113 replies to this topic

[John C Martin]

Should be very informative to each of us, especially newbies. I mean things that some people will say that has little to do with it, but it only takes three snowballs to make a big snowman.

I don't know it all, but if I could remember everything I been told I could fill up one or two comic books! So I'll jump in time to time and have some fun. Best to put a short explanation why.

OK, lets roll some snowballs... Braid - do you trim it, or comb it, mash it flat as you can. Do you flip it over after the fourth heat??? I do the 1, 3, & 4.

Next victim!

[Pablo]

I trim it, curl it, mash it, shove it, massage it, and no spunk juice for me, let 'er burn! Gonna replace 'em anyway.

[Guy Spaulding]

Juice 'em every heat.

[Bill from NH]

When racing, I always did 1, 2, & 3. When running wing cars, there often wasn't much left to turn over after one heat.

When running Plafits (predecessor to the Falcon), I'd turn the braids over at the end of one race and run them a second race.

[John C Martin]

okay now we're makin' bigger snowballs, now tell some other things we do to our cars everything, body mounting, taping interiors in, painting your car to be more visible for you as well as the turn marshall also other drivers are more likely to see your wreck and stop in time,,the first car to be picked in a pileup is the one he see's first, that'll be the brightest colored or most contrasting with track surface. ex...no black car / black track ...gray or silver car or white / gray track. .... also would like to invite people who aren't members yet to join and ask some questions on these topics of inlightenment. say what... more give us , more !

[Cap Henry]

Cut them an 1/8" shorter if they start to burn, braid juice every lane, new pair for the start of every race.

[gotboostedvr6]

Monitor front chassis scrub (glue smuges) and adjust as needed

experiment with more then one hub size and tire compound before each race

Learn to replace bodys when they wear out.

[Guy Spaulding]

NEVER use the M&Ms color scheme!

[John C Martin]

great tips!! keep'm com'n

[MantaRay]

Make a 1/4" bend in some bullet proofing, cut the longer leg about 3/8", cut off the 1/4" piece of backing off... Makes it a little easier for marshalls to pick up your car.

BTW the method pictured for the lead wire works well also.

[John C Martin]

I LOVE THAT with the bullet proofing will work on the cheatas also, the new kelly chassis is having that in stainless

[Ralph Thorne]

One mistake I see new people and experienced racers making time after time is failure to properly reinforce the body. In my opinion you have to have some form of lexan in the back of the body, behind the rear wheel cut out. If not your body will get sucked up in the tires every time, and if it happens once in a race it's going to happen again and even easier the next time. Not only will you prevent body "suck ups" but it keeps the body from "squatting" in the back.

If you run body clips or pins, reinforce the hole! Also if you run clips, use tape to hold the clips to the body!

JC, you let the secret out of the bag when it comes to my world famous hot pink and white bodies. It's a natural reaction for the human eye to gravitate to the brightest color first, so you will experiance faster mashalling and being marshalled first more times than not. It also gives the appearance of the car being faster than it really is which can play mind games with the compitition. One drawback is, it's easier for others to keep track of you while on the track.

[Guy Spaulding]

If you primarily use one color/scheme body, don't lone any of that color to anyone racing your class.

[John C Martin]

ralph you're wrong ...your car was faster than mine and i know you don't really like pink, i know you better than that??

[Hworth08]

JC,

I can't write anything that you can't post, you taught me nearly everything I know about Flexis!

I do remember being told that if I don't know how to set the front wheels then just bend then up till they hit the body and GET THEM OUT OF THE WAY!!! That is true, a Flexi probably handles better using the fronts but they seldom finish a race where the started and will sure lift the guide if they are touching too much.

Something I did learn on my own, print Greg's Flexi Tome and after you completely understand everything, then use it as a checklist the night before a race. A load of info for newbies and a refresher for experienced racers all for FREE!

Another small thing, place the lane marker in the center of the car right over the guide nut. That helps the marshall "sight" where the guide is. Also clean that part of the body with lighter fluid before the race. That helps to keep the marker stuck through the heat.

[Guy Spaulding]

Don, I like your idea of placing the lane sticker over the guide nut to help the marshall, but I would be careful if centering the sticker might make it "blend" in with the paint scheme. The marshall may not identify the sticker at all.

[Bill from NH]

A white stripe or a big star in the hood's center made lane stickers on the nose stand out.

[Guy Spaulding]

Be careful of some colors. Pale orange paint makes an orange sticker look like red. Rich, cherry red makes a red sticker look orange.

[Duffy]

As a marshal who's dropped his share: just wipe down the sides of the car on your shirt after ministering to it between heats with your oily fingers. You don't want to pop out and have the car slip out of the guy's hand as he's trying to help you.

It's happened. My standard line is" Hey, I've had DATES like you!"

Duffy

[flem1959]

Make sure you hook up your Controller the right way between heats!

[Guy Spaulding]

If you are visiting a track, pay close attention to the color code of the control panel. They're NOT in the same order as your home track!

[The Bugman]

if i told ya they wouldnt be SECRETS anymore now would they,,,,

"go fast-make laps"

[Guy Spaulding]

Awwww, come on, Oscar. They're just "little secrets". You can let one go for the newbie!

[Duffy]

Everyone claims to know this, but the implementation's the hard part.

Jig everything on your chassis stress-free. Bend, cut, trim, it should all fall together without a wiggle, without pulling or clamping. If something's being pulled into place in the chassis, that's a stress that'll either create a warp or it's a place where your motion dynamic isn't starting from at-rest position and the chassis will behave funny.

You get in the habit of dry-fitting so all's perfect, then clamping just to hold place, not "clamp." The very act of soldering will have an effect on any wire bends close enough to the heat point to be affected, so even with your best efforts, something's gonna happen in there. With time and practice, you get to anticipating those things more and more.

Twenty-five bucks to AMAZON gets you a 9"x12" granite surface plate that you can test on & tink-tink for flatness to your heart's content, and it keeps your jig free for jigging.

Duffy

[John C Martin]

this is great info. for the rookies & me, remember no one ever walked into a slot car track and knew what the world was going on. we all needed help, new people have great forums like these to go to, so maybe they won't get so disgusted the first couple of weeks and quit. this hobby can be strong again like the 60s&70s we just need to help these people. i've never had any secrets and still managed to win 10 national championships in the pro divisions, so i think theres probably nothing i know that they hadn't already known. but i know i know 100% more than any body coming in the doors for at least a little while and i'll try to help any way i can... if i have helped my competition that's okay with me i've still had a ball,