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Made another trip out to Bob's today for more prep work on the track. I determined that we could not load the 12 foot by 8 foot section into Howie's trailer without removing the legs. So with help from Howie, Beau, and Bob Nak we disconnected the legs from the track, all 10 of them!Two of the legs were secured with a couple screws we could not get to, so out came the saws-all and problem solved! Both track sections are now ready to transport.

Thanks to Howie, Bob, and Beau for all the help today!

All the racing banners were taken down and Checkered Flag Raceway now has the look of being closed down. A sad moment for slot racing in the area. But the good news is it will be resurrected and re-opened in Vancouver as Inslot's Checkered Flag. Same track in a different location, located very close to the Vancouver Mall. I look forward to seeing the racers that have been enjoying this track at its new home here in Vancouver!

Too valuable as a collector piece to me Doc. That is just Ebay fodder. $95 is probably about all you could get for it on Ebay. The vintage stuff I collect I can throw on the track and take some laps...........once I actually have a track up and running............and I find my cars..............

That sounds cool Mitch! My Bentley pig of a car may be competitive with those cars with the stock motor in it!....We'll see at Al's next race.....

After the motor work I ripped into the chassis...literally. The chassis on wheels sat nice and level. From what I've read online about the Scalextric Bentleys I'm lucky there. I decided to try installing brass side pans instead of using just lead. I removed the molded reinforcement ribs from the chassis to allow for the brass strip. I was surprised at how rigid the chassis was after the removal of the ribs.

Normally I weigh everything before weight modifications are made but I really had no idea where my scales were. I grabbed a piece of .045" x .5" brass strip and cut two pieces for side pans. I glued the pans in place with super glue. I also took a piece of a lead wheel weight, approximately 1/8 oz., and beat it flat with a hammer. I then bent and formed it to fit under the front axle just behind the guide flag pivot point.

I used super glue to cement the rear axle plastic bushings in place, and then gave the bushings the super glue shim treatment while the motor rotated the axle at about 1/3 speed. After this the rear axle slop was gone and the running gear was much smoother and quieter. I used a little bit of Goop glue to insure the motor stays in place, and to also help dampen vibration. During today's work I accidently broke one of the wires off of the rear tailight circuit board. I drilled a hole through the solder joint on the circuit board, re-inserted the wire, and resoldered the connection.

I also removed a little material around the perimeter of the rear of the chassis to try to allow for some body float. I was thinking things were going pretty good but, I was a little concerned about weight. The car now feels a little porky.....And then it happened. While searching for some tools in the attic I found one of my digital scales. On the scale went the Bentley and it weighed in at 114 grams!............CRAP!..........Now I'm not sure that Scalextric motor is gonna push this pig around....Well I guess at this point I will go ahead and finish the car up and just hope for the best. It can't possibly be any worse overall, although it may be even slower...Maybe it will stay in the slot now?

That's all for now. I'm going to look over the rules and see what class I can run this thing in if I re-motor it with something that will actually move it!......

One last note. For some reason while I was working on the Bentley today the old movie Old Yeller came to mind. I seem to remember a scene where the kid is talking to Old Yeller about how the dog eats up the chicken eggs and his father says the dog is worthless. A biscuit eater was the term he used for the dog. Well it looks as though this Bentley may be somewhat worthless as well, a Bentley biscuit eater........Maybe just Bently Biscuit for short...............

One more race with Le Mans class cars for points then it is on to GT3 Class races for points. My GT3 car SUCKS! My Scalextric Bentley GT3 handles terribly! Good news is it is SLOW!........So this afternoon I decided to take a closer look at it. After removing the body the first thing I noticed is the plastic rear axle bushings are not equipped with ROUND holes. The axle flops around like a 1/2 inch pipe inside 2 inch pipe. This definitely needs some work. After connecting the motor to my Big Boy power supply I noticed the motor pitch changing like Boy George's rendition of Karma Chameleon.....My initial thought was to throw this piece of crap away, but then I remembered I would have to buy something else, and this car was CHEAP.....After some consideration I decided to break the motor in and see how it worked after some run time. I took the motor out of the chassis and connected it to my Big Boy power supply. After three hours at 6 volts the hiccups and pitch changes were gone......Side note: there may have been just a little motor "work" done before the break in. With the motor break in done, tomorrow if I make time I will start to work on that rear axle setup to try and eliminate it swapping holes!

This is the Big Boy power supply. My friend Dana Denton gave me this power supply about 20 years ago. If I remember correctly his uncle had built it from scratch. I have never misplaced it, even in my recent move because the damn thing weighs about 60 pounds! It is not a variable power supply, but it has fixed outputs of varying voltages. It features a pair of large cooling fans to prevent it from overheating. I love it! Thanks again Dana - still using it after 20 years!

Here's the crappy Scalextric Bentley GT3 motor powered up at 6 volts.

How about a couple videos from last night's race?

https://youtu.be/-DCEX6HAQfY

https://youtu.be/7K5TFIYJzSE

Our hero Monte Saager, car builder, racer extraordinaire, organizer, and the creator of our website! Thanks Monte for ALL you do!

One of the evenings Can Am grids.

Can Am entry.

I'm with ya there Chris! Shouldn't be a problem, this is one BIG track! Sad news for me is I will have no place for the Kouba three laner.........

What a great way to start out the new year racing at Rippin' Ridin' Raceway on January 3rd 2019. We welcomed a new racer, Kevin to the group, and then proceeded to thrash some cars!

The first class to grid up was GT. The basic rules of this class state cars must must have a roof and full fenders. Most cars fit into this class which makes it easy for newcomers. Initially NSR brand cars were not allowed in the class but, since the price point of NSR cars has come down and the cost of building a competitive car has gone up, the restriction was removed. The outcome of that decision is reflected in the results of the race listed below. Note that my winning NSR Porsche 917 was totally box stock. I took it out of the box, loosened the chassis pod and body mounting screws and raced it. It is running the original stock, treaded tires.

GT Class Results:
1 Bill   79.8 Laps
2 Al   77.1
3 Mitch  73.4
4 Greg  69.0
5 Rico  67.7
6 Jeff  67.2
7 Daniel  66.1
8 Zack  64.4
9 Monte 51.5
10 Kevin Lagassa  49.5

Can Am was the next class up and the night's race for points. Monte killed us with his awesome scratchbuilt Porsche 917. Al followed in second with Mitch finishing third.

Can Am Class - NASTE 2019 Point Series Championship Race No.7 @ Rippin' Ridin' Raceway:
1 Monte 77.7 Laps
2 Al   76.8
3 Mitch   73.8
4 Daniel  73.6
5 Greg   68.2
6 Jeff  67.7
7 Bill  67.0
8 Zack  65.1
9 Rico  63.5
10 Kevin Lagassa  58.2

AWESOME Stan!

This area behind the Nissan is where the track will be set up, across the width of the shop. The benchwork will stay along the rear wall with walking space between it and the track. The cabinets will stay on the wall behind the stairway.

Thanks to Diane for helping me unload everything tonight!