[mtucker666]

Never been a fan of the oval racing or the blobby nature of the NASCAR cars but the club I'm in are now in the middle of a 4 week NASCAR race programme. The circuit is routed copper braid with sandtex paint (so a slight rougher texture) - I'm used to plastic track racing with min / no magnet.

Well I joined the club the week before the NASCAR series started so off I trotted to my local model shop and picked up thier only sidewinder version on their shelves (got a couple of £'s off for being a club member).

First week I came quite handsomely last, while his week I moved up one place and broke my personal goals (I'm not yet competitive with the seasoned racers so I set myslef lap time, number of offs and number of laps down on winner objectives). While I will continue to improve as I get used to the track I'd like to ensure the car is best prepped. Rules say must be box standard!?

I've done most things I can think off to get the best out of the car but do any of you have any special tips. One thing I have not done is played with weight. Was going to put some up by the guide but not too much so it won't hamper speed/breaking.

any thoughts appreciated
Tuck

 

[Wankel Ickx]

Tuck, Like you I'm no fan of the "food in a blender" style of racing but since Rails of Sheffield were once banging out the tupperware, unboxed but suitably cheap it quickly became one of the classes at Oxford, and I have to say, it is a popular and colourful one. Very fast cars but with so few breakable details the smashes ain't too disastrous. Arguments still rage as to whether the inline handles worse than the sidewinder mind.

Afraid when we say "box standard" we mean box standard, so no weight allowed: just a slackening of the screws and a touch of trueing the tyres and you're in.

I had a theory that if I really took a lot off the rears of the inline I could get that mugnut a touch closer and thereby improve the leviathon's cornering.

Just not had the time to try it.

 

[Swissracer]

QUOTE I had a theory that if I really took a lot off the rears of the inline I could get that mugnut a touch closer and thereby improve the leviathon's cornering.

On your track - ANY uneven track, dropping the magnet closer means running the risk of a short between the rails and the magnet.

Also the more you reduce the diameter of the tyres the more speed you are bleeding off. It is a small amount I admit but it all adds up.

One of the best improvements I have found it so shorten the length of the guide, especially if you have sharp turns..
In keeping with the 'pictorial' explanations I would love to see on this forum ( As in " A picture paints a thousand words" ), I post a pic to show what I mean..

Normal Guide versus Swiss' racing mod'...

As usual this is just what I think works - it could all possibly be Bull !

 

[Intergrali]

first off.. pair of pliers.. front guide spring.. PULL OUT!

glue motor, bearings and wheels to axles and tyres to wheels.

plump the braids.

I would supply some nice lovely photos.. 2 problems
1) camera batteries are on charge.
2) Nascars are strictly left at the club and not touched by myself as personally they are **** IMHO

Inte -

 

[Tropi]

QUOTE One of the best improvements I have found it so shorten the length of the guide
But you really must also expand on the advantages of guides set up at 45 degrees to the vertical plane of the chassis, Swiss!

(only pulling your leg while trying to remain 'tea-boy' for as short a period as humanly possible!)

The 'tupperware' 'black window' Nascars are absolutely ideal for really rough racing. I once had a fleet of ten (incredibly cheap) that I was going to use as test beds for my more avant gard thoughts on transmission systems. before I got around to experimenting, I was persuaded to flog most of them to the local boy scouts for their mobile slot trailer, which they cart around from town to town to provide entertainment and boost their funds. They fitted them all with powerful bar magnets (boooooo!) and painted just the roofs in different bold colours for easy identification. The result was great, evenly matched racing at a very low price from almost indestructible cars - the ideal introduction for newcomers.

 

[Wankel Ickx]

Eh? What's with the nodules on your sawn off guide there, Swiss? And what is the theory behind the shorter guide anyways?

I'm not sure it would fit with out box standard rules but I'm curious.

 

[SJSlots]

QUOTE And what is the theory behind the shorter guide anyways?

I too would be interested... Although I also run only on plastic track at this moment I have been told that longer and often deeper guides are the way to go versus smaller/shorter on routed tracks. (Slot-It guide versus stock blue Scaley guide)

Going even deeper into this "short guide" theme... Back, many moons ago when I was racing HO with a few chaps at a local spot, cars were only held in the groove by a pin style guide. Obviously routed, non magnetic surfaces would provide far too many 360's using a pin-style guide... but with the number of stronger magnets making their way in to RTR cars, is it really all that necesary to have such long blades causing friction in the tighter bends or limiting their movement to say 45 or 60 degrees or less?

 

[Swissracer]

The 'nodules' are my efforts to get the guides a little deeper in the slot, seems to work. Using pliers to pull the edge of the guide down and forwards slightly.

I favour the shorter guide on the older Scaley tracks as I feel it helps them get round the inner inner curve. I am about the only driver at Slotters who Never gets stuck on those. That is of course when I am using my own cars.

I found no adverse effects and PDLs TRSF pin guide is what got me thinking along those lines.

 

[jonny s]

Hi Tuck

Deleted by accident your e mails to me from yeterday.

On this guide issue try the wooden guide for routed tracks by slot it (?) check with the boys. It looks like a keel off a yacht mate but you aint coming outa that slot. Best thing to add to a NASCAR race nite at the club? Yankee race names! We got club members racing as `Billybobnoknob`,`Randyrustyslottierails`, `HaggishuggingChrishanna` and a load I cant print mate! Club rule though,gota have a yank name to race NASCARS mate!

 

[Da Vols]

First off, why do folks have to bash NASCAR...???

To the point, the Scalextric NASCAR's are probably the best OOB slot car (non-pod & non set screw) I've run - on various plastic and wood surfaces.

Don't know what you have done, but here's some of what I do within the stringent limitations of being box-stock.

True up the wheels/tires both front & rear - use shims to get rid of any excess side-to-side axle play (make sure the spur doesn't bind up with the collar on the pinion) - don't take the wheels off, just notch the spacers to slip over the axle...use the oil/superglue trick on the rear axle to eliminate any up & down axle play (after getting rid of the side play) - a dab of hot glue to keep the bushings & motor secure - I don't do anything with the guide (there's no spring on the "circular" guide cars) other than set the braid. Of course lubricate wherever needed...including the front axle holder even though they are sloppy.

I've found the traction from the stock tires to be good on the various tracks I've run so I haven't had a need for using weight anywhere...though I've never run on Sandtex, my home track is Rustoleum textured painted plastic and grip is no problem.

Hope this helps.

 

[mtucker666]

thanks for the tip - luckily I had managed to get them sorted in the 6 years since I made the request!