5 replies to this topic

[Slot Car Rod]

I just completed a new chassis for my Denny Hulme McLaren M8F resin slot car.  The car previously had a Plafit-style chassis.

 

The new chassis is a conventional 4-rail design with a drop arm and plumber.  The main rails are .055" piano wire.  The pans and drop arm are .040" brass.  The body is held on with 4 screws and body posts.

 

The wheels are Pro-Track with H&R fish rear tires, and the front wheels and tires are also Pro-Track.  The resin wheel inserts are patterned after American Racing Wheels.   A polymer drag race spur gear is used along with an angled pinion gear.  Gear ratio is a little over 5-to-1.  The motor is a Mura Super Wasp.

 

The resin body was thinned out and painted with Tamiya paint.  Detail parts are from the resin body kit.

 

The car weighs in at 6.5 ounces.  The car handles well, and the Super wasp supplies smooth power.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[NSwanberg]

Slick body mounts!

[Dave Crevie]

Superb collection of M-8s. For some time I have wondered how well a drop arm works with a heavy (compared to Lexan) resin body. I have always built slab chassis for those. No tipping in corners?

[Slot Car Rod]

Thanks Dave.  The chassis has plumber and drop arm.  I think this gives the weight transfer to the guide flag.  There is also lots of pan movement.  You could see the body roll before locking up in the turns.  The chassis has good flex.  Also, the car is set up so the front tires are barely touching a recessed braid set up block.  

The car does not tilt.  You could push the car and have the tail drift out.  The car is fun to drive and is forgiving.

 

I have built and purchased pan cars with hard bodies.  The philosophy with these cars seems to be to have lots of mass down low, and if the car does not handle, pile on more weight.  I have purchased used pan cars that weigh in at about 9 ounces.  The cars are fast, but when the limit is reached, the cars go flying off the track.  Not the best driving experience.  

 

With my hard body cars, the Champion chassis cars seem to be the best compromise between speed and driving fun, The Plafit-style chassis cars work great on some tracks and not so good on others.  Hard to figure.

 

Thanks again Mike Swiss for the body mounting tips.

[Slot Car Rod]

Purple car number 11 is the most fun to drive and is the fastest on a tight track.  Black car number 8 is the fastest on a large road course and hill climb track.

 

 

 

[Dave Crevie]

Interesting info, thanks. I still have some resin and injection molded styrene bodies I want to do something with. I have one styrene Ford Gt-40 Mk IV body on a Champion center section that I made a brass pan for. I made it years ago to run on Dave Fiedler's DJ's Hot Slots LTD track . Saturday nights were hardbody night, and Dave kept the rules a bit open. But the GT-40 was so fast that he outlawed Can-Am and European Prototype bodies.