American Graffiti 1962 - Update finally 09/03

[MoparGreg]

Thanks Dave, I missed it to! It's been a long time coming. It will be a coupe of weeks before I pull the track out of the shed as I want to get the rest of the room sorted out first. I'll keep adding progress photos as I go.

[MoparGreg]

Hi everyone, finally a great update to share on my American Graffiti track. A quick back story, A few years ago I started some major renovations on my home. The track used to be in a large family room in my house. When the renovations started I pulled the track totally apart and stored everything in my shed out the back. We put extra walls up and ripped some down in the house changing the configuration totally. Half of the room where the track was is now our 4th bedroom and the largest bedroom in the house. When the renovations were completed we were left with the smallest room in the house. This room needed to house my wife's home office for work, her scrapbooking and area to create, my American Graffiti track, work area to work on cars and scenery items as well as store loads of model kits. Here's the kicker, the room size is 3000mm X 2650mm or 10foot x 9foot. Initially I thought 'yeah room is to small, can't be done' and I gave up.

I really didn't want to have my track out the back in the garage as I'll be doing a lot of work on scenery. I really wanted the track inside the house. After a few months of staring at an empty room on what to do I started measuring and sketching different ways to make it fit. After another few months I came up with a way to make it work. I needed to use the walls to create extra space.

5 months or so more of building and painting here it is, slowly getting there. Everything in the room is custom made by myself to fit this room. Here's the track -

Here's the old layout



Here it is now. The track now swings off the wall. The cupboard was rebuilt to fit the room. Original doors reused





To fold it down you swing the legs out



Hidden locks in behind the legs to hold it upright against the wall so it won't fall down



Here's the track folded down



So the track would fit the room I needed to cut about a 9 inch strip out of the middle and reroute the lanes to match back up. I also cut about 2 inches of each side and 3 inches of the back. I also rounded the centre piece of mdf to match the racing line. Its amazing how much needed to be rerouted cutting a small strip away. It all fits and I dont think cutting 9 inches out of the middle will be missed.









I'll make another post with the rest of the room soon.

[MoparGreg]

Here's the storage underneath the track. Loads of storage for cars, model kits and the wife's scrapbooking stuff.



So onto the other side of the room. I custom made the desk from Fijian Cedar Oak Plywood. Desk is 10feet long. Plenty long enough for work, model building and scrapbooking. All the shelves were made from cheap pine. Shelves still need to be setup with stuff. Tool box with tools under desk.







So that's it for now. Next up is to paint and wire up the track. Once the track is running I plan on screwing in some 3mm mdf on the underside of the track to neaten up the under side of the track. Once painted it wont look like a slotcar track at all. I do hope it gives inspiration & shows how much can be done in a small amount of space. Stay tuned.

[2FER SLOTS]

Looking good !
Very timely post, I needed that .
We are going through a space revamping at home right now, and I love how you two are sharing space.

[MoparGreg]

Thanks guys. I hope to get things up and running quickly.

Question for you guys. I'll be lifting the track up and down off the wall a lot. I've noticed while lifting the wood frame does flex a bit while in motion, even with 2 people. Im debating about filling the gaps on the mdf track surface with filler. Do you guys think it will just crack over time due to the flexing while lifting? Obviously the gaps will be the weak point! It's currently smooth just unsightly and thinking it may look worse if I fill it if it was to crack. I'm wondering if I'm best to just leave it and not fill it. Ideas?

[TuscoTodd]

That is looking VERY cool already!
Look forward to seeing the updates!

[dge467]

Nice looking work area, and good to see a update of your track. Also good to see you posting as well!

[dreinecke]

I've only been waiting for this for oh, EVER! Can't wait to see this track getting done! The cabinetry and build are just first-rate like everything you do, Greg.

BTW - Do you still have the oval in the garage?

[MoparGreg]

Thanks guys. Yes David, oval is still in the garage. It must be 10 years old now but still as much fun as when I first built it. Sadly we have run it very little due to time. Here's a quick pic of it up against the wall-



Shotgun thanks, I've decided like you said to not fill the gaps. I'll work something out with it later.

Dge thanks for the kind words, expect many Mopars to be built once I get the track operating.



Thanks
Greg

[Nor Cal Mike]

Greg Let me add to the chorus of folks who are glad to see you back at this project. It has been a long time coming but I know it will be well worth the wait.

On the subject of filler, I have an oval track that is mounted on a trailer that has probably been pulled around a thousand miles around this state. As all light loaded trailers do, it bounces on every bump. The track gets a real workout. I have patches in it that haven't come out under all of that punishment. I used plastic auto body filler (bondo) as the fill. Here's the trick.......I drill a few holes into the body of the wood at the bottom of the areas to be patched. When the filler is applied, it runs into those holes, hardens and then acts like little roots that anchors the patch in place. Likewise, you can also route little roots horizontally at the surface surface to do the same thing. Either way, or a combo of the two, once filled, sanded and painted the patches become invisible but are strongly rooted into the wood.

Mike

[SpeedyNH]

how about a little reinforcement between the lifting points? sometimes I use aluminum angles (narrower side against table) because they're lighter than a 2-by.

[MoparGreg]

Progress has been made. It's slow but it's happening and that's what counts. It's painted and taped and ready to be wired up.

Here it is -



I tried something different for the surface paint texture and it was easy and come up great. I used flat acrylic ceiling paint that was tinted like normal at the hardware store. I chose ceiling paint as it had zero sheen. I applied 2 coats. I rolled it on with the finest nap roller was either 3 or 5 mm nap, can't remember. Between the coats I lightly sanded with 240 grit sand paper. After the last coat I sanded with the finest sand paper I had, which was 320 grit. When I sanded I sanded very lightly in a swirling motion. These are the results -





Next up wiring and drivers stations. Yeah!


Thanks
Greg

[dreinecke]

YES!!! Progress!

The surface looks great! Not a method I'd have thought of, but the results speak for themselves. Nice work!

[MoparGreg]

Thanks guys. I got some more done last night. Power taps in, driver stations done. Running some wires next!

Johnny - yes it is good to be able to share a hobby space with my wife. Certainly in a perfect world a larger room would have been ideal but we are just using the space we have available. We are open to each other's interest.

David - yes the track surface came out interesting. Basically I am just sanding down the small bubbles that the paint roller leaves behind. In all honesty I had planned to do exactly as you and Lee did with you track. I was just giving it a light sand before a added more paint. I liked the effect so I left it.

[MoparGreg]

Update time, YAY! Ive been working on the track here and there. But have been running cars on it alot. The track including the lane changing has been flawless. The only issue I have had with lane changing is my kids like changing lanes. The lane changers get quite hot as they constantly press it. They continue to work but part of the mechanisims are held together with hot glue & the glue starts to melt. So I need to find a different glue. Otherwise perfect!

Heres the underside. Just needs some paint to finish off.



Ive painted some street markings, added in some sidewalks, the start of Mels Diner & some scenery items. Here's the start of Mels Diner, including menu boards.




Potential area for a Garage or Used car lot.


Going around the intersection and where the hotrod shop will be or where Milner works


Down the main street(back Straight). I can park some cars on the side of the road as the racing line wiggles around them.


Wide shot


Next up I plan to start building Mels Diner & all the buildings that will run along the back straight. Plus I need to build alot of period cars to use. Im also working on a video so you get an idea of how the track works. Thanks for looking.