How to make T JET wheelie bars

do you put the shoe goo on the axles, out board of the wheels? In other words a lump of goo (how's that for tech terms) acting as a retainer to the bead wheels? I like this form of wheelie bar much better than the gargantuan set ups i have seen. It is much more suggestive of the real thing.

With some changes to the Gasser Wheelie Bars, I spent some time in the DOG PIT to try to build a Wheelie Bar for those whom are solder challanged.....What you need!

1 - 3" piece of 3/64" Brass Rod
2 - 1/4" pieces of 1/16" Brass tubing
1 - 1/8" piece of the same tubing
1 - Piece of 1/16" thick sheet plastic, 1/4" wide & 1/2" long
1 - packet of 10/0 Black glass beads *

* 2 things these are not very uniform in size so you will have to match 2 up. Second these beads don't want to be Jewelry, nor do they want to be Wheelie Bars....What they want is to be Free Range Beads, so when you match a set, put them in something so they can't get away !

TOOLS

I use a pair of square nosed pliers about 1/4" across the nose, like the ones shown, also some pointy needle nose pliers are helpful
A hobby saw
a small countersink
A Dermal w/ a cut off wheel
A small round file
Some super glue.



Once you have cut all the pieces, sand the edges and debur the openings of the tubing. I have found when working with small tubing sticking the end on a sharp toothpick helps hold it while sanding.

Next step...put the rod in the square pliers with an equal amount sticking out both sides. Than bend one leg only! Slide one of the 1/4" long tubes down the leg you just bent, and super glue in place. Stick the other end of the rod in the bead container and spear one of those little Devils. Than slid the 1/8" tube next to it (no glue here).



This is where I messed up a couple of sets before I got it right, Slip on the last bead, than leave a little slack before making the last bend. the slack will be taken up by the last 1/4" long tube. This bend is harder to make and the needle nose pliers come in handy here, it won't be as crisp a 90 as the first bend but get it as tight as you can. finally slide the last 1/4" tube and glue in place.



Now it's time to drill two holes in the chassis, I used a 1/16" bit I went even with the back of the rear screw slot, and went 3/16" each way or 3/8" total. Now you decide how long you want them. I held them under the chassis and measured 7/8" from the axle center to the end of the bar,
than put a mark at the holes I drilled. I took the square nose pliers and made a 90 degree bend there.





You will notice a small notch out of the plastic 1/4" by 1/2" bar that is for Crown gear clearance, done simply with a sanding stick. You insert the bent legs into the 2 holes and trim. The photo showers the top end of the legs bent over, but I found out later this is not necessary. The other thing I did was to countersink the screw a bit into the plastic retainer so the standard screw would still work. than screw on the plastic retainer, and bend the Wheelie Bar into position.



And the finished product, as fate would have it on the Asphalt Elephant Willy's shown on the front page of the site this week.

I have installed this same type of bar on my Pro Mod T Jet with no problems, Just imagine those Free Range Beads horror when they go blazing down the Drag Strip at 20 something MPH. ;D

HEY you never know they may get JUICED and want to do it again !

Here is a set that Demon made up. Very light and a simple design. It's one of those times when you say to yourself "self, how come I didn't think of that" .

Demon made a note saying to make sure the front of the bar does not hit the gear or axle when you make them. These are .025" wide.

Thanks for sending me a set Demon. I look forward to trying them out.






A couple of Demon's pets. Ddog and Cdog.

For wheelie bar wire, I go to a guitar shop and ask for some used guitar strings - the G and B strings are especially useful where ever spring wire is required.

Best of all, it's FREE

All of the pictures are not coming up . Perhaps the post is too old .

Gonzo

If you want to take the easy way, Road Race Replicas sells functional bolt on wheelie bar. Jag Hobbies, one of our race sponsors sells them. They look good too.

Photobucket did everyone dirty. I have paid to join Flikr as they did not do what rotten bucket did. I simply bend my wheelie bars into a V shape then drill holes in the chassis to install the bar and it works fine. .032 brass rod and .07mm drill for a press fit. Takes me about 5 minutes to do and I have at least 100 cars with them installed that way.