Potential Classes for NASTE Racing (Page 1 of 3)

More from Larry:

  I only have this one Classic chassis.. Garvic, Monogram, Revell & classic aluminum 36 d sidewinder car isn't what I like to build & collect so I have sold all the one I have ever had.  I got this car after you said we might try running them. These cars run like big T-JET's and you can drive a truck under one of them.. They have 1" to 1 1/8 rear tires just so the gear won't hit the track. I think we should just allow the 4 type cars.. I can look up the chassis stock numbers and list them and the cars that came with them in kit or RTR.. The Classic and Gravic only came as RTR, but they did sell just chassis as parts. Now Monogram and Revell sold RTR, Kits and Parts.
  I think any stock 36 d motor would be legal as long as it has no ARCO magnets. I would like to do some RD on this Manta ray and see if I can make it work.. As far as adding some weight to the chassis I think I will try some?? Wish I had a track ...  If you have one of these cars why don't you play with it and see if you can make it work and let me know. You have a track to test it on.
This might be fun trying to make these cars work good enough so we can race them.. What I remember is that they go like hell wheeling down the straightaway and tip over in the corners. Well let me know what I have to do to post..  Larry

Here are some of the chassis that fit the "lightweight, 36D sidewinder" category:

Revell

Monogram

Classic

Garvic

Champion

I would have to agree with you Rico. Depending on the condition of the car, especially the body, these are not what I would call particularly cheap. Of course my definition of cheap is under $20 (complete and ready to go!)! However there are many that can be had for no more than the cost of a new Slot.It car. If we do initiate this as a class, I would estimate the entry cost of a car (race ready) to be $40 to $70 depending on the initial cost of a used car/chassis and the parts required to get it race ready. Chances are any car you can buy for $20 to $30 is going to require some parts to upgrade it. I don not want to mislead anyone!  ---------------------------Bill

Great looking car Todd! I love those old Porsches!......And you're right, it's too bad Pelican Park is so far from us!  -----------------------------Bill

Here's photos of the Garvic cars Larry has for sale:

Lots of discussion going on regarding the vintage style chassis. My whole goal with this type of class would be to have a class of 1/24 cars we could race for years to come. Early on NASTE raced the original NASTE Chassis cars with RadioShack motors for years. We went through 5 or 6 seasons using the same chassis and just used different makes and styles of model car bodies for the different classes. We definitely got our money's worth with those cars! Most of us "old guys" still have our original cars, as do some of the "young guys"!

This time around I was looking for cars that are easily obtainable, relatively inexpensive, and don't require any major modifications or expert level building ability. So to further the discussion, here are some more prospects in addition to the vintage sidewinder 36D cars:

Listed in no particular order, left to right, front to rear; 1/24 EJs Hobbies kit (shown with the Cheetah body. There are other styles available), vintage Garvic, Pro-Trac RTR, Parma FCR (available as RTR). Testing to follow................

We've already had quite a bit of discussion on the vintage 36D cars. This particular one was assembled by Larry Cockerham. The one non-stock item on this chassis is the .090" brass mini-pan that mounts to the front axle. This greatly improves the handling of the car. I will go out on a limb and say I expect this car to be the best handling of the bunch! These cars typically are fitted with lexan bodies.

The chassis pictured is fitted with Jel Claw rear silicon tires. These cars can be picked up off Ebay. The are usually many examples for sale, and condition varies greatly. Generally the prices run from $20 to $50 depending on condition, and how complete they are.

Advantages: 1) Many types of lexan bodies are available that will fit these cars. 2) Collector value (although not as high as a "hardbodied" vintage car) but there is still potential to fully recover the cost of the car.

Here's the Parma FCR chassis (available in RTR form) for "hardbody" cars. This is an example I have had for quite some time. These chassis use standard, readily available Parma parts. The front and rear axle bushings are the square type as used on the rear of the Parma Flexi cars. The bushings allow slight adjustments in ride height. The chassis is a solid one piece brass stamping although a little thicker and heavier than the Pro-Trac chassis. The wheelbase of this chassis is fixed at approximately 4.5 inches. The cost on these is around $40.

Advantages: 1) Brand new parts. 2) Multiple motor options as any 16D sized can can be easily fitted to the chassis. 3) Durable.

I think anything we can get that is currently produced is going to be easier to round up than having to go through the ebay wars and still spend the same amount of money.  I'd be happy with either the EJ's or the Pro-Trac.

Many of the components for vintage type chassis are still available as new parts, or old parts can be upgraded. EJs Hobbys is a good source for new vintage parts. I agree that we don't want to have to rely on Ebay as a parts source! Not just for pricing reasons, but you never know if something will be available on Ebay. As far as the Garvic and Classic style chassis, once you have acquired a chassis most all the other components are readily available, or can be upgraded. I'll do a little experimenting with upgrading and see what can be done with the bare chassis component wise.  --------------------------Bill

I completed the first round of testing on the cars listed above. The testing was done on my 6 lane MDF routed 1/24 track - The BullRing. I used the Bob Hanna Econo Car type chassis as the base line for comparison between cars. I ran each car for 100 laps to get accustomed to the handling of each car, and establish the lowest lap time I could run with each. I completed the testing myself, so all the comments are based on my impressions of the various cars performance. The cars are listed in order as to my overall rating of the cars handling and performance.

Econo Car:

The Econo car is by far the best handling and easiest to race car of the bunch. It is also the most expensive. The chassis is handbuilt using .090" flat brass and made for mounting model car bodies. Because of the weight of the car, this is not the fastest car on the straights, however it is the fastest cornering car of the group. This heavy chassis needs and can use all the bite you can give it tire wise. The more the better! If you are looking for a fast chassis to run model car bodied cars on, this would be the one! This car is the easiest car to be consistent and fast with. Best lap = 4.406 sec.

--------------Bill