[Graham]

 Good Morning

I have attached photos of the car packing order, to assist hosts replace cars back into the correct packaging locations.
And also the Hosts Briefing Sheet

These are found on the leading page of this thread.

Just a quick question Re: running order.  Is the qualifying running order to be used regardless of which event the cars are in? I.e. looking down the list, would we have Savage GT's Event 1 Mustang running alongside WVSAM's Event 3 Skyline? And is this running order to be kept for the whole season or would you want it to change dependant on the current standings?

• the most concerning of which is Brumos RSR BMW 2.8  The gearmesh sounds awful yet there isn't an excess of backlash BUT the car left a trail of aluminium dust all round the track that we called the 'silver dust of death' as it coats the tyres and reduces grip.  Its second race was gingerly finished but this car isn't going to finish the proxy without work.  We had to run cars of our own round for a few laps to clean up the silver dust before the next proxy heat.
  

The motor shaft on the SRC is fairly large, my guess is it is rubbing.  If it’s ok with our Race Director, Graham, I would be ok with minor work being done.  If power can be applied and lightly filed on the inside
 to reduce friction it would be greatly appreciated, I accept all penalties assessed by our Race Director for the repair.  

Yes I give permission for Kevan to have a look, the cars are due for collection Tuesday, so it depends if Kevan has the time.
But clearly the car should not be run again until the problem is rectified.

[AdeC]

[*]Green Star Racing BMW M4 - the car refused to roll freely and flew round left handers but felt like the handbrake was on in right handers.  After it's first race we stopped the racing to check the car over.  Ideally we would have taken the bodyshell off but that would change the drivers preferred body mounting settings so we left the bodyshell on.  I removed the wheel next to the spur gear and it helped greatly so put the wheel back on with a little more of a gap but it's still not what I'd call race-ready as it's still a little grabby and spoiling the cars flow.

[*]

Hey Kevan, Thanks for you and your team running the round.

My guess with the Green Star M4 is that the tyre is touching the pinion under load - there's loads of body arch clearance in these things so I don't think it could be that. After I packed the cars to send them off I suddenly panicked about the rear axle width rule, so I quickly got it back out the box and moved the rear wheels in a fraction. 

With the race director's permission, and if you have time could you take a look and adjust the wheel position accordingly (you may need bring in the non spur gear side wheel to keep to the 61mm rule if necessary).  Or, worst case, just file a bit off the tyre to get clearance.

Obviously I will accept any penalties that may be incurred with this.

[Graham]

[*]Green Star Racing BMW M4 - the car refused to roll freely and flew round left handers but felt like the handbrake was on in right handers.  After it's first race we stopped the racing to check the car over.  Ideally we would have taken the bodyshell off but that would change the drivers preferred body mounting settings so we left the bodyshell on.  I removed the wheel next to the spur gear and it helped greatly so put the wheel back on with a little more of a gap but it's still not what I'd call race-ready as it's still a little grabby and spoiling the cars flow.

[*]

Hey Kevan, Thanks for you and your team running the round.

My guess with the Green Star M4 is that the tyre is touching the pinion under load - there's loads of body arch clearance in these things so I don't think it could be that. After I packed the cars to send them off I suddenly panicked about the rear axle width rule, so I quickly got it back out the box and moved the rear wheels in a fraction. 

With the race director's permission, and if you have time could you take a look and adjust the wheel position accordingly (you may need bring in the non spur gear side wheel to keep to the 61mm rule if necessary).  Or, worst case, just file a bit off the tyre to get clearance.

Obviously I will accept any penalties that may be incurred with this.

[*]

Yes if Kevan has time I would give permission for this, if not perhaps the next Round host. I am bound to say to Ade that of course if the car had arrived MUCH earlier then this could have been resolved before or during the qualifying testing stage. So as was never run the car previously it is abit like...closing the gate etc. But never mind it is what it is. But on Kevans list of things to do it would be 2nd to that of Brumos BMW  issue as potentially this could be a show stopper for him.

[Graham]

Just as a general statement, I don’t apply penalties unless I really have to.
Both these issues of Brumos & Green Star Racing cars, would have been self penalising.

I never saw the issue of the Brumos BMW during qualifying, so it makes me wonder if one of the rear wheel bearings has become dislodged from the chassis location ?

If they can be fixed by the hosts that will be greatly appreciated.

[Kevan]

I'd be only too happy to sort those problems guys, let's see both of those cars giving their full potential.

If it's any consolation both of your other cars (Porsche 911 and Mk1 Escort) were great runners!

[Kevan]

Touring Cars Slotting Proxy 2023 - Round 1 - hosted by the Manx Slot Car Club - Saturday 9th September

   
   
   
   
   

I arrived with the box of cars about 10am, Brian & Andy were already there setting up ready, cleaning the track.  We keep all three tracks covered with a plastic sheet before we leave, it stops dust collecting and saves time running cars round to clean it.

The cars were unboxed and laid out in pairs to run in reverse order with the quickest pair (on official qually times) racing together in the last two races.

   
   

All cars then had braids straightened where necessary and cleaned with lighter fluid and a toothbrush and the tyres were cleaned with tape.

First cars on the nice clean track were Groundhogs Capri in the middle lane driven by Andy and Scott Sports Sierra in the outer lane driven by Kev. No practice was allowed so look at the motor, guess at controller settings (if you have any) and drive the 4 metres or so to the start line to get a feel for controller settings (brake/top speed tweak here)...5-4-3-2-1...GO!

...and we were off

It was hoped each heat would be fairly even with lap times decreasing and lap counts increasing as we worked through the cars...this didn't actually happen as there's some very pleasant surprises to be enjoyed by you guys...and a few cars that had to be driven far more carefully.

I already knew what to expect from the five Manx entries but cars that pleasantly surprised were Makem Movers Sunbeam, ALS BMW 2002, Green Stars mk1 Escort, Road Runners Galaxie 500, Bangers BMW CSL and Brumos RSR Porsche 911.

I think the biggest surprise of all was the Mountain View Astra, standard Hornby sidewinder with upgraded gears and wheels, a brilliant car that shows you don't need a fancy dan special to have a competitive race car.  There were other really nice to race cars, as so much happened I can't recall them all.

Event 1

   
   

Event 2

   
   

Event 3

   
   

Event 4

   
   

Class A

   

Class B

   

Class C

   


Video footage will follow during the week, Mike is our film director again with two camera positions, one high up the other low.

   
   
   

[Kevan]

Whilst packing the boxes for the 2nd time it was blindingly obvious that the process needed simplifying so all the cars have a numbered coloured sticker applied by Graham, this same numbered coloured sticker also appears on each cars base plate and on the included layer photos in the box.

Right, I'm off to do some approved repairs:

• Bangers Alfa rear wing
  
• Brumos RSR BMW crown gear
  
• Green Star BMW M4 wheel jamming
  

I can't wait to see the video and as expected it was over in a flash but thoroughly enjoyed the whole day and now focussing on the GT Sports proxy in early 2024.  I'd planned on something along the lines of a SlotIt/Policar but after driving that Scalextric Astra may well start looking at what else they do in GT Sports.

[Kevan]

All three cars fixed ready for round 2 

[Graham]

All three cars fixed ready for round 2 

What was the issue with Brumos BMW ?

[Kevan]

All three cars fixed ready for round 2 

What was the issue with Brumos BMW ?

Aluminium pickup on the motor shaft, typical setup with an inline crown.  I've cleaned the motor shaft and lubed the groove.  Thankfully the crown teeth look undamaged....caught it early!