Fine Tuning Your
MONOGRAM VINTAGE STOCKER
A little work has also been done on the chassis itself. The rear chassis posts have been shaved off so the body will not bind. Also all molding edges/burrs have been sanded smooth along with all 4 sides to ensure we get plenty of body clearance. Notice the 4 chassis uprights 2 in front of the rear wheels, 2 in the rear of the front wheels. All 4 were rounded bottom to top also to clear inside of the body.
This is the chassis with the guide re-installed along with extensions for the lead wires soldered and heat shrink tubing. The guide can be tightened to your own preference. Notice all wires and weight are inside the chassis cavity so they don`t affect the interior tray. And I`ve added the main sections of weight. The large piece 1-1/8"x 1-1/8" then on top a piece 1"x 5/8". Everything neatly hot glued in place.
Now to settle down the rear axle dance. Rather than taking a chance on ruining the rear wheel by removing it and replacing the axle bushings. I thought about another remedy, remembering that myself and many other people have built the infamous popcicle chassis, why not use wood. The area with the silver dot is where I will be working. I had this piece of Bass wood around and it seemed to fit the bill. After a measurement of the area a piece was cut to fit nice and snug.
After the piece was cut out, it is placed into the designated area. The axle is then placed on top of the bushing cradle and a pencil is used to trace down each side of the axle.
The wood was then removed and I used a Dremel to make a cut the length of both lines. Then a 3/32" bit was used to shape the depth of the cut. This took a few attempts to get the right feel after the axle was snapped into place. Then I used some Elmer's glue as a temporary hold.
Last piece of lead added to the top of the front axle bulkhead. 5/8"x 7/8" and fits just inside the top cavity. Note the lead weight placement is just my starting point for these cars. I simply measure my wheelbase and mark the center line on the chassis. I then mount the body and sit the car on a piece of brass tubing at the center point. I add the weight until I get a close balance front/rear. Some of the cars have been great with just this amount, and a few have needed a bit more. The bulkhead was snugged down, then each screw was backed off 3/4 turn.
Notice the exhaust have been re glued on the bottom of the chassis, and the nubs have been trimmed off. We now have a very happy driver, sitting nice and flat. Motor has also been hot glued in place because I`ve had a couple cars where the motor popped out easily.
All 4 screw holes in the chassis have been drilled with a 3/32" bit to ensure no binding with the screws threads. There was also a 12 tooth brass pinion installed that replaces the stock 11 tooth. That combined with the removal of the rear axle slop eliminated all gear mesh issues. Now a few of the 6 cars I`ve done these modifications to have had some worse issues. As in badly out of round wheels and crooked spur gears. To get these to work decently I`ve used pliers and done some hair raising adjustments to get them as straight as possible. (with no breaks..yet) If you look closely at the rear tires below, you will see that there are some areas that are slick, and some still have tread. this takes some discipline while truing. I try and only cut off the high areas of the tires. Although this does make for a some handling characteristics. I believe it`s the best of 2 evils. The other being bouncing all around the track. My way will run circles around the other ;-)
Body remounted with Artin body screws because they are a bit longer and let the body move more,nice and loose all around. Exhaust openings in the body were also made deep enough to allow body movement. So the only aftermarket parts that have been used/purchased is a pinion, 4 Artin body screws, a piece of wood, a screw, some wire & braids from Carerra, maybe $5.
After the re-paint, yea it`s a fantasy but I like Cale and love the colors. Decals are from a couple different sheets, all are PATTOS
