Slot Car Racing/ Set-Up Tips

[zipp]

Since the current fleet of cars has been around for a few years, do you think that there are any tips that have not seen the light of day? I am sure that a pure beginner would find tips all over. Once the concept is understood, the set-up ideas are all about the same for any car and any class. Are there any unexplored "tips" that have gone into "Area 51"?

[gregw]

Well there have been a couple of things that I have observed and practiced with the G3. They are quite simple and may even be regarded as maintenance.

Pay extreme attention to the hinge point on the pickup shoe holder. This area collects debris that can actually harden and stop the motor if left unattended for a long period.

You might want to try removing the purple plastic spacer (.005") from in front of the comm. This moves the endbell brushes a wee bit in and maybe off the comm edge.

Once again the endbell is very important. Not only "tweak" it but pay carefull attention to the actual pressure of the arms.

Use a very small Q tip to clean the bottom area of the holder that the top of the pickup shor spring contacts.

Friction, friction, friction. Break those gears in!

Experiment with gearing. Once you get your car dialed in try a 21t, 22t, and a 23t. The difference is more than you think. That consideration of gearing can come into play with the type of race you are in. Lots of crashers you might want to emphasis stopping to avoid them. Good pros go for the gusto!

If you don't have time to break in the gears use the plastic dremel wheel to polish the burrs off.

You might want to consider a high quality grease on the rear axle area to prevent excessive wear. Be careful with low hp motors as you don't want to increase friction.

Experiment with BSRT's various pickup shoes. They have different charateristics which may help you driving style.

Try th new BSRT pinions. They look very nice. I think they are #836 and 8831P. Double check my numbers when you order.

I am thinking of building a lite weight Super Stock. This will be plastic posts, little "swing weight", plastic pins, etc. The risk is breakage in high speed crashes but will motivate me to keep in it. I doubt it will be a huge difference if any but just a thought I'd pass on for techincal opinions.

Rear axle and rim trueness is getting a lot of attention lately.

By the way Zipp! Did you see the 12 Hours of Sebring? They showed a fan whose upper body was painted in FLying Lizzard's style and colors! Awesome!

[zipp]

I watched the race! It was great.

One of those tips that gets glanced over was told to me by BSRT1. Measure the step in both the motor and traction magnets. Use the ones the sets the magnet as close to the rail/bottom of chassis as possible without rubbing once the ride height is determined.

[BSRT1]

Gregs post just reminded me of another tidbit! replace the red arm com washer with a phenolic washer and a .003 stainless washer brtween the phenolic and bushing. There must be more friction there than we think, because quite often after doing this the car will be so free that you will have to use additional brake!

[zipp]

I would be willing to bet that at some point, many of the "tips" have come from the likes of YOU in the guise of conversations heard at many races. How dare you reveal them!

To get the gear mesh as smooth as possible will also reap rewards. Just ask the T-Jets racers how important that is. No, it isn't my tip, but again its what is over heard at races held everywhere.

The right body choice, even though it may be over looked is quite important. Again, this would be something learned from MaDDman, Greg Williams, BSRT1, Beedle, Porcelli, etc...... Just listen at the next race. You will be amazed at what is actually handed out.

[E-Cono Racer]

Gregs post just reminded me of another tidbit! replace the red arm com washer with a phenolic washer and a .003 stainless washer brtween the phenolic and bushing. There must be more friction there than we think, because quite often after doing this the car will be so free that you will have to use additional brake!

I have been using that technique for years and it works well, but recently I noticed that there was still a lot more armature movement forward and backwards taking the arm out of the sweet spot of the mags so I installed a 0.10 stanless washer in between the arm and the rear bushing....it reduced the extra play, but left enough play for the arm to move freely.

But also note....this technique only works when the arm has a lot of extra play after you try the tip from BSRT 1...you may come across setups where the rear shim may take out all the extra play so check by moving the arm forward and back and forward..if there is no play remove the rear shim....


Yo!

[Wolfie]

Here are a few things that I do.

For starters since I know I'm going to crash, I want the car to be as easy as possible to marshal. Therefore I always run 0.010" bodies, and pinch the sides in making them sit very firmly on the car. I have been told that this method makes the car perform worse. In my finding this statement is true, but I feel that by being easy to marshal, I lose less time when I crash, compared to my competitors.

Another thing I do is pay special attention to the pick-up hangers. Everyone knows that the weak point of the G-Platform is that the pick-up have a tendency to come off in a crash. So I have worked hard to make sure that I never lose one. This has led me to ensuring that the hanger base is in the absolutely correct position in relation to the chassis. Usually I end up bending the base (the spot where the shoe rides) ever so slightly forward. To check if you will have a problem simply push the back of the shoe into the chassis and pull the shoe forward. If the hook is able to come out, then you have a problem.

Also as Greg mentioned make sure your hangers are clean. Personally I take my HT391 and clean all the electrical contact surfaces of the hanger. That would be the "Spring contact point", the "Hook hole", and the "Endbell contact point". Also I like to clean sping contact point and the hook on my pickup shoes.

Also at the start of every season, and before I go to a big race, I check to make sure my front axle spins nice and free. Sometimes I have had some sediment build up, like lint, get in there and make the axle a little tight. To fix this I just take my reamer (can't remember the size at the moment) and clean it out. When you do this make sure that you have a motor assembly in the car, as that slightly changes how the chassis sits.

[Hornet]

Come on guys you can do better then this,those aren't tips,if you're gonna say measure the magnet lips/polish gears and axles etc.,go into depth on the "How-To" of doing the tip.
Zipp,i had this posted over on Mikes board awhile go,giving details on how i measure the magnet lips on a Storm.

"For you guys into measuring the depth of the magnet lips on your Storms motor and traction mags,here's a tip i use.
Get yourself a chunk of flat steel,and a good set of flat feeler guages.
Clamp the magnet down,with the lip side facing the steel plate and pick the approriate feeler guage that slides between the lip and the steel plate.
If your into setting your own magnet lip depth or matching magnet lip depth's,this is an easy way to measure your progress.
This tip probably applies to the other cars too,but i haven't worked with them as much"


Don't be a joke guys,give the details on how you do your tip.
Greg,what are you using to tweak the endbells and how are you tweaking them,do you tweak them to get the brushes sitting as flat on the com as possible etc.If you're polishing gears,are you using a felt polishing wheel for your Dremel and toothpaste/simichrome etc. as your polishing compound,etc,it's things like this that are needed guys
Years ago when i was playing around with G's,i used to strip an arm down till it was just a bare shaft with a com on it,slide the com into the brushes,and i could look in from the backside to see how the brushes were sitting on the com.
Things like that are what's needed as far as tips go guys.
John,how about a "how-to" on how you polish axles etc.,are you doing them in a lathe,or with a dremel,and what do you use to polish the axles with etc.

Don't assume everybody knows how to do everything guys,so give them the inside details of your tips
I'm not to sure about everybody else,but i always like to see how other guys are doing their tips.My way of doing things and their way of way doing things,might eventually end up at the same point,but maybe someone has found a better way of doing the same tip then i have.
Never be scared of posting how you do your tip,other guys are always interested.
Besides it's better then reading about the local/latest war

[slotking]

there are some great tips here, thanks

I try to reduce impedance at all of the electrical junctions

i found that a little more attention to the endbell helps.
I fold the ears into a Z so there is always more pressure to the hangers.
wall shots can flatten the ears

I remove the little brass connectors on the side of the endbell, i polish where they make contact with the leafspring and the then the leafspring itself. I open the U a little more so it will make better contact to the leaf spring when I slide back in.

before i slide it back in, i treat it with an electrical enhancer like pro-gold or other product.

If shunts are legal
I solder to the side of the leaf spring, run the wire down the top of the hole for the pickup springs and I can do 1 of 2 things
1>solder it to a small brass piece this way the spring stays on no matter what and you can change your shoes willy nilly
2>mushroom the wire out and let it cup the shoe spring, this does the same as 1, but can let you change springs & shoes as you need to

[Clydefrog]

Gregs post just reminded me of another tidbit! replace the red arm com washer with a phenolic washer and a .003 stainless washer brtween the phenolic and bushing. There must be more friction there than we think, because quite often after doing this the car will be so free that you will have to use additional brake!

Walt, would this also be appropriate if the HT084 - G3™ Double-Flanged Bronze Rear "Beedle Bushing" is also used? I've got the Washington State championships coming up next month & will take all the help I can get Thanks, Glenn

[BSRT1]

Yes Glenn, But I use a .005 stainless in the rear and it works very well. Make sure you only use the stock reamed tomy bushing in the front.

[slotking]

Make sure you only use the stock reamed tomy bushing in the front.

so you like that better than any other?
what do you ream them to? .062. .065?

thanks

[ThChrMn]

Mike,

Is Pro-Gold the same as DeoxIT.

[slotking]

They used to have several products
DeoxIT & pro gold where 2 of them
I picked up a little spay set at Radio Shack with both products in it.

DeoxIT is still DeoxIT, but pro gold is now DeoxIT-gold (i think)
for those not familiar with this stuff
DeoxIT removes oxidation and protects from further oxidation
DeoxIT-gold enhances contact.

I did test it, took a dead flash light, put the gold on all contact points, and was able to get some light.

[zipp]

Lighten the crown,and the hubs. Use an 007 body where possible, Lighten the front hubs as well. Chamfer all the axle holes. Remember less weight equals more downforce.