ONE MANS OPINION, Internal-Framed VCR Construction by R. Jones
 
What I have learned the past few months after taking an interest in VALVE COVER RACING is there are limitless possibilities with design. There is no best or correct way of building a VCR (VALVE COVER RACER) other than following the rules for the organization your individual racing club has adopted (These can be researched on the Internet). A copy of the set of rules we will use in our club is available on this website. We can let our design skills and imagination go wild and that along with a relatively inexpensive setup and the competitive nature of VCR racing makes this hobby a rewarding self expression experience.
I have a working knowledge of engine value cover configurations through the years. I am certain there are many I have never seen or ever will, so I will concentrate on what I know. I am a hot rodder and have salvaged parts and pieces in my attic and elsewhere from other projects. This was the first place I looked when planning my VCR build. Our last two and current rod have used the small block Chevrolet V8, so guess who had extra valve covers still in the box packed away? This started my design process regarding VCR configurations. Other than the 30" overall long wheelbase restriction, any valve cover could be used. Buick straight 8 valve covers less than 30" are very difficult to locate, however, 6 cylinder valve covers are easier to locate especially on e-bay.com. Some 6 cylinder valve covers have irregular shapes making them more of a challenge to use. The easiest to use valve cover is the small bock Chevy (SBC) and seems to be an ideal beginning platform because it is about as symmetrical as they get. The cost is low even for new ones on e-bay and vendor web sites and there are huge numbers in wrecking yards that with cleaning and painting are good VCRs. Other valve covers might be a better platform for advanced VCR builders, but that discussion is saved for another day.
The next topic will be our quest for wheels and this is where things can get complicated simply because there are so many available sources. Most clubs allow any wheel as long as it’s six inches or less in diameter and doesn’t have a metallic (metal) surface touching the track. I’ve seen wheels used as diverse as CD discs all the way up to relatively heavy lawn mower wheels and everything in between as long as they were six inches or less in diameter. Plain bearing wheels might be as competitive as ball bearing wheels, but common sense says that ball bearing are the better choice. Please don’t let this limit your choices when selecting the wheels for your project, as there are many options available.  
Commonly available hardware from Lowes, Home Depot and local hardware stores, such as all-thread for axle material, u bolts for roll bars and tubing for spacer materials is inexpensive and can easily be fabricated into a race car using your imagination and creativity. The following photographs of my internal- framed VCRs with building tips are for reference, as there are many different ways to construct your racer.