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I have started working on some of my slot boxes. I took the worst of the boxes (K) and stripped all the hardware off of it. My mission was to keep this box as original as possible. I put the hardware (hinges and latches) in my tumbler for cleaning. The hardware was in pretty sad shape, rustly and corroded. After 24 hours most of the pieces were looking pretty good except for two of the hinges that were destroyed in the cleaning process.

The wood panels were in pretty sad shape as well. The corners and edges were broken and chipped. A trip to Tap Plastics produced an epoxy product that turned out to be exceptional. I used this epoxy to repair all the corners and the edges of the box panels where wood had chipped off. After repairing the panels, re-nailing and regluing loose and broken joints of the box, I sanded the expoxy filler and smoothed the panel surfaces. An original Gulf sticker was still on the front panel of the box. It was in fair condition with the edges just starting to become brittle and pulling loose. I trimmed the edges of the sticker where it had had curled up, and then covered the sticker with Mod Podge to permanently seal it to the panel. Since the original finish on the box was in such bad shape, I used a red mahogany stain to try and match the original dark stain look of the box, or at least get as close as I could to the original finish. After the staining was complete and dry I applied two coats of clear on all the panels.

Once the finish was dry I started reassembling the box. The tumbler had done an excellent job of bringing the latches, hasp, top corner protectors and two of the hinges back. I reinstalled those parts using new brass screws. Two of the hinges were in really bad shape and were destroyed in the cleaning process. I replaced the hinges for the top with a new piano hinge. I also added new brass corner protectors to the bottom corners of the box. The hasp pieces had come apart in the tumbler and I was unable to find the hinge pin for it. I used a new piece of brass rod as a hinge pin and repaired the hasp. I used a wire wheel on a Dremel tool to clean up the handle hardware. I reattached the handle using new brass machine bolts, flat washers, and nuts.

At this point there is no interior in this box. No shelves, no nothing. I will start working on the inside at a later date, but for now here it is:

"The Dale Earnhardt Memorial race was held May 18th at Tom's World Raceway in Bend, OR. This is the premier event for the OSCAR Race group each year. A huge turnout of 21 racers came to contest this yearly event to battle for the win. The event was broken up into 2 groups, determined by a 1 minute qualifying session. The faster group is named the Cup series and the slower group is the Xfinity series. The winner of the Xfinity race has the option to move up and race the Cup series race. Stew meat won the Xfinity and moved up to the Cup race. Scary Gary was awarded the win. Action was non-stop as each group raced 4 minute heats, 3 times through for a total of 48 minutes of driving time for each racer. In the end, Tom Street prevailed as the winner by 1 lap. Here are the results of both races. Thank you to Tom and Susan for hosting, and to Mike Leech for providing the food and beverages." - Race report from Bob Nakamura.

Thanks to Bob Nakamura for the race report and photos!

Those familiar with Pelican Park Speedway in Eugene are going to have a hard time believing this but, on May 11th 2024, Flexi cars competed for the first time in over 30 years of active racing on this famous road course! Eleven racers form the surrounding area, and as far north as Vancouver Washington, showed up to participate in the traditional Pelican Park style racing format.

The race started with 50 lap qualifying heat races in a round robin style rotation. A point system was used to determine seed positions for the following brackets consisting of Semi's (The Fast Eight they call them), Consi's, The Hooligan, and of course the Main. For all the races after the initial qualifying heats, each racer drew a colored chip from the "rattler" box to determine which lane they would race in.

There was one run off race with the bottom (read last) two racers, to fill the final spot in one of the Semi's. The top two racers in each of the two 50 lap Semi's advanced to the Main. The bottom two in each Semi went to the Consi. After the Semi races were completed the bottom four racers were placed in the Hooligan. From what I can tell, "Hooligan" is Pelican for "Losers"! After the Hooligan, racers lined up for the 50 lap Consi race. Once the Consi race concluded it was on to the Main event to determine the race winner.

Overall it was an exciting day of racing! The pelican Park style racing format is different and a lot of fun! I'd like to send out a big thank you to Pat Hurley for organizing this race, and to all the Pelican Park members that made it happen! Rumours have it there may be a second race for Flexi type cars sometime this summer. Keep your eyes open for a date. It will be a race that shouldn't be missed!