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So Shotgun Dave stpped up and has made some nice sidewinders. And we have seen some beautiful work by the real artists around here with these chassis. Some of them look like slot car jewelry.

This is NOT one of those. :)

The challenge was to make one using what I had on hand. Since I am an inline guy, I am not used to doing sidewinders. BUT we always try to encourage others to start building, why not take our own advice?

I had a bracket by JK that is used for this and anglewinder. Decided to use that. I have no wire bender so I just cut and bent the wire with my big pliers.





As I test fit, it was taken apart several times and re-assembled. The width on this car is a tight one so it I did not have a lot of room. The bushings were cut into and reduced as you can see. My tubing housing is rough cut to say the least. Did I mention I took this apart several times and started over? Oh yeah...I did.



But it works. Seems strong enough and the action is very smooth and quiet.

It was a challenge and it almost kicked my hind end a couple times...hence my name for it :lol:



Like I said, had to use what I had on hand. So that meant sanding/beveling a standard pinion. No matter, done it many times. It works...just barely :)



Have a long way to go yet, but it's a start. It's not pretty or very precise, but it sits true and runs. For now :)

AWESOME!!! Love seeing the details on these sidewinders since that is what I am getting ready to jump into attempting for my Ford V. Ferrari build!
Thanks for sharing Harry!
(and you may think it looks rough - but I say it looks pretty darn nice! :handgestures-thumbup: )

Wow that looks good. I've been working on mine for about three weeks and it has really been a challenge to get everything to fit. Mine was so tight I had to put the mount bolts on the opposite side of the drive gears. Now I am really jealous of what you turned out. I've got about 8 broken plastic frames if you want one.:) Maybe I should have gone the brass route after all.

Looking good! I got to tackle a brass chassis sometime!

Ooh, clean and simple.

I've only done inline set ups so this encourages me to try SW.

Looking forward to your progress.

Dan

That looks good .

Thanks fellas. Its not done yet lol.

I hope to get started on mine soon, and can only hope it comes out looking like this! Nice work Harry, its as close to slot car jewelry as I have ever seen.
That car should be a runner!

Bob

Nice looking chassis, Harry! Very clean and efficient looking. I like what you did with the bushings and the rear axle half tube.

Do you think that it may need to have the enbell end of the motor housed some way on the opposite side? I ask because with an IL the motor torque is running parallel to the axle, with a SW it's running perpendicular to the axle.

Allan

Well the motor is resting on the plate underneath. Pretty solid. I might tack solder if it needs it.

Thanks.

Wow, I never thought about grinding down the pinion before. Now I can make room for some beefier tires on a couple of cars that had limited clearance issues.

Great job Harry!!!.........very close to jewelery :text-bravo: ....hard to believe you have never built a "winder"

If I may, a few suggestions for your next chassis (or to anyone contemplating a first sidewinder build.

1/ The JK brackets are a big help in building a sidewinder, but consider soldering it to the inside of your chassis rail, and, flush with the rail bottom. This will improve the strength, and will slightly lower your cg. This will require that you place your bottom brass chassis brace in front of the motor....you can butt this brace to the front of the motor can (temporarily installed), tack solder, and then remove the motor for final soldering. If needed, you can solder the motor to this brace for additional strength (I generally find a drop or two of Shoe Goo along this join is more than enough, and, much easier to remove).

2/ I would strongly suggest installing a brace from the top of the JK bracket to the rear axle tube.....this will help significantly in removing lateral flex at the top of the bracket, and will greatly improve motor/rear axle strength. A simple (elegant and efficient) way to do this is......use you dremel to cut a "flat" on the top "crown" of the JK bracket......make a simple "L" piece from wire, and solder this to the top of the bracket, and to the rear top of the axle tube.

3/ Try to leave a little more "meat" on your rear axle tube.....cut it to a "U" shape with the open end obviously facing the motor......this will provide much needed strength for the tube/bushing interface (I know it feels strong and the bushings will not come adrift, but, brass is soft and a rear end hit can easily put a bend into the bushing/tube joint, causing rear end binding).
By leaving a little more axle tube (particularly at the top/rear, you also have a nice area to solder your "L" bracket/axle tube brace.

Please do not (nor anyone) consider this a criticism of your work...it is really really nice!......I just wanted to pass along a few things that may help


Cheers
Chris Walker

PS I just dug up these pics.,........a chassis done a few years ago, and with a FF050 motor, but, they will illustrate what I was vainly trying to describe above.

The first pic. shows the wire brace between the bracket top and the rear axle tube,....folks, this really helps!



The next shot shows how I have tried to leave as much of the rear axle tube intact as possible.........I know using a "130" motor will require more of the tube to be removed, but, try to only remove just enough for clearance. It also shows a bit of Shoe Goo between the motor and bottom chassis brace.......you can solder if you like, but for the motors we use, the "goo" is enough.......particularly when the bracket/axle tube is strengthened with a brace.




Hope this helps.....build on folks!!.....oh, Harry, over the years, more great chassis have been built using pliers, than with wire benders!! ;)

Cheers
Chris Walker

And all very good and helpful sir.

I attempted to do just that with the bracket, but the width of the axle housing stopped me.

ONLY because I failed to realize I could have easily angled the rod supports. My next one will follow your advice, it would be stronger.

Well, it's all about learning. People like yourself that help others is priceless. Appreciate it.

More great info and pics! This is great guys!!!
I think I need to find a source for that JK mount! Anyone have a part number, source or link to it?
:)