[PatB]

Trouble is, the Brabham BT44 handled like bambi on ice. 🤪

View attachment 333855

Yes, but as most of the sets it came in seem to have been fully banked ovals or 8s, nobody ever found out until it was too late.

 

[Trisha]

Grumpy

I've got a handful of old Scalextric Brabs that handle very well. As I've commented many times previously, they are transformed by a rear pair of polyurethane tyres.

 

[42redcat]

The one I can‘t get to handle well is the Ferrari 312T, even with the better rear tyres which transform all the others. The whole front is just too high and short, so it just doesn’t want to turn corners!
Mike

 

[Trisha]

Whereas this one goes extremely well, and is quite quick. Wide rear track might provide the best solution. As far as I know, this car is wholly standard, apart from rear 'urethanes.

 

[Grumpy Gaz]

That strikingly good livery isn't standard, Laurence.

 

[Trisha]

It's a repaint I did a while back, Grumpy.

 

[PatB]

The one I can‘t get to handle well is the Ferrari 312T, even with the better rear tyres which transform all the others. The whole front is just too high and short, so it just doesn’t want to turn corners!
Mike
View attachment 333873

There's a bit of meat on the guide holder that can be carved away to lower the front. However, on mine, I think the top of the guide stem is now fouling on the inside of the body, as it doesn't swivel as freely as I would like. I must have a look through my box of spares/incomplete cars to see if I've got a short stem guide to try.

 

[42redcat]

There's a bit of meat on the guide holder that can be carved away to lower the front. However, on mine, I think the top of the guide stem is now fouling on the inside of the body, as it doesn't swivel as freely as I would like. I must have a look through my box of spares/incomplete cars to see if I've got a short stem guide to try.

The question is: where do you stop?
Lowered front and guide; extended wheelbase front and back, with extended motor shaft; front wings moved and sidepods widened…..and more mods later. Slot.It gears, better motor, Pendles’ rubber rear tyres and alloy wheels, tubed front axle and trued front wheels - there’s no end to it, and, yes, it’s a lot faster than a standard car on my home track! And then I discovered Policars……….
Mike

 

[Trisha]

We were happy with these cars 50 years ago, and I still am.

 

[Trisha]

A favourite, despite its short wheelbase.

 

[42redcat]

Great picture - glad to see you posting them again!
Youre right - the standard cars are great fun and I have a stable of them that I won’t modify at all, but the real BT44 wasn’t that short and I do think about lengthening one of mine…….
Mike

 

[Trisha]

Thanks, Mike. A Lotus 77 I repainted a while ago. What it lacks in performance it makes up for in smoothness.

 

[42redcat]

Thanks, Mike. A Lotus 77 I repainted a while ago. What it lacks in performance it makes up for in smoothness.

My Lotus 77 has only one front and no rear wing, so I haven’t got around to fixing it as a runner yet!

 

[PatB]

The question is: where do you stop?
Lowered front and guide; extended wheelbase front and back, with extended motor shaft; front wings moved and sidepods widened…..and more mods later. Slot.It gears, better motor, Pendles’ rubber rear tyres and alloy wheels, tubed front axle and trued front wheels - there’s no end to it, and, yes, it’s a lot faster than a standard car on my home track! And then I discovered Policars……….
Mike
View attachment 334033

Well, yes, there's a lot that can be done, but once you've lowered the nose, tubed the axle, and put decent tyres on the back, going any further entails effort and expense that might be better directed towards starting from better raw material, as your Policar comment acknowledges.

Personally I think old Scaley bin fodder is great for some cheap fun (very cheap once you've accumulated a few spares cars), but if I wanted a proper "decent" slot car, I'd probably look somewhere else.

As for 70s Scalextric F1s becoming worth something, it seems unlikely, if only because I have an apparently unrun Maclaren, and a pair of similarly virginal, boxed, earlyish 312Ts. My luck being what it is, even if everything else goes stratospheric, those particular models will remain worth 3 bent washers and a dead mouse.

 

[42redcat]

Well, yes, there's a lot that can be done, but once you've lowered the nose, tubed the axle, and put decent tyres on the back, going any further entails effort and expense that might be better directed towards starting from better raw material, as your Policar comment acknowledges.

Personally I think old Scaley bin fodder is great for some cheap fun (very cheap once you've accumulated a few spares cars), but if I wanted a proper "decent" slot car, I'd probably look somewhere else.

As for 70s Scalextric F1s becoming worth something, it seems unlikely, if only because I have an apparently unrun Maclaren, and a pair of similarly virginal, boxed, earlyish 312Ts. My luck being what it is, even if everything else goes stratospheric, those particular models will remain worth 3 bent washers and a dead mouse.

I see your boxed McLaren and raise you a boxed McLaren I’ve had since the 1970s plus two swapmeet McLarens with no rear wings….each bought for around £3! I just can’t resist a ‘bargain’.

 

[Zippy D]

Following on from Post #34, below the results of a complete dismantle, thorough clean and reassemble with the shoes on the right feet this time.

The Brabham still has odd wheels from another car, but this will soon be rectified using spares from other cars in the stash awaiting attention.

All motors run very smoothly and strongly indeed after replacement of 3 of the 4 9T spur gears as they were split, and minor adjustment/balancing of the rear wheels/hubs due to some vibration. I simply rotated the wheels/tyres on the axles slightly in relation to one another to balance and they then ran smoothly. A tiny dab of glue at each hub/shaft contact point was sufficient to hold them in place.

Although slightly later than 1970s, the Lotus and Williams were dealt with at the same time so are included, now with their correct hubs/tyres from their as received condition. Look much more appropriate.
The only minor faff with these was getting the wires and lighting circuit board back in its original location on the Williams in order to refit the body to the chassis, as I had undone what I originally thought was a cable management mess. This resulted in the body/chassis not fitting together. Eventually sorted though and body and chassis drop together with no more faffing.
When testing, the turbo light operate as intended but I noticed if throttle is only partially reduced, the turbo gives a pleasing intermittent flash/over run effect instead of solid to fade to off if throttle fully released under full braking.
A couple of missing bits are in the pipeline to complete, such as airbox, wing mirror/steering wheel and likely new tyres, but they do run as is.

On to the next.

 

[42redcat]

I finally got around to working on the two cheap McLarens: new rear wings from plasticard, slightly better tyres from my scrap bin and some repairs to the decals on the no11 James Hunt car.
The handling is still awful and the front wheels are nowhere near the track, but it makes a good pair with my Lauda Ferrari.
I'm still thinking about the No8 McLaren, with a (slight) temptation to try tuning it like I did with the BRM above. There's certainly plenty of room for improvement.....

 

[Trisha]

My revamped Ferraris. I gave up with the McLaren.

 

[HiFi]

Shiny 😎

 

[WD Pro]

I found this thread via a google images search !

I have been trying to build up the history of the Scalextric Brabham BT44B (C120 variants), and started this thread :

https://www.slotforum.com/threads/scalextric-brabham-bt44b-c120-variants.218417/?post_id=2708686&nested_view=1&sortby=oldest#post-2708686

WD