Old Sprinter

Thanks Dave and yes, this a mock up and all comes apart. Lots of detail stuff to go ( or it's just a toy LOL)

Wow, classy build. That's incredible. It looks so real!

Thanks guys and any midget racing talk is welcome as far as I'm concerned. I have heard of Steve Buckwalter and you're right; the guy is a top shoe in midgets. Here's somemore progress shots.

I have finally finished the tires and wheels and put on the injector stacks, firewall, belly pan and seat. Wayne; you've never seen a VW midget or never seen a midget racer before? The VWs were only popular in the early 80s, but they won a ton of races in a short time. Midgets, today don't look like this one. They look like small bridges with the same kind of tail tank (more or less)

Got the tail tank and hood done with styrene sheet and a little Bondo, but still easier than fiberglass, like I usually use. I am building the tires, again, so I can get the right size and some staggere in the rear tires. !00% scratch build and it's fun which is all that counts.

Okay Syd the plans are race ready. I will get them off in the morning's mail for you. You really got to post your build, now, as I can't wait to see this come together. Ken

I'm glad you like the progress. The birdcages are suspension componets for a live axle rear end. They encase the axle and position the radius rods, shocks and torsion bar arms. You should use wishbone type radius rods for this era of sprinter. I will include more dimensions but the vellum paper is 1/8" grid so each square is scale 1" by 1".If you print the sheet, the grid disappears leaving only the drawing, so I will send you the original. Sometime too much dimensioning clutters up the sheet and makes it confusing. IMO. You will need a Jacobs ladder as well to position the rear side to side. It's like a fancy sway bar used by most all sprint cars.

Syd; I've refined the plan and think this will work for your project. It should fit the body nicely. The wheelbase turned out to be 89 1/2 inches, just right for this monster. I hope you can use some or all of this. Ken

That is incredable. Nice work!

Syd Here's a first pass at designing a 4 bar frame for your sprinter.. I will do a refined version as well as a top and front view. This will work using 3/16 tube (1 1/2" real size). I hope you can solve the interior material problem as I struggle with that too. Ken

Great work as always, Joe

Yep, they were the hot ticket for awhile in the 80s. Decent HP, low center of gravity and no radiator to add wieght. They were expensive little devils for us low buck racers, though. Kenyon and Vogler were midget masters weren't they?

We are the only spieces of animal, on earth, that protects it's idiots.(me) I came home last night and all my furniture was stolen and replaced with an exact replica (Steven Wright} If you win tonight's feature race with a lunch box bolted to the hood; next week half the field will have a lunch box mounted to theirs (my Dad)

Hood is done and I'm building the tail tank out of styrene (or trying to).

Do any of you evr get in a model car funk? I have been going thru that so I built a plane out of balsawood and tissue. I feel much better now and am ready to build race cars again, these things are too hard to do LOL.

Syd, you're doing great, but if you decide to go with another body and have no use for that one, I would like to buy it from you and build a 50s sprinter. I use to watch them at Ascot , Culver City, Clovis and a few another places when I was a kid. Just an option if you would like. I make my own bodies but the Madd Fabricator is the master at it so it would be cool for me to make one of his racers. Tilting the motor with a dry sump will certainly give you a chance to get a lower profile ( and it will corner better LOL).

Yep, you got it. You try to get as much wieght to the left side of the car. Sprinters only turn left.

Made a little more progress; hood started out of styrene. Front and a rear tire made and the frame painted. Scratch biuding is the most fun, to me, I love it.

Shane, here's the only picture I took building the VW motor, sorry.

Shane, the motor is scratch built. Bart, the only reason I used aluminum tube for the main rails is it does not distort. I have learned through experience that using styrene for main rails is easier but will warp up slightly and change as the other pieces are added. Then the frame will not lay flat. By using metal main rails and styrene tube for the cage and braces, the chassis remains unchanged during the whole construction. This is my seventh car this year so I have some scar tissue to base my building materals on.

I use styrene tube most of the time. It holds a bend better and is easy to splice ( with a smaller rod inside). The friction deal is just my trail and error method of repeating the bend slowly until it stays in shape (using body heat and friction) Massage the thing, over and over and it will get there. A tubing bender works good on rod or tube. Sorry, no black magic here, just the will to do it.

I use epoxy for styrene to metal. Here's what I am trying to build. The VW were hot back in the 80s.

Thanks guys, here's todays progress. These things are short and fat, but very cool, aren't they?

Having midget madness I need to build a AutoCraft VW coilover midget; so that's what I'm going to do.

Nice job on the tube frame, Syd. Now the fun part, getting it up on wheels!