davo43 Posted November 15, 2021 Report Share Posted November 15, 2021 I recently purchased a Scaleauto R series BMW Z3, i know nothing about this brand of car, does anyone have any tips on how to go about setting it up, any help would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrisguyw Posted November 15, 2021 Report Share Posted November 15, 2021 (edited) Hi davo43,............A bit of info on how you are planning to go racing would be helpful !! What type tyres are you planning on using ? Are you running on wood or plastic ? If running on plastic, will you be using magnets ?.......if no, are you hoping to use the motor magnets to provide some level of magnetic downforce ? All of the above, will dictate the set-up. Cheers Chris Walker Edited November 15, 2021 by Chrisguyw 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davo43 Posted November 17, 2021 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2021 hi chris, i run MJK tyres on a wooden track so no magnets. any help would be appreciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrisguyw Posted November 17, 2021 Report Share Posted November 17, 2021 (edited) Hi Davo43,...........As I am not sure what you would normally do to prepare your cars, so, I will go through a list,.........some you may already know/do, so, ignore the redundant points. 1/ Completely dismantle the car, and check that the main chassis plate is flat.......a small twist can be ignored as it can overcome when setting the front axle ride height. If the chassis is significantly warped, correct this by straightening by using the "hot water" straightening method. 2/ Sand/file/grind the edges of the chassis plate in order that it does not bind on any part of the body,.....you do not need much,...if it is not touching/interfering, it is fine. 3/ The standard guide is just fine, and the stock Scaleauto braid works well, although, you may want to substitute some thinner braid from NSR etc. 4/ Roll both axles on a piece of glass to ensure that they are nice and flat,.......if not, replace. (If they do need to be replaced, 3/32 drill blanks are the way to go. 5/ Both front and rear tyres will need to be glued and trued (absolutely critical on a wood track car),.....if you do not have a tyre machine, get one, or, have a friend true your tires. 6/ If you rules allow, seriously consider substituting a FC-130 motor for the FK-180 that is stock. The FK-180 works well on a plastic track where the longer/stronger magnets provide a considerable amount of magnetic downforce..........on a wood track the additional weight of the FK-180 (it weighs 12/13 gms. more than an FC-130) is detrimental to handling......this added weight at the rear, makes the rear end wash out, and makes slides harder to control. (You will be hard pressed to find any FK-180 motored car at the sharp end of any of the more competitive/advanced wood track proxies. You can screw the FC-130 into the Scaleauto pod without any need/worry about spacers/adapters. 7/ You can use some .5mm silicone washers between the bottom of the pod lugs and the top of the main chassis plate,.......secured by bolts/nylok nuts. The silicone washers provide vibration damping, and more importantly, they allow the pod to progressively twist torsionally in the chassis..............this controlled torsional movement allows the rear outside tyre to load more progressively in a corner, improving grip. (adjust the nuts/bolts so that there is the bare minimum of free plat in the washers,.....do not squish them ! The best silicone washers are currently made by ScaleRacing, ..........I have sent many to some of the Oz and NZ racers. Lots of folks duplicate the above by leaving the pod screws a touch loose, and then use a piece of fibre tape across the bottom of the chassis plate/pod to "control" the movement of the pod. This works just fine, but, the tape will fatigue, and, can peel off. 8/ When assembling the rear axle/gears/wheels, always use 2 thin (5 thou.) spacers between any rotating and non rotating surface ...eg. between a spur gear and bushing face,...wheel hub and bushing face. These spacers will act as thrust washers which will significantly reduce friction and wear. 9/ Once everything else is done/assembled, ..the last thing to do is install the front axle/wheels........... With the front wheels/axle installed, (and the car on a flat/set-up block), and with the front tyres touching , gently push down on one front corner of the chassis plate (ahead of the front wheel)....adjust the top set screw so that when you push down, the axle upright on that side does not move down. Repeat on the other side. When you are satisfied with this process, again gently press down on the front corners of the chassis (one at a time) and when you press, look to see if the opposite rear tyre comes off the surface,...if it does you need to slightly tighten the top set screw (on the side you are pushing down).....repeat on the other side. You may then want to tighten the bottom set screws, to reduce the vertical travel of the front axle (without binding anything)...........although while the car remains on the track, the bottom set screws (sorry,..grub screws for you guys),.....are irrelevant. 10/ I will not go into adding weight, as each car and track is different,......I always build my cars without weight added,....thesting will dictate where and how much is needed. (I do believe the down under clan do tend to favour heavier cars, but, again this is very much car and track dependant, so I can not really offer any concrete help. 11/ You can also add a silicone washer between the chassis plate body mount lug, and the body post (glue a washer to the chassis plate).....this will further reduce vibrations.noise. As far as body float, an inch is as good as a mile.....all you are trying to do isolate the body from the chassis, (to reduce vibrations), so as long as there is some movement/rock, you are good to go. Hope there is something here you can use, ..and let me know if you need more. Cheers Chris Walker This is a Scaleauto (C7R) that I set up for proxy/club racing.....it has done quite well. I have added weight to this chassis, but, I have painted the bits black. This is a Scaleauto Viper,...again with an FC-130 installed. On this car you can just make out the silicone washers between the pod lugs and main chassis plate, and also one glued to the rear body post lug. On this chassis I have also removed the retaining fingers for the "self aligning"..and..."self unaligning" bushings, and installed some better quality single flanged bushings. This was also done on the chassis in he first pic.,....just can't see them Edited November 17, 2021 by Chrisguyw 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrisguyw Posted November 17, 2021 Report Share Posted November 17, 2021 Hi davo43,.........I forgot to give you one more thing to check/do If you are going to use the stock bushings, check for the following..........the molding process of the pod sometimes results in the plastic fingers of the bushing holders being a touch proud of the bushing faces,.....this is far from ideal as it adds friction, and reduces precision. The following pic., (albeit a Slot-it pod) illustrates this....... To rectify this,......remove the spherical bushings, and with a file/dremel disc, remove a few thou. from the outside edges of the fingers so the face of the bushing is just proud of the pod fingers....re install the bushings......now your spacers run on a smooth /finished surface....smoother/more precise !! The next stage is to glue the "self aligning"/ "self unaligning" bushings in place, which further improves precision by removing any slop in the pod/bushing interface. If you are interested in doing this let me know, and I can explain, but for now, my two typing fingers are getting tired. Cheers Chris Walker 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sports Racer Posted November 18, 2021 Report Share Posted November 18, 2021 (edited) You need to write a book on The Definitive Guide to Slot Car Modifications. I'd buy a copy. Cheers Paul Edited November 18, 2021 by Sports Racer 1 Quote May the downforce be with you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinno Posted November 18, 2021 Report Share Posted November 18, 2021 16 hours ago, Chrisguyw said: Hi davo43,.........I forgot to give you one more thing to check/do If you are going to use the stock bushings, check for the following..........the molding process of the pod sometimes results in the plastic fingers of the bushing holders being a touch proud of the bushing faces,.....this is far from ideal as it adds friction, and reduces precision. The following pic., (albeit a Slot-it pod) illustrates this....... To rectify this,......remove the spherical bushings, and with a file/dremel disc, remove a few thou. from the outside edges of the fingers so the face of the bushing is just proud of the pod fingers....re install the bushings......now your spacers run on a smooth /finished surface....smoother/more precise !! The next stage is to glue the "self aligning"/ "self unaligning" bushings in place, which further improves precision by removing any slop in the pod/bushing interface. If you are interested in doing this let me know, and I can explain, but for now, my two typing fingers are getting tired. Cheers Chris Walker I’ve wondered about the self aligning bushes as I use the Olifer pods a lot. They have adjustable height also so you can play around a little more with ride height. The problem is you need to have them perfectly aligned and they can flop around if the pod is not perfect. Have you used these Chris I would be interested in your feedback? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrisguyw Posted November 18, 2021 Report Share Posted November 18, 2021 (edited) 5 hours ago, Vinno said: I’ve wondered about the self aligning bushes as I use the Olifer pods a lot. They have adjustable height also so you can play around a little more with ride height. The problem is you need to have them perfectly aligned and they can flop around if the pod is not perfect. Have you used these Chris I would be interested in your feedback? Hello Vinno, for the reasons you have stated I stay away from adjustable height rear bushings. Even using a jig with se-up block wheels, they are a pain to align properly., and are prone to moving in their housings................likely someone thought this was a cool idea, but in reality, they are far from that If you want to play with rear axle position, buy fixed position plastic offset pods, or, better yet, scratchbuild you chassis PS most, if not all high performance slot car chassis have the rear bushings soldered in place (aligned first) for a reason. Cheers Chris Walker Edited November 18, 2021 by Chrisguyw 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davo43 Posted November 28, 2021 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2021 thanks for the tips everyone, i know a fair bit of them already but scaleauto is a brand i dont know well and i like the look of the bmw, just need to make it drive much much better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davo43 Posted November 28, 2021 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2021 On 11/18/2021 at 1:44 AM, Chrisguyw said: Hi Davo43,...........As I am not sure what you would normally do to prepare your cars, so, I will go through a list,.........some you may already know/do, so, ignore the redundant points. 1/ Completely dismantle the car, and check that the main chassis plate is flat.......a small twist can be ignored as it can overcome when setting the front axle ride height. If the chassis is significantly warped, correct this by straightening by using the "hot water" straightening method. 2/ Sand/file/grind the edges of the chassis plate in order that it does not bind on any part of the body,.....you do not need much,...if it is not touching/interfering, it is fine. 3/ The standard guide is just fine, and the stock Scaleauto braid works well, although, you may want to substitute some thinner braid from NSR etc. 4/ Roll both axles on a piece of glass to ensure that they are nice and flat,.......if not, replace. (If they do need to be replaced, 3/32 drill blanks are the way to go. 5/ Both front and rear tyres will need to be glued and trued (absolutely critical on a wood track car),.....if you do not have a tyre machine, get one, or, have a friend true your tires. 6/ If you rules allow, seriously consider substituting a FC-130 motor for the FK-180 that is stock. The FK-180 works well on a plastic track where the longer/stronger magnets provide a considerable amount of magnetic downforce..........on a wood track the additional weight of the FK-180 (it weighs 12/13 gms. more than an FC-130) is detrimental to handling......this added weight at the rear, makes the rear end wash out, and makes slides harder to control. (You will be hard pressed to find any FK-180 motored car at the sharp end of any of the more competitive/advanced wood track proxies. You can screw the FC-130 into the Scaleauto pod without any need/worry about spacers/adapters. 7/ You can use some .5mm silicone washers between the bottom of the pod lugs and the top of the main chassis plate,.......secured by bolts/nylok nuts. The silicone washers provide vibration damping, and more importantly, they allow the pod to progressively twist torsionally in the chassis..............this controlled torsional movement allows the rear outside tyre to load more progressively in a corner, improving grip. (adjust the nuts/bolts so that there is the bare minimum of free plat in the washers,.....do not squish them ! The best silicone washers are currently made by ScaleRacing, ..........I have sent many to some of the Oz and NZ racers. Lots of folks duplicate the above by leaving the pod screws a touch loose, and then use a piece of fibre tape across the bottom of the chassis plate/pod to "control" the movement of the pod. This works just fine, but, the tape will fatigue, and, can peel off. 8/ When assembling the rear axle/gears/wheels, always use 2 thin (5 thou.) spacers between any rotating and non rotating surface ...eg. between a spur gear and bushing face,...wheel hub and bushing face. These spacers will act as thrust washers which will significantly reduce friction and wear. 9/ Once everything else is done/assembled, ..the last thing to do is install the front axle/wheels........... With the front wheels/axle installed, (and the car on a flat/set-up block), and with the front tyres touching , gently push down on one front corner of the chassis plate (ahead of the front wheel)....adjust the top set screw so that when you push down, the axle upright on that side does not move down. Repeat on the other side. When you are satisfied with this process, again gently press down on the front corners of the chassis (one at a time) and when you press, look to see if the opposite rear tyre comes off the surface,...if it does you need to slightly tighten the top set screw (on the side you are pushing down).....repeat on the other side. You may then want to tighten the bottom set screws, to reduce the vertical travel of the front axle (without binding anything)...........although while the car remains on the track, the bottom set screws (sorry,..grub screws for you guys),.....are irrelevant. 10/ I will not go into adding weight, as each car and track is different,......I always build my cars without weight added,....thesting will dictate where and how much is needed. (I do believe the down under clan do tend to favour heavier cars, but, again this is very much car and track dependant, so I can not really offer any concrete help. 11/ You can also add a silicone washer between the chassis plate body mount lug, and the body post (glue a washer to the chassis plate).....this will further reduce vibrations.noise. As far as body float, an inch is as good as a mile.....all you are trying to do isolate the body from the chassis, (to reduce vibrations), so as long as there is some movement/rock, you are good to go. Hope there is something here you can use, ..and let me know if you need more. Cheers Chris Walker This is a Scaleauto (C7R) that I set up for proxy/club racing.....it has done quite well. I have added weight to this chassis, but, I have painted the bits black. This is a Scaleauto Viper,...again with an FC-130 installed. On this car you can just make out the silicone washers between the pod lugs and main chassis plate, and also one glued to the rear body post lug. On this chassis I have also removed the retaining fingers for the "self aligning"..and..."self unaligning" bushings, and installed some better quality single flanged bushings. This was also done on the chassis in he first pic.,....just can't see them cheers for the info chris, really appreciate the detailed description Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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