[Pete McKay]

The club that I'm a member of had their first road course race on Sunday, I campaigned my usual: a 10+ year old 440X2 Stront magnet stock arm car with silicone tires. I did well, finishing 3rd out of a field of 13. I had some handling problems, especially when going through the three 3" hairpins this guy set up into his track. I ate their lunch on the straights though. I ran my tried and true 1990 sports car body painted like a Ford Fusion, but I was running against a lot of ALMS style cars, in both hard plastic and vacuformed. So, I'm now thinking about building an updated buck for my team, and have considered the following choices:

Being a Ford guy (I work for a Ford dealership) it'll have to be based on a Ford model, or at least be able to be called a Ford when it's all done. Like the Cadilliac LMS cars they do have some sort of resemblence to the STS, at least in the grill. Since the Fusion is the current Tour de Force in Ford Motorsports, I will probably try to work it's grill into this scratch built project.

Another choice is to base it off of a diecast. lately I've converted a few for vacufroming, and I have two VW Karma Ghia's coming from a diecast retailer. One was to be converted for a mini stock project, the other was to be a static race car for the infield. Now I'm considering making it a LMS style car, and I think it has serious potential. Imagine, a sort of roof scoop extending back over where a Porsche V12 would live, and a nice wing on the back. The rear seat area would be basically engine bay.

A third choice would be to reproduce an existing ALMS or D Competetion car, and while that's a lot of work it's not out of the question. For durability's sake, a diecast conversion is the better way.

So what should I do? Take the cowards way out and do the diecast, even if it's something other than a Frankenstein Karman Ghia, or built it up from scratch? What would you guys like to see?

 

[Mike(^RacerX^)]

Ford GT,hands down.One of the coolest cars of recent times,IMHO.

Mike

 

[Pete McKay]

Ahhh, the GT has been around for....man, 40 years??? Great choice, but I was hoping for something more original. A lot of Le Mans Series cars have some basis in a production car, like I said with the Cadilliac. I'll work on an idea on paper, see how you guys like it.

BTW, when my dealership got the GT we each got to drive it a few miles...with a Saleen Mustang in chase. My dealership is located in North Fresno, near the city limits and right next to a freeway. Now, the sales manager said we weren't supposed to speed, but out of 11 sales associates, who do you think got the ONLY ticket for speeding with it? Yup, the sales manager...doing 93 in a 70 zone. Another 2 MPH and the car would have been impounded for 25 over in a highway zone. We still haven't let him live it down.

 

[Bill Hall]

Oh you Ford guys? Are those some kind of special glasses? All the worlds a "V". A Porsche "V"-12? Snort chuckle. Did Ford buy them out too and bend all the engine cases? Just funnin' Pete, I'm a retired aircooled Porsche/VW mechanic, so I'd love to see a nicely executed Ghia. Mike has a point about the GT-40, It is popular and has some classic, zoopy lines! Any new twist on an ABD (already been done) body would be cool. Something new? All the better! Dare I say do'em all. Bill

 

[Mike(^RacerX^)]

Ahhh, the GT has been around for....man, 40 years??? Great choice, but I was hoping for something more original. A lot of Le Mans Series cars have some basis in a production car, like I said with the Cadilliac. I'll work on an idea on paper, see how you guys like it.

BTW, when my dealership got the GT we each got to drive it a few miles...with a Saleen Mustang in chase. My dealership is located in North Fresno, near the city limits and right next to a freeway. Now, the sales manager said we weren't supposed to speed, but out of 11 sales associates, who do you think got the ONLY ticket for speeding with it? Yup, the sales manager...doing 93 in a 70 zone. Another 2 MPH and the car would have been impounded for 25 over in a highway zone. We still haven't let him live it down.

Pete,the GT 40 has been around for around 40 years.I was talking about the NEW Ford GT.
Ford guy. :wave: :tongue:

I used one of the Johnny Lightning diecast ones as a buck awhile back.
They came out really wel.So well in fact I might actually cast a buck for then.

Wouldnt it be great if they sold bucks at "Just-A-Buck"?????

Mike

 

[Montoya1]

If you don't limit yourself to Ford, I for one would buy several Peugeot 908s, Audi R10s - that kind of thing.

 

[Pete McKay]

Bill, as one that has drived both a 1967 GT and the 2005 version, I have to say that technically they're similar, obviously the newer one is much more driver friendly. But at 6' 4" and almost 300 lbs both fit like a pair of 2-size too small shoes. At the Monterey Sports Car Show a few years ago I sat in a 917 and a 962, both fit well...without the drivers seat insert. Same with the Viper GTS-R. I said V-12....is it a flat 12? I'm not sure, but the Karman Ghia would be a great GT Production car conversion.

One of the things I noticed at Scale Auto is that there are some contemporary LMS cars, I think the newest versions are from 2000 though. I ran the GTP Probe for a long time in Open Comp, now I run either the '99 Panoz LMP-1 or the R8R. Running my own designs is my aim, marketing them somewhere down the road is my goal.

I'm going to start on the Ford Fusion LMP sometime this weekend, expect a familiar set of headlights and grill with open cockpit American Le Mans Series styling. And yes, copies will be available.

 

[Oscarw]

How about a Focus Daytona Prototype http://www.supercars.net/cars/2278.html

 

[Montoya1]

How about a Focus Daytona Prototype http://www.supercars.net/cars/2278.html

The white one is sweet AND easy to get decals for!!

 

[Pete McKay]

We have a winner. Interesting how they use the 2001-2004 headlights turned up and sideways like that. I've seen that car before, I think we have a poster in the dealership...if so, it's now mine. I have decal paper so that part isn't a problem anyway, construction begins Sunday.

 

[Montoya1]

We have a winner. Interesting how they use the 2001-2004 headlights turned up and sideways like that. I've seen that car before, I think we have a poster in the dealership...if so, it's now mine. I have decal paper so that part isn't a problem anyway, construction begins Sunday.

How much for 2 fully cut and painted?

 

[Montoya1]

This one is racey looking too

 

[Pete McKay]

On the same page you found that red one Montoya is a silver Maserati version called the Picchio. Between the Focus, the Brumos FABCAR and the Picchio I may combine a few of the better features. Because of the clearance for the p/u shoes the Enzo style front end of the Focus may not be practical, so the Maserati nose and radiator vent may be used, but with the Focus headlights. The rear end of the Focus would be practical because of the height of the top deck of the slot car chassis. Oh yeah, this car will be built up on 440X2 chassis too, just to make sure there won't be conflicts with the p/u shoes or any other chassis structure. It should work with just about any other car as well.
I race 1:10th scale R/C cars and most of them come with a vacuformed wing as part of the body package. What I might do with this one since the wing is in an odd place is model in the supports for the wing and have a separate piece for the wing to be attached with 2-sided tape. This will allow me to keep the overall lines of the original 1:1 model in an HO body. It'll be several weeks before I get pictures of the car to you guys, but when I get the battery I ordered for my digital I'll make sure to post them.
As far as fully painted and cut, I'll have to think about that. I just sent a bunch of examples of my work to Marty up in Washington, and I asked him to write an honest no-BS review of my work. Once he does that you can decide it they're something you may want. Since I'm not a vendor I don't think it fair to talk about it for now, but I won't rule out the possibility.

 

[Pete McKay]

Alrighty then. The design has been finalized. It will use the basic lower body shape of the Maserati Picchio, basically because for a slot car it's the easiest to mount to a square chassis. Plus it's just easier to make.

The rear end will be from the Brumos FABCAR, with a sort of rear bumper and NASCAR type spoiler. Again, for practicality and taking into consideration that it'll be vacuformed, and anything that curves under is a real pain to get off the buck.

The nose and roof profile will be more FABCAR than anything else, but will have some elements of the Focus too. The vents on the front fenders will be present, and I'm still debating the location, if not even the existance, of the wing.

Things like the windows will be slightly raised instead of recessed, again, because it's easier and will be much easier to paint. Also a slightly raised panel will produce less drag then a slightly recessed one. Headlights are still up for discussion, Porsche or Focus...or maybe Fusion? Then comes the naming of the body, like Stallion or something.

I'm going to go rent a digital camera so you guys can see what this thing will look like. Stay tuned.

 

[Bill Hall]

How about the "McKaylern" Seqouia. Just pokin'ya. I cant wait to add a couple to my collection. Bill

 

[Pete McKay]

What do you guys think about the RC car wing idea? About putting two riser supports on the back and including a small piece of material to make a wing like that? Most HO scale bodies have the rear wing molded into the back of the body, I want something actually to channel airflow, however slight it may be at 10 MPH.

I did some work on the lower part of the body last night, got the NACA duct for the radiator down. I'm not sure how this is going to vacuform as it's pretty deep right now, it may be filled in a little. So far I have the basic shape of everything but the top and about 2 hours of sanding and shaping to still do. If anyone remembers the old Ford J-car, the nose resembles that. It also has a sort of Area Rule shape to it, wide in the front and rear, and pinched in at the waist.

Pic's coming shortly.

 

[Mike(^RacerX^)]

Pete,cant wait to see some pics of what you come up with.

I like the wing idea.Thought of doing it myself,but still havent come up with a good way to mount them so they dont come off every de slot.

Mike

 

[Pete McKay]

I considered that too Mike, I figured either a body pin or a jewelers screw, I'll try both to see what works best. The problem is the supports will be less than 5/16th of an inch tall and very narrow, so a coarse pitch jewelers screw might be best. There'll be enough spoil from the vacuform process to use a small piece for a rear wing so I won't be including a wing as part of the body. I'm also considering how much pitch angle to give the support for the wing.

 

[Oscarw]

For the inspiration for the body, I will take one when you are done ;-)

 

[Bill Hall]

Wingin' it !

Some type of nifty re-insertable (is that even a word?) break away device would really set it apart! A firm snap fit so it doesnt rattle but will pop off when you drill the wall or smack the floor. Is that what your talking about? I just cant think of anything right this minute. Wings have the life span like an icecream sandwich around here. As far as the pitch angle goes, how about a Harry High School wind tunnel (LOL) made from a box with a clear insert or a thrift store plexiglass aquarium, a shop vac, and an automotive smoke machine (we used for checking engine vacuum leaks, and body seal leaks) I'm sure you've seen one Pete all the good shops have them. I only bring it up because of your obvious concerns for the details. We all know what body shapes work good, more or less. A bench top wind tunnel may seem ridiculous to some, but at the velocity the modern slots produce, and the close competition; the winning edge is often in the hundredths or thousandths. Just a weird idea from a weird guy, but it would again set your design apart in yet another way. Zoopy looks are cool but slippery wins races!