Lets construct an AUSTRALIAN class.

[hutch--]

I have on and off mentioned this idea to a few old friends who like racing cars that you can build yourself but without the need to morgage your house to fund it. While Aussie retro comes close to a style of racing that existed in the late 60s, it misses the mark in that it represents American racing under close enough to American rules in the late 60s, not the style of racing that existed in Australia under both the VSCA and NSWMRRA.

Both the Victorian rules and the NSW rules were much more open in what could be run and as of about early 1969 sidewinders were dominant with inlines being relegated to open wheel cars and early anglewinders were being made here in Australia using both 26D and Mura A cans.

David Rittie ran a double reduction gear inline in the 1969 Brabham Trophy race at G and D at Paramatta and came second to Ian Bannister racing a hypoid inline using a 26D. There are few left in Australia that are old enough to have raced inlines back in 1969 but the vast majority of older slot racers have built and driven anglewinders for a very long time along with a few who are old enough to have built and driven true sidewinders.

What I propose as a bare outline as a class is the freedom built into the original VSCA and NSWMRRA rules for non-scale cars but with the moderation of excluding exotic bits and enforcing fully sealed motors that cannot be modified or opened. The suggestion is based on the idea that you accurately define rules in areas that need to be restricted and you completely derestrict the rest to maintain the open-ness and design freedom from the VSCA and NSWMRRA era.

Here are my initial thoughts on a basic set of rules.

1. Fully sealed motors that cannot be modified or opened. Probably a Falcon 7.
2. Rear axle must be solid and made of steel.
3. Wheels both front and back must be .750 inches or greater.
4. Bodies with much the same specifications as current retro.
5. .750 inch rear spoiler maximum limit.
6. No ball or roller bearing of any type in any part of the car.
7. Car must be constructed from wire and sheet metal, allowed metals are piano wire, brass wire of any type, brass sheet and similar copper based alloys and mild steel sheet. Specific to construction material exclusions are chassis components made of high carbon, spring or high tensile steel, aluminium based alloys, any titanium parts whatsoever or non metalic components (carbon fibre, plastics and similar composites.) Rubber and similar soft material are allowed for damping and movement control purposes.
8. Car must have functional front wheels and tyres that support the weight of the front of the car.

The areas excluded from definition are tyre widths, chassis/motor configurations, front axle diameter and location, you can run inlines, sidewinders, anglewinders, reduction geared cars, rubber band drives, tooth belt drives or anything else you can get to work with the allowed motor and rear axle. (Fluid couples 4 wheel drives are OK using a single motor.)

There are no maximum or minimum weight limits, perhaps a maximum set by the track owner (half kilo etc ...)

The suggestion addresses the situation on the ground for both racers and track owners, being able to use commonly available bits like anglewinder gears and pinions and making the cars much easier to build and get going in a reasonable manner.

Suggestions are welcome, particularly from racers who have raced for a long time and track owners who carry much of the stock that can be used to build cars of this type.

The suggested name for this class is OZclassic.

Regards,

hutch at movsd dot com

[SlotBaker]

Hutch,

Why don't you just go with either the Victorian or NSW rules and just change motor to F7? Or pick out best of both.

Do you still have those rules, or can recollect them with enough detail?

If they were good enough back then, they should still work now, with maybe just a few exclusions to limit recent technology.

[hutch--]

Kingy,

The bare outline is reasonably close to the old NSWMRRA rules but there were differences, 3 and 3/8 used to be the B grade width limit and I remember running half inch front wheels in NSW that were illegal in Victoria. I suggested the 750 wheel size front and back for 2 reasons, it suits the track supplied stock for back wheels and i have seen 16 guage wire front wheels that had a thicker O ring that were just over 3/4 diameter.

Probably the current retro rules on bodies would be fine, 3 and 1/8 width on the chassis and 3 and 1/4 over the mounted body. I suggested almost the same rear spoiler rule except that it is 3/4 instead of 1/2 inch as this matches the rules of that period. The rules of that period allowed side dams but I suggest that would be a mistake as you would just end up with 3/4 inch wing cars and defeat the purpose of a "classic" class.

The idea is to keep the appearance reasonable in terms of wheels and bodies much like current retro cars, keep the cost down by enforcing the motor and component limits and completely derestrict the rest so you don't end up with a field of look alike cars.

I would like to hear from any of the Victorian guys who raced under the VSCA rules of the time, I raced in Victoria regularly back in those days but usually under the rules of national races and only did an odd race here and there under true VSCA rules.

[lindsayb]

I would like the front wheels a little smaller than 750, I have buckets of old front wheels I can use (rear wheels trimmed) but they are all too small by the time they have completed a race on the back of my wing car.

Also the retro bodies (T122) really struggle with larger front wheels.

Maybe .500 or .600 for front wheels.

Apart from that great sounds good. (Glue) I assume none ?

[stoo23]

You must be using 'Lousy' Ti bodies Lindsay,..or cuttin' em Too Low !!,..

[lindsayb]

Still would like smaller front wheels - 750 is still usable on my wing car.

[hutch--]

The last cars I was running in the 70s had conical section front wheels with O rings that were just over a half an inch which worked fine but I fear that some of the guys who like cars that look a bit more realistic would not be happy with them that small.

I remember that I bought a pair of drag front wheels from Wayne late last year that were just on .750 with O rings and they looked OK appearance wise so at least wheels of that size can be obtained. They are strong wheels, reasonably light and O rings wear very little so I don't see any problem in running them.

I take Lindsay's point that .750 front wheels don't always fit well under some bodies but for what its worth I can get them under both JK and Redfox TI bodies.

Regards,

hutch at movsd dot com

[hutch--]

Bantam Jack has just posted a 1975 version of the VSCA rules on the Melbourne forum site. here are the direct links so you can have a look at 1975 rules. John is the right man here as he was the secretary of the VSCA.

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff27 ... ons001.jpg

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff27 ... ations.jpg

Now what I would be interested to hear is if anyone objects to a smaller sized front wheel, the VSCA rules reflect the NSWMRRA rules of about 1970 which also had a .500 inch minimum size.

Regards,

hutch at movsd dot com

John's original post can be read at this URL.

http://www.mrslotcar.com.au/race/showth ... 1#post5662

[Mark Fox]

Hi Hutch and others

I like the concept - re fronts I think .625" (5/8 inch) would be good as they would look ok coupled with .750" (3/4 inch) rears and would have no problem fitting under bodies.