At the recent Blue King Blowout a R-Geo Raceway in Butler, PA, Parma's Steve Koepp scored an impressive win in the tough GTP-12 class with his Flexi-2. Piano wire and brass chassis, such as the Dynamics, the FX Icon, or even the old Parma Monorail, usually dominate this class (similar to C-1), but a stamped steel production chassis is a rare sight. We were so impressed that we asked Steve to share with us how he goes about setting up a Flexi-2 for competition. His ten easy steps follow.

1) First assemble the major components that you will need. In addition to the #595 Flexi-2 Chassis Kit and the #594 Hot Wing in Photo #1, you will need #621 eyelets, #673 or PSE #70291 fronts, and .063 K&S brass tubing, and .050" stainless steel tubing (such as PSE #70041 kit).

2) Take the chassis center section, the pan, and the Hot Wing, and make sure all three are completely flat. Photo #2 shows an extreme case of a chassis bowed in the middle. The chassis come from the stamper very flat, but some are bent in shipping.

3) After you are sure that your chassis parts are perfectly flat, tape down the sway bars. Hitting the wall a few times, may bend them up to give more than the recommended .002" spacing. I recommend putting a piece of strapping tape around the center section in front of the up stops (Photo #3 shows where) to prevent this from happening. This piece of tape wraps around the chassis. In fact there are two layers of tape on the top of the chassis. Before taping these down be sure you have the proper clearance (.002") between the pan and the up stops. Use a piece of regular paper for this.

4) The next step is preparing the Hot Wing. The Flexi-2 chassis is nickel plated, but the Hot Wing is zinc plated. In order to solder to the Hot Wing, the plating must be removed. Remove the plating from the tab the arrow is pointing to in Photo #4. You want to remove the plating from the top and bottom of the tab, and bend it down slightly. When you assemble your chassis as in Photo #5, you want pressure on the center section where the tab hits it. This will make the Hot Wing fit tightly against the center section and allow no movement. When you run the Hot Wing with the Flexi-2, all the holes in the top and bottom pieces will line the way it was in the package. Notice that the Hot Wing must be centered on the chassis using the oval hole the arrows are pointing to in Photo #5. After it is centered, solder the tab to the center section. Photo #6 shows the equal spacing between the Hot Wing and the center section. Now solder the Hot Wing to the tongue as shown in the upper arrows in Photo #7. Then flip the car over and flow solder into the areas the arrows are pointing to in Photo #8. This literally will make the Hot Wing and the center section one piece.

5) Soldering the front axle where it passes through the chassis is a good idea after you have the pan in the correct position for your track. Install Parma #621 eyelets on the front axle, and solder your front axle to the eyelets. Then solder the eyelets to the Hot Wing. Do not, repeat, DO NOT flow solder on the axle between the top pan and the bottom pan. This is a very tight tolerance, but needs free movement, and you could solder the two pieces together very easily. Solder the front axle to the Hot Wing only, and put a piece of paper (business card thickness) between the center section and the front axle uprights on the top pan to keep them apart while soldering. The arrows in Photo #9 are pointing to the spots not to solder.

6) Earring backs are a good way to control the lead wires, and help center the guide. Solder an earring back to the center section and run the lead wires through it. If you need help, ask the local pros to help you. Photo #10 shows the location.

7) In the front hole of the body mounts I use 1/16 (.063") K&S brass tubing, again with Parma eyelets. This tubing should be able to move back and forth as well as side to side in side the hole. When we made this chassis we made it with a large enough hole that 1/16" tubing would fit. After you push it through, you want about 1/32" side to side slop before the eyelets hit the side of the chassis. You then trim off the excess using a Dremel Tool. Use a Parma Tech Tool to check for width as in Photo #12. The width cannot exceed the tech tool, and don't forget to leave some room for the body. PSE Kit #70041 has the eyelets as well as the stainless steel tubing for the rear mounts. The stainless steel tubing is smaller in diameter than the brass front tube. This lets the back float and shake slightly more than the front. This is a very good tip on the Flexi-Kar and also the Flexi-2. Leave slightly more side to side play in this tube also, maybe as much as 1/16". The Flexi-2 has very little side play in the top pan. This is to make the car fish tail less coming out of the turns. Installing the pin tubing with some slop will make the car more forgiving, but you should still experiment with different tire compounds and possibly widths. Narrowing your rear tires might be necessary (remove approximately 1/16" at a time). On high bite tracks be sure to round the outside edges of your tires.

8) I would encourage you to try the various adjustments available on the Flexi-2 on the track you race most often. Once you have tested all possible combinations of wheelbase, ride height, pan position etc., and have found the best combination for your track, you can solder things in place. You can, and sometimes should, use a .055" front axle instead of the .063" axle. With the .055" axle the chassis has more slop, doesn't track as straight, and is a little more forgiving. If you do use .063" front axles, it is my recommendation to drill out the front wheel. In Photo #13 I am using .063" front axles, and wheels drilled to .070". Drill out both front wheels. If you are using a .055" front axle there is no need to drill out the front wheels. A good tip is to have the front axle as far forward as possible to let the front tires work like outriggers.

9) Photo #14 shows how to install and bend the front axle. When using the Hot Wing especially, the front axle must be bent up so the front tires will not hang too far below the chassis. I set my chassis to have .010" clearance when you push down on the plate as I am doing in Photo #15. This allows the wheels to work when you tip going into a corner, but not force the chassis up. Parma #673 (oe PSE Pro-Lite #70291) 5/8" fronts come with four small eyelets. Install the eyelet inside the wheel hub, but do not solder. Leave them float. If you try to solder them, you face the risk of soldering the pans together. Mark the axle as in Photo #16 with a permanent market and cut it. Solder on the outer eyelet and the wheel will be secured.

10) Flow solder in the back of the chassis by the pillow block brace (Photo #17). You may solder in the bushings. If you do, just use the rear axle as an alignment tool. There has been a lot of discussion on where you run your square bushings. In my opinion it is best not to solder them in until you are absolutely sure of the proper location for the tires, track, and motor you are running. Play with this, it's a valuable tool. You may choose never to solder them in.

The Intrepid is still the most popular GTP body, so mount one and go racing. Drop us a letter if you find other fast set-ups and maybe we'll use your ideas for future articles. For now this one's a proven winner.