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Eastside Raceway


shodan

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Very nice.... Its come up a treat

 

Thanks Kai. It's starting to look good, I'm feeling a lot better about my progress now.

 

Hey Bry, I can appreciate the unbelievable amount of time you've spent on this mate... an incredible effort!

The whole thing is an awesome build, great flowing track, can't wait to see the thing with scenery.

Bravo buddy... bravo!!

 

Cheers Dick, yes it has been been a lot of time so far.

Having to do the repair work has been really frustrating, you kind of feel like you're only back to where you were. Just have to chip away at it!

 

I'm looking forward to getting started on the scenery, just a few maintenance things to do first, timing and whatnot..

 

lookin bloody good mate!

 

Thanks Shane, I've been really encouraged watching you plug away at Grefhurst II.

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Congratulations for persevering with the repair work. From here hopefully it is only forward.from here.

 

Good luck with the next bit. Hopefully more fun.

 

Embs

Computers. They'll never catch on.

 

_AM_sig_zps00cdfd1a.jpg

 

Tiny Tyers Targa - The build saga continues - Aging wood - A recipe for staining wood - Don't take a fence - Step by step paling fence - An old shed for my new cars - Wooden garage under construction

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  • 2 weeks later...

Some more progress.

Clear barriers are up on the four major areas, I've used 3mm pvc for these. Ordered a couple of long lengths (2.4m) from Profile Plastics in Bayswater (i'm plugging them cos they've been great) for both the banked end and the sweeper end.

There will be more added after some of the base scenery has been added.

pvcbarrier.jpg

gt40s.jpg

Wiring cleanup and braid cleaning is done.

Gantry has been designed, will start building that soon.

Below is a sketch of my idea for modern-looking streetlights- I haven't been able to find anything off-the-shelf that I like.
I had wanted to install these using 4.5mm stereo jacks, but I recently read a thread over on slotforum where the bloke has used RCA jacks instead. RCA jacks should offer a more tolerant connection.


area-light-concept.jpg

Inspiration for scale-style track guard rails has come from AAWSCC of slotforum who has some sweet, industrial looking guard rails on his Pioneer Brooklands track, very much inline with my initial concepts.. That may be an option, I might also scratchbuild them. We'll see



I ordered a custom PVC tarp made to size, and it has been delivered yesterday.

Melbournians will remember the epic rain at the start of this week. Unfortunately it turns out that my old tarp is leaking more than I thought, and the track copped a lot of water, and more water damage. :o However when I pulled the tarp off on tuesday, most of the swelling had gone down. yay! B)

That's all I've got for now, cheers.

Edited by shodan

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Hope the new damage isn't severe. You sure you want to trust a tarp? I think that puppy needs a roof all of its own.

Computers. They'll never catch on.

 

_AM_sig_zps00cdfd1a.jpg

 

Tiny Tyers Targa - The build saga continues - Aging wood - A recipe for staining wood - Don't take a fence - Step by step paling fence - An old shed for my new cars - Wooden garage under construction

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Nice looking track Bry, I hope that new tarp keeps it dry.

 

Cheers Rob! So do I. In true murphy's form, it hasn't rained since the new tarp was delivered <_<

 

Hope the new damage isn't severe. You sure you want to trust a tarp? I think that puppy needs a roof all of its own.

 

Embs- luckily most of the swelling has almost completely disappeared, there are a couple of minor bumps on the section I previously repaired. They're not too severe, so I'll leave them there as 'character'.

 

I would prefer some sort of roof and have tried to come up with something, but haven't really found a solution I'm happy to implement.

 

 

hi,

just came across your track thread. WOW.

absolutely awesome.

great job on everything you have done.

especially appreciate your progress pics.

i have built 2x8 laners and 1x6 laner and know how much work is involved.

well done.

cheers, steve

 

Thanks Steve. Glad you appreciate the progress updates! I like to document the build as I go along, so posting it here is mostly just me expressing myself. Like a build journal really. I sometimes wonder how much of my prattle is actually read by people viewing the thread, or whether they just skip to the pictures :lol:

 

I've actually just returned from a weekend visit to Kangaroo Valley just north and east of you! If I'd had time I would have liked to drop in and see your shop. Another time.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi All, it has been a while between drinks.. seems a bit quiet around here!

Back for another update.

So I've been out of the game for a while. Late last year I was in my garage, contemplating the future of the track, wondering if I should get rid of it. Life had moved me in other directions for  a while just after the initial build, and I never really developed it much further. Plus there were issues from the original design to be addressed.

Decided that before I moved it on, I would refresh and finish it to the standard I'd had in my head over the years.

So there were a few things to be dealt with:

  • Track pieces were starting to come out of alignment
  • Braid at the ends of pieces was coming unstuck
  • Wiring was done in a restrictive way plus rms interface was not integrated
  • Insufficient barrier coverage to prevent cars shooting off
  • I didn't want a ribbon track any more
  • Wear and tear from many years of abuse and neglect

So what to do- also, it must still meet it's original design goal of being able to be disassembled.

 

Connecting track pieces

I dealt with the most pressing problem first: recognising that tension was pulling the track pieces around and causing the bolts that went through the mdf to stretch the holes. The normal of response of apply more torque only embedded the bolt heads deeper into the track. Additionally, it was tedious to assemble- putting the bolts through and then add washers and do up the butterflies. The solution was to firstly to retain tension in the trouble spots with the use of latches. These spots were isolated to the connections to the banked corner and the middle hairpin. The second step involved replacing all the bolt through connections with machine screws and threaded inserts. I also took the opportunity to reduce or add fasteners to each join- joints under tension required more,  flat(ish) sections of track or not under tension required less. 

Electrical

To solve the lifting braid issue, every piece now terminates in a terminal block so that the braid is always under tension. Wires with automotive bullet connectors then connect to those.

For the track wiring, I decided to relocate all electrical switching etc and the rms connections to a dedicated base unit with the controller ports built in.

Scale construction

The overall theme is a industrial, concrete jungle. I want it to look like a former testing facility/ proving grounds. Kind of like the old Fiat Lingotto factory track mixed with the Toyota Technical Centre in Shimoyama. So I would need infield concrete areas and scale concrete barrier walls for a start, plus I wanted to add a mini-pitlane and paddock/staging area at the sweeper turn end.

I decided to retain the existing PVC barriers, and add some scaled walls to interior sections. For the rest of the circuit I would add new PVC barriers as required.

 

 

Recent lockdown times have given me some freedom to smash out a lot of tasks. Here's some progress shots:

 

First job- strip and fix the centre frame that I sat on and cracked years ago. Note dodgy repair, the track still functioned but I couldn't leave it as it was

vSnj24b.jpg

 

New beam with ply reinforcement

yDDbKE9.jpg

 

I found that the supports for the middle hairpin no longer mounted to the frame so these were re-done. Took the opportunity to make the angles and elevation more aggressive, which also produced more ideal transitions between the sections connecting to it.

WqNnGsG.jpg

 

Then onto reshaping the inner curve to suit a barrier. The original shape always bothered me anyway

LOw8MIp.jpg

 

Filling and sanding

GriaO9P.jpg

 

Adding mdf walls, two layers plus a third 'skirting' layer, plus masking of the braid in readiness for paint

Be01c0Q.jpg

 

Then reshaped the end hairpin. Infill was added afterward.

TvTR6KT.jpg

 

Barrier wall added. You can also see one of the scribed edges here

SGKy5lo.jpg

 

The entire track was sanding back along the edges in preparation for edge scribing

WhASppr.jpg

 

Outer edges made perpendicular to the ground so that barriers will mount upright. In the foreground is one of the mounts I made to attach a barrier to the inner edge of the banked curve

1CI8ySX.jpg

 

Sweeper barriers added. These pieces are all modular, so they can be removed for painting and disassembly. A pain to make, learned a lot about formwork. You can see the start of the mini pit and staging area going in

yTuZ6yh.jpg

 

Trimmed down to size

ibqG7jb.jpg

 

Mini pit development. Had to fit in perfectly with existing track

ovcWqMR.jpg

 

A few slots for cars to sit

ghIhtTD.jpg

 

tuzU7fO.jpg

 

Masking braid for paint. tedious job

PWi3gTV.jpg

 

Decided to stick with the classic finish

aAsYiKM.jpg

 

Track undercoat done + concrete edges painted

x4hIpTa.jpg

 

Finished the rest of the infield area with scribed panel lines for the concrete

M9eiha3.jpg

 

Edge masking then onto the first coat. You can see the latches at the ends of the bank joins here

bFwfQnB.jpg

 

Second coat mid-cure. Texture is.. 20 grit? 10 grit? :lol:

oba26Co.jpg

 

Fresh coat of paint for the frame

vnOKDBM.jpg

 

The pinkish-brown joy of sanding Ferrodor. A shame to lose the pristine deep asphalt colour of the raw finish but has to be done

xlOLjoy.jpg

 

Finally back in one piece with masking tape removed

Gml4rto.jpg

 

Starting to look like something now

2bTsv0m.jpg

 

Original pvc barriers reinstalled. One had to be straightened with a heat gun after warping from years under a tarp in the sun..

lES2MaW.jpg

 

New barriers added

Z675hPT.jpg

fNYVG9k.jpg

 

New Control box with per-lane XLR connections, reverse switches and relay bypass switches. Also switches to turn IR transmitters off and another for future expansion

q7QLlH1.jpg

 

d8rjjF4.jpg

 

Components for new gantry with start lights

XhOAUf7.jpg

 

Test fit

nBGghHl.jpg

 

Primed and LEDs installed with modular plug

I5iScoz.jpg

 

Finally, as of last week, up and running... Eastside Raceway Mk2

I33WOxT.jpg

 

More to come soon!

 

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Long time between drinks?  You musta nearly died of thirst

But that's looking  "the pants" to me now Shodan

All that work deserves a good track opening party with the collection of the ne-er do well slotters from your area.

- and a few new toys to test and tune on it...

Recovering Lapsed Slot Addict :ph34r:  *  Custodian of many used screws (mostly loose :rolleyes:)  *  Total kidder  *  Companion of other delusional slot addicts :lol:  

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Dry times indeed mate. Nice to see you're still sniffing around the traps.

I've been pulling out cars that haven't seen the light of day for awhile- ahhh yes I put this away broken, oh and this one needs tyres... As for new toys- looking for a Carrera C7R #3 in the factory yellow, to be paired with a 3dp chassis. Has Ninco gotten out of slot cars? I don't see their cars for sale any more

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Hi, good to see you back, it has been a while.  What Ninco call a slot cars these days is nothing like they used to make, they are more into RC stuff I think.

 

Corporate greed is driving inflation.

Cash, use it or lose it.  No Digital Currency, No Digital ID.

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Hey Bry, long time! I too have been out of the game for a while now. Still have all my cars, but practically gave my track away due to circumstances. Do you plan to keep it or move it on now? I'd love to build another track and my wife actually encouraged me to do so. Just don't have the room at the moment

2 x australian ego champion

 

regards

Shane

 

 

Fulel racing in first track build --> https://youtu.be/nG1EyFkbJSs

 

 

 

My second track build --> 

raceday - https://youtu.be/8WXYQ528iKM

 

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Good Grief Gref - the forum hunted you down.... Dick was in the other day, so was Dave.  who next ?  Matt ?  Shane ?  

There's always room, I know some blokes that had one in their lounge for several years before the wife finally revolted and made them move it.

 

Recovering Lapsed Slot Addict :ph34r:  *  Custodian of many used screws (mostly loose :rolleyes:)  *  Total kidder  *  Companion of other delusional slot addicts :lol:  

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 6/3/2020 at 1:45 PM, mtpanorama said:

 

Hi, good to see you back, it has been a while.  What Ninco call a slot cars these days is nothing like they used to make, they are more into RC stuff I think.

 

Hey Chris, thanks for dropping in mate. I read somewhere they've moved onto making drones..  a pity to see one of the stalwarts of the scene move on but such is life. Their exit seems to have given Policar track a big boost as they replace the club tracks in Europe etc.

On 6/4/2020 at 9:25 AM, gref said:

Hey Bry, long time! I too have been out of the game for a while now. Still have all my cars, but practically gave my track away due to circumstances. Do you plan to keep it or move it on now? I'd love to build another track and my wife actually encouraged me to do so. Just don't have the room at the moment

Hey Shane! Very long time mate, I hope you're well bud. Can I ask what forced you to give away Grefhurst v2- was it the space issue? I'm in Pascoe Vale these days, why don't you pack some cars and come down some time? Maybe we should have a small V32 reunion :D

I'll be keeping the track for a little while before I move it on, still some more work to be done on it and racing to be had. Having said that I'm already starting to plan the next track haha- it will be routed Scorpius digital.

 

 

 

 

Edited by shodan

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As is tradition works have slowed due to racing activities. Track is building grip steadily. Decent lap is ~6s; fast is under 5.6

Record holder as of 2 June- 5.428 (Blue) - NSR C7R on MJKs.

1sj7enF.jpg

 

 

 

 

There's been a lot of my time spent dialing in Race Coordinator to look better, firstly learning XAML on the fly to improve the Race Day display. Then I discovered RC Live which is great- spent some time modifying its html, css and javascript to suit my needs.  Having race control call buttons in software is neat too.

While the coconut water box supported the pc just fine it wasn't ideally positioned, blocking sight lines in the middle hairpin. Resolved that with a stand to raise it up higher and moved  into the sweeper end. Attached an old monitor to the shelf over the bank for results display.

Middle lane colour updated with blue replacing the old purple as it was too hard to see. New lane marker dots added

Orange is the hardest to drive quickly with the slowest radius through both hairpins, Green the fastest. Blue easiest for noobs with more space to slide in both directions.

 

wZrYYyS.jpg

 

Architect in to do planning for the garage/workshop building

7dcvwPB.jpg

 

Floorplan drafted

YSf884S.jpg

 

Also managed to obtain one of these, much nicer model than the NSR. Had to buy a Carrera digital version.

5Duw0iy.jpg

 

Now just waiting for the chassis to be delivered.

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Thanks miveson.

End to end the track is ~5700 (the frame is slightly longer) and it's 1800 wide. Just fits in my double garage.

Lane spacing varies from 85-105 around the track, except for the centre squeeze section shown below which extends for ~2300.

0JrgrtJ.jpg

 

The smallest radii are the hairpins of course, orange lane gets down to approximately 260. The only constant radii are the banked curve and the 180 degree sweeper at the other end, everything else is compound.

 

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  • 1 month later...
On 6/12/2020 at 11:40 AM, shodan said:

Hey Chris, thanks for dropping in mate. I read somewhere they've moved onto making drones..  a pity to see one of the stalwarts of the scene move on but such is life. Their exit seems to have given Policar track a big boost as they replace the club tracks in Europe etc.

Hey Shane! Very long time mate, I hope you're well bud. Can I ask what forced you to give away Grefhurst v2- was it the space issue? I'm in Pascoe Vale these days, why don't you pack some cars and come down some time? Maybe we should have a small V32 reunion :D

I'll be keeping the track for a little while before I move it on, still some more work to be done on it and racing to be had. Having said that I'm already starting to plan the next track haha- it will be routed Scorpius digital.

Had to move in a very short time frame (long story) and couldn't take it with me, last I heard the bloke that bought it for approx $80 from sydney had it sitting in his shed and hadn't touched it since getting it :(

On 6/12/2020 at 11:40 AM, shodan said:

 

 

 

 

 

2 x australian ego champion

 

regards

Shane

 

 

Fulel racing in first track build --> https://youtu.be/nG1EyFkbJSs

 

 

 

My second track build --> 

raceday - https://youtu.be/8WXYQ528iKM

 

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  • 1 month later...
52 minutes ago, knoath said:

G'day Bry! That looks fantastic! 

Awesome to see you're still into it, it's amazing what a decade away can do! I'm currently (slowly) building a new track too.

Well put down that flaming' VB and get on with it mate   :ph34r::D

 

  • Like 1

Recovering Lapsed Slot Addict :ph34r:  *  Custodian of many used screws (mostly loose :rolleyes:)  *  Total kidder  *  Companion of other delusional slot addicts :lol:  

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4 hours ago, knoath said:

G'day Bry! That looks fantastic! 

Awesome to see you're still into it, it's amazing what a decade away can do! I'm currently (slowly) building a new track too.

 

Welcome back to the slot car nuthouse Dick.

 

Corporate greed is driving inflation.

Cash, use it or lose it.  No Digital Currency, No Digital ID.

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On 9/5/2020 at 8:59 AM, knoath said:

G'day Bry! That looks fantastic! 

Awesome to see you're still into it, it's amazing what a decade away can do! I'm currently (slowly) building a new track too.

Look forward to the day I can build a track if I ever have space again

2 x australian ego champion

 

regards

Shane

 

 

Fulel racing in first track build --> https://youtu.be/nG1EyFkbJSs

 

 

 

My second track build --> 

raceday - https://youtu.be/8WXYQ528iKM

 

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