Low Budget Race Team

[Ralphthe3rd]

[Ralphthe3rd]

Nice sunny day for a ride with the top down in the Lightning Rod :D




Picked up some fellow Roddin' Buddies along the way...on the road to the Car Show.


At the Car show, they even had a Vintage Jeff Gordon Rookie Car, from back when he Drove a FORD !

[Ralphthe3rd]

Although these pix are staged for Artistic purposes, I did Match race these two on my Regular Dragstrip ! (read on...)
We had a little Grudge Race today...

Rudy in the Rude Stude vs. Big John Mazmanian in his Willys !

Match Race Madness !

FYI- no BS, the Willys was my fastest T-Jet, it runs my hottest(6 ohm) Original Tuff Ones Chassis with a JL body atop it, while the Stude is another old JL body, but on top of a brand new AW Ultra G chassis, with the only mods being the custom rear slicks, and the wheelie bar. PS- The Willys has a wheelie bar too !

Rudy pulls a Holeshot on Big John !

I couldn't believe my eyes, run after run, the Stude kept beating the Willys. And don't think it won because of the Neo Traction magnet, coz it didn't help at all- with those tall rear slicks, which raised the rear high enough to negate all magnetic assistance from the traction magnet.

Conclusion... I'm Agast ! I have raced this Willys against many- many cars, and many were Ultra G AW T-Jets, but the Willys Always beat 'em ! But it's now lost it's Throne, The Rude Stude is now King !
BTW- I just received this AW Ultra G chassis today from Bud's HO, and I never even took the Top Plate OFF ! I just ran it a few laps on my oval, and noted the Traction magnet wasn't doing a good job keeping it on track in the corners, and it wiped out alot ! I also noted it was FAST ! Soooo.... On with the Custom Made Sili Slicks, and on with a Wheelie bar, and the REST is now History !

[dge467]

Cool cars and great pictures Ralph! I have my HO track apart for now, but will be building a door track soon.

[dreinecke]

The Stude is wicked!!! Really great looking ride!

[Ralphthe3rd]

Thanks Guys :) ....playing with my lil toy cars at least keeps me out of Trouble in 3D, although I do have a knack of pushing buttons online that not everyone appreciates ;)

[Ralphthe3rd]

Or.... the alternate title : Speedy Pit Pig goes to a Better Place....
(The Following Pix were taken on Sunday- Dec. 22)

Photo #1> Oh shoot, I stepped in Speedy Pit Pigs CRAP again ! This Shop mascot has now out lived his usefulness as a Guard Dog- err Pig !


Photo #2> Here lil Piggie-Piggie, Daddies got a nice .45 Cal slug for you !


Photo #3> YEP- He's DEAD ! Maybe didn't NEED to use a .45- but he went down before he knew what hit him !


Photo #4> We spared ya the Gory stuff, figured the ladies wouldn't want to see that. Anyway, we invited the friends over for the Roast, and since the weather was so nice, some even came by bike !


Photo #5> Mmmmm....Speedy smells alot better NOW, than he did in LIFE ! Even "Noser" our NEW Guard DOG thinks speedy smells good :handgestures-thumbup:

[Ralphthe3rd]

Here's pair of Black Bombers I've been Tinkering with in the past month or so. The Bodies are left stock, the El Camino is not Aurora, but is NOT Resin, it's Black plastic molded exactly to the Same specs as the Aurora. The '66 Ford Fairlane was a Johnny Lightning Pull-Back body I got a few years ago. I have to tell ya, I HATE Black CARS, so that's why the Ford sat so long. Only mods to the Ford body are it's been slightly lowered and few decals added. But the Real work on these cars is in the Chassis, both are Pretty Hopped up, but are using Skinny wheels, and I don't have many Skinny Tire T-Jets that are Hopped up. But with the Right Silicone tires, these babies Hook up just about as good as Tuffies with Wider Rubber. PS- the Studebaker Station Wagon is 50 year old diecast Matchbox and so is the Trailer, which started life as a Caravan Camper Trailer.

[dge467]

Poor plastic piggy! The pair of bombers look cool. I like the Stude wagon and trailer, I got one in blue.

[Ralphthe3rd]

[Ralphthe3rd]

Ok, nothing really Special to look at and drool over, but there IS a story behind these two A/FX Ferrari. Ya see, I recently pieced them together from the Spare Parts bin, ie- I had the bodies(which needed parts), I had Bare A/FX non MT Chassis, and I sorta had all the various parts needed to build these two into running order, if not to OEM Specs. To Start, I needed to add Glass and a Faux rear motor to the bodies(done), then I had some parts that didn't quite belong on an A/FX chassis- but would fit. I installed a Blue(6.5ohm) Drag armature, from an Early Specialty(4 gear) chassis, to a MagnaTraction top plate, and used a pair of standard (but strong) A/FX magnets, and buttoned the #6 Ferrari up. The other Ferrari #2 had a nice (6ohm)Mean Green Arm on a standard A/FX Top plate, BUT, I added Super II Magnets, AND, a Super II 19t Crown Gear.
The results worked well, but gave each of the Ferrari Different personalities. EG- on my Dragstrip the #2 Ferrari Jumps ahead with a Hole-Shot, but kinda tops out at about 3/4 Track. Where as the #6 Ferrari Steadily builds up speed right behind the #2 and over takes her on the Top end and is still Pulling hard thru the traps. Now on a Road course, the #2 is king, as I don't have a really long straight section to top out on, and the #6 actually appears slower on the road course, as it feels like it's geared Too tall, and I don't have long enough straightaways to allow her to stretch her legs.
Anyway, without further ado , here they are, not much to look at- unless I lift the hoods ;)

[Ralphthe3rd]

The Yellow '67/'68 Camaro "01" is slammed as LOW as the Dirt will allow. She's presently mounted on an X-Traction chassis WITH The Basket Handles, but will soon be swapped over to an original Aurora A/FX non MT Chassis. The resin body came from my buddy Greg W., and was originally a RoadRaceReplica's T-Jet Fairgrounds Body I believe, that was radically Altered ! I really haven't done much to the body, except repair some cracks and a windshield A pillar. I parked the 01 next to a Model Motoring(II) Camaro, to show the differences in height. PS- the lettering also came with the body, and I will probably add some contingency sponsor decals as well.

[Ralphthe3rd]

Back at the Shop, we were just finishing up on a couple of Motor rebuilds on a '66 Fairlane and a '57 Chevy....



....and a guy dropped by with his '76 Grand Torino, who was interested in getting some work done as well.

[Ralphthe3rd]

Just a couple of Neet Streeters we've been working on at the Shop.... FYI, the JL Willys Body came from my buddy Jim Hoar last year, and it's original Aurora Tuff Ones chassis came in Kit Form(LOL) from my other buddy Greg W.
The '59 'Vette Was a Chrome plated JL Pullback, that I got over a year ago from a friend who has since passed away :(
The 'Vette was also a Coupe, that I removed the roof, and also Stripped the chrome from, it will be Repainted.

BTW- these old JL Vettes were copies of Vibrator bodies, and just WON'T bolt onto a T-Jet Chassis, they sit really high, and also have Mega clearance issues at the front of the Pick-ups. But this can be over come...look back in this thread to see my PINK '59 'Vette Conversion.

[dge467]

Great cars and pictures!!!