Pat Dennis Tyco Pro Type One Guide Flag Swing Arm Modification
As any aficionado of Tyco Pro history knows, the Type One had issues with the guide flag system.Specifically the triangular shaped swing/drop arm the held the flag was too flexible.During hard cornering the arm would flex and would not hold the flag fast in the slot.
The short story is that Pat had designed the original part correctly. If you don't know who Pat is, check him out here: http://www.riggenho.com/patdennis2.htmBut the final production part design was compromised for a variety of reasons.As the handling problem became apparent in the market place, Pat designed a metal replacement.Parts were fabricated and were slated to be incorporated into the final assembly process. This action was never completed since the Type Two chassis was produced instead.The Type Two’s flag system was superior to anything that could have been done to the Type One.None of the metal drop arms remain. To prove the concept of the metal arm fix, Pat fabricated a “one off” from memory.I was fortunate enough to host Pat here at Harden Creek so he could test the concept.And just to make the test valid, we assembled a box-stock Type One chassis from the parts bin.
We ran the cars to shake out any handling problems and set them up as close as possible.We found some original White Boots tires and chose Ferrari 512 bodies.Sure enough, the modified drop-arm car ran substantially better.The most notable thing is that the original production design Type One will de-slot prior to the apex of a corner.The metal arm keeps the car planted till you can drive it out past the apex.
