Reader's Gallery 89 |
Steve Okeefe: Porsche Retro Racer
Steve Okeefe sends along these pictures of his newest creation, the Porsche Retro Racer. I'll
bet the turn marshals do a double-take when they see what's under this body! Thanks, Steve!
Steve writes:
Those of us who were scratch building our slot cars in 1967 would not even consider using anything but
the most modern (for then) design and construction techniques, not to mention the latest parts! We did
not worry about whether it was appropriate to use this part with that part; everything currently
available was fair game. This little Porsche follows that idea; and as a result there are NO vintage parts
anywhere in or on this vintage style car!
Please don't misunderstand; I stand in absolute awe of those few among us who painstakingly gather all
the correct parts in order to build exquisite reproductions of vintage cars. I am equally awed by their
ability to tell which vintage parts are the "right" vintage parts! When I grow up, I want to be
able to do all that!
In the meantime, all the parts and materials used to build this car are currently available
(even the motor bracket), mostly from my local raceway, with a few items ordered via the
Internet, or by genuine old-fashioned mail-order. The only thing "vintage" here is the
chassis design and the body style.
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Above: photo 1; right front quarter
For those of you who are interested in such things, this is a Porsche 910 in Le Mans colors.
The prototype was a smallish car, with a smallish 6 cylinder motor. The numbers (36) and number
size and placement are prototypically correct, and the block letters spelling out the manufacturers
name really did appear on the rocker panels.
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Above: photo 2; left side
Front wheels are American Line units, drilled and chemically blackened to resemble period wheels.
The rears are Pro-Track drag tires cut down to 7/8" diameter. Numbers and lettering are stick-on vinyl.
The word "PORSCHE" should actually be in white, but all I had on hand was black!
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Above: photo 3; head on
This is a Patto's body, vaccu-formed in PETG plastic (the same stuff 2-liter pop bottles are made of).
Except for the somewhat rough windshield and general lack of sharp detail, it is a reasonably well made body.
The silver, black and red details were hand painted, and the overall white color was airbrushed.
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Above: photo 4; chassis left front quarter
Modern motor, gears, and pickup guide, vintage chassis design. The cross rails and outrigger rails
are 1/16" piano wire for strength, with the body mount pin tubes stacked on top of the cross rails
to get the pin holes in the body up from the bottom edge. That way, they don't tear out so easily.
This minor departure from vintage design is a distinct improvement!
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Above: photo 5; chassis top
Drop arm construction adapts vintage design to a modern guide tongue. The drop arm weight however is
a bit of an exception. If you must have a weight that looks like this (I did) you can either buy some real
vintage weights or you can turn one from brass stock, like this one. If neither of those two options
appeals to you, you can always solder a stack of pennies together. It works, and costs less, too!
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Above: photo 6; chassis bottom
This chassis is a reasonably close replica of a classic John Cukras design from 1967, just before floppy side pans
and about one year before the advent of anglewinders. Except for the easily replaceable drop arm, the proportions,
dimensions and overall design are close to spot-on. For a simple inline with no chassis articulation beyond a
drop arm, this really is an elegant design!
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Above: photo 7; chassis rear end
The motor bracket is a modern part available via mail-order, and has 1/4" axle bearing holes instead
of the 5/32" holes appearing in vintage brackets. This hole size resulted some design problems,
because I wanted to incorporate the two short axle tubes and four axle bearings from the vintage design.
The solution was to use 3/16" by 1/8" axle bushings in "trick" double wall thickness brass
tubes (3/16" ID x 1/4" OD).
In track testing, those fish rubber drag tires did not work (way too much bite!), so I have since
replaced them with currently available, modern style (no rim flanges), Alpha Products blue rubber
rear tires. The blue tires have less bite, and thus allow the car to drift some in the turns,
rather than tip.
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