3145 replies to this topic

[Richie]

John,

Great-looking chassis!!! You're going to love the way the Can-Am handles!

-Richie

[Tex]

Here's a few pics of one of my Sano chassis. Weird, huh? Tony LOVES it.(NOT! LOL)

There's two basic things I've tried to incorporate into this chassis.

First, I'm trying to dissipate vibration by allowing those little squared-off wire loops to vibrate.

Second, I put an .063" wire perimeter around the whole thing to try and protect the innards. It showed some promise handling-wise but ultimately failed me as the wiggly bits (from a movie, right?) got caught under the chassis after a shunt with another car, rendering the car undrivable.

Actually, it happened twice. After the first time, I soldered some "stops" on the wire doohickeys to prevent excessive movement. It happened a second time; I needed to put more "stops" on it. By that time, I'd decided not to incur the wrath of the other racers or Swissablo so I pulled it off the track.

I'm not through with the concept yet; I'm going to get enough stops put on it in the right places and see if it'll hold up to the rigors of racing.

[Alchemist]

Hi Marinko!

What an awesome chassis!! Very nice build!

Ernie

[Tex]

Here's another chassis I had at Da Sano.

Two concepts here also.

First, using the .063" wire perimeter again, to protect the inner workings of the chassis.

Second, I'm trying to emulate the movement(s) of a Cheetah 11 chassis. The front wheels are attached to the "pan" assembly and the pan assembly moves around a bit on a floating bite bar.

Handled "OK" but not awesome. Still gonna work with it to see if I can tweak it better.

[John Miller]

Hey Tex,

Very cool. Where are you getting the motor brackets?

[Tex]

A guy in New Braunfels, TX, made them for me, John Myers. He made the basic brackets and I decided to make swiss cheese out of 'em to lighten 'em up.

[Tex]

Here's a chassis that I finished back in August, but then began Sano preparations and have never built this chassis up into a runner yet.

How many concepts at work here? Yup... two. This was the first chassis I built trying to emulate the movements of a Cheetah 11 chassis. Also trying to emulate a Cheetah 11, I used primarily .032" wire for the chassis, to keep the CoG as low as possible. I had to do several things to finally get it where it felt stiff enough to run on a track; before taking those measures, a stiff breeze would have bent it over double. As you can see, I hadn't come up with the .063" protection perimeter yet.

As it is, this chassis will just be a test mule as it wouldn't likely stand up to the slings and arrows of racing very well.

EDIT: Oops. This isn't a retro chassis; I should have put it in the "Scratchbuilding" forum. Sorry.

[Richie]

Tex,

Those are really cool rides. Great work!!!

-Richie

[Hipsticker]

I just wanted to add that the F1 build in post #514 by Bob Rodgers is quite an awesome piece... I thought he ran it Saturday at the Mason Dixon race to a third, but I guess he ran another one after looking at the winners photos... It is as fast as beautiful... awesome car, Bob.

hip

[Rick]

Tinkering with a new design concept. Hope to try it out this weekend? More aimed at flat tracks than Kings...

[Tex]

Cool design, Rick. Are those diagonal, outer main rails soldered into that tubing up front, or did you just slide them in and leave them?

[Rick]

They are just pushed in and another could be added if needed, or a another piece soldered to them to change things. They are torsion bars.

[JerseyJohn]

Nice one, Ricko... When do you sleep?

[Josh Crutchfield]

Here's a few pics of my new Can Am chassis. The chassis has a 4.00 wheelbase and 5.00 GL. It uses a JK narrow bracket. The center mainrails are double .062 with a torsoin .047 bar. The outerrails are.055 rails float vertically in the rear stops. The outer pans are .064 with .032 keepers.

[





Josh

[Marty Stanley]

It must be the full moon or some other such celestial happenstance that affected JJ, Josh, Rick, and myself. Why all of a sudden four folks are doing 'torsional chassis', I have no idea of why that is happening, but it obviously is!

Here's what I just pulled off of the Super Jig on Friday - it hasn't even been 'cleaned up' yet it is that new.

All wire is .0625. Tripod wires 'float' at the rear and are controlled by the bite bar system. Rear body mounts 'float' as well. Front axle provides some torsional control by being tied to both the nosepiece and tripod wires.

Specs:
3.9375" wheelbase
4.9375" guide lead
52 grams weight

Very similar, yet quite different! That is one of the reasons I love building so much. It is at the limit of the imagination! When I was doing the communications system for Epcot, our facility was right next to the "Imagineering Department" - I think this is what that name is all about.

BTW, Josh, Rick, and JJ - nice builds!

[Mr. Frank]

Tinkering with a new design concept. Hope to try it out this weekend? More aimed at flat tracks than Kings...]

Cool Chassis, Rick... Seemed to work good on an American King...

We going to put these ones up fo sale???

Mr. Frank

[Pablo]

Planning on some loooong rear spacers, Josh ? I'm curious about that.

[Josh Crutchfield]

Not really. I plan on using axle collars.

[Pablo]

I gotcha. Thanks, Josh.

[Mopar Rob]

I can't tell by the photo if the wire going into the tube on the guide flag is soldered? If not would that be considered a center hinge?

[Josh Crutchfield]

I can't tell by the photo if the wire going into the tube on the guide flag is soldered? If not would that be considered a center hinge?

The wire isn't soldered to the tube. I wouldn't consider it a center hinge from what the IRRA™ has defined in the past. It could be different today.

Josh

[Rick]

Well, tested it at MMW and again yesterday at your track, this chassis is a real driver! I wasn't sure how durable it would be, but it took the rider shot into the 90 wall darn well and I finished the race. I was afraid it may be be too soft for the big bank, but that wasn't a problem at all.

I have to make some pans up for the center section and see if anyone wants to build them. It works equally well on a flat track, too. Very pleased with this design. Some fine tuning on pieces and I could make a few. I have flat pans with no pin tube provisions in stock, could shear to shape.

I made one with a windowed center section but it only picked up 3 grams a narrow pan may be the best to lose weight for those that are real weight conscious? Have to check tech sheet for total weight but thinking 114 grams?

It rocks the donut!

[Bob Chaney]

Getting ready for the Checkpoint

.. top front



top rear



and one ..



.. two from the bottom



Keeping it Simple

[Tex]

Good job, Bob! Simple is usually better.

[gascarnut]

I built this one yesterday, sorry for the crappy pictures:





And then just as I was thinking about posting the photos, it occurred to me that since I have three rails all soldered together, it wouldn't be legal for SoCal D3 Jaildoor racing.

Which is probably just as well, as I don't know if I can find a motor to fit it:



The idea came from something my wife said a while back when I showed her a frame that had just come out the tumbler - "it looks like a piece of jewelery" she said. And since her birthday is coming up and since I am out of a job and don't have much to spend on her right now, I thought I would give it a try.

The frame has a wheelbase of 1", it is 3/4" wide, so it;s exactly 1/4 scale of a Jaildoor frame. The bracket was cut from a piece of 3/16" square tubing, and the rails are .020" brass rod. No droparm hinge and no pin tubes - I could not find small enough tubing for that! It still has to be tumbled and polished, then I will give it a coat of clear to be sure it doesn't tarnish, then put a little loop around the bracket brace and thread a thin gold chain through it - bingo a slot car pendant.