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Here's a couple photos of the cool striping tool I used.

After I completed working on the braid I went up to the local Hobby Town to get the paint to touch up the lane color stripes. I had the old bottles of paint so I could match up the colors with what is already on the track. While searching through the Testor's Model Master paint display I was only able to match up the Guard's Red color. This was not going well. They were out of the white, and there was not a match for the blue. I was totally without luck on the yellow as it was a Boyd's color. The lady behind the counter was very helpful. She checked and matched the yellow color with one of the Testor's colors, but the blue I had was no longer made. She said Rustoleum had bought out Testor's and dropped some colors. She matched it up with another blue and although it did not match exactly, it was close enough for me. She also ordered a bottle of white from another store and said she would have it there later in the afternoon. Pretty dang good service I'd say!

So back to the shop I went with paint in hand. Along with the track I got the cool little striping tool that either Kirk or Bob had modified for track lane striping. They had built a base that the striping tool attaches to, and on the base is a guide flag. It works pretty slick. Had I practiced some before I actually laid the stripes down, I'm sure I could have done a better job. But I only had some short sections to do, so I just got 'er done. Not perfect, but it's functional, and done!....Except for the white lane.....

I started working on the track early this morning. I came up with a method for laying down the braid through the underpass. After I cut the section of braid to be replaced to the proper length, I suspended the middle portion over the track surface between a small anvil and a board.

I used blue painters tape to mark out a portion of the braid recess in the underpass to apply glue to. I also marked that section out with blue tape on the new braid, so the corresponding portion of the new braid could also have glue applied. For those unaware the proper procedure for applying contact cement is to apply the cement on both surfaces, let them dry, and then bond the two surfaces together.  After the braid was secured with blue tape to the anvil and then board, I slid the anvil, braid, and board out from the underpass. With the braid in the open I could easily apply the contact cement to the top surface of the braid. 

While the braid was still outside the underpass I also applied contact cement to the braid recess in the underpass area. Once both surfaces had cement applied I slid the anvil, braid, and board back into the underpass, being careful not to let the braid contact the track surface or braid recess.

This is the cut down brush I used to apply the contact cement in the limited access of the underpass area.

What program are you using Monte?

I'd be up for a car-pool run. The car-pools up to the Tacoma area are always fun!

Just saw a Facebook post from Mike Leech. The South Bay Team won the Fray in Ferndale this year. Mike finished 24th out of 80 in the individual race, and finished 36 today in the team standings. The Oregon Team finished 10th with three wins, one tie, and the rest were losses. Mike said: "we had two or three guys with very little experience we would have done much much better."

I regret missing this race. Hopefully next year things will come together and I can attend. If you've never attended the Fray and think you might like to give it a try, put it on your calendar now and let's get a plan together! It is a fun event to attend!

I also did some testing of the "clearance indicator" embedded in the track surface. My concern was whether or not it would be effective with the 1/32 cars, or whether it would cause problems with their operation. I pushed multiple cars over the "indicator" and felt no interference as the cars passed over. I feel this will be a valuable tool in ensuring proper ground clearance with the cars run on the track. In regards to 1/32 plastic chassis cars, if a car has lead strip installed on the underside of the chassis it may create a clearance problem. All the cars I checked were close to stock height with no weight added to the underside of the chassis. If racers would like to check their car's clearance before running on this track, the indicator is set at a minimum clearance of .035 inch. I believe this is a good spec for ground clearance on the 1/32 plastic chassis type of cars. 1/24 classes generally have a ground clearance spec stated in the rules, .055 to .065 inch comes to mind. My plan is to use .055 inch minimum ground clearance for 1/24 cars or any metal chassis cars. I believe this to be inline with the rules at most of the other local tracks.

During the reconstruction of Inslot's Checkered Flag Raceway, I noticed this piece of what looks to be steel wire embedded in the track surface about halfway down the lower straight in the white lane. I had an idea of what its purpose might be, but I really wasn't sure. I sent Bob McFarland an email with this photo attached asking him what it was for. Last night Bob called me on the phone and solved the mystery. The steel wire is an indicator for cars with low chassis clearance. The wire sits roughly .035 of an inch above the track surface. When a car with less than .035 inch ground clearance passes over the wire there is an audible metal to metal tick or click sound indicating the car is too low. Cars with too low chassis clearance have always been an issue. I have had tracks that were damaged from cars with inadequate ground clearance, especially on copper tape tracks. Tech inspections are not always completed, especially during test sessions or practice. This seems like a pretty cool idea to me. I'm not sure how it will work for the 1/32 plastic chassis cars, but I'm sure some testing will answer that question.

Thanks Doc!

Monte, I keep the shop at 60 degrees or so. Since I'm working with adhesives I am keeping the temp at 65 degrees. When I have the contact cement can open and am working, I turn the pilot off on the space heater and use two electric oil bath portable heaters to maintain the temperature. I open the 16 foot wide overhead door about an inch along with the attic window for ventilation. Even with the extra ventilation for the fumes the shop temp stays right at 62 to 65 degrees.

It's a tedious process, not difficult at all, just time consuming. An assortment of tools helps keep the frustration level down.

I got the back straight finished up first.

By lunch time I had the braid on the back straight and on one and a half lanes of the lower straight glued back down. There are four pieces of the braid that need to be replaced on this lower section. The track came with a partial spool of new braid, so I have plenty on hand for replacement pieces.

Vacation is over....and I think I'm about over the creepin' crud', so it's back to work on the track. This morning I started laying the braid back down. Most of the braid was still in really good shape so I will just re-glue those pieces back down to the track surface. Although I have done this before it has been awhile so I thought I'd research what type of cement the pro track builders are using now. What I found was most pro track builders are are either using a newer 1/4" double sided 3M tape product, or the old tried and true contact cement. I contacted Bob Scott, a southern California track builder and he recommended using DAP Contact Cement. He said he had tried other products but this contact cement still gives him the best results.

I picked up some small brushes for applying the glue. A cut down the brush so it was closer to the width of the braid recess on the track. I figure the less of a mess I make applying the glue, the less clean up I will have.

Sadly, I am cancelling my Fray trip for this year.