1948 Challenger. One of three cars that used the Challenger name. The one shown here is the first version to use that name. Challenger cars were sold as a pan, rear and front end. There were no wheels, tires or body. A hand carved wooden body was offered by the manufacturer. These bodies were carved by Joe Lig. The car featured a front suspension via two inline coil springs. At $32.50 for a pan, rear end and front axle it was fairly expensive compared to other cars at that time.
The frog finally came in the mail. There is a bunch of lead melted into the front of the belly pan, and a wire ran through the two holes near the rear threaded holes. I think this was a wall hanger, and maybe the lead kept it hanging at a good angle. There is a little lime green paint left on the bottom. I will start working on it after I finish my Thimble Drome Champion.
I will post more in process pictures, but here it is after many hours of filing and sanding to get rid of mold lines, bumps, scratches, and areas where the top and bottom didn't line up. I'm making a new grille, and am planning an 8ball brake lever knob made of black and white delrin, banjo steering wheel, and engine turned dashboard.the exhaust and pressure pump are done after much filing, sanding, polishing, and drilling the end of the exhaust pipe.
Ron, Gary Arnold gave up his on-line store awhile ago. Best to e-mail him at tlcent1@gmail.com. Great guy with a ton of knowledge. Mick
Here are come photos of the work on the Thimbledrome Champion. The first is the start of filing and sanding the body halves to match, and to get rid of the mold lines. The second is how i got the paint off the top half. The black paint came off very easily with one or two applications of paint stripper. The red on the top barely softened with 4 or 5, so I poured it in a can and left the top in it for a few hours.I still had to do that twice to get 99% of the paint off. The 3rd photo shows the exhaust pipe after I started filing it, to show how the mold lines stand out.
Next, I made the grille. I laid it out with Mastercam, then milled the frame, with slots for the bars to fit into. The bars are .04 brass sheet. o.d.s were turned first, then i.d.s, then I ground a .04 diameter into a lathe tool, and turned the radius on the o.d.s, then sheared them off, and milled them to their various heights. next was soldering, a little filing, then cutting the assembly off the block it was milled from. Then filing to round off the frame some, running a threading die over the lower projection in back, and filing a notch in the upper one, to hook on the opening in the body of the car. Then some polishing and it's done.
b-bop started a thread called "the ultimate shift knob?", with a link to a video of a guy making an 8ball of stainless steel and brass.It's about 2 1/2 inches dia. I think it looks cool,and I thought a miniature (1/4 inch dia.) version for the Thimbledrome would be really cool for a brake lever handle.I made it from black and white Delrin. First I milled 2 round projections in a block of black Delrin,( the 2nd in case I messed up, I wouldn't have to start from the very beginning) drilled a 1/8" hole 1/8" deep, then turned a white plug to press into that. Then I drilled a .050 hole below center in the white plug. then I turned a black piece to about 1/8" dia, then drilled it.040, took it out of the lathe, and turned a white piece to press into the .040 hole in the black piece, which then went back in the lathe, to be turned to .051, to press into the 1/8 dia, white piece.repeat this process for the upper loop, but with .040 and .030 diameters, and the hole cuts through the edge of the lower loop.The walls of the black pieces end up about 5 thousandths of an inch thick, that's why I don't finish the o.d.s until the white pieces are pressed in. Then I drilled and tapped the 2-56 mounting hole. Then I cut it off the block, put it in the lathe, and used a radius tool to make half of it spherical. then mounted it with the tapped hole, and finished turning the rest of it, followed by sanding with 320, 600, then 1500 grit paper. the lever is made of stainless.
I started on the dash and steering wheel. I really like all the detail of old British tether cars, ( or tethered cars, as they call them) so I'm going to make gauges to go on the engine turned panel. The panel is made of stainless shim stock. I have a spring loaded tool I made, with a 3/8" dia. end with a rubber disk glued to it. for this job, I turned the rubber down to 1/8" dia.. I taped the shim down to a piece of flat stock in my CNC mill's vice. I coated it with lapping compound, (grit in grease) and programmed the mill to drill holes .1 inch apart in a row, then go up .05, and over the same amount, and start the .1 spacing again. The machine thinks it's drilling holes, but it's compressing the spring in the tool .1 inch to push the rubber into the steel, and drag the grit around and create each swirl, 486 times.The steering wheel will be another banjo type.
Home built Tiny Tornado. Built to plan from 1940 Popular Science magazine. Constructed by a proficient craftsman. Hardwood frame with a carved wood body and metal hood. Front wheel friction drive. Brown engine and Spin True wheels and tires. Ron
1939 Synchro Rocket. Among the first manufacturers to offer a complete kit. Came with a steel frame and 10 blocks of wood that the buyer would carve to plans that came included. All drive line parts, wheels and tires all came with the car for a total price of $19. For an additional $14 you could buy an engine made by Synchro Devices. This example has a Dennymite engine and a Dooling rear drive grill fitted to it. Ron
Nice Syncro, Ron. Coincidentally, I'm working on one right now. It came to me needing the body finished, and missing any electrical components. Still a bit of work to do, but it's getting there.
I'm new to the tether car scene as I was lucky enough to aquire a champion Products car in need of some help with information and sourcing some tires which are falling apart every time it's moved and the belly pan is cracked in a couple places so any info would be greatly appreciated.
Richard, a good welder with experience welding cast aluminum could fix your belly pan.Ron or one of the other more experienced guys probably know where you could get some reproduction tires. they got me in touch with a guy who sold me really nice tires for my Dooling Frog.
I just bought this book today. It is copyrighted 1941, by Popular Science Publishing Co. I guess it's reprints of magazine articles. They are mostly plans and instructions to make furniture, other household stuff,small boats, and home carpentry and metalworking tips. There are a lot of model railroad and plane plans, and one tether car plan.Also, coincidentally, for Richard, I've included an article on repairing cast aluminum.
1939 Duesenberg front wheel drive. This car rarely comes up for sale and they are sought after by collectors. Only between 50 and 100 were made. They were made both before and after the war. It is a large car over 21 inches long, and because of their weight they were not very competitive. The Duesenberg came in kit form for $32.50 and fully assembled minus engine for $35. Various engines were used for power. This example has a McCoy 60. It also has the correct Duesenberg wheels fitted with Champion tires. I think these are very good looking tether cars. The aluminum castings are excellent quality and polished they are impressive. Ron
You have lucked into a very desirable tether car. I've seen your FB posts and several people wanting to buy it, so you're aware of that fact. You will LOWER the value of the car by replacing the tires. If you must fix the pan, do not leave it up to "someone who knows how to weld" aluminum. Send it to a specialist such as Wayne Short. There are others who are tether car experts who can do the work and won't ruin it by accident. Obviously, it's your car and you can do whatever you want with it. I'd leave it as is. Find a less rare, less expensive car if you want something to restore or fix up. Just my 2 cents.
^^^^ First painted one I’ve seen...except for the one I have! Mine is Navy blue...most were/are just polished aluminum, with the factory paint long gone on the factory painted ones.
Hi A Boner, the Duesenberg came finished 4 different ways. Speedway red, blue, cream, and probably most popular, and the one you see the most, polished. I'm not sure if mine was red originally. It was 80 years ago. Who knows how many times it might have been repainted. Ron
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