16 replies to this topic

[CanAm-1]

Hello again,

I have searched and found a lot of posts on different concoctions that people have come up with over the years for the many different lubricants and cleaners we use in and on our cars. The unfortunate thing I have noticed is the recipies or the how much of this and that to mix together is missing. So, I am trying to see if I can glean some of this info from those with a heck of a lot more experience than I have. I have quite a collection of ingredents now, but just need to know how much of what to mix with what. If I mixed everything together the garage would probably go up in a big puff of smoke!

For:
Bushings and Bearings Lubricant
Commutators Juice
Motor Cleaner
Pickup Braid
Tire Cleaner
Tire Traction

Thanks in advance.

[Michael Rigsby]

Mark,

You'll receive as many different replies as there are products out there, but I'll tell you what I use currently after having gone through the mix and match process over the years.

Bushing and Bearing Lubricant - Slick 7 Glidex 1 for Bushings and Bearings (still hard to beat overall, even after trying my own concoctions)

Comm Juice - Don't use it, don't believe in it, never did

Motor Cleaner - Pure Motor Spray or CRC QD contact cleaner

Braid- I'm presuming you mean braid drops - Slick 7 VooDoo drops

Tire Cleaner - well, all I use to clean my tires with is naphtha or good old common Ronson lighter fluid

Tire Traction - Don't use it, most tracks don't allow it since they use Spray Glue

Hope this helps, but like I said, everyone has their own prefereneces.

Michael Rigsby

[Ramcatlarry]

Commercial brands are there to make their companies money. Most work very well for their intended purpose and have good following of racers .

Ronsonal/Naptha is a good all around degreaser and general cleaner.

Lubricants: Some say oil is oil, but the weight (light 3in1) to heavy (50wt racing oil) can add friction, longevity or dust collection. Everyones race conditions vary, but all of the slot companies put out good oils and some have more popularity than others in different areas. Oilite bushings retain oil and need less of a cling factor than solid brass bushings or bearings.

Braid Juice: Two jobs - lubricate and enhance conductivity. Depending on track conditions, some are much better than others. I have seen copper tape get slower with excessive oil base. Voodoo is good in all applications, WD-40 in many as well...

Wintergreen: While a chemical engineer is needed to get it (a home brew) right, Trinity Zip Grip, Death Grip, Zip grip II, are still great for bringing back that set of tires you left on the car two months ago to racable condition. Use it sparingly and let it soak in and wipe off the excess. Some track owners hate it if you let it clean a hole in their track...the wintergreen can dissolve paint on bodies or track if not monitored.

[CanAm-1]

Thanks for the inputs,

I guess from the number of responses I hit on a sensitive subject. When one stumbles on an item that can give them an advantage in racing it immediately becomes proprietary. I have been looking all over the net looking for old time concoctions for our cars. I’m not trying to circumvent anyone from supporting their local track, but was just curious. I found all sorts of strange brews and found one that actually works for tires which one can buy at their local Wal-Mart.

I picked up a slot car box which included lots of parts. There was one pair of tires that looked brand new, but were really dried up particularly on the surface. I simply rubbed this stuff into the tire, let it set a few minutes and then rubbed the tire off with a rag. Presto, the tire was clean, soft and the surface was fresh and had grip once again.

What was this “stuff”? Wal-Mart’s Equate brand Ultra Strength Muscle Rub Pain Relieving Cream. 30% of the active ingredient is good old wintergreen oil (It goes by its chemical name methyl salicylate on the package). Works great and smells like the days of old.

One word of caution that I read about guys is to be sure to wash your hands before going to the restroom or you could wind up with a burning feeling were you don’t want it.

[Champion 507]

Mark,

Great info! There's a WalMart less than 2 miles from my house. I'll check it out. I miss the smells of those old oil of wintergreen days.

Back in 1965, the track I raced at was in an enclosed shopping mall (very new for the time). Next door was a drug store. We used to go over there to get oil of wintergreen for our tires.

I shopped around quite a bit a couple of years ago and couldn't find or buy oil of wintergreen. I did find one bottle of synthetic oil of wintergreen but it didn't work like the old stuff did.

If this WalMart stuff works good on the tires, I may try some on my shoulders and knees. At this age I need all the help I can get!

[CanAm-1]

Thanks Doug.

I should have mentioned that the cream does work good for sore knees. (I know the age thing well)
On the subject of wintergreen oil, I went to Walgreens and got a strange look from everyone. No one had heard of it. Must be a generation gap thing or two. Anyway, found 100% pure wintergreen oil at a special healthfood market that sells all sorts of strange herbs, pills and other stuff. Haven't opened it yet, but there are all sorts of warnings on the bottle about the potency...

[Champion 507]

Hi Mark,

There are a few health food places around here too. I may try that also. Thanks.

[CanAm-1]

I thought I would add a couple of other notes in what I found out and also tried. The assortment of chemicals and fluids I collected would probably blow up the garage if mixed together. It may seem like I'm nuts and spinning my wheels over this, but actually it was interesting and kinda fun to find out all the different things people have tried. Anyway, I collected Naptha, STP Oil Treatment, Castor Oil, Wintergreen Oil, WD-40, Goop Hand Cleaner, Automatic Tranny Fluid, STP Gas Treatment, Wal-Mart Muscle Rub Cream, Marvel Mystery Oil and a couple of others.
What I noticed so far at least for tire care was that the Goop Hand Cleaner worked the best for cleaning the foam tires. Once you started rubbing the stuff in, it was amazing the amount of black crud that came out of the tires. Of course the Muscle Cream worked amazingly well at softening and bringing some life back to the tires. Probably due to the Wintergreen Oil content. I was thinking of diluting this cream to make it easier to apply from a squeeze bottle and see how it works. Just for kicks I'll post other findings as time permits. Wifey just came out of surgery, so right now most of my time is taken up with being "The Nurse from Hell" and of course there is the J.O.B.

[Champion 507]

Mark,

I can envision Boris Karloff in his lab out of an old black and white movie working with all those chemicals and trying them on his Frankenstein...only with you, it's a slot car. You need to get a couple of arc generators going and a smoke generator too. Hey, Halloween's just right around the corner. PERFECT!

[Champion 507]

Mark,

Excellent info here too:

http://slotblog.net/...showtopic=15771

[68Caddy]

Mark it pains me to tell you there is a lot of Holy Water .
Lots of belief in that juice.

Nesta

[Pablo]

Bushings and Bearings Lubricant
Use a quality name brand slot car oil, thin viscosity for tight tolerances (retro motors) and thicker viscosity for looser tolerances (bushings, vintage motors).

Commutators Juice
Nope.

Motor Cleaner
I only use it to remove accumulated gunk after a race.

Pickup Braid
I stopped using it. My race results are the same. Let the braid burn, baby.

Tire Cleaner
Ronsonal.

I'm a mid pack racer, so take my advice with a big grain of salt

[CanAm-1]

Doug,
I have seen that thread and yes it does have some great info.
Your right about sounding like an old black and white horror flick.

Nesta and Pablo,
Thanks for the inputs.

All,
I guess it may seem to many that I am just spinning my wheels (no pun intended), but what the heck I am having fun. A few bucks spent on some wierd fluids and a little time on the net makes for some interesting experimenting. If I stumble on something, what the heck I'll pass it on. It was a blast to run a car once again on a commercial track after 40 years and it's fun to collect parts again to build up some cars. Maybe I'll get to the point of actually participating in a race, but in the end the bottom line is to have fun and that's exactly what I am doing.

[Phil Irvin]

The 'off the wall' I use is only braid juice. Everything else is made up or bought from else where. Years ago when S7 came out with his axil & motor bushings. I seized a few motor & axil bushings. I called S7 and talked with Rudy and he suggested using a synthetic light wt. oil. He was testing some he found that NASA had come up with but was not coming out with anything for several months. I made up my oil, using Mobil 1, 5 WT., and Prolong. A friend and I split the cost, around $20 at the time, and ended up with 3/4 quart. I still have 3/4 years worth left. After 12+ years. I have not seized a bushing. Had stock motor bushings last 3 or more times longer than before. I only LIGHTLY oil at the start of a race and at the 5th heat. I use Naptha, VM & P, and Pure motor spray, Koford heavy glue thinned with Naptha, Lucky Bobs acid flux & paste flux for electricke soldering and water for breaking in motors .

Thats me. Everybody will have a different set up
PHIL I.

[CanAm-1]

Thanks Phil.

It sounds like you have a lot of laps under your belt and have found what works for you.
I'm a newbie (actually an oldie) basically starting again and am just experimenting now on what works from chassis setups to the juices we use.

[CanAm-1]

Hello again,
Latest in the concoction department is I picked up some squeeze bottles from Harbor Freight. They’re a little big (8 oz. size), but they are graduated. I went ahead and squirted in some of the before mentioned aches and pain cream and then added an equal amount of distilled water. I capped it up, shook the heck out of it and the stuff actually stayed mixed.
Tested it on another pair of questionable tires using 2 dollops of juice, rub it in, then 2 more dollops rubbed in. Let it sit a few minutes then rubbed the heck out of the tires until they were dry using a terry cloth. Dang, I think it even works better. These same tires received a generous dose of that “milk stuff” which I bought at the track the other night and it did not have much effect at all.
I filled a smaller applicator bottle to take to the track. Stay tuned for how it works out…

[CanAm-1]

Hello again.
Well I made it to the track and was able to do an "A-B" comparison between the Milk I bought at the track for tires and my home brew. Hands down my home juice worked great and to be honest was better. A couple of generous drops rubbed in, wait a minute or so and repeat. Then scrub the tires dry and ran the car. Cars ran better than ever and my lap times decreased too. Still working on chassis tweaks and tire sizes. Anyway, on to see what works else where on these little cars. To be continued...