Scaleltric F1 Cars

[Slider]

can anybody give me a few tips on these cars i have the f1 McLaren and Jordan Both Scaleletric (hornby) i use a combo of scx & classic scaletric track always a different track design due to lack of space . they dont stay on the track at all handle like crud. seam to have heaps of grunt . they are box stock i have trued the tryes . would weight in the front help ? any ideas would be great

best regards

Peter

ps ( i would have supplied photos but dont know how )

[bump]

First thing you need to do is work out what they're doing when they're coming off. There's a few ways a car deslots, particularly with the latest Scalex cars and with SCX track. You'll need to watch and listen for clues.

 

I'll dangerously assume you have no problems with other cars, just these two.

 

Firstly, push the cars around the track where they deslot. What can happen with SCX and some Classic track is bumps and lumps on the track pieces under the slot, on the top edges. These are the cross pieces under the track to hold it together and stiffen it. The newer guides seem a little deeper and they can foul on these. You'll hear the cars click and see them bump slightly when they hit these. A quick fix is to push any bumps down with a screwdriver.

 

I found on some of the Scalex F1 and Indy cars that the guide contact springs push the guidenose down, almost to the point that the leading edge is riding on the rail. The problem this causes is where you have two track pieces where the second piece has a slightly raised slotrail. In one case, it was up just so slightly but it literally tore a chunk off the blue guide of an IRL car with an almightly crunch, yet other cars had never complained at all. As you're assembling and disassembling your track, a raised slot rail is possible. Where cars are deslotting, just run your finger over the rails to feel for a bump. If you find one, especially a hard edge as on older Classic, try tightening the track back down into the slot or push just teh edge down with a suitable blunt instrument (all purpose screwdriver). Sometimes I had to remove the plastic tongue piece under the slot and bend the "male" connector piece down a bit to stop it raising the "female" piece. The openwheelers are suspectible to any rough rail joins.

 

Lastly, those new blue guides can be improved a lot just by removing a piece of the edges of the wall at the front edge of the guide to let it turn a bit more. There's not a lot of turn in them before the edges of the guide hit the chassis on some cars and this can flip the car out on a tight turn or when the car is sliding. I just snip off each edge of the guide front so that the little rectangular "front wall" piece is more triangular. Some people remove the self-centring spring but I found this trick works much better and i can keep the spring in.

 

Good luck

[Slider]

Thanks Bump

yeah you are right in saying the other cars go well they do i have no problem with the cars i have it is only the F1 cars when i next set up track i will try your idea,s and let you know much appreciated

Regards Peter

[Cyph]

little hijack here, but it's pretty much a related topic anyway. sorry slider, just didn't feel it was worth a new thread, when it could be answered in here.

 

recently got myself an SCX F1 car. All well and good, drives alright, except for one little problem.

 

It seems to sit awfully nose high. The front wheels would be a good 1-2mm off the deck most of the time. Can't seem to keep the guide up and the front end lower, low enough that the wheels touch the the track anyway.

 

Any suggestions guys? Once again, sorry for little hijack.

[Roland]

Howdy Slider,

I know the Scaly Jordan has the plastic/vinyl tpye weak magnet.

Try updating it to the thin Slot.it magnet, this will bring it on par with the current Scaly open wheelers. The heavy Scaly sedan magnet will make it very fast but the motor will over heat within a couple of minutes.

 

I'm assuming the Mclaren has the same magnet seeing as you said it's only those 2 cars you're having problems with.

 

Otherwise follow the excelent advice given above.

 

Till next time

[Vinno]

little hijack here, but it's pretty much a related topic anyway. sorry slider, just didn't feel it was worth a new thread, when it could be answered in here.

 

recently got myself an SCX F1 car. All well and good, drives alright, except for one little problem.

 

It seems to sit awfully nose high. The front wheels would be a good 1-2mm off the deck most of the time. Can't seem to keep the guide up and the front end lower, low enough that the wheels touch the the track anyway.

 

Any suggestions guys? Once again, sorry for little hijack.

Some of the Guys we race with have some awefully fast and low sitting SCX F1 cars. I will try and find an answer for you unless someone comes up with one in the meantime.

[oldtamiyaphile]

Fairly common on SCX cars. What I do is put a bit of plastic under the spring copper so that it sits a little higher.

[Slider]

thanks oldtamiyaphile but what is the spring copper ?

excuse my ignorance.

best regards peter

[oldtamiyaphile]

Take the body off, and push the guide up, notice the metal contacts that give the springing? Putting a bit of styrene (plastic), balsa or whatever under there will make the guide sit higher and let the tyres touch the track again.