Wow! Sad to see your old track bite the dust Bill, but looking forward to pictures of your new adventure. Good Luck!
Northlands International Raceway is going wood
6
We have raced Scaley Sport for two years. It has proven to be an excellent layout. Laps times in 6 second range. It had variation in all the turns. It was quick. No R1s here.
The last few months I have been racing on a 120' commercial MDF track painted with flat latex and copper tape. Just so smooth and quick I wanted one to test my cars on during the week and to give us a new track for our local Monday night series.
OK get to the pics.
This was Northlands after the Homies went home. They stole all the vehicles and cut down all the signage and trees.
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The deciduous trees. The evergreens have been packed away for now. Some parts of rock wall will be used in new track.
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Trees look so nice grouped together. They are so easy to make.
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There are two sheets of MDF in the Mini Van. One bungee cord held them in.
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The underside of MDF gets a cost of paint. Supposedly it keeps the dampness out. A clean canvass. Looks nice eh?
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We did rout the track yesterday using Luft's strip and video. The design is very similar to the old track but with more sweeping turns and a squeeze section. We put the straight at the back to assist in marshalling. We did have a few errors. Mainly due to inexperience with router. It was a great learning experience. While they are fixable we are debating whether to continue or get a couple more sheets of MDF. It is cheap. About $40 Cdn for two.
Routing dust was not a problem. I have an outlet for central vac in the garage and just duct taped the hose to the outlet on router.
I will post updates.
More pics and video of old track here - My old Scaley track
bill
The last few months I have been racing on a 120' commercial MDF track painted with flat latex and copper tape. Just so smooth and quick I wanted one to test my cars on during the week and to give us a new track for our local Monday night series.
OK get to the pics.
This was Northlands after the Homies went home. They stole all the vehicles and cut down all the signage and trees.
The deciduous trees. The evergreens have been packed away for now. Some parts of rock wall will be used in new track.
Trees look so nice grouped together. They are so easy to make.
There are two sheets of MDF in the Mini Van. One bungee cord held them in.
The underside of MDF gets a cost of paint. Supposedly it keeps the dampness out. A clean canvass. Looks nice eh?
We did rout the track yesterday using Luft's strip and video. The design is very similar to the old track but with more sweeping turns and a squeeze section. We put the straight at the back to assist in marshalling. We did have a few errors. Mainly due to inexperience with router. It was a great learning experience. While they are fixable we are debating whether to continue or get a couple more sheets of MDF. It is cheap. About $40 Cdn for two.
Routing dust was not a problem. I have an outlet for central vac in the garage and just duct taped the hose to the outlet on router.
I will post updates.
More pics and video of old track here - My old Scaley track
bill
1 - 20 of 61 Posts
6
THanks Chris but prefer to use copper tape as same as I run on at other track.
Have been busy. Holes are filled. Need a bit of sanding and ready for paint and tape.
I have race day and evening tomorrow (2:30 p.m.to midnight) and a swap meet and Enduro race of Sun so not much track work this weekend.
Here are the pics.
Expensive recyle
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Back straight with dip
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Coming off back straight on to this section. The white section was a screw up on slot for barrier.
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Sweeper(corkscrew) into tricky section. There is just a hint of banking on both. There is a squeeze to 2 inches coming into turn on the right and widening going up the hill.
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Esses. The white sheet on the right are the messed up ones. I wonder if I can return them
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The grey ones are my table cover.
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Have been busy. Holes are filled. Need a bit of sanding and ready for paint and tape.
I have race day and evening tomorrow (2:30 p.m.to midnight) and a swap meet and Enduro race of Sun so not much track work this weekend.
Here are the pics.
Expensive recyle
Back straight with dip
Coming off back straight on to this section. The white section was a screw up on slot for barrier.
Sweeper(corkscrew) into tricky section. There is just a hint of banking on both. There is a squeeze to 2 inches coming into turn on the right and widening going up the hill.
Esses. The white sheet on the right are the messed up ones. I wonder if I can return them
4
I took night off from racing to keep working, besides the weather was crappy for driving.
Tape is laid and wired. Need to finished off driver stations. The guardrails are temporary. They fit in routed slots.
Track drives well. Only needed a couple small adjustments to slots. Will improve as rubber gets laid down. All the cars run well with no adjustments. Handling on some can be improved with weight and tire changes. I turned voltage down from 13 on some to 11. For the Minis went down to 9 and find stock tires better than silicones. THe Artins and Fly Rileys both go well. THe RIleys are on Super and may go better with original tires. My Slot.its are fast as they have been setup for this type of surface.
All of the corners drive well. The 180 in squeeze while small radius drives really well. The decending radius turn in the infield after coming down the middle long run is a challenge. You can feel yourself push the brake pedal. The dip going down the backstretch would be an sphinter tighener in a real car.
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You can hear the cars get lighter as they drop down. The Esses at both ends require a bit of driving.
Overall I am please with the results. It will be interesting to see how it races with the squeeze and limited passing opportunites.
A couple of pics:
PS I did not break the tape while laying it
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Tape is laid and wired. Need to finished off driver stations. The guardrails are temporary. They fit in routed slots.
Track drives well. Only needed a couple small adjustments to slots. Will improve as rubber gets laid down. All the cars run well with no adjustments. Handling on some can be improved with weight and tire changes. I turned voltage down from 13 on some to 11. For the Minis went down to 9 and find stock tires better than silicones. THe Artins and Fly Rileys both go well. THe RIleys are on Super and may go better with original tires. My Slot.its are fast as they have been setup for this type of surface.
All of the corners drive well. The 180 in squeeze while small radius drives really well. The decending radius turn in the infield after coming down the middle long run is a challenge. You can feel yourself push the brake pedal. The dip going down the backstretch would be an sphinter tighener in a real car.
Overall I am please with the results. It will be interesting to see how it races with the squeeze and limited passing opportunites.
A couple of pics:
PS I did not break the tape while laying it
Looking good 
4
QUOTE I took night off from racing to keep working, besides the weather was crappy for driving.
You wuss! It was just cool and rainy, not frigid and snowing like normal here!
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Okay, okay... if I was in the midst of building a track I'd have done the same...
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Eagerly waiting to hear from both you and Tim as to how it drives when racing.
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QUOTE I will be using Behr brand flat latex
Wait a minute! You're trying to gain an unfair practice advantage for Friday nights, aren't you?
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You wuss! It was just cool and rainy, not frigid and snowing like normal here!
Eagerly waiting to hear from both you and Tim as to how it drives when racing.
QUOTE I will be using Behr brand flat latex
Wait a minute! You're trying to gain an unfair practice advantage for Friday nights, aren't you?
2
Started repairing retaining walls and installing them. The Shell one is temporary. The BP one is new. Well the signage is. I printed off and folded. I then taped to the OUTside of retaining wall. Not too clear in pic but you can see scuff marks from cars meeting the wall. Gives a nice used look. I am going to make all the walls the same height. I will recut the plexi glass as soon as I get fence on table saw repaired.
When I was routing I cut slots for the walls. So much easier to install.
I also put up the outside walls. The back wall and one end are fine so I do not have to repaint.
Next part is to seperate the weeks worth of newspapers and paper for landscaping. Also waiting for inspiration on just what to do for landscaping. I liked my previous rock wall and would like to use it. The Homies want a new home. They are tired of living in a box and they are beginning to smell.
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When I was routing I cut slots for the walls. So much easier to install.
I also put up the outside walls. The back wall and one end are fine so I do not have to repaint.
Next part is to seperate the weeks worth of newspapers and paper for landscaping. Also waiting for inspiration on just what to do for landscaping. I liked my previous rock wall and would like to use it. The Homies want a new home. They are tired of living in a box and they are beginning to smell.
QUOTE The Homies want a new home. They are tired of living in a box and they are beginning to smell.
Payback for your pre-race shenanigans at Race Haven! I paid them!
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Payback for your pre-race shenanigans at Race Haven! I paid them!
5
Yes Hammer I could have gone a bit darker on the paint. However cars do show up well on it.
Been doing a bit more. I cut this slot and wired it to power supply. It makes for easy sanding and cleaning of tires. This is first using a damp sponge. Works great. I also extended wiring on volt meter. Makes it easier to see when adjusting power supply.
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Getting ready for some landscaping. This is all I use. Crumple up newspaper and then dip shop towels in P of P. I will be trying to incorporate my old wall. Will place bits and pieces of it.
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The plan was to have a garage where the cars are sitting. I did place my old garage and have found it to be just high enough to interfere with site line. As this is a difficult corner to enter you need to see all of it. So I will be garageless. It will still make a nice spectator area though. Maybe the Ho's camper will fit in there.
The tin Montreal Canadiens bank is for donations I hope to receive. Racing is free at Northlands.
I wil post more as landscaping progresses. I do need to extend the slot for wall where the BP signage is. Cars tend to want to go under the back straight. The wall would prevent hitting landscaping.
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Been doing a bit more. I cut this slot and wired it to power supply. It makes for easy sanding and cleaning of tires. This is first using a damp sponge. Works great. I also extended wiring on volt meter. Makes it easier to see when adjusting power supply.
Getting ready for some landscaping. This is all I use. Crumple up newspaper and then dip shop towels in P of P. I will be trying to incorporate my old wall. Will place bits and pieces of it.
The plan was to have a garage where the cars are sitting. I did place my old garage and have found it to be just high enough to interfere with site line. As this is a difficult corner to enter you need to see all of it. So I will be garageless. It will still make a nice spectator area though. Maybe the Ho's camper will fit in there.
The tin Montreal Canadiens bank is for donations I hope to receive. Racing is free at Northlands.
I wil post more as landscaping progresses. I do need to extend the slot for wall where the BP signage is. Cars tend to want to go under the back straight. The wall would prevent hitting landscaping.
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