[Ken]

I thought I had built cars for every class. Turns out my CanAm Lola Mk2 is from Art’s collection. I have yet to build a CanAm car myself.

There is a Carrera McLaren M20 collecting dust on a shelf that could use a serious upgrade. The livery is from 1974. Driver: Helmut Kelleners

The original plastic chassis did not survive the bandsaw for some strange reason. The old parts go into a junk box.

The side body-panels are much lighter now. Each side panel is made up of three parts. One screw on each side keeps the assemblies secure. The body is ready for a new scratch chassis. The first step is to re-read the rules for CanAm in order to choose the right wheels, tires, etc…

Topic

[Ken]

The chassis has been drilled, cut, and assembled.

I had to cut a bit of clearance in the grey section with a Dremel for the crown gear to lower the body.

The tires touch the body on front/top fenders. The motor touches the body at the back. The axles spacers hold the tires tight to the inside of the fenders so the body lines up perfectly with the chassis during the installation/epoxy of the body posts. I’ll remove 0.5mm axle spacer from each corner upon final assembly of the car. It creates a close clearance without touching. Adding the body washers creates the body float and tire to body clearance.

 

[Ken]

The car runs and has full body-float, but has not yet seen the track. It needs about 25 or 30-grams of weight added to the chassis.

There aren’t many choices of Slot.It wheel inserts for this car. At least they’re black which is the same colour as the original 4-spokes.

I’m not exactly sure of the exact formula on how to make a fast car work well right out of the gate. There’s much more to it than just a higher rpm motor. However, I pulled out all the stops for this one. Magnesium wheels, 35k slim-line motor, 9×30 gears, etc… We collect stuff when it goes on sale and say “I might use that one day”. That day has finally come. At least for these parts anyways. Every car is a bit of an experiment. This one is no different. So long as they’re fun to race. We’ll find out at the next CanAm event. :good:

[Porsche911]

That is 1 Baaaad lookin’ MoFO, 35K, McCrazy, but hey, whadowino? 🙂 As you suggested, I suspect she’s a little light, but 1 of your custom brass plates will do the trick no doubt. Best of luck with experiment :yahoo: Feel free to bring her to Spa for some shakedown laps post our racing next time.

[Ken]

Thank you for your kind words Porsche911. You always make me laugh. :good:

Thank you for the invite to the Spa. I will try not to forget it.

[Ken]

This is a nice photo of Helmut at the wheel of his McLaren. Those rear tires are insane!

[Ken]

The jury is in. I lost the battle with this motor.

I was supposed to run my Surtees Lola T70 at the last CanAm at the Spa and had to use the McLaren M20 as back-up due to technical difficulties.

It was the McLaren’s first official race at the target weight of 104-grams. The 35k motor is officially too much motor. Even with the gear ratio backed off. The tires instantly hit full RPM, and the car fish-tails to the end of every straight including the longest one. Like a moth to a flame I touched it and got burnt. I tried being gentle with the throttle trigger and the potentiometer down to zero. But it’s still way too sensitive. Unmanageable power is a good way to describe it. Like a 1974 Chevy Vega with a 454 big block on skinny tires. Nothing but a simple “tire-fryer”. You sure can’t win a race that way.

Now to choose another motor. Art suggested a Slot.It flat-6. Sounds like a good place to start.

I’m sure there are places where this 35k motor does well. But it’s not well suited for this club. Either that or I have not figured out how to tame the tiger. I’m growing weary of being bitten.

[Author]

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