The Slot Car Handbook E-Book

Dave Chang

• Herausgeber: The Crowood Press
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 136

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2007

Beschreibung

1/32 scale slot racing, made popular by Scalextric, is enjoyed by all ages. Half the fun of the hobby is taking apart, tuning, upgrading and reassembling the cars, but until now this has been a black art. For the first time, this complete guide to tuning and racing gives step-by-step instructions on how to set up the cars and the track to give the best performance.

Leseprobe

First published in 2007 byThe Crowood Press LtdRamsbury, MarlboroughWiltshire SN8 2HR

www.crowood.com

This e-book first published in 2024

© Dave Chang 2007

All rights reserved. This e-book is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 0 7198 4359 4

Disclaimer

The author and the publisher do not accept any responsibility in any manner whatsoever for any error or omission, or any loss, damage, injury, adverse outcome, or liability of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any of the information contained within this book, or reliance upon it.

Acknowledgements:

Thanks go to Manda, Joyce, Charles, Rita, Neil, Jonathon, Adrian, Matt, Mick, Pendle Slot Racing, Hornby, Nikko Toys UK, Pleby’s, Wellingborough Scalextric Club and Scale Models Racing Slot Club for their invaluable support in producing this book.

All photographs and illustrations by Dave Chang, except page 67 (courtesy Technitoys), page 69 (courtesy Nikko UK) and page 70 (courtesy Ninco).

Contents

INTRODUCTION

1CARS

Anatomy of a slot car

Preparing to race

Lubrication

Running in the motor

Meshing the gears

Preparing tyres

Bushings and motor mounts

Guide and front wheels

Repairing cars

Car maintenance

2UPGRADES

Motors

Choosing a motor

Fitting motors

Running gear

Gearing

Selecting the gearing

Changing gears

Wheels and tyres

Tyres

Hubs

Magnets and weights

Magnet racing

Non-magnet racing

Lights

3TRACK

Types of track

Connectivity

Power supplies

Controllers

Track design

Track maintenance

4DIGITAL

Basics of digital

Types of digital

SCX digital

Scalextric SSD

Carrera Pro-X

Ninco N-Digital

5RACING

Conventions

Timing and race control

Marshalling

Clubs

Internet racing

Driving

6BEYOND 1/32 SCALE RTR

1/24 scale

MotoGP & BSB bikes (1/18 Scale)

Karts (1/18 scale)

Metal chassis cars

1/43, 1/64 and HO scale

TROUBLESHOOTING

APPENDICES

Suppliers

Web resources

Essential tools

How to solder

GLOSSARY

INDEX

Introduction

Slot cars, originally introduced by Scalextric, are model cars that can drive at scale speeds of 600 miles per hour. The skills and split-second reactions required to drive them are similar to those needed to race real cars – it is a hobby favoured by many racing drivers!

In an age of disposable items, slot cars differ because they are designed to be taken apart and reassembled, with a range of replacement and upgrade parts readily available. This is half the fun of the hobby, but until now how to maintain and tune your cars has been a black art.

So welcome to the Slot Car Handbook. Here you will find collected information, techniques and expert tips to get the most out of the hobby, the cars and the racing.

Slot racing is a wonderfully diverse hobby. This book concentrates on Ready-To-Race (RTR) 1/32 cars. These are the realistic looking cars you buy on their own, or in sets with track, at toy or hobby shops. Most of the theory and techniques described here are applicable to other branches of the hobby.

R-T-R slot-cars.

This handbook is both an introduction to the joys of slot racing for the beginner, and a source of useful information for the more experienced slot racer.

It can be read through, or used as a reference guide, dipped into as needed.

There is a list of the tools required before each task so you can prepare yourself before engaging in the procedure. Also look out for the preparation summaries.

The Slot Car Handbook will enable you to make the most of this addictive pastime. Enjoy!

Cars

Modern 1/32 scale slot cars are remarkable machines. Advances in computer aided design, moulding techniques and ‘tampo’ printing mean that they can look stunningly realistic, better than some die-cast models. And they move too!

They operate like real cars, having a motor that drives the rear wheels. Although steering is governed by a guide at the front of the car which sits in the slot of the track, they drive similarly to real racing cars; for the best lap times you have to brake into the corners and accelerate smoothly out. If you overcook it, the back end may slide out or the car might roll…

As with real racing cars, preparation is vital for good car handling and for winning races. This section will tell you how to tune your cars to improve their performance.

A recent advent in the world of slot car racing is the application of digital control. This enables you to run many cars on a two-lane circuit, and for the cars to change lane to overtake. The tuning and setting-up tips in this section apply to both conventional and digital cars.

FACT

There are many slot car manufacturers operating in the marketplace including:

Scalextric; SCX; Ninco; Carrera; Artin; Slot.It; Fly; Spirit; AutoArt; Revell; Cartrix; Top Slot; Takara; MRRC; Slotter; NSR; Top Slot; Le Mans Miniatures; Racer.

Scalextric Mustang 302.

Scalextric Lister Storm.

Conventional (non-digital) car brands are all compatible with each other. It is perfectly fine to race a Carrera car against a Scalextric car on Ninco track, for example. You can mix & match and purchase whichever cars you like.

FACT

Scalextric is not always Scalextric

There is often confusion between Scalextric and SCX. People sometimes wonder if they are the same company due to their similar names and compatible track systems. There is a complicated history, but to understand the current situation it is simplest to look at the parent companies.

The UK company Hornby sells slot cars, and brands them internationally as ‘Scalextric’, except in Spain. There its products are branded as ‘Superslot’.

The Spanish company Technitoys brands its slot cars internationally as ‘SCX’, except in Spain where it brands them as ‘Scalextric’.

Technitoys and Hornby are separate unrelated companies.

There are performance differences between brands. However, there are equally big performance differences between different cars of the same brand. For fair racing, class cars of similar performance, or use the tuning tips to equalize the performance of the cars.

Dashboard detail in an Auto Art Lamborghini.

Scalextric Starsky & Hutch Ford Torino.

Fly GT40 Mk II.

Auto Art Ford GT and Scalextric Mini.

Carrera Ferrari 575GTC.

ANATOMY OF A SLOT CAR

1 Body/Body-shell: This is the top part of the slot car, moulded and painted to be a scale model of a real car. Unlike the real car, the shape and aerodynamics of the body have no impact on performance. The mass and the distribution of weight do.

2 Interior: This can be a detailed copy of the real interior, including a full driver figure. Sometimes it is a ‘pan’ interior – the driver and interior are only modelled from just below the window height. This allows more room for the motor and can also reduce the weight of the car. The interior is usually clipped or glued to the body-shell.

3 Chassis: This is the bottom of the car, to which all the other parts are attached. Modern RTR cars use a plastic chassis, often one piece, but sometimes with a separate motor pod section.

4 Motor: This is an electric motor which powers your car. The motor may be at the front, middle or rear of the car. It may be in-line (as illustrated), sideways (sidewinder) or at an angle (anglewinder).

5 Pinion: The small gear attached to the motor is called the pinion. It usually has between 8 and 12 teeth.

6 Bush or bushing: The bearings which hold the axle. These are usually clipped into the chassis.

7 Crown/Spur: The large gear which meshes with the pinion. When the gear is at the side, and the pinion is rotating on the same axis as the wheels, it is called a spur gear. When the pinion is rotating at right angles, it is called a crown gear (as illustrated). Crowns tend to have between 23 and 30 teeth, spurs up to 36.

8 Axle: The steel rod to which the wheels are attached.

9 Tyre: Slot car tyres are usually solid, not air filled as with real cars. The material these are made of affects the grip of the car, and therefore the performance.

10 Hub: The wheel, not including the tyre. These are usually made of plastic, and are pressed or glued onto the axles.

11 Guide or guide flag: This is a plastic fin which pivots, and will sit in the slot of the track. It holds the braids. In SCX digital cars, the guide is a complex mechanism which also controls the lane changes.

12 Braids: These are braided copper or steel wires that make contact with the rails of the track. It is often critical how these are adjusted to enable the car to operate optimally on a given track.

13 Magnet: Front and rear magnets to give additional down force to keep the car on the track.

14 Chip: On digital cars this refers to the control circuit board for interpreting the digital signals from the track, and operating the motor. Some conventional cars also have a circuit board, for controlling lights. This is not commonly referred to as the ‘chip’. Many conventional cars do not have a circuit board at all.

15 Lights/LEDs: Some cars are fitted with working front and/or rear lights. Some cars even have working brake lights. Police cars may come with flashing lights.

Other Features

Suspension: A few cars offer suspension systems. Some use magnets to allow some play in the rear axle; others have springs on each wheel.

4wd/awd: Most slot cars are rear wheel drive. However, there are a few which are 4-wheel drive (all wheel drive). This is achieved in one of two ways. Sometimes, the front and rear axles have an additional pulley wheel, and these wheels are linked by a belt (rubber band). The rear wheels are powered as usual, and power is transferred to the front by the belt. Alternatively, some cars have motors with a shaft that extends forwards and backwards, with a pinion on each end. Both the front and rear axles have crown wheels, and so are driven simultaneously by the motor.

PREPARING TO RACE

RTR slot cars that you find in hobby and toy shops are designed to be taken out of the box and raced straight away. However, if you take the steps to tune your car first, it will perform much better and may last longer too.

PREPARATION

Initial Prep:

1. Check axles and chassis are straight

2. Remove body

3. Check bushes and motor are in place

4. Check guide is ok

5. Check gears are smooth

6. Check for axle slop

TOOLS

Crosshead screwdriver

TIP

There can be anything from one screw to eight or more holding the car together. Check if there is a screw hidden under the guide flag. Some of the screws may be to hold magnets or motor pods in; these do not have to be removed.

Note where each screw came from. Some cars have different lengths and types of screw for different places.

Do not force the car open. There may also be plastic tabs on the chassis or body holding the car together; the design of some cars is very complex. All cars will come apart and go back together, most are very straightforward, but some will require a great deal of attention.

The first thing to do is to remove the body. Undo the screws underneath the car and remove the body.

Check that everything is in place – the bushings and motor are all properly clipped in, the guide can turn freely and the wheels and gears rotate smoothly by hand. If the gears are stiff, refer to the section ‘Meshing the gears’.

Underneath a slot car.

Clips in the chassis hold the motor and rear bush.

Check that the chassis is not warped or cracked, and all 4 wheels can sit flat on a track. Check the axles are straight. Twisted chassis and bent axles are not easy to fix, take the car back to the shop for a replacement, contact the manufacturer or order spare parts to replace the faulty parts. Cracks can be repaired with two-part epoxy.

Check for side-to-side movement of the rear axle, especially on anglewinder or sidewinder cars (cars with motors which work in parallel with the rear axle). Ideally there should be a tiny bit of play, perhaps the thickness of a piece of paper. If there is more than that, you will need to order some ‘spacers’ and fit them.

TIP

Fly Ferrari 512 on a GOM test plate.

A thick piece of perspex or a good piece of flat wood, with a small slot cut at the front, acts as a good way to check whether the chassis is bent. Place the car with the guide in the slot, and see if all 4 wheels touch the surface at the same time. Look under the car and see if the chassis looks straight with the surface.

A selection of axle spacers.

Spacers are small washers in plastic or brass. Work out where the axle should sit (you need to see how the wheels look with the body on). Then see how many spacers you need between each wheel and the corresponding bush.

Plastic spacers can be cut and clipped on directly. With brass spacers you will need to remove the wheel on the other side of the spur gear so they can be put between the wheel and bush.

The front axle is less critical, but you may wish to add spacers so there is negligible side-to-side movement here too.

Cut the spacer here.

Spacers in place.

TIP

Check that the wheels can turn without rubbing on the wheel arches when the car is assembled. If they do, you may be able to fix this with spacers, or by carefully trimming the plastic inside the arches.

Lubrication

Wherever there are moving mechanical parts, lubrication is vital to reduce friction, heat, and increase the life of the parts. Many manufacturers now lubricate some of the parts for you, but it is always wise to check. Do not over lubricate! Too much oil or grease can be worse than none at all. If too much oil leaks into the motor, it can stop it working. Remove the body from the chassis.

Grease and a pinpoint oiler.

Apply a drop of oil at each end of the motor.

Motor: This needs the tiniest drop of oil where the motor’s shaft enters the can and where it enters the end bell. Use either a pinpoint oiler, or apply a drop of oil to the tip of a needle and bring that to the correct place.

TOOLS

Crosshead screwdriver

Oil

Grease

PREPARATION

Lubrication:

1. Remove body

2. Lightly oil the points where the motor shaft enters the motor

3. Oil the axles where they enter the bushes

4. Lightly grease the gears

5. Be prepared to catch the excess grease when you first run the gears

Apply a drop of oil to each bush.

Bearings: At the point where the wheel axles pass through their bushes, apply a drop of oil.

Pinpoint oilers can be bought from specialist slot car retailers, and also radio controlled model centres. Common household oils like 3-in-1 are also sometimes used. If you are considering trying an exotic lubricant, remember it must be compatible with the nylons, plastics and metals used in slot cars.

TIP

A lot of the tuning tasks rely on running the motor and car without the wheels touching the track or the car driving away. A test bench can make these tasks and others much easier. The purpose is to supply power to the braids but to allow the cars wheels to rotate freely. A simple bench can be made from a piece of track or a piece of wood or perspex, some copper tape and a cheap adjustable DC power supply.

Kelvin Light rolling road.

Alternatively, you can buy advanced versions, which incorporate a rolling road and will tell you how fast the wheels are turning.

Apply grease to the gears.

FACT

Parts of a Motor