Wet Coast Racer

Looks like a brilliant event! In this part of the world (Pacific Northwest) Alan Smith aka Scaleracing is famous for putting on awesome enduros (not that he ever buys the beer) including 12 and 24 hour events. Also 1/24, typically BRM or Scaleauto. BTW Rusty, SlotsNZ stole that emoticon from me. Bloody Kiwis!

Hey the way I see it, anybody who can use a bushy waggy tail to read with deserves some kind of recognition ... Fair point on Le Mans rules, though; I doubt if even the French understand them.

Well, not unless you have a grasp of how to fix the inherent flaws with building skill, as opposed to horsepower.

Right then, if that's where the voting goes then I'm in. Got a couple on the shelf to choose from. Been wanting to get even with some of them Ozzy blokes for a little while now, even if I have to do it in Kiwi country. And obviously, you'll have to keep the rules simple ...

Could be interesting. What era would you classify them there 'Fly Classics' in, how different would this be from CanAm?

Hey, I'll talk to you! Didja see those results in the CanAm race? Huh?

Got my McLaren back today, thanks Aastes! I hope that 2010 is a much better year for you. She's in good shape, apart from a missing mirror. Maybe that Tasmanian devil could look around his track for it. All kidding and everything else aside, good wishes to one and all for the new year. I realize that for most of you this may seem to be coming a bit late, but here in civilization we're still almost four hours short of midnight Thursday. But all in all, we make some excellent connections between your part of the world and ours. It's all good. Cheers, Paul

I can see where you would get some contrasting opinions, there ...

Alright! I always knew the Australians were good for something! (Hat, coat, bullet proof vest ... )

My dad was a Jordie. (2nd Urban definition, though - different generation ... ) Wouldn't ever touch the stuff myself of course.

You're absolutely right. Mea culpa. I relied on using a relatively small diameter crown gear and trying to minimize how much material I took off the tyres when I trued them, eyeballed the car on the block, and thought it would be no problem. Having run long can inline cars on numerous tracks in the Slot.it Shootout and the Race Across America without any issues, I presumed that this car would be fine; I was wrong. Au contraire, I used SCC 17 x 10 Super Wheels which (theoretically at least) with the offset pod should have given me the same motor height as my other long can Slot.its. That's what I figured at least; now I'm not so sure. Well the long cans are of course fatter, or deeper, whatever than the S-cans; but the motor is installed precisely where it's supposed to be in the pod, it's not out of alignment. Putting the other screw into the the rear mount wasn't going to change anything, but the head would bind on the outside of the crown gear - I tried it. Similarly, adjusting the pod bolts as was suggested isn't going to change the relationship of the bottom of the motor to the height of the track. So the only way that car might be brought into compliance would be with some alternate tyre being fitted, something with taller sidewalls than those Yellowdogs that are on it. The main drawback though is that taller tyres would almost certainly rub the wheel arches (might be prevented by tightening the pod bolts up a bunch, but then that would ruin the handling) so it doesn't really make much sense to do that. Besides, on those abrasive Ferrodor tracks probably before the end of the series they would wear down, and that's when this rule would come into effect ... So whether you agree with it or not, I hope you follow my logic in determining that my only intelligent choice at this stage is to grab my hat, coat, car ...

I'll just have the car back, thanks Phil. Good luck to the rest of you.

No thank you Phil, from the time of the initial rules discussions I've been clear about this; I don't wish for someone else to set up my car, and I had thought that logic would prevail. Though I'm at a loss to understand just what the issue is, here. One moment it seems to be the crown gear, the next it's apparently the guide or front axle height, now I'm told it's the bottom of the motor. Apparently this Spanish long can hangs lower than my 27t offset Slot.it crown gear, who would have guessed? This whole thing is stupid, I'm sorry, but my sense of humour only goes so far. Do me a favour, and take a photo of my car end on from the level of the top of your setup block, and post it in the DUPR Forum to show what the problem is, as a warning to others. And send my car back to me. Thank you. p.s. Fix the braid. On the track.

That's actually kind of ironic. I was a bit pushed for time when I put my car together, or otherwise I would have made one final modification once I put it on the block for a last look ... ... cause otherwise, I would have taken the diameter of those front tyres down a bit more; this car doesn't get the guide nearly as deep into the slot as I usually try for! I must confess, I'm lost and confused. How is it that a low front axle and well planted guide are likely to damage any slot car track? This is something strange indeed. (But then, so am I, in the minds of some ... )

Absolutely agree. If I was hosting a proxy race I would feel the same way. But I also have grave doubts about whether the crown gear on this car is in any danger of contacting anything other than the pinion. :nice:

I thought the cars went through scrutineering a couple of weeks back when they got photographed and documented for the DUPR website. Question: would a stock Slot.it McLaren, out of the box, pass scrutineering for this Proxy Race?

If a rookie wins overall ... maybe the rest of us are all in the wrong hobby ...

It's disgusting, it is really. What grown men (I use the term loosely) will do to try and qualify for a free car ...

The Egyptian silk is a nice touch.

Well well Dave, I am gobsmacked. Many things I might have expected to hear you called, but never ornamental ...

There will never be another ewe. Which is too bad, cause throwing in the barn was really a nice touch, I thought.

I'm impressed. There's not many blokes know how to spell "vacuum", let alone use one. Are you sure you're Australian?

That can work, but one of the values of proxy racing is for builders to find out what works on other tracks. As soon as you choose a control tyre, this educational element is lost. It shouldn't be that hard, in any proxy series, to ask that the cars race on tracks that aren't contaminated with anything more than natural rubbering.

Good for you, Dave! Slot Car News rocks in Australia! :arggg:

Here in Canada, it's generally acknowledged that using WD-40 will cause high blood pressure, as well as double vision.