[tatter06]

The club I attend have a new class for this year, full rules Here but basically any WSC/le mans car pre 1993, 23k s-can inline or SW only. We're a 1/32 hard body, plastic chassis club but apart from that if you can buy it you can run it. 

We had a shakedown before Xmas and here's a few pictures of the grid to show the sort of thing that will be run (although I bet a few secret weapons were being held back for the real thing).

   
   
   

We're racing on 'Catalunya' an old, fast, bumpy track but best lap times were around 7.1 seconds with a 7.5 median being competitive. I was off the pace with my Mr slot car 787 but it was barely run in and the only inline. I didn't notice at the time but it is also quite small compared to the slot.it group c next to it. 

So I've gone with the crowd and started 2 new builds. 

Any advice or tips much appreciated!

Build 1
Slot.it group c Jag
Lightweight interior
Staffs slots  alloys all round, 15.8 X 10 air hubs on the rear, independent fronts
BRM F15 tyres
1mm offset SW slot.it pod (new one with ballraces)
Reduced centre rear axle
Trimmed sloting plus deep guide
11*36 gearing (18mm lightweight aluminium slot it job)
Motor tbc, need to test some I have 
Medium suspension in rear of pod

Build 2 
Nsr p68
Lightweight interior
Standard chassis, pod, wheels, 
Nsr ultras rear, zero grip front
Nsr wood guide
Nsr medium suspension
Lightweight hollow rear axle, Sideways bushes (for 2.38 mm axles)
12*36 gears
Motor tbc

Rolling chassis so far
   

[tatter06]

As motors are pretty much the only thing that is limited in this class getting a good one could be crucial. So I grabbed a bunch of motors that would be eligible, ran them in and then measured rpm at 6v, this was just using a cheap eBay laser tacho but none the less relative performance should be revealed. Pics and results match up top to bottom

   
   

Not what i was expecting tbh, I thought the nsr and thunderslot motors would fair better (I think all are officially 21.5k, except old nsr 20k?)

As the brown motor doesn't have screw holes I'll match that with the nsr that doesn't have any way of securing with screws in the pod to start with.

[chrisguyw]

As the brown motor doesn't have screw holes I'll match that with the nsr that doesn't have any way of securing with screws in the pod to start with.

It is quite simple to drill a couple of holes into an NSR pod bulkhead to accept motor screws.....!!

Cheers
Chris Walker

PS You may want to consider dropping the hollow and reduced center axles, and replace them with a quality drill blank,....several of the reduced diameter and hollow axles we have checked over the years at the shop, have been less than straight........there is a reason you won't find many of these on high end cars.

[tatter06]

Easy to drill them, but easy to drill them in the right place? 

Yeah I need to look into drill blanks, I had a few bent hollow axles. I thought the reduced centre would be required for the slot it pod as I was expecting to use an nsr motor, and from memory they don't fit?  But as the slot it motor won out I can revert to a normal axle. The hollow one was just a 2.38 axle I had handy to replace the nsr one.

[mickey thumbs]

Using an NSR motor in the slot.it pod does indeed require either a reduced center axle or mild grinding of the can. Eajsy work with a Dremel.

[tatter06]

That's what I thought, I think any sort of messing with the can will be found upon tbh, even if it's perfectly legit.

What would constitute a quality drill blank? Is there a brand, specification or property that would mark it out as quality?

These seem cheaper than actual axles! 

3/32 hss drill blanks

[Kevan]

Or ease the round holes in the pod so the motor has a little fore/aft movement which has the added benefit of not being restricted to a particular diameter set of gears.

[tatter06]

Good idea, I'll try it with a broken pod first to see if it is in my skill set.

Jag is "finished", not seen a track yet so maybe a bit of tweaking required on front axle and weight. Not as neat as Chris W's build!

Turns out the brown motor did have screw holes so fits fine, solid axle reinstated, had to change to 7mm pinion and 17.5mm gear for clearance (body and ground as wheels/tyres are only just 18.5mm)

Fingers crossed!

   

[Kevan]

All SlotIt motors I've ever used have had M2 mounting holes already.

My Jag has a NSR Shark 22 in a SW pod and it drives like a dream...you may want to look at fitting flexible mounts to that wing though 

[tatter06]

Quite hectic at the moment with new club classes, proxies and national events kicking off so my slot car prep time is spread quite thin.

Grid of cars for the first round of this new class below, no real surprises from the shakedown although a thunderslot did make an appearance and ran well for a 90%standard car.
   

When on track the P68 felt more planted, the front end of the Jag just wasn't quite right, it was too high for some reason I need to look into.

It was a cold night at the mill so my predictions for lap times were slightly optimistic, there was the odd banzai lap time but the winners median was 7.6.

I was mid pack, median of 8.0 but only a 2 tenths improvement would have seen me 4th which I'd be happy with, fastest lap 7.6 so it is possible.

I found a supplier of some tasty looking drill blank axles so hopefully they will arrive soon.

To do list

Build slot.it matra and thunderslot Lola and slot.it lancia.
Lancia was the winner, I had a go at a pretty standard matra and matched my p68s best lap in 3 laps, that was being careful as I didn't want to bin someone else brand new car. I just like the Lola.

Practice on the catalunya track, there's a short blast between 2 90 degree turns just before the long straight, I didn't get this right all night either missing the acceleration point and losing ground or missing the breaking point and slamming into the wall, an easy 10th to be had on that bit of track.