Great-Grand Daddy of KubKar stop ramps
& KubKar parking lots
Start by elevating the last 3 feet of the KubKar track. This is
easily done by slipping a 1 5/8" strip of quarter inch plywood
30" or 32" long under the existing lane. This will raise the
KubKar wheels off the track, and cause the car to skid on it's
undercarrage.
Apply a 1 5/8" strip of "spider mat" to the track using double
sided carpet tape. Spider Mat is available at "A Buck or Two" or
other dollar stores for $2.00 a roll. It is the no-slip shelf
liner used in RV's and also sold for Tool Box tray liners. It
comes in different colours, and is easy to cut with
scissors.
Most of our KubKars stopped within the 3 feet. Even the 2 pound
18-wheelers skidded to a stop and stayed on the track!
No more broken wheels or bent axles due to crashing stops against
the back stop!
Parking Lot Organizer
I have always thought there must be a better way to park and
organize KubKars so they didn't roll off the table. We
traditionally parked them on their roof or on a blanket to keep
them from falling on the floor.
Cubs would put their car in the first available spot on the
table. Cars always got mixed up, so the search was on for that
illusive KubKar needed for this race. Judging "Best in
the Show" was also a chore.
One day, while watching Toronto rush hour traffic on Highway 401,
the light came on! A multi-lane parking Lot! Just like on
TV!
Preparation
Using either 1/2" or 5/8" plywood or other suitable
boards:
Rip into nine 1 5/8" strips 8 feet long.
Cut 56 1" x 1 1/2" spacers.
Cut 14 1" x 1" spacers.
Rip 1/4" plywood into seven 1" strips a little over 30" long
(Cut to length later).
Construction
Place 9 of the 8' parking lanes on an 8 foot table.
Start with 1" spacers on the outside of the front and back
lane.
Place the 1 1/2" spacers in between the parking lanes. At
this point I added a shim of heavy paper to give some clearance
between the spacers and the lanes.
Measure and cut the 1/4" plywood strips to length.
Glue and brad-nail the strips to the spacers. You will need 7
spacer strips for each 8 foot length of parking lot.
Setup
Arrange a spacer strip at the end of the table and every 15" down
the lanes to allow 2 cars to park in each space. Number the
parking spots on the spacer strips. Storage and transportation is
easy, and I only have to sort the spacer bars, not the parking
lanes. If you do 18-Wheelers, you could get 6 lanes on a standard
30" wide table by using 3" spacers instead of the 1 1/2"
ones.
You can paint the lanes checkerboard, or plaid or whatever you
have available.
Each table will park 108 cars in numeric order, firmly secured
against rolling, with enough space between to prevent parking lot
"dings".
At the Rally I clamped the first and last spacer bars to the
table, and had no problems with slippage. The KubKars remained
upright (what an easy way to judge the "Best in the Show", and we
could always find the KubKar we needed for the races. "At the
Pits" and "Retired" place cards indicated cars either being fixed
or no-shows, so time was not lost searching for missing KubKars.
The Cubs had no problem putting their cars back in the right
spot.
Best of all, two tables worth of parking lanes, along with the
spacers all fit in my small car, along with the rest of the Rally
material! (Someone else had the track).