# A brief visit to the darkside.



## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Todays victim is courtesy of my grandson Jimmy. He knows better than to leave a cool hot wheels at grandpas. 

Ordinarily die cast doesnt hold much interest for my slot projects, other than swiping motors, pipes, glass and interior goodies.

This afternoon the empty Ratrod shell was taken to the garage and I hogged about six tons of metal out of the trunk with my pneumatic porting tool. After bucking out the firewall it now fits on one of my side shaved deuce chassis that was hangin' around. I'll probably take another six tons out of the shell before I'm done.

I did the initial testing in the hotrod axle position. Magnatraction arm and AFX magnets give great speed but not a lot of quick yet. More hoggin' to go.

Naturally the wheel base was stupid so after dinner I just zipped the whole mess at the firewall and dumped out my brass box to see if I could find a front end somewhere in the depths. I made the frame rails and hairpins extra long both for fun and to get some weight out front. The short wheelbase tester was very smooth at speed but a bit jittery on throttle snap even after farting around with the pick up springs. I figure by stretching the frame out and more weight removal in the rear, the ballance will come around.

As I was about to fab a set of floating pick ups, I realized I was out of CA! 
Nobody remembered to get me some crazy glue for fathers day. Bummer!

So there she sits. Five drops of glue from her maiden voyage. :freak: 

I walked away from the bench in disgust.  

The final pic reflects the aftermath of a hotwheels homicide. :tongue:

Hopefully I'll remember to get some #*&%@ glue tomorrow!


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## noddaz (Aug 6, 1999)

Fantastic!
How about a pic from the underside?
Scott


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## tjd241 (Jan 25, 2004)

*this begs the question...*

does Jimmy know Grandpa "fixed" his (broken?) hotwheels car?  nd


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## roadrner (Jul 21, 1999)

tjd241 said:


> does Jimmy know Grandpa "fixed" his (broken?) hotwheels car?  nd


 
Can't wait to hear the rest of this story. :lol: rr


Er, well Jimmy, Grandpa hasn't seen any.........


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## sethndaddy (Dec 4, 2004)

"Um no Little Jimmy, this is not your hotwheel, its a new autoworld car, now go play with your other 9,000 cars."


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## 1scalevolvo (Feb 5, 2004)

:thumbsup: First its "Model Murdering", now its "HotWheels Homicide" ?! :lol: 
Bill, you are the Best !!! I am inspired to take that recently purchased HW sizzler sv/bk # 70 Camaro for a "Dremelation session" myself !

Neal :dude:


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## 1scalevolvo (Feb 5, 2004)

volvo1:1 said:


> :thumbsup: First its "Model Murdering", now its "HotWheels Homicide" ?! :lol:
> Bill, you are the Best !!! I am inspired to take that recently purchased HW sizzler sv/bk # 70 Camaro for a "Dremelation session" myself !
> 
> Neal :dude:



Hows about :jest: "HotWheels HO-micide" ? great name to put on the quarter panel of car !


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## videojimmy (Jan 12, 2006)

yeah... let's see the chassis


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## WesJY (Mar 4, 2004)

that's a bada$$ ratrod!! :thumbsup:

Wes


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*He'll get this one back ! .... someday*

Thanks guys! Scott and VJ: I'll get some chassis pics up tonight. Nuthin real fancy though, the sides are just planed off at the forward magnet housing, the rear apron is bobbed, and the front pan is in the trash!  



sethndaddy said:


> "Um no Little Jimmy, this is not your hotwheel, its a new autoworld car, now go play with your other 9,000 cars."


Ed pretty well nailed this one dead center. Ya gotta give hotwheels credit they've held their price very well over the years. So the 'lil ones can amass quite a pile of iron...er... I mean alloy. This particular car was found stuck into the soft spot of my shoeless foot when I ran into the study to grab the phone one evening. 

The oriental rug provides great camo for the darker colored cars and the occassional barefoot squish of a pile of cat barf. Ordinarily I'd let out a bellar, think of my father, and park it in the "return to Jimmy impound lot" on the top shelf of the bookcase. Being as how I've been on a Deuce kick lately, I requisitioned this one for reference and plastic goodies. It went into the "so sorry, grampas pocket impound yard".

I gotta give the 'lil rascal credit. Months later he spotted my diecast graveyard box. So he sez, "I used to have a car like this!" I sheepishly confessed that it was his car. He sez, "But what happened to it Grandpa?" I replied, "I needed the motor out of it and the suspension was tweaked pretty bad after I stepped on it." He sez, "Thats OK, I have more if you need them." Holding the bare shell, he carefully eyed it and said, "Grandpa! This would make a cool slotcar!" 

We went back to our Jag/Mercedes vibe duel. He likes the racket they make and I like that they hold his interest because they stay on the track for the most part. I've been injecting motor oil and burnt rubber into his upbringing since day one. By three he was already maniacally blasting hot wheels across the shop floor with the air nozzle. I just put the ear muffs and saftey glasses on him in case mom and Gram wander into the shop. :tongue:


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*Side note*



volvo1:1 said:


> :thumbsup: First its "Model Murdering", now its "HotWheels Homicide" ?! :lol:
> Bill, you are the Best !!! I am inspired to take that recently purchased HW sizzler sv/bk # 70 Camaro for a "Dremelation session" myself !
> 
> Neal :dude:


LOL Neal, Couldnt resist the "Homicide" after it popped up in the last chat. Besides you were having way to much fun with "Model Murdering" yesterday and I didnt want to get caught up in your Tsunami of posted work. Wow! is all I can say.

So ayway, I poked this one with the dremel a coupla times and said to myself "How the heck does VJ do this diecast stuff? "I'll be a thousand years old by the time I chew through all this extra slag." 

So I soft touched it with masking tape and mummified that with duct tape.
Then I crammed the porting tool with a carbide bit up it's rear and the chips finally began to fly. It took a good half hour to get it roughed out, and another hour with the dremelstone to rout out the corners. 

The tricky part was making a 'lil pocket on the backside of the trunk for the driven gear without cutting through. I'm hoping to lighten it by half again, especially the roof, cowl, and more from the under trunk area. I'm going to try and leave the lower doors and rocker area alone for handling ballast and take the top heavy out of it.


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## win43 (Aug 28, 2006)

Bill,
Can I leave my HotWheels at your place too  . I'm gonna hang out with you..maybe i'll learn something. Love the car.

Jerry


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## *MAYHEM* (May 4, 2007)

Dude!!! That is AWSOME!! I want one!


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*Pics from the Underside*

Picked up some CA today and finished the floating pick up assembly. 

Unlike the Yellar Deuce, this pick up carries the guide pin on the cross brace old school style. 

The top of the assembly is blacked out and will virtually disappear with a light fog of clear to better match the track surface. Once the pipes and motor are permanently mounted it will cover any view of the assembly from the topside. 
Still got to come up with a radiator and grill shell. I'm considering firewall treatments as well. 

As expected the gross tonnage of the diecast body mounted rewards produces wheel stand under throttle snap. Glad my layout doesnt have scenery yet. This thing is a real wrecking ball when it gets away. :freak: 

I mounted a standard Aurora hotrod shell and the wheel stand thing mellowed right out. I ran about sweet 50 break in laps with the lighter body. If I cant get enough weight out of the diecast body I'll have to fab some wheelie bars for stability. Good thing I left the screw slot on the rear apron.


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## tjd241 (Jan 25, 2004)

*Just real nice Bill...*

You always bring tinkering up to the next level. Can't wait to see this one done. JL diecast, Revell Ratrods, both have some really fine piece-parts for engines and pipes no?.... Go Bill Go!!! nd


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## coach61 (Sep 6, 2004)

Nice work Bill! that chasiss alone is outstanding, then to add the Rod.. I am still going WOW!

Coach!


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## gear buster (Dec 1, 2005)

*Super Cool*

Bill,

First off I got to say that is one cool hotrod ya got there. :thumbsup: 
Love the frame. That would look way cool polished up to a mirror blindin finish.  
Keep them coupes comin. Love your work and the super ideas that come with them.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*Many thanks*

Jerry: If you hang out here, all you'd learn here is how to steal 'lil cars from your grandson and chop them up! A dubious distinction at best. 

Mayhem: Want one?! I've seen your cars man. Get some brass stock. Cut the schnoz off a T-Jet. Kill a hot wheel. One ,two, three, rat rod! Tip: Use gator clips as heat sinks when soldering tiny brass things that are close together

ND: The little widget parts always slow me down. Seems like I always stall when it comes to ferreting out the little "its and bitties". Gotta do more pallet diving at TRU and Wally World. LOL! "Mommy why is that man's feet sticking out of the big box of hot wheels?"

Coach: I never met a chassis that didnt need a slice here or there. snicker. All my science project chassis are SOE's that have been re-engineered by some other master craftsman.  I got a big box of attrocities that "Ripley's Believe It or Not" might be interested in.

Steve: Polishing these "brass-ma bobs" is fruitless. The brass pops good but the solder always leaves a funky shadow that gripes me. I'll probably go Cad yellow for the frame, to compliment the artwork on the body. The radius links and front axle will get some Chrome Alclad for contrast.

Where does one get that stuff?


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*More Brass-ma-bobs*

Heres a few pics of the wheelie bar set up for the rat rod. 

The trapezoid frame was made from square tube stock. The narrower end slides between the rear frame rails. The wide end spans the power rails so the rollers dont bounce across the rails thus upsetting the handling. The frames corners were pie cut, bent and soldered so it's one piece. The ends were notched and the axle tube was soldered in.

A brass washer was soldered into the front frame. Hard to see but a micro brass nut was then soldered into the eye of the washer. The axle pins are just kinked sewing pins. For now the rollers are the hub bits from a pair of satin finish AFX front wheels that I narrowed a while back. 

I eye balled the washer angle and was a skoshe long, but I got lucky and filed a couple thousandths from the washer so the rollers dont kite the rear tires.

The rat now pulls a good controlled 3/8" wheelie when you snap the throttle and holds it 'til it comes up to speed. Goes down the track straight and corners good ( 6" & 9" radius) given it's extra length.

Next I'll paint up all the brass contraptions and return to hogging out the body some more. Gotta hit Wally World and do some pallet diving to see if I can find a rad and grill shell.


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## tjd241 (Jan 25, 2004)

*Nice choice...*

Yellow on the wheelie bars would give it that old school ladder bar look. nd


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## roadrner (Jul 21, 1999)

Bill,

Looking good! Keep them coming. :thumbsup: :thumbsup: 

rr


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## JordanZ870 (Nov 25, 2004)

I am diggin' the whole car, man! (DC & all!) I would love to see it in action! :thumbsup:


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## clausheupel (Jan 27, 2005)

*Bill, you...*

... made me speechless again!

What a great masterpiece of old school brass soldering!!! I´d never get all these tiny tubes and wires properly aligned... :freak: 

Now all your Rod needs is a resin body instead of the heavy diecast!  

BTW: I was thinking about doing this HW body long ago, but as it would only to a slimline chassis, I let this project drop (I was never successful finetuning slimliners). And then I received a nice resin body based on the same diecast (cast by Roger Miller):










Keep up your great work!!!

Greetings from Germany,

Claus


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

joez870 said:


> I am diggin' the whole car, man! (DC & all!) I would love to see it in action! :thumbsup:


Hey Joe! Pick up a good sized chunk of river rock and toss it down your track. It's kinda like that! Seems to pick up even more speed when it's out of the groove and barrel rolling across the table. LOL

I'm gonna miss that tendency after I lighten it somemore.  

Claus: Vielen dank. The micro soldering was very frustrating to begin with. It got better once I figured a few tricks out. The most important of which is plan the joints in such fashion that you dont re melt what you just soldered. Sounds like a no brainer, but some planning is required! Another good trick is to use solder with a higher melting point for the heavier pieces and move to a lower temp solder for the smaller things. Last but not least proper tinning of the joints lessens the amount of preheat required and keeps me from melting the whole assembly into a pile of abstract art. LOL 

ND: Glad you agree on the yellow framework. I've got about six different cans leftover from trying to match stuff on the Woody project. :freak: 
One of them should be close. :thumbsup: 

rr: Thanks! Recieved the bug today. Check your mail tomorrow!


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## micyou03 (Apr 8, 2003)

Awesome car Bill. Great work on the chassis.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*Junk Yard Dogs*

Thanks Mic!

This particular chassis had a missing front shoe hanger and was torn out and cracked along the factory thin spot just inside of the front frame rail. The front screw hole was chowed out and the axle holes were wallered also.

I've tried to find a use for those marginal or mutilated chassis we all seem to accumulate.

Cant just throw them away! LOL

If they are too far gone (burnt out comm), I still use them like Neal does as bucks or "go-no go" guages for fitting bodywork. 

Probably got 20 or 30 of the darn fubar chassis and if I keep buying junk lots they are going to continue to multiply. I also have a seperate pile of chassis that just need the riveted hardware shuffled around to be perfect.

Like I'm ever gonna get around to that! snicker.


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