29 replies to this topic

[Vay Jonynas]

What RTR chassis (or easily assembled with simple wrench and screwdriver) would you fellows recommend for hardbodied 1/24 scale NASCAR, TransAm or other styrene plastic stock car bodies? Ideally the chassis should be adjustable to fit various wheel bases and attach easily underneath sundry Revell, AMT or MPC plastic model kits. 

 

[Brian Cochrane]

Parma FCR chassis is the easiest and best choice works excellent and creates a very even playing field. Also low cost.Use the JK retro hawk motor in it.Some of the most fun highest attending races we have at Port Jeff raceway  uses this setup.The chassis comes in two different lengths.We use the 4.5 inch version...Good luck ...Brian

[Bill from NH]

The H&R brass chassis is available too, as is their line of different RPM motors, Not as heavy as the FCRs, it has an adjustable wheelbase & adjustable body mounting brackets. It will be more expensive than the FCRs.. When set up properly, it outhandles the 4.5" FCR. I've not heard that the 4.0" FCR chassis provides a good handling car.

[MSwiss]

My observations on the H&R.

The front tires are too tall for the axle placement in the chassis.

The guide tongue height was designed by someone who doesn't understand how a slot car works, or thinks walking around the track to put your car back in the slot, is some sort of health benefit.

It's geared for the beginner, but yet needs an experienced racer to modify it and that someone has access to a tire truer.

[Brian Cochrane]

On Port Jeffs King track we have the FCR with Retro Hawk motor and a lexan stock car body running in the 4.5 sec lap times.I have tried some hard body on the same chassis set up and ran 4.9's.That is absolutely flying with that type of car.A retro stock car on our king is in the 4.5 to 4.7 range and that is with a scratch built custom chassis at 10 to 20 grams lighter.........

[sportblazer350]

the H&R Racing chassis is a great platform for Hardbody racing. It is adjustable and can easily be made to handle quite well, just check out the many topics in this blog regarding Hardbody racing in the 1/24 scale forums. B&E Slotsport is good for faster/higher rpm motors, but the faster you go with a plastic model kit body, the worse the damage in a crash.

[Dennis David]

B&E Crusader chassis are easiest to set up and handle better than H&R chassis.

[n.elmholt]

In Europe there is a good selection of chassis for hardbody racing.

 

I like the Schöler Striker and Intruder range which is great value for money and easy to adjust. They are available in different sizes and therefore suitable for many body types. The striker chassis can be configurated to ones wishes at Slotpoints website.

 

BUT - they are made with 6mm holes for bearings and the standard axle in Europe (and Japan) is 3mm and bearings are 3x6mm. So you have to open the bearing holes to 1/4" to be able to use normal 1/8" bearings. Eventually reduce 1/4" oilites to 6mm outer dia. 

 

here is a couple of chassis:

 

Schöler Striker 58:

 

 

 

 

Schöler Intruder 55:

 

 

 

you can find these chassis at Slotpoint.de  (only in German language)

 

Chassis = Fahrwerke

Foam tires are = Moosgummi

 

eventually try Google translate

 

 

I have used Schöler chassis since 2001 and still use them. You can find some of my cars here: https://picasaweb.go...os?noredirect=1

 

The last is my ca. 1970 Sven Engstrøm BMW 2002 Tii  which has a striker 55 chassis:

 

 

Niels, DK

[Dennis David]

Yes these chassis are a good deal. I thought they stopped making these.

No need to bore them out. Scaleauto parts and bearings fit.

[MSwiss]

My observations on the H&R.

The front tires are too tall for the axle placement in the chassis.

The guide tongue height was designed by someone who doesn't understand how a slot car works, or thinks walking around the track to put your car back in the slot, is some sort of health benefit.

It's geared for the beginner, but yet needs an experienced racer to modify it and that someone has access to a tire truer.

 
 

the H&R Racing chassis is a great platform for Hardbody racing. It is adjustable and can easily be made to handle quite well, just check out the many topics in this blog regarding Hardbody racing in the 1/24 scale forums. B&E Slotsport is good for faster/higher rpm motors, but the faster you go with a plastic model kit body, the worse the damage in a crash.

Glenn,
We seem to have widely different opinions on the H&R.
 
I'm guessing you immediately add at least another 1/16" nylon guide washer, but from my below picture, I can't figure out why it isn't there to begin with.
 
What kind of track could the stock height work for?
 
Braid, .070" over flush, that effectively creates an above track, slot ?
 
And once you get the guide height right, do you grind the front tires down from 1.090" to .900"(?), or do you just run the stock, astronomical, 5/32"/.157" ground clearance in the front?
 
I really want to like this car.
 
The price is right, and the availability from a normal 1/24 commercial track distributor is, of course, a plus for me.
 
If "Charlie H&R" is seeing this post, please charge $10 more retail and get the car usable out of the package.
 
Grind the rears a little smaller, grind the fronts a lot smaller, and add that guide washer, making sure the guide nut still holds it's adjustment, sitting that high on the post.

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[John M Wimett]

I have purchased and modified 3 H&R Racing Chassis over the last few years.  I wanted the adjustable wheelbase for some not so standard wheelbase bodies I had collected.

 

The first thing I did after disassembly was heat the guide tongue until free and then flip it over and re-solder in place taking notice of the alignment to the rear axle.

 

That solved the guide to track with larger front tire issue.

 

In all three chassis' I shortened the front section by cutting one or two axle locations off the front.

 

To save the appearance of the chassis I removed the bent wire motor brace and fashioned a 1/8" wide strip of brass plate about 1/16" thick to the same shape as wire one then soldered in place.

 

Turning the tires on a tire truer really helps getting them down to a useable size.  All in all it is a good chassis with adjustability built in, it just shouldn't require all the rework to make it look right and run right.

[Ramcatlarry]

One trick with model car kits is mounting the body.  Velcro is common and the H&R side pin works also.  Most of the NASCAR kits are a lot wider than the pony car kits and of course the wheelbase is unique to every SCALE car.  The stock Parma FCR frame will fit most Nascar shells just fine, but are too wide for most other sedans  - in fact I use the Parma Womp frame a lot.  Of course we are NOT talking a screw together frame.  A good Dremel and hacksaw and soldering iron to work with a chassis jig are some of the common tools as is the K&S metal center for various shapes to fabricate what you need.  The B & E Slotworks frames are other purpose designed frames that we find superior to the H&R frames in our MidAmerica Hardbody racing series.  We run the Proslot FK  and JK Hawk-6 motors on flat and King tracks

 

H&R kits do vary and I have several built to race.  Front tires around .900 are better along with the 1 inch rears.  I use the solid silicone tires for these cars on non-commercial tracks  Our plastic car club specify 22K Slot-it motors for these...  and of course independent spinning front wheels always work better.

 

My opinion of all of the screw together frames is based on my 1960s' experience with that era frames.  I pioneered using Loctite to keep the cars together and can appreciate the modern 'esna' locknut for any frame of this type.  Tinkertoys I do not race.  Debris on the track is NOT a valid track call - it is a BLACK FLAG.

[MattD]

We run a lot of the H&R chassis and they do require some additional work, but not anything complicated.
Front tires, yes they require trimming down to lower the front end to a correct height. That also helps get the guide at the correct height, although it still requires a spacer. The silicone tires are OK, but they handle better with Protrack silicones and we replace all of the tires on our cars. We run them at home and on a commercial track with this setup. We add weight as needed, best weight is outside the center part of the frame near the outside edges. I wish the sides of the frame were not kicked up and that weight would be a little lower. All in all for our racing these are simple, economical chassis to put under most any car.

I have also picked up a couple used Protrack chassis and actually like them a little better, but they are long out of production. I built a stock car for one of the guys using a brass Womp cut in half and extended. I cut it in half, set the right length and soldered a brass pan on the under side. It stays in the slot better then the above.

[Metalflake King]

Over the last year we have grown a successful Hardbody class using the H&R chassis.  It has been a learning curve on setup but the simplicity of our rules leaves the door open for some very enjoyable racing.  Out of the box the cars don't work well.  Its takes me roughly four hours to set up a chassis properly.  I have helped most everyone I race with get their cars up to speed and it has become our second most popular class.  Check out our thread Hardbody racing at The Race Place in the 1/24 scale racing section.

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[Vay Jonynas]

B&E Crusader chassis are easiest to set up and handle better than H&R chassis.

 

 

The B & E Slotworks frames are other purpose designed frames that we find superior to the H&R frames in our MidAmerica Hardbody racing series.  

 

 

 

 

So is the B&E chassis adjustable as well? Does setting it up require any semi-complex machining?

[Dennis David]

It's a simple brass chassis with three axle positions to allow 4.25 wheelbase as well as 4.375 and 4.5 inches.

 

B&E Chassis

 

 

H&R Chassis

 

There you go ...

[MSwiss]

The B&E is $49.95 retail, more expensive than the whole H&R roller, due to being lower volume and CNC machined, vs. being stamped.

[MattD]

For a lot of guys the $47 rtr H&R is better strictly because of price. An hour or two modifying it isn't near as important to a lot of guys as the dollars it takes to get into it. All that said the B&E sure looks nice. I hate the kick ups on the side of the H&R and the old Protrack frames. I would think the B&E can be built with a lower mass due to the chassis being completely flat. Not sure it would take the hard head on crashes and trips to the floor the chassis make when we race. There are enough bends on the H&R to re-enforce the main rails and there is extra tubing that helps to hold the motor bracket. I do like the B&E, but maybe it is really a little better for the more advanced guy, while the H&R as a class or first car may be better for a newbie.

[Dennis David]

Understood but for me there's no comparison. The B&E starts out better and will continue to be better.

[Bill from NH]

Which B&E chassis do you have? The brass ones or the steel ones? 

[Vay Jonynas]

Any more or better suggestions now in late 2020?

 

[rvec]

We race hardbody cars with a number of different chassis including Scaleauto, Plafit, Scholer and Slotting Plus. We must modify the bushings or axle hanger to allow for 1/8  or 3/32 axle bearings. I recently converted a RTR Scale auto to our specs. - very quick and looks good as well. I would start with  8002c chassis for about $50. Although Professor motor is currently out of stock, I would call because I think PM can get them.  See the link https://www.professo...-p/sc-8002c.htm  I had to make my own adjustable rear axle hander (I could have bought one but they cost $30). The adjustable axle hanger comes with the 8002 kit.  I posted and article about the conversion on slotblog some time ago. Here is the link http://slotblog.net/...dified-monster/

 

You can build a complete car including a body for about $110.  I would use a wide sports car body like the Ferrari Enzo. It would handle much better than the Porsche. In fact any Group C or GT1 car would work best. See the link for options http://slotblog.net/...true-scale-gt1/

 

Below is an image of the finished car

 

 

 

 

 

[Vay Jonynas]

Should the various chasses mentioned - e.g. Parma FCR, H&R, B&E Crusader, Plafit, Scholer, etc - be set up differently to run on 1/24 Carrera plastic track instead of on banked wooden tracks at dedicated slot car raceways? The tire choice I'm sure might be very different but otherwise?

[Bill from NH]

Weight & motors may differ depending upon track powering.

[MG Brown]

The ProTrack 4 ½" Chassis is popular in this area. Team it with a 25K minican motor and you have a formula for a good time.

 

 

Check the "On the Edge Raceway" FB page for tech rules.