16 replies to this topic

[terry]

We race at our group "Muscle cars",which really means Trans Am,"cause everyone drags out their scaly camaros and races them.

A few of the lads have thought of running their Lotus Cortinas in a "Division 2" sort of thing, against the v8 cars such as the camaro,mustang etc,we would be thinking of running the cars together, but set up some sort of "bonus" point system to encourage the guys to consider running the smaller cars.

Does anyone run something like this at their club nights,and if so ,how do you allocate points in a similar scenario to the one above.

Also I'd be keen to hear which brand is the better,we run non mag,so is the scaley car better to the monogram or what,oh,by the way,we would be keen to hear what other models can be used,maybe Escorts,Alfa GTAM, and so on,

Thanks for anything you can give me,

Terry

[sunbeammadd]

I found my Revell/Monogram Cortina to be a real handful out of the box. Never tried the Scalextric one.

If you're after which cars competed against the Lotus Cortina back in the day this site is worth a look.
http://touringcarracing.net/

The Spirit BMW 2002, Fly Alfa GTa, Revell NSU TT, Scalextric Mini and Escort and SCX Abarth 1000TC come to mind.

[lenny broke]

Hi Terry
One of the clubs I race with, Fulham Park Raceway has a class for the "tiddlers" or more correctly Classic touring cars- European which is a bit of a misnomer as the the L34 Torana is allowed in due to it's narrow track. Guys run Scalex M1 Escorts and Cortinas also and one other runs a Team Slot(i think) Alfa GTam that's pretty quick.
I run a Spirit BMW 2002ti which I replaced the bonkers 3x long can motor with a scaly FC130, actually I swapped the motor pod as well for a Slot It inline pod for the FC -130 size motor. it drops straight in pretty well. It may lengthen the wheelbase a tad but not as it's noticeable. The end bell set up means the the brush housing doesn't snag on the interior tray as it sits under the the kick up that represents the parcel shelf. I've also fitted a Ninco Pro guide and fittied a slot it rear end with 14..4 X 8 mm wheels with buffed down MJK nascar tyres fitted. It also has a lot of body roll to allow a bit of give when cornering. Some of the guys reckon it corners on two wheels at some points on the track but doesn't de-slot a lot.
The last couple of races I scored a result but after having sampled one of the Mk1 Escorts last night I think I about have a dot kicking lesson coming next race.
I've got a Carrera Opel Manta A Body fitted to a MRRC Sebring Chassis on the bench at the moment to give a bit more variety, plus another pod to go into the BMW fitted up to take a slimline motor to try to lower the COG a bit plus the FF motor hasa bit more speed than the FC I'm hoping.
All good fun.
Alan

[Burglar]

I have a Bob Jane Scalextric Cortina and my dad has one of those East Africa Rally ones. Haven't tried the Monogram one but I heard that the Scalextric is the better of the two, probably due in part to typical Monogram chassis problems, but possibly also due to the heavier interior in the Monogram ones. I would think that they are poor off magnet as they have a high CG relative to their track. They are a very narrow car.

I heard that the Scalextric Escorts are a bit low. That might be a magnet track problem though.

I would definitely recommend the SCX Mk 2 Escort if you want to race a small car. We have run mine around our wood track and there has been talk about everyone getting one to make a class. They are definitely a great car to race off magnet, probably the best SCX car I've raced

[neil]

bought a Scaley Escort on the W'end,,puled it out of the box,,, bent wheel,,, very depressing........ yet to pull apart & rectify if possible.

[sigmaman]

I've set up a Scaley escort for timber non mag before. Its still a work in progress though. I lowered it,4mm front,about 1 or 2 rear,which required taking about 4mm out of the interior. I buffed the stock tyres right down to get the chassis lower and ran the stock Scaley tyres on the back as MJKs had too much grip and it kept tipping over. Lots of lead put in to give it some stability. One thing I might try is to lower the voltage to the motor. Maybe a volt or two. Even with the slippy scaley tyres it still accelerates hard and hits the corners too fast. In the end its lap times were in the range of the slower Scaley Camaros and Mustangs in the club. Next step is fitting it with Caterham minilights. These work out to the same diameter as the stock set up but give a much lower profile tyre.
I'm going to try a similar set up on my Cortina one day. I'll use the escort minilights under it.

[Sports Racer]

We race the Trans Am cars in our classic touring races, no magnets allowed. Of the 22+ cars racing in this class about half are Toranas, the rest are Scalex Camaros and Mustangs, Pioneer Mustangs, Scalex Escorts, a VW Beetle and a Mini. Don't laugh, if you fill up the Mini with lead it's quick but it's hard to keep it going quick without crashing.

Our rules don't allow removing the interior or lowering the body on the chassis. Motor has to be what came with the car, no brand swapping allowed. Tyres can be original or MJK and we race on 8 lane commercial tracks painted in ferrodor.

My car is a well sorted Scalex Camaro which used to be a winner a year ago then the Pioneer Mustangs were allowed and they were faster. Now that I've managed to get the Camaro as quick as the fastest Mustangs along comes the Toranas which take a bit of sorting but can be made to lap faster than the Camaro.

But, the consistantly fastest car in class is a Scalex Escort. I can only just match it for speed down the straights but it corners better. When it's coming up to lap me I can hold it off for 3 laps, maybe 5 if I'm lucky but no more. It has a LOT of lead underneath and took a lot of time to get right. My best lap time is 6.902, the Escort usually laps in the mid 6.8's and has done 6.793 at the last meeting. Lap record is 6.669 done by a Torana but it's a one lap wonder, not a race winner.

I'm now experimenting with my Torana to make it as easy to drive fast as the Camaro. It already laps faster than the Camaro but I can't keep it lapping consistantly quick. All I need is 1/10 of a second per lap AND to be able to keep up that time, lap after lap. Trouble is by then the Escort will be 2\10ths faster.

Edited by Sports Racer, 06 July 2012 - 03:10 PM.

[popdog]

I have made a brass chassis 1/32 1957 split rear window VW beetle ,a 68 Ford Cortina and others also make my own tyres to race on my gloss painted wooden track and they all go great. I use rivers thongs for front tyres and foam type conveyor rubber for the rear tyres and silicon tyres are also run on this track with NO side effects .

http://s593.photobucket.com/albums/tt11/pe...mview=slideshow

Edited by popdog, 06 July 2012 - 04:49 PM.

[difinity]

re Sports Racer's post - I (am trying to) run the VW. It is the Scaley '63 Beetle with a few mods to assist. Out of the box:
- the motor clips were cracked and broken
- the rear axle and wheels wobbly and out of round,
- wires caught up between the inner body and the motor,
- gears chipped and catching (maybe from motor moving about in the chassis...)

The motor is now glued in, MJK 5.75mm wide rims on the rear with MKJ vintage tyres (trued). Fronts are standard plastic, with trued & trimmed tyres. Lots of lead (no room under the chassis), wood track guide, glued the lights in and re-wired through chassis (I cannot believe how little room there is in these things).

This has been quite a project - I think the Escorts are much easier to set up, but gives a cool looking car with a bit of a difference. I've no idea how fast yet (still waiting for the replacement gears for the FF motor)- maybe not as quick as my Pioneer Charger, but looks great.

[kalbfellp]

Quote

replacement gears for the FF motor

Check out Scalexworld they usually have packs of the small bore pinions in stock.

[Burglar]

No-one seems to have mentioned this here but I have found out that you should always make one small modification to the Scalextric Cortina. My dad has the safari rally model and after having it a while found that it would catch on the track and spin its tyres. Looking underneath I noticed the large lump over the crown gear, which seemed to be what was hitting the track as the tyres wore down slightly. I ground this away with a sanding drum (with the rear axle out, of course) and then cleaned it up a little with a hobby knife, so that the gear is now exposed but the track clearance is considerably improved. The gear does not really 'hang out' so it doesn't hit anything, and I haven't noticed any problems with it picking up mess off the track yet. I made the same modification to another Cortina that my sister gave him for Christmas.

[shadow_rusty]

My brothers Torana does the same, and we will probably need to sand the gear cover off of that one too...
It's definately more noticable on my 'warped' classic scaly track pieces than on the very new sport pieces...

[Burglar]

My old man's track is warped. He left the pieces in a big pile on his workbench for months. Bad move

[shadow_rusty]

Quick question then, what is the correct way to store the track?

[Burglar]

shadow_rusty, on 10 January 2013 - 02:24 PM, said:

Quick question then, what is the correct way to store the track?

As flat as possible, I'd reckon. Higgledy-piggledy in a big heap on a workbench with other stuff lying on top of some it is probably the worst way to store it, but that's how my dad left it for months.

[shadow_rusty]

Ahhh, ok then... Makes a little more sense now.
Mine is in piles of same types of track, in a box...

Thankfully, nothing on top, and currently no more than 12 pieces high...

That said, the classic track has suffered a similar fate prior to my aquiring of it, and it's wonderful as a rally track...
Really brings out the rally cross in my track... 50% tar, 50% 'offroad'...

Obvious downside is that the low running cars really struggle...
My Autoart Lambo's are out, and cars like the Torana and Cortina need to keep their momentum up or risk getting beached on the 'diff housing'...

[Burglar]

Cut the 'diff housing' off. It hasn't hurt the car at all and it goes around my dad's humpy track well