece, motor bracket, steel rails, shaker weight) is OK, but I won't know for sure until I take it apart.

I sure am glad I built TWO of these things!