[GregK]

Scalextric - Ferrari 312 T2: modified C8516
 
OK ....... another one from my collection that needed to be chipped from long, long ago .........
 

There are eight screws in the chassis - only the left hand five need to be removed to
access the cockpit. The three on the right hold the gear box, the drive shaft covers
and the rear spoiler ...
 
 

Just look at the size of Mr Lauda and you will start to appreciate why digitising this
car was always going to be a difficult task ...
 
 

In this photo, the smaller tantalum capacitor is highlighted and the detailing on the
rear can be seen. The socket for the DPR cable has been removed to save as
much space as possible on the cockpit floor and the wires have attached directly
to the exposed solder pads.
 
 

This is just to show how much material had to be removed from Mr Lauda to get him
to finally fit back in the cockpit with the digital chip in place ...
 
 

A shot after testing that the car was functioning as it should by changing lanes ...
 
 
These last couple of cars were some of Scalextric's earliest offerings with the features to aid digitising them. Their latest cars Classic F1 cars are much easier to work on more because the driver is nowhere as huge and space is more easily found for the newer and smaller chip.
 
As can be seen in the first photo, this car is a Limited Edition and was the companion car to James Hunt's McLaren Ford M23; the subject of my next chipping effort.
 
 
Thanks for looking in ........   

[GregK]

Scalextric - McLaren M23: modified C8516
 
The final one of my cars that I have always wanted to digitise, and perhaps one of the most iconic in F1 for us Brits ..... 
 

With this chassis, Scalextric were still finding their digital feet hence the huge post on
the right for the driver to perch upon and the clunky infrared LED holder on the left ....
 
 

Mr Hunt absorbs all available space in his present form. He will have his legs shortened
and thinned by quite a margin ....
 
 

That was quite a weight loss regime ....
 
 

This shows the test-fit of the chip to evaluate how the wires will be routed ....
 
 

This looks like a likely space for the FM to hide in ....
 
 

The side of the cockpit reach down almost as far as the chassis floor ....
 
 

The chip has been fitted out with some new soft, silicone wires. It is easier to see
how the wires will lay with the two halves closed together. The FM fits snugly into
the side pocket ....  The wires will be brought alongside the motor and sit in the
gap behind the driver's seat rest ....
 
 

Now is the time to do a test run with the wires are connected to the motor to ensure
forward running; the wires can then measured for exact length before the air box is
refitted ....
 
 
 
All good and now for the test shakedown against the old foe, the Ferrari 312 and Niki Lauda ....
 
 
Just a couple of gratuitous photos ......  
 

 
 

[GregK]

Scalextric - Ferrari 375F: modified C8516


This car has been chipped quite a few years ago. My methodology in utilising these chips has evolved over time so I felt an update was in order .......  
 
 

Scalextric got this model right on so many levels, even down to Fangio's pot-belly.
At this point, the length of the infrared LED wires is being measured for accuracy ....
 
 

This is the modified C8516. The large capacitor has been replaced with a smaller one.
The socket for the wires has been removed and de-soldered. The onboard LED for
the infrared emitter has been removed.
 
 

The LED wires have now been trimmed to the correct length ....
 
 

More or less ready for testing. The Ferrite Man has been attached to the PCB and the
read wires are fixed to the motor. The orange LED wires are now attached at the front.
The black wires lead down to the pickups to deliver the power to the chip ....
 
 

Testing is always recommended prior to fixing the body back in place just in case it
runs off backwards, in which case it is a simple job to reverse the wires attached to
the motor. Another area of simple failure is to neglect re-attaching the braid plate to
the guide; it takes an age of puzzling over why the car refuses to move before acute
embarrassment wracks your mind.
 
 


Another top-draw, stunning classic car. Bloody nice Scalextric ..... 

[GregK]

Ninco - Jaguar XK120: modified C8515 Rev H

A variant of the Jaguar theme, the Olde Worlde XK120 floptop ......
 

For this car, I stripped all of the wiring off and replaced the infrared LED with one that
reached down and through the chassis. The wiring was kept to a minimum.
 
 

These cars do not have any meat in the front to anchor LEDs into so plastic tubes
were attached and dowsed in black paint to reduce the light bleed. For clarity, the
wires have not been added just yet.
 
 

This shows the rear light detail. Miniature LEDs were carefully fixed to the tubes with
some GC-Hypo cement. A couple of dabs on the resistors held them in place to aid
the positioning and soldering of the joints. The negative wire was added later, this
was quite a stiff wire that needed no support once fixed in place.
 
 

The next stage was to attach the wires from the LEDs to the circuit board.
 
 

Lights ON.......
 
 

Lights OFF ..............  
 
 

Whilst I was at it, I added another two .........  
 
 
I lurve Jags, I do

[GregK]

Scalextric - McLaren F1 GTR: modified C8515 Rev H


Following a very good BF deal, I bought one to see what all the excitement was about .....
 
 

It may be a modern car but I used an old school C7006 because it has fully switchable
lights via Incar-Pro v3.3 ..... All of the old wiring was stripped off and replaced with
silicon ones. The ones for lighting are one the right side of the chip. The red ones in
the centre are for the motor and the black ones are the pickups.
 
 

The chip has been turned around because it lay more easily in the chassis. The function
of the wires can now be seen.
 
 

That was nice and easy but I am far from impressed with the lights ......   
 

Lights OFF
 
 

Lights ON
 
 

Here is the reason why .......  the left arrow is pointing at the edge of the lighting
board and the top arrow is centred on the lens.
 
 

Measuring the discrepancy shows that the LEDs are 32mm apart whilst the lenses
are 37mm apart. It is not that there isn't enough room for the width of the board
to align correctly, so I wonder if it is another economy saving?
 
 

The rear lights, though, are like two fag-ends in a foggy night ...

[GregK]

Cartrix - Mercedes W-196: C7005


This is the first Cartrix model that I have chipped and I have to say that I am quite impressed with the finish and overall quality.
 

 
 

With such a high body, space for the digital chip would not be an issue. It has a
rather curious motor; very similar to those fitted in current SCX cars ...
 
 

A hole for the infrared emitter can just be seen to the left of the front post, just under
the edge of the PCB ...
 
 

Everything in place and ready for some glue-tacks to hold the chip down tightly. The
drive shaft in front of the motor has been removed ...
 
 

The detail in and around the cockpit is quite superb

[GregK]

Slot Car - Lotus F1

This looked as thought it would be rather difficult to digitise at first glance, however, once the C8516 was stripped down, it was easy .....
 

The socket for the power and control was removed and new silicone wires were
attached to the relevant solder pads on the PCB. A thin covering of G-S Hypo
cement was then applied to anchor the wires and add some extra protection in
the event of a crash or two .....
 
 

The PCB was glued inside the curved lip that the side-pod rests against. Whilst the
G-S H was curing, the wires were measure and trimmed to the required length.
 
 

Everything is now attached. The Ferrite-Man is insulated with some heat-shrink which,
unlike sticky tape, will not drop off when the motor warms up during racing.

[GregK]

Scalextric - Mini Cooper: modified C8516

A superb model from Scalextric and one which is one of the most often requested car for me to digitise ...
 
 

Three lovely minis which if they were mine, would also have had 13k or 16k motors
fitted as well ....
 
 

The wiring socket has been removed to allow greater freedom and a lot more
wriggle room. The original connections are the square pads in the centre; the
round pads are alternative soldering points ...
 
 

Four different coloured wires are not really necessary so just two where used; red
for the power to the motor and black for the pickup from the track. The LED
emitter is seen with the red & black wires. This is now ready to be installed into
the first of the Minis .....
 
 

Before that can be done, the wiring for the lights needs replacing. Two very long
pieces are used as these will be cut into the black pickup wires before continuing
on to be terminated on the front lighting board ...
 
 

The chip is now installed with some hot-glue applied to the right side of the traction
magnet ensuring that all wiring is clear of the driveshaft and gearing ...
 
 

A clear shot of how the chip is anchored and the wiring is gently led around the motor.
The red wire by the back wheel is the long lighting wire from the rear lighting-board ...
 
 

One of the features of silicone wire is that the insulation can be easily removed. Here
a sharp knife was gently rolled around the wire enabling a gap to opened up. The long
wires from the rear-lighting board are also opened up in the same manner. This allows
the wire to be twisted one over the other to form a very strong and secure joint after
a dab of solder is applied. The ubiquitous heat-shrink is also applied to insulated the
circuit. The red wire is joined in an identical manner. Finally, the bare ends of the rear
wires can now be soldered onto the front lighting-board.

 
 

The headlamps are well executed
 
 

There can be no doubt that these Minis and the F1 Legends are Scalextric's finest
models by a country mile. Non of these grotty water stickers here, just proper
tampo printing.

[GregK]

Cartrix - Alfa Romeo: C7005





Cartrix - Lotus 16: Modified C8515





Cartrix - BRM P25: modified C8515






Another example of the superb detailing in these cars ....

[GregK]

Scalextric - Brabham BT26A: modified C8516


Another superb model from Scalextric ....


A lower powered motor replaces the turbo nutter-barstud factory fitted one ....



The excess protrusions have been cleared out of the floor of the chassis ....



The DPR socket and the on-board infrared LED have been removed and the corners of the
PCB have been trimmed ....




With a trial-fit, it can be seen that the capacitor snags on the underside of the driver. This
was coated with pencil lead to leave a tell-tale on the driver to indicate the area that needed
to be reduced .....



After some careful sculpting of the drivers buns, the fit now looks good to go ......



The details of the connections to the chip. The Ferrite-Man is ready for the motor side once
I fix his arms to it.



Before proceeding further, the driver's clearance needs checking again - yep, he needs more
physio on his legs ....



The wires are fully connected up to check for the correct rotation of the motor to
drive it forwards ....



Just as well because it went off backwards when I checked it ......... red & black wires
now swapped over ....