[Pizzaface817]

A while back I noticed my dad’s sizable HO car collection in the basement. Eventually, I brought it up and we found a used super g plus set (speed hook) and bought it to start racing again. Interestingly, the set did not come with all of the turns required (but it came with a lap counter track, 22VAC Power supply, and additional 18 inch straights, which were very generous additions). Later on we also got a mega g plus figure 8 (infinity) set brand new to add on to our track pieces ( the power track sadly burnt through the Plastic when we plugged it into the 22V Power supply and did not work as a non powered track piece either), and a pack of a few extra turns to build the speed hook set as seen on the box. Here is our collection. There are some HP2s (did not fit in picture) magnatractions, 440s, HP7s, G Pluses, 440X2s, Super G Plusses, 1 Lifelike, and 2 Mega G Plusses (One is out of commision due to a lost pickup shoe). Not all of the cars are in the picture but these are about all of them that are still functional without junk tires or junk parts. There are probably about 20 more nonfuctional cars, including some with lights and squares that create a noise for the cars, most of which are magnatractions. The power track they are placed on is the one that burnt through. Cars are mostly placed in generational order, with newer in the front and older in the back.

 

[cbwho]

AFX Racemasters terminal track has some design flaws. There are two things that need to be done: Take off the bottom screws and cut out the capacitors. Capacitors unnecessary and a fire hazard. The second thing that needs fixing is there is a speed bump in the slot groove. Take a hack saw blade and run back and forth in the slot until smooth.

I recommend doing both things to all AFX RM terminal track.

I actually prefer AutoWorld track, it fits together better. After some use. (At first AW track needs some rail tuning but they give instructions and it is easy to do.)

 

[X2slotbob]

Welcome back! Looks like Dad is not aversive to spending a little money, which is a good thing since HO racing generally involves spending a little more. Indefinitely.

Still, relatively speaking, it is a little money.

BTW, The tyco petty cars in the back are worth some serious coin. Probably others as well.

 

[cbwho]

All of your Magna-traction cars are easily fixed most likely. Take them apart and use a pink pencil eraser and get all of the black soot off of the copper plate. Take the mini brushes and rub on paper until clean. Reassemble apply light sewing machine oil to the gears and the bottom of the motor shaft (after the car is assembled). There are many you tube videos that show what to do.

 

[cbwho]

I noticed you are mostly high magnet cars. But after you get the magna-traction cars working you may notice something fun: the cars are looser in the rear. They feel more real.

Now go to Dollar General store. They sell black paper covered foam (black foam board) for very little $. Buy some masking tape. Preferably black, but you could buy the green stuff. Now go to your track and lift the corner up. Place the track on top of the foam board. Use a pencil and trace the outside of the track. Now use a razor and cut that line and cut out the 1 inch beyond the line. Now take to the track with the tape along the top surface but not over rails. Helps to tape some cereal box cardboard beneath the foam to raise it up.

Now drive your Magna-traction along that curve, you notice you can go faster with the rear swinging slightly out!

P.S. if you want to spend no money, take regular corrugated card board boxes instead. Although black foam board is so 1000x better.

 

[Pizzaface817]

All of your Magna-traction cars are easily fixed most likely. Take them apart and use a pink pencil eraser and get all of the black soot off of the copper plate. Take the mini brushes and rub on paper until clean. Reassemble apply light sewing machine oil to the gears and the bottom of the motor shaft (after the car is assembled). There are many you tube videos that show what to do.

We have to try this, I would love to bring back to life some cars with lights, especially a police car with blue and red lights on the top that alternate when under power and a Jeep with a noisemaker square in it!

 

[Glock24]

Nice collection you got there, all cars look in great shape.

Fixing old cars is a big part of the fun, at least for me. It's a neccesity to some extent to learn how to fix them, unless you want to buy a new one each time a car breaks.

 

[X2slotbob]

(Tyco) Inline counterpoint: Clean the shoes, get the hair out of them, lube the thing...and go.

Want to slide AND be fast? Supertires silicones, .442 on the pan chassis and .460 on the narrow chassis.

 

[Glock24]

(Tyco) Inline counterpoint: Clean the shoes, get the hair out of them, lube the thing...and go.

Want to slide AND be fast? Supertires silicones, .442 on the pan chassis and .460 on the narrow chassis.

Why different sized tires for narrow and wide 440?

 

[Steve-E-D]

Welcome to slot car racing and welcome back, Dad!

AFX Racemasters has a known problem with their terminal tracks.
Send a photo of the melted track to [email protected] and ask for a replacement. (Gmail sends their response to Junk/Spam so watch out for it.) They usually respond within one business day.
They may ask you what types of cars you were using on the track. This if for their info and won't affect replacement.

I have had two fail and both were promptly replaced each time.

Per Steve Russell of AFX
"Turns out the older AFX and especially very old design cars cause peak voltage spikes far larger than the MG+ do. (Also causes problems for BlueTooth systems.) And although our capacitors have always been rated well above the needs for our Tri-Power Pack and cars, the older cars and cars that don’t pass FCC regs make tons more noise. That is what caused the capacitor to heat up. And though it would never burn, it is a problem that took us quite a while to figure out. But all of our new capacitors are rated for more than double the voltage."

 

[cbwho]

You may notice that there are 2 camps: high traction magnet and low/no traction magnet.

I highly recommend cutting the capacitors out unless you live in an apartment building.

I prefer rubber tires to get the realistic slide. Silicone tend to have a lot of traction. Although dirty silicone tires do get more slide action. People malign AutoWorld tires but I like them. Do a burn out of sand paper. If you have skinny tire TJets, put AutoWorld front tires on all 4 rims. They fit and look great.

 

[X2slotbob]

Glock--re: Different OD tires for narrow and pan chassis 440X2s:

In my opinion the pan chassis--regardless of body--is inferior to the narrow chassis, handling wise. Not much, but enough. Since we run IROC style, I want the cars to be as equal as possible.

The difference in tire sizes pretty much evens them up.

Annnnnd both sizes are larger than required for the slide factor that we are talking about.

Re: Two camps. I dunno, I don't look at it that way. Early on, I ran 1:32 inlines. And helped build a commercial track as well. Later Dad sold the track and I moved to pancakes and all their complexity--and enjoyed them immensely.

When HO went to inlines it inherently seemed simpler and mo-betta to me. Further, I kind of think folks that like the pancake cars find the moving parts facinating--like a clockworks/stampunk/old-school/romantic kind of a deal.

Therefore, there is no "right" or "VS", it is only the choice of the owner. And many have both.

 

[model murdering]

You may notice that there are 2 camps: high traction magnet and low/no traction magnet.

View attachment 331135
I highly recommend cutting the capacitors out unless you live in an apartment building.

I prefer rubber tires to get the realistic slide. Silicone tend to have a lot of traction. Although dirty silicone tires do get more slide action. People malign AutoWorld tires but I like them. Do a burn out of sand paper. If you have skinny tire TJets, put AutoWorld front tires on all 4 rims. They fit and look great.

LOL! Yer kind of a freshie CB. In a couple of years, when those tires made from Army surplus boots crumble like crusted black mud, you'll understand.

 

[HDK]

I kind of think folks that like the pancake cars find the moving parts facinating

Absolutely. The complexity is what makes building a well running chassis so satisfying.

 

[cbwho]

Tinkering is a huge part of the hobby for me. It's like having vintage full size race cars. It's the difference between having a modern car and the shade tree mechanic possibilities of a <=70s car.

@model murdering as for AW tires crumbling after a few years... I'll buy new ones. It is true that silicones do not get hard. I have a pink pair that sit in my parts box that I bought 20 years ago (for some reason!?) They are like new.

 

[KensRedZed]

as for AW tires crumbling after a few years... I'll buy new ones. It is true that silicones do not get hard. I have a pink pair that sit in my parts box that I bought 20 years ago (for some reason!?) They are like new.

Urethane tires are a happy medium between rubber and silicone. Not as grippy as silicone. But they won't crumble away.

Super Tires makes urethanes.

Just make sure to store them out of the sunlight. They are a bit like vampires and croak in direct sunlight over time.

 

[X2slotbob]

Urethanes are a little harder (so they slide a little more), BUT far fewer sizes are available.

fyi, the big boys (aka rich d) indicate that one should not run urethanes and silicone tires on the same track due to residue buildup on the track and then the "other" tires pick it up, and performance is degraded.

That said, I did just that, could discern no ill effects, and when I cleaned the track the residue was minimal. Still, I gave away the urethanes and now run all silicones.

Incidentally, I went from .454 to .460 to gain back the "loose" and the parity I wanted.

 

[RichD]

Actually, the urethane HO tires that Super Tires sells are softer than their regular silicone tires. For T-Jet type cars there are soft and medium urethane and firm silicone tires. If I remember correctly those measure 25, 35 and 45 Shore. For cars that take larger diameter tires there are only four sizes that are urethane and I am not certain if those are the medium or soft compounds. In any case I have been a tester for Super Tires and I compared all three types with different diameters on a Tyco car. On a clean track the silicone tires have more grip.
People that race their cars usually want all of the grip that they can get, people that run by themselves may prefer to have more slide. There are also Blue Flame extra hard silicone tires, those are intended to be used with aftermarket type cars that have a lot of magnetic downforce. I have not tried those tires on a set type car, but I expect that you would get more slide than the firm silicones or either of the urethane compounds. Be reminded that if you normally run silicone tires on your track those will leave a residue that will coat urethane tires so that after a few laps you will have almost no grip.
If you run larger diameter tires you will decrease the amount of magnetic downforce that the car has. Since the amount of downforce is proportional to the square (more or less) of the distance between the magnets and the rails just a tiny change in tire diameter will have a disproportionate impact on you grip.

 

[Tjetter]

Further, I kind of think folks that like the pancake cars find the moving parts facinating-- romantic kind of a deal.

Good idea I should take my tjets on a date.

 

[X2slotbob]

re: tars: I tol ya that's what the big boyz said.

"It's a bird, its a plane, it's...it's...Supertires?!"

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