I got my dies for forming the hubcaps for my Frog hardened. They don't seem to be as hard as they should, which I think might be because the material was mislabled. It's been sitting around for almost 25 years, so that's a possibility. Any way I tried them with some .025 5052 aluminum, and they work. The aluminum tore in 2 places in the center of one piece, and almost tore in 2 more. the hole also stretched more than I thought it would. I drilled them 5/16 diameter, thinking they would stretch a little, and I could then bore them accurately to 3/8. They stretched to over 3/8,I'm hoping I won't have these problems with stainless steel, but if I do, I'll drill smaller holes. If they seem distorted in the photos, that's just the sanded finish reflecting the light wierdly on the curved surfaces. In the 3rd photo, you can compare the hole in one formed piece to the hole in the flat one under it.
That's a cool one. Did you advertise it anywhere? Here's a little something I just received in the mail. Original Rexner. From what I'm told, I'm only the third owner. Came from an estate sale in Michigan, purchased by a collector friend, then sold to me...after I pestered him for about 2 years. Lol.
Hi Rick always thought Rexners were one of the best lookin cars. Just the way I like to find them. Good buy. As to the Dooling it sold on Ebay. Took about 20 minutes. Sky King
I started adding some British cars to my collection, starting with the M&E Wasp I showed previously. Here's another. A homebuilt MG. It had been previously crunched in shipment, so I was able to pick it up for a good price, and I like fixing things so win-win. Damage to body near seat back, as well as the windshield frame was broken. Fabricated a windshield frame out of brass sheet. After some body work and fresh paint, it's all fixed. It's a cool little car. Wish I knew who built it!
Interceptor 1941 Many manufacturers built cars in California. One such company was the Olsen Machine Works. One of the nicer looking cabin cars was the Interceptor. They retailed for just under $50 minus the engine. Not only was it good looking it was very competitive due its light weight body. Castings were made out of magnesium. Various engines were used by the different owners. All came with Gardner tires and moon-like wheels. My Interceptor came from the Franny Wolf collection. As with most of my other cars it is my favorite.
5840116[CH] 1948 Homebuilt. A casual look and you would think this is a Matthews V car. Not so. The top and bottom of this car is aluminum pounded over a wood buck. Whereas, the V car is cast aluminum. The fin on the back is welded on. This car is powered by a post war Hornet engine and the fuel system and electrical layout I think is exceptional and well thought out. Note the wet cell battery in the middle of the car. I bought this car and others shown in the second picture not knowing it was not a Matthews. The first picture is Matt Carino member of the Philadelphia Model Race Car Club holding his car on a track made of masonite that the club built for a display at a fair. All the other cars shown were Matt's including a sister car to mine on the track.[/ATTACH]
Sky King, does the large tube sticking out the front of the car provide pressure to the gas tank, and air to the carb? I don't see a hole in it to direct air to the carb in any of your photos.
Awesome thread! I've wanted to build a tether race car for some time. Have a few engines laying around. McCoy .09 diesel, Forster .29 ignition, Saito .62 4 stroke, and a Novarossi .21. I think I finally need to build one. Is there a source for wheels and tires or is everything being made individually?
Zenki, you can find wheels, tires, and other parts on Ebay, in their tether cars category. Not all tires for sale are able to be run on a track. They are just to make your old car look nicer sitting on a shelf. They would fly apart if you ran them. I have not posted in a while because I retired at the end of August, so I haven't had machines to use in the evening. I just bought a well equipped Craftsman/Atlas lathe, and I just got a bunch of bearings, belts, and gasket material for a Hardinge TM horizontal mill I have, so I should be getting back to work on the Frog soon. I polished up my Real McCoy. It took about 4 hours of filing and sanding with 320 grit paper, then another couple hours of polishing with tripoli on a cloth wheel, then Simichrome on a piece of cloth.
That is absolutely beautiful! I should of clarified, I was referring to the race tires people are running. Like the knife edge tires, etc. They look to be polyurethane looking at pictures, but I'm not sure. I just purchased a small grizzly lathe so I can start building a car. Need to find a small mill now.
I recently bought a little Unimat lathe to be able to make some parts. Whipping up some steering wheels.
Just took the time to look through all 26 pages, (so far). Rotten Ron’s post #531 (page 18), is a very inspiring tether car. Looks like a good winter project…I’ll have to see if I can get my hands on some appropriate aluminum!
I finally got my stainless hubs done. I sawed out two and an eighth inch squares of .025 thick 430 stainless, clamped them together so I could drill them all at once. Then I turned them to 2" diameter, clamped between 2 pieces of brass,, pressed them in the dies I made, then polished them with 400 grit then 800, 1000, 1500, 2000, and finally 3000. I am very happy with them.
Hey guys, I found this on line. It looks like an old copy of the top of a Frog used as a pull toy. It has bracing added where the axles go through the body to make up for the axles not going all the way from wheel to wheel, so it's not an original Dooling casting, unless they made a pull toy version. Anybody know anything about it? I can't copy the photos, so here's a link. It's in an auction tomorrow, 1/15/24. I'm not bidding on it, just curious. Lot - CAST ALUMINUM TOY RACE CAR (auctionzip.com)
Just found this thread, there are some really talented people doing some very nice work. A few years ago I started to build a Bantam Midget, I got about half way through it and decided that what I really wanted was a belly tank tether car. I finally figured out how to shape it out of one piece of aluminum, now I just need to find the time to finish it. Tom
I've had this Duro-matic Invader for a couple of years, and it's been bare magnesium. Finally taking the time to paint it and get it fixed up. Not done yet, but here are some progress pics. And finished...
Question for you gents. On the larger mccoy cars and the likes, how are the rear wheels fixed to the axle? Ar they tapered, or just a plain shoulder?
The Jalopy Journal
