I was a little late for weekend update, but here is a project I finally finished: a lowered and loaded MT open auto rack. It's a bit out of my era and as such will be mostly a shelf queen, but it's one of those things I've always wanted. The load is 15 Classic Metal Works `67 Ford 500s, attatched with clear silcone. The car weighs in at about 5 ounces. I won't vouch for prototype accuracy on this project, I was just going for the overall look.
I lowered the car by hacking off the end of the frame and mounting the trucks directly to the deck on two MT washers. It is still a tad too high (The top row of cars sits a good 1/16" higher than the roof of an enclosed rack), but closer than it was. If the car was lowered any more you would have to recess the coupler into the deck, something I wasn't in the mood to do. The metal frame was also ground down a little to maintain clearance above the rail. Even with LP wheels I still had to "dish out" some spots for the flanges on the underside of the deck using the Dremel. The coupler is a 2004 mounted directly to the deck.
$103.60 invested in one car at mail order prices...ouch. I'm just doing the one. Just imagine how much more popular these cars would be for MT if they could come up with a viable injection-molded load for them.
Pete D.
