Cheap Tricks

[BMR]

Heres a neat trick that stops the plastic spur gear spinning on a drill blank axle

 

The South City Club has Pioneer Mustangs as club cars that use drill blank axles and alloy rims but retains the plastic spur gear - cheaper option than buying 4 slot it spur gears ( around $60.00 ) . These club cars have all done well over 3000 laps with this modification . Another reason for keeping the plastic spur was space , the plastic spur is a smidgen thinner so the wheels still had some clearance inside the wheel arches .

 

I wasnt exactly sure what Dennis ( Wizard on Auslot ) used as a locking pin so I have drawn it up showing a Slot it / NSR / Ninco type braid retaining eyelet as a pin .

 

The idea is to drill a hole through both the rim and the plastic spur gear and push the pin through both to lock them together , the spur could be left unglued and just pushed onto the drill blank or glued to the axle . The pin is an extra bit of security against the spur spinning

 

 

Click it to enlarge the picture

 

 

Edited April 20, 2012 by BMR

[Burglar]

The Pioneer axles are the right 3/32 diameter but quite narrow. I think I measured them at 46mm. Going to alloy wheels such as CB Design the shortest I found practical were 50mm axles, although 48mm might work. If you know anyone who wants a brand-new set of 48mm Slot.It axles I have some, although they might work for some other car

 

On the tyre clearance thing I've run the Slot.It gears in a Mustang body but didn't notice the clearance problem, perhaps because I had already got rid of a bit of plastic inside the wheel arch to accommodate Maxtracc tyres, which have quite a rounded sidewall. If you don't have an electric router scraping a #11 knife on the inside of the arch is a cheap if labour-intensive method.

[Roger Miller]

Another cheap trick , some clubs allow the chassis to be trimmed a little so the body can float around with the body mount screws loosened off a bit. I have found it also helps to open out the hole in the chassis that the mount screw goes through a little (don't go too far the screw head needs to sit on the lip ) With the hole opened the body moves easier but it also helps if you file off some of the thread at the top of the screw up near the screw head , file it carefully so there is no thread left anymore and the screw will no move more freely through the hole in the chassis instead of catching on the threads.

 

Slotingplus sell these ready to go.

 

7 and 10mm long

 

 

http://www.tbirdslot...ail.php?id=2837

Edited April 29, 2012 by Roger Miller

[Roger Miller]

Howdy,

I add lane stickers ? to the motors to stop foreign ingress.

I got the idea from my Reynard, and reading about rubber in motors.

A little super glue on edges helps.

 

 

[kalbfellp]

The Sloting plus screws are a bit small in diameter to hold in many body posts, so the posts need the holes filling up and re drilling.

[Burglar]

The South City Club has Pioneer Mustangs as club cars that use drill blank axles and alloy rims but retains the plastic spur gear - cheaper option than buying 4 slot it spur gears ( around $60.00 ) . These club cars have all done well over 3000 laps with this modification . Another reason for keeping the plastic spur was space , the plastic spur is a smidgen thinner so the wheels still had some clearance inside the wheel arches .

 

I used a hubless wheel and found that there was heaps of room for the 15x8 size wheel - I had to put spacers between the Slot.It spur and the wheel for standard track. There is a lot more room under the Pioneers than under Scalextric Mustangs. The chassis seems to be quite narrow. I could have fitted a 15x10 I think using hubless

[BMR]

The thread seems to be getting quite a few views , hopefully its helping a few people that are new to the hobby

 

anyone got any tips they can post on ;

 

fixing broken chassis , body posts , repair a dead motor , home made wheel inserts , mounting after market body kits , trimming interiors , painting tips , wheel repairs , front axle location repairs . fixing scratched windows , glueing up broken bodies , replacement / modified guide flags , fix the Ninco hop etc etc

 

Even some tips on how to remove and replace "X" without breaking it , some new cars seem to have little snags for the new buyer that cause breakages the first time a body comes off so a few tips like - eg

 

Problem

" Watch out for scalextric model no 1234 , the lights can catch on the chassis at the back and break off "

 

Cure

snip this bit of plastic away that wont happen anymore . ( insert photo here )

[Ember]

Fixing scratched windows:

Shallow to medium scratches can be buffed out with Tamiya Polishing Pastes. Easiest to do while windscreen is insitu. I used a cotton bud and worked through course, fine and polish with good result. Also used the same method to fix a kit windscreen which was less than clear, however broke the screen as I was trying to fix the problem before I put the kit together.

[K1W1]

Howdy,

I add lane stickers ? to the motors to stop foreign ingress.

I got the idea from my Reynard, and reading about rubber in motors.

A little super glue on edges helps.

 

 

 

Hi - pls excuse the newbie qstn but is the wear/marbling on the rear tyres on this considered normal? ... as in would you ppl that have been doing this for long time and have very grippy track/car combinations usually get this type of wear on tyres?

[kalbfellp]

Ember: No need to buy expensive polishing pastes,just use brasso and finish with toothpaste!

[Burglar]

Well, the cheapest trick is probably just to lighten the body above the motor centreline to improve the centre of gravity. Here's a photo of my Scalextric Mustang:

 

 

Note all of the matt looking areas on the interior tray. These have all been sanded away using the sanding drum at the bottom (which is connected to a machine that definitely is not cheap), but you could use a more laborious method like a file. The bottoms of the driver's feet have been ground away, mainly to clear the wiring and weights added. Those of you who have one of these will note that two sizeable chunks of plastic have been ground away that fit down into the chassis rails. This will also aid body float. I have since ground away those two prongs at the front too. I think they might be something to do with the standard guide system, which I have replaced.

 

Less cheap mods in the pic are a Slot.It screw fit guide ($10 or so), CB Design wheels, B-NOVA guide adapter (these come in packs of three from Thunderbird), and Slot.It bushes, axles, and gears (as well as a Pioneer QS motor I had laying around). Wires were replaced with NSR, as were the eyelets. Braid is Slot.It.

 

Besides the axles/gears/wheels the rest was pretty cheap. The guide conversion in particular is worth doing. The standard guide in this car (Yunick Mustang) kept falling out.

 

The interior tub on these is easy to remove and replace. It just clips in/out. You can then sand as much plastic off as you like as long as you don't cut right through. Just make sure you don't grind around where the clips go.

Edited April 30, 2012 by Burglar

[Ember]

Ember: No need to buy expensive polishing pastes,just use brasso and finish with toothpaste!

Just used it cos I had it in stock Phil and I didn't have any Brasso cos I used the last of it on the bathroom taps.

Edited April 30, 2012 by Ember

[Burglar]

Being somewhat budget conscious I'm quite pleased when a cheap option presents itself and one that I will pass on is for 3/32 axle spacers you can use Chuppachup sticks.You win twice with this as you get to suck on something sweet then use the stick for any length axle spacer.

The plastic is firm enough to cut with a craftknife.

Saw this on another forum

 

This trick is okay if you don't mind the spacer going on very tight. The fit is very close.

[Mohawkk]

One neat little trick if your trying to save money.

When building a routed track, instead of buying 9mm MDF just buy 3mm MDF and leave it outside in the rain for 2 weeks.

[Burglar]

That will probably build in some interesting elevations too!

[FLY in the wall]

..and use it to build a rally layout?

[FLY in the wall]

Another cheap trick?

 

Some chassis come with set screws to adjust the front axle height. So what if I wanted to add some, how ?

 

Well I haven't been able to find any 2mm taps locally so I would have to improvise. So what did I do?

 

My first thought was to simply force a screw into a hole but that went against training and instinct realizing that there would be nowhere for the "swarf" to go.

 

So I took a long-ish 2mm Phillips head screw and filed two flats on opposite sides. This I then screwed into a 1.5mm hole. Magic. Prefect threads with almost no distortion. The 2mm hex head screw is a firm fit.

[scrjon]

I have taken a longer screw and I grind a notch in it with your dremel tool metal cut off wheel and it will act like a self tapping screw

[Roger Miller]

Hi,

 

I Don't claim to have invented, but it is very handy.

 

Edited September 8, 2012 by Roger Miller

[Roger Miller]

Howdy,

 

Im always loosing the caps from needle squeeze bottles.

 

 

You can buy new ones here.

 

Or short cut the system and get these.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=251120806226

 

[FLY in the wall]

This is not on the cheap end but just a trick and it may sound obvious but.

 

I just had occasion to shorten a 3mm grub screw. So I glued the grub screw to an allen key and ground off what needed to be removed minus off course the 0.7mm of the cutting disc. I was disappointed to find that the crown gear could not longer be secured on to the axle, it kept coming loose.

 

Solution? Grind off a bit more of the grub screw until the end of the allen key appears. Then after soaking the thing in nail polish remover to soften the glue I removed the grub screw. ( Then promptly dropped it on the floor) 5 mins later

I reversed the screw so my newly cut bit was now the outside bit with the allen key in it and the old outside was now firmly seated against the axle.

 

[FLY in the wall]

Are you a high mileage guy, need braids and happen to be going to an electronics shop? It is known as solder wick. Comes in various widths but 3.5 is the one.

 

 

As usual insert from above and poke through. (Not from the bottom up). Bend, adjust for length then cut off at the top.

Edited January 29, 2013 by FLY in the wall

[shadow_rusty]

The only issue with soder wick is that it has flux (hydrochloric acid) on it...

I've never used it, but the potential for it to remove the coating on your rails is quite high...

 

From http://www.jaycar.co...w.asp?ID=NS3027

High quality Goot brand "Gootwick", made in Japan.- Contains wash- free RMA flux and conforms to MIL-F-14256F.- Supplied in plastic reels.- 1.5 metres long.

Edited January 29, 2013 by shadow_rusty

[FLY in the wall]

The only issue with soder wick is that it has flux (hydrochloric acid) on it...

I've never used it, but the potential for it to remove the coating on your rails is quite high...

 

From http://www.jaycar.co...w.asp?ID=NS3027

High quality Goot brand "Gootwick", made in Japan.- Contains wash- free RMA flux and conforms to MIL-F-14256F.- Supplied in plastic reels.- 1.5 metres long.

 

OK cheers for that it seems Acetone can be used to remove flux so I'll get some nail varnish remover from 7-11 about $1 here. and soak the whole 1.5 metres.

 

Well learn something everyday. Look at the acetone it turned green. I'll keep cleaning until it is clear. (Oh the clear acetone on the right wwas 60 cents.)

 

Edited January 29, 2013 by FLY in the wall

[kalbfellp]

We have tried solder wick and found that it does not have enough "spring" to maintain good contact all the time, need to be adjusted often.it is OK on a few cars but in general not as good as other braid.