[slowracer]

A question I often get asked at the swapmeets is

QUOTE How do I make my SX Micro go better

Well here we go:

1 Rear Tyres, Change the rear tyres to silicones, why, the rubber tyres are not that good and go dry/hard in no time at all. My recommended size is .426 as made to fit the Tyco hub, this makes .455 in the larger Micro hub (the original is around .470), this willl bring the centre of gravity down and position the magnets closer to the track.

2 Front Tyres, sand down the tyres to a smaller diameter, or just fit smaller ones, this will further bring the centre of gravity down and position the magnets even closer to the track.

3 Electrical System, the braid plate/guide pin/holder(there are at least 3 types), this has to be the weakest part of the electrical system, It has to be securely fastened to the chassis, by its clips, to ensure the pick-up braid is held in good contact to the 'motor bus' that is soldered to the motor, it is the only route of electricity to the motor.

4 The Braids, make sure the braids are in good contact to the 'motor bus', have a slightly arched shape to give a light spring to contact the rail on the track and they are not too frayed, they should not hold the front of the car off the track.

5 The Gears, do not continue to use the car if the gears are noisy, it is an indication that there is a worn or damaged gear, get replacements as soon as possible. For longer life change both.

And the last item:

6 Cleanliness, keep the axles gears and motor shaft clean of fluff and hairs plus lubricate regular but sparingly with a good quality, lightweight oil.

Do all these things and the Micro car will run and race better and bring you even greater Micro driving pleasure.

Having problems, feel free to contact me.

 

[Julian_Boolean]

Generally I find the braids to be too thick and too springy, I've replaced them with thin aluminium sheet in the past which has cured some of the problems with the clip and the springiness.

 

[OppositeLock]

Thanks for this guys! Very useful. As anyone'll tell you, I do have a very large soft spot for Scaley Micro! Oh, is it that obvious?

Cleaning and lubricating has always been a bit of a black art to me TBH - I can't even change a lightbulb without a second opinion!

I do suspect that in an ideal world I'd be running guide pins and no magnets (except the F1s) on my Scaleys, but time will tell.

 

[Julian_Boolean]

Good luck with getting an MS to stay on the track without magnets - I suspect you'll have to run with about 10 volts for that to be achievable.

 

[OppositeLock]

QUOTE (Julian_Boolean @ 19 Jan 2012, 16:50) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Good luck with getting an MS to stay on the track without magnets - I suspect you'll have to run with about 10 volts for that to be achievable.

I think you might be right. I can't even get one to stay on track *with* magnets when the other deslots at the moment! Doesn't mean I won't try though -one day

 

[John Stezelecki]

Thank You for the information. The Nantasket Beach Race Club use these cars in IROC form. Mostly with the Mini Cooper body. Can you tell me what other bodies are available and were to get them? Thanks,
John Stezelecki

 

[slowracer]

Hi John,

The following bodies were made for the Scalex Micro chassis.

GpC. Porsche and Mercedes, Porsche Turbo's, Ferrari F40, Jaguar XJ220's, Aston DBR9's, Nissan 300ZX's, AudiTT's, Porsche Boxters, Mercedes and Alfa DTM cars, and as you know Mini 1's, and lots of F1's 2/3 body shapes and a multitude of liveries.

and for the kids

The Simpson's, Turtles, Batman cars.

 

[John Stezelecki]

Slowracer,
I didn't realize they made so many bodies available. Is there a place or hobby shop that we can purchase these bodies? Thanks again.
John Stezelecki

 

[slowracer]

You have a PM

 

[montoya1]

Also the Pixar Cars stuff, the Fiat 500, Focus WRC, Peugoet Rally car, The generic LMP cars, The Transformers cars, Morcubus & Chaz, Alfa 159, The Team GB Cycles etc.

 

[Julian_Boolean]

You can also make Aurora bodies fit with a little bit of modification.

 

[diesel]

The link in my sig with give you an idea of some of the cars available.

 

[montoya1]

Andrew - that site is really cool, I haven't checked it out in a while but it is a great little resource.

I seem to remember the scroll bar 'moveable bit' was a Scalex LMP car, how on earth did you do that?

Tony - when are you putting up part II of this guide?

 

[diesel]

QUOTE (montoya1 @ 30 Jan 2012, 14:54) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Andrew - that site is really cool, I haven't checked it out in a while but it is a great little resource.

I seem to remember the scroll bar 'moveable bit' was a Scalex LMP car, how on earth did you do that?

There are three different scrollbar cars at the moment on a random basis. I was planning to scan more cars in, but got distracted!

The scrollbar is just a bit of javascript and a scrolling div. View Source should reveal all!

 

[montoya1]

I checked that out, very cool, but I am not totally sure of how to do it, and I know enough about HTML that one should never guess.

If you could make something similar for the main page of eahorc.com that would be great, but no big deal if not.

The site is looking very impressive now btw...

 

[slowracer]

QUOTE (montoya1 @ 30 Jan 2012, 14:54) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Tony - when are you putting up part II of this guide?

????

 

[John Stezelecki]

Diesel,
Thanks for the link. I was quite surprised to lean that they had produced so many cars. I only learned of them a year and a half ago. They are not popular here in the States. My club enjoys racing them every so often. Thanks again.
John Stezelecki

 

[montoya1]

Have you tried other makes of braid John? Basically, if 1/32nd scale guys rave about a type of braid then it will probably improve the Micro cars.

 

[John Stezelecki]

Deane,
The cars work real well in stock form so I have not tried other braid. I do race some 1/32 once in a while. All our Brass War Cars are custom copper pick up shoes. I'll be interested to see how the Micro cars run on the 1972 Parma track when it's completed. That track will be using braid rather than copper tape. I know many of you know Brad Bowman. Brad will be delivering our Sovereign aka Purple MIle in about a month or so. I'm hearing that when he arrives in Ashland, Peter Lentros may be hiring him to route the Parma track for the new braid

 

[montoya1]

I have been following the purple mile progress, not my cup of cha, but good to see somebody with the passion to see something through. Good also to see that where a seriously cool or experimental track is on the go, Brad is front and centre pretty much every time.

The Micro chassis is let down by the braid for sure. There are some very thin braids out there that fray much less and sit really flat. Most times swapping in a can motor from a Tomy chassis will add speed, then you can push the magnets down a hair for more downforce. QC on the whole chassis is pretty poor, so part sort. All pretty basic stuff to a guy like you.