46 replies to this topic

[Bill from NH]

Steve, I believe Tim took this photo before he cut out the middle of the rear tube. The piano wire "U" brace would prevent an anglewinder installation.

[Tim Neja]

I"ll post more pics later tonight----that's correct--I cut out the tube center section for the gear. It's just easier to put in and axle tube all the way across--cut it later!! After the tumbler--they really SHINE too!! I've got all four assembled--and will paint the bodies tomorrow.
FYI
Tim

[smithspeedway]

Looking forward to them. If you cut out the center of the tube, then what purpose does it serve?

[Tim Neja]

I used them to simply space my tires to the desired width without using a bunch of spacers--and it took up the large size hole in the stock frame while allowing me to lower the chassis and run smaller diameter tires! This moved the bushing up in the frame a bit-- .

[Gator Bob]

[Phil Smith]

I also love Womps. We use to run them in the early 2000's on a short Hasse track with dirt car bodies and Cheetah motors. Lots of fun!

I tried all types of weighting schemes, tires and tire narrowing, trying to get rid of tippyness and wheel hop. I ended up running a big lead weight that one of the racers made out of scrapped pieces of lead he found around the raceway. Soldered it on in front of the motor. For whatever reason, that was what worked best, and everyone used the same weight in the same spot. I still had a little trouble with wheel hop, so I would douse the tires with lighter fluid before each heat. That would make my car perfect until near the end of the heat, at which time the wheel hop would slowly return.

It drove me crazy that I couldn't get rid of the wheel hop without dousing the tires. What do you guys do to stop it?

Tim, I built a braced up chassis like yours. On our track it didn't handle very well. I ended going back to a stock chassis with no bracing. Bracing from the motor bracket to the axle uprights seemed to be particularly harmful to handling.

[Gator Bob]

I love Womps, They saved slot racing in the dark ages of the 80's.
What stock car body is that?

Yup ...

That's a Monte Carlo SS 1984 - 85. Still available check out Ed's site too.

[Tim Neja]

Well I'll find out tomorrow how the cars handle. But I've done this YEARS ago and they worked fine on our commercial track in SD. Tomorrow's the test on my home track. For now--I finished painting the bodies and putting them together. Here's pics of the finished cars and bodies!

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[Matt Sheldon]

Nice job Tim! What is the part#'s for the wheels you used? A little lighter fluid and a scotch brite and the logo's come right off the tires. Gearing?

[Tim Neja]

Yeah I actually like the "white" letters for these because there isn't a lot of detail to the cars. You can see their painted Red/White/Blue and Yellow for the lane colors! IROC class style!! I don't think I'll have wheel hop issue's because they should be easily powered by my TSRF home motors. Not a lot of torque--and I'm running 8/28 for gearing--running on 12 volts they should be quick without being really fast. Fun to drive on my little track--and will help "rubber in" the track for our other racers really well. Those tires are the "Pro Tracks" from BPR Raceway. The really big hubs in the back give it the "modern" hot rod look-- we'll see tomorrow if I need to put any lead on the cars. But I think they'll be fine!! I'll post some pics of the cars in action tomorrow night!
Thanks
T

Okay---got some laps with all the cars on their lanes and their handling very nicely and running close lap times. Of course--ONE car is a little smoother than all the others--typical right?? And it's about a tenth quicker--on the Red lane!! But 6.5 second lap times are about the norm on 12 volts--just about perfect for the "rookie" racers I intended them for!! Of course---I can always turn the voltage down to 10 volts and make them really easy to drive!! Should be great for rubbering up and cleaning the track for the faster races to follow!!
I'll post pics later tonight!!
T

[Tim Neja]

Well after plenty of "tuning" laps these little womps are BIG FUN!!! They handle very well-- once the tires got broken in with Barney's "love lotion" the cars smoothed out and were very fun to drive!! I know the kids and rookies that come to race on the track will really enjoy these little cars--they look cool and run better!! Just what I hoped for!!

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[Tim Neja]

Just for fun---here's all the latest IROC CARS I have prepped for racing on the Hillside!! A little of something for everyone--the WOMP Hot Rods--the SCX Pro style Nascars have turned out very well--and the BPR Thursday night "lites" cars for the guys that like ultimate SPEED on our little home track!! These little flexi rockets are soo quick they are a hand ful--but they handle soo well if your a good driver--that their really BIG fun!!
T

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[Matt Sheldon]

They all look great Tim, who made your track?

[Tim Neja]

The track was built by Bob Scott of Cruisin Bob Slot Cars! He lives in Az now--and is still building excellent home tracks!! You can see more pics I posted in the "club section" tonight.

T

[Phil Smith]

Those coupes look great Tim! The low profile rears look awesome. Low profile fronts would look good too if you could make it work.

Glad to hear you got the cars handling. I must be a Womp retard. I couldn't make a stiff chassis work.

[Gator Bob]

Tim,
The whole set-up is BOSS. Must be a blast running IROC style.
Excellent prep on the Hot-Rod chassis cars. The wheels and tires look great too.

What is a Thursday night "lites" car ?

[Tim Neja]

Those coupes look great Tim! The low profile rears look awesome. Low profile fronts would look good too if you could make it work.

Glad to hear you got the cars handling. I must be a Womp retard. I couldn't make a stiff chassis work.

Well you have to realize--we're running NO GLUE-- just cleaning the track and racing with foam and primarily rubber tired cares--some selective silicone tires also. So the bite is no where near a commercial style track! And--home TSRF motors don't put out a tremendous amount of torque--geared 8/28--so the cars probably aren't powered like you were trying to do!!
The Thursday night lite class are 1/32 flexi cars with Falcon II Motors!! Very quick and fun and the motors last forever!!! On my little track--their about as quick as you can drive!! Very fun for the seasoned racer--but a nightmare for rookies!! The Womps are a great way to start racing--fast enough to be fun--and stable enough to be easy to drive--and with all my bracing--tough enough to last!!

[smithspeedway]

What type of paint is used on that track? Also... I hesitate to ask... Barney's love lotion?

[Tim Neja]

The track has 3 coats of Varathane clear finish! The bite has been good ever since because it is very smooth surface! It's easy to clean also as a result--I vacuum or blow it off--then use a "Calif" duster like for cars--and finally a large sticky roller that I found at Pet's Mart!! Then we run foam tired cars first--with "Barney's Love Lotion"!! It's a mix of coppertone, trans fluid with Stop Leak, and Wintergreen! The stuff works great on foam tires--that cleans them--softens them and helps them lay down some rubber on the surface! Once we've got a 100 laps or so per lane--the track bite is excellent!! The rubber tire cars like a clean rubbered in track and that gives a very consistent bite to race on with this format.

[smithspeedway]

Aha. I've heard of using Lucas oil stop leak on tires. We have a flat finish on our track. Sun tan lotion has worked well on foam tires, like the Parma MX. I even restored a 7 year old pair of Champion foam rears. I'll have to try your concoction. We race ona flat track, so traction is the king.

[Haaz007]

We love womps in Salt Lake City. Legends/hot rod bodies, every other wed nite at The Slot Shop. Womps did save slot car racing back in the 80's,thats why my shop will always have womps on the schedule.

[Steve Adkins]

Here's some information you might find useful. The Womps are doing very well in the Carolinas and Georgia. 
 
American Womps Racing Association
 
Here are some upcoming AWRA events. 
 

 

 

 
For more information, contact me at cageycretins@gmail.com.