I didn't see a thread on this yet , so figured I'd start one.

A meatball is a round white spot placed on the exterior of a car, on which to place race numbers to ensure that there is enough contrast to be quickly recognizable.

These things come in all sizes, and even many shapes (like a meat rectangle for instance...) Sometimes they're vinyl adhesive, sometimes magnet sheet, and they have even been known to be painted on.

Few options that seem popular.

large, and on the rear 1/4 panel directly in front of the rear wheel


large, placed mid-door
this one is approximately 18-20 inches in diameter, for future reference


small mid-door


rectangle meat!


So, the point of the thread. Do you have meatballs? What size do you use, what are your experiences with different materials (i.e. magnets falling off at the track...)

I might get some flack, but I'm going to be doing meatballs on my car. The reason I might get flack is because I've yet to track my car. I more just like the look and think of it as an homage to classic auto racing. Same reason I have my Heuer rally timers on the dash instead of a radio.

The placement of the top one someone makes the car feel longer and sleeker. I like it.

I like the placement of the 2nd pic (gold car).
Looks very traditional to me.
Meatball on the blue car is not large enough.

I always liked them centered on the door then offset to one side on the hood/trunk, like they did on the GT 40.
Then, you have to decide if your numbers will be applied straight or "fancy"!

I like mine offset towards the rear of the door. I think it looks better than mid-door.

Oversized on the door

The Yellow Heuer GT was my favourite, not anymore

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Easy enough to have some cut and stick on your car with painters tape until you settle on size and placement. I think our people charge $8 per meatball.

They all look fine. The only reason the dark blue car works is because it is a single digit number but otherwise I agree with Doug that it is too small.

The Brumos car looks cool but that my just be the case because I know it is Hurley Haywood's car.

crappy phone pic, and I think my lens is dirty, but I did just that. Local sign shop made these up in about 4 minutes and cash sales are king.



20" diameter, I think I might like bigger though...

Is that just a sticker? Or a magnetic strip?

Just a big sticker

I want to go round but its seems this blank white vinyl is pretty pricey...rally type for now...

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My local sign shop has some vinyl that they normally use to make stencils. It's white and not as sticky as regular vinyl. Might be good if you want easy removal in the future.

I did Speedy with vinyl wrap in flat white. It's easy to do, too. I used a trashcan lid to trace a circle. I always called them "roundels."

I measured the center of the car between the two wheel wells and I like the "extra" part on the rocker cover.

This car was slow as molasses, but I loved it so much. It's in Germany now.

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With numbers added....can somebody rotate this?

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yup.. meatball

I'm familiar with door lights ( for number visibility ) but have never seen the single amber roof light in the top pic of post 1. Was this to ID team cars by using a different color per car?

I had some fun with vinyl a while back for a car event... I've since removed it

Anybody had luck with ANY of the magnetic varieties?

Any other names this goes by? I'd never heard it called meatballs before. Ahem, yeah, gonna admit that right here.

Roundel

Here is the magnetic meatball. More for fun than racing.

I had never heard the meatball name before either. I though the thread was about the move "Meatballs"
I found Pelican list meatballs from Carbone Ind, the company in Poland that does the stickers. They are temperarily not available but I think even I can cut a circle from vinyl. I might get by 5 year old grand daughter to help.

Great looking car....what size Fuchs are those 14" or 15" and what tire size are you running?

Magnetic sounds like a better idea to me especially if it is not a dedicated track car.

Same type like realators or business people put on the doors for advertising their companies.

There is so much plastic body filler in my doors, magnetics won't stick. . . and this isn't an exaggeration.

Another pic of mine



$20 at a sign shop, took them 30 seconds to have their machine cut two perfect circles.

I need to change numbers based on what group I’m running with. The car serves dual duty as both an autocross car and weekend car, so I’m not too interested in permanent stickers or vinal.

If anyone has a brand or a vendor that they have had good luck with, please let me know.

These guys just love to see these on a small sports car. It make them want to take a closer look. Will your "race car" survive the scrutiny?

Magnetics will scratch the car as they will pickup all sorts of metal bits so be sure to clean them before install.

There are static cling numbers that seem to work but then need a smooth surface and must be stored flat otherwise if an edge curls up they will fly off.

I have the gumball on the side, then have magnetic numbers that are black on white background. So the magnet portion does not scratch or trap the dust between the paint and the numbers. have never had them fall off, even when I took a trip into the dirt at Chuckwalla
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXAGFXo-N1U

No numbers:
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With Numbers:
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What caused the spin? The instructors head blocked most of my view

Turbulence from the 911!

haha It technically was the GT3's fault haha his existence distracted me for a split second going into the corner and I lifted my foot off enough for the balance to get all out of whack...

I was working on breaking later and less through that corner while scrubbing the speed then catching the car on the corner out with the throttle. It's hard not to get caught up in the newer cars line when all you have is as much speed as you can carry around the track... the easy solution would be upgrading to a 6?

Thanks Cal,

They are 15x6 flat Fuchs on 205/60's

Soon to be wide GT body

Hey Gary. I've sent you a PM re: your minilite set-up!

I bought sheet satin white vinyl off of eBay and it's cheap. It goes on with soapy water, simple really. Really tough stuff when it dries, too.

My side door circles were 22". That was the size of a steel trash can lid I had on the side of the house.

I grew out of that phase in my life though.

YMMV.

Yes, but I taped the front edge down so it wouldn't catch air and be lifted off at speed. When being a volunteer safety worker at the track or autoX course worker, I've seen more than a couple of magnetic number panels go flying...

--DD

So a lot of wheel to wheel racing clubs will not accept magnetic

I've always liked the larger meatball that goes below the door.
I buy an extra meatball and use the top and bottom edges to apply to the rocker panel to give it the appearance I like:

Curious as well. Looks great.

These aren't Minilites....They are Panasports (Racing Only stamped on them) - 15x7 with the 911R spacing - 4 lug (impossible to find). Bought them from Wolf32 last year and it was the single best move I've done on the car. Totally transformed the character and fun level!

I wonder if those are my old wheels?!?!? Really liked them on my old 73 2.0.