Old School Dirt Trackin'

Back in the good old days, if you were from the Chicago, Il area & into dirt track racing, then Sante Fe Speedway was the place to be. Both racers & spectators would come from all over the midwest for some good old bang 'em up racing in the dirt.

Now, some years later, one of the guys I race with from time to time has re-created the old speedway in scale. His track is made out of wood & built to be portable. When still in the planning stages he made sure that once built he would be able to race both 1/24th & 1/32nd scale cars.

One of the classes these guys race is the old Friday night specials. These cars are 1/24th or 1/25th plastic models on brass chassis. The rules are pretty simple, which makes them easy to build. The most important thing is to have some fun & that they do.

Here's a couple of pictures of my 67 Chevelle. It is my first attempt at a dirt track car.

I know you don't find blowers on dirt cars ... but when I put it out on the track ... they all just laugh & one of them will say ... it's gotta be J Y D's car.

Thanks for lookin' ... J Y D

I.R.O.C. anyone

Some years back I picked up a bunch of Ferrari 355's at a swap meet.

They were made by Pro-Slot / Policar who has been out of bussiness for quite some time.

I grabed them for 2 reasons ... 1) they are cute & ... 2) they were under $10.00 each.

Now a new car for $10.00 seems too good to be true, & in most cases, it is. But these cars need all kinds of repairs before they'll even go around the track.

After getting them home I played with them for awhile replacing broken parts & getting them to run.

Then, like a lot of things, they got stuffed in a box & just sat on a shelf. As the years went by I would dig them out & play with them & then again they would wind up back on the shelf.

One day some months back I was reading an article a guy wrote on the Porsche's he had (made by Policar) & when I saw the pictures he posted with all the body detailing & the paint schemes he put on them ... I went & got my box off the shelf ... again.

I guess sometimes you just gotta spend some money ... and really like the car ... so I did.

I took 4 of then all apart & made a list of parts I needed to make these cars what I wanted.

I ordered rear brass bushings, front & rear axles, pinion & spur gear from Slot-it. I also ordered 15' Pro Race front & 17' Pro Race rear wheels from Ninco. I got the front tires from Fly & the rear tires from PPR.

As I started to put the 1st car together (all I had kept was the body, motor & chassis), I destroyed one of the chassis figuring out what needed to be done to really make them right. Lucky for me I have plenty of spares.

I put the 2nd car together using what I had learned on the 1st one & with some testing & a little bit of tuning the car was a total dream to drive. And the more I drove it the better it got. It went from being a parts car at best ... to one of the nicest cars I own. I finished the other 3 cars & as with the first one ... a little bit of tuning & they run great.

I decided to turn them into Iroc cars so I painted each one of them to match one of the lane colors on my track.

We have raced them on several ocsasions & everybody loves them ... & they are still some of the best cars I own.

By the way ... the Pink car behind the Yellow car ... that's the body from the chassis I destroyed sitting on a aftermarket chassis ... but that's a different story.

Stay Tuned & Thanks for Lookin' ... J Y D

Just another Willy's ... I think not

So as I was having coffee with my newest build I got to thinking.

What would I do if Carrera called me up & asked me to take one of their cars & redesign it my way. Carrera would then produce that car & market it to see if it would sell.

So here goes ... Please let me know what you think? ? ? 

I started with there 41 Willy's because in the world of Hot Rods, Rat Rods & Customs it just doesn't get any better than this.

For this build I am using the Ninco Vintage Corvette chassis. I chose this chassis for a number of reasons.

1) The guide flag is located right in front of the front axle which allows it to be used with almost all of the snub-noised bodies.

2) This chassis allows the use of almost any rear bushings as well as an unlimited amount of wheel & tire set ups with the axles of your choice.

3) The motor pod lets you choose one of several motors depending on the performance level you are looking for.

4) The magnet option & location helps to please a wider variety of racers. So whether you are into magnet or non magnet ... plastic or wood track racing ... you're gonna love this set-up.

5) Mounting this chassis into a very wide selection of bodies is, for the most part, very simple.

Next I got rid of almost 10 grams of body weight. I also removed their interior & will replace it with a lighter one using a tray style interior & a driver I got out of one of their GTO's.

Then by swapping some body parts around & replacing their under-sized blower with one more fitting the size & appearance I was looking for I was almost there.

The tires & wheels I'd really like to see on this car don't exist in the slot car world so I'm using the Ninco Pro-Race 15" wheels on the front with Fly classic tires & 17" wide wheels in the rear with the PPR #1201 tires.

I haven't decided yet if I'll paint it or leave more of a Rat Rod kinda thing. But paint or not it's on its way to being one sweet ride.

If I could market the car I think I'd offer it as a kit that would offer two hoods ... one smooth & one with the cut out for the blower ... two sets of rear fenders ... one with open wheel wells & one with the skirts ... and most important of all ... the blower would be included!

Thanks for being part of my little fantasy ... Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

Please don't forget to let me know (below in comments) ... is this a ride you would want in your stable? ? ?

Thanks ... J Y D