APRIL 2018 NEWSLETTER

There is so much great new product here and arriving during April from all our suppliers. Being Easter, many of you have a bit more time to read through, so I am sending this out early. Read on, enjoy.

IMPORTANT – RE: SHIPPING ADDRESSES Because we are now using PayPal integration, it is important that you check whether your PayPal deliveries address is correct and up to date.

We just discovered by chance, that if you choose PayPal as your payment method, your PayPal address can be inserted as your “shipping address” on your order, separate to your “billing address”

When you receive your order confirmation, it will show both your billing address and a shipping address in the email, so you can check then, and please advise us if anything looks wrong. We wouldn’t know, as some customers have over time inserted up to 3 delivery addresses, which they manually choose between each time they order. – Most times, we will have no idea whether the customer did this deliberately, or if the PayPal module added the shipping address without their knowledge.

Example: A local customer had an old USA delivery address on his Paypal account, which then showed up as his shipping address on his order confirmation, and was printed on his packing slip in our system. Fortunately, knowing where he lived, I had it sent to his Upper Hutt “billing address” But a similar situation to this could easily end in tragedy!

Sometimes these corporate things we end up locked into are just too smart for their own good!

We are now distributing SRC Slot cars.

These SRC models are fully designed and made in

Spain – just a stones throw from our recent base

while living there. The three Ford Capri models

offer a choice of soft, medium and hard pods and

chassis to suit either of wood or plastic track

racing. I also have some hard pods in stock.

Most exciting is the Yardley McLaren M23 driven by

Denny Hulme in the 1973 Swedish Grand Prix

Two years in the planning, this car looks just

stunning, and if you dare race it, will go likewise.

Check out the quality of the drive train.

This is the only Hulme livery car planned, and

production was just 1,015 worldwide. We relieved

them of an allocation of a handful. And yes, that is

right, the front wheels do turn.

Warning: cheesey ad line follows

But Wait – There’s More

We have picked a few of the remaining Lola T600s.

A couple of standard RTR Home Series type cars, and

a couple of kits which have upgraded mechanics with

had chassis for wood track, and all alloy wheels.

Add your own preference in tyres and assemble.

The Lola T600 was the first true Group C car. For club

racing, just check if your club allows brands other

than Slot.it and MR Slot Car for this class.

And we’re not done with new cars yet

Two lovely releases from Slot.it

Porsche GT 911 No.7 FIA GT1 1998 CA23e

And this Group C Lancia in Martini uniform

Lancia LC2 Brands Hatch 1000 Km 1984 CA08f

I used to stock and sell loads of these

Stock is arriving in a few days

And we’re still not done

Porsche 935/78-81 - MOMO Racing by Sideways

And Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Carbon SWCAR01B

Some practical storage items

These are super nifty for small parts storage.

28 bins in banks of 4, and each lid opens individually

Order in SlotRaceShop Brand products

And these pottles for small parts. Due in a few days

Events we know of in 2018

NSR Challenge The annual premier event in Nelson Build and run your NSR classic, for individual drivers 11th to 13th May at NSR club Nelson Contact Tony Cook hotslots1@outlook.com Over 40 entries have already been received – I’ll be there too!

RTR Nationals

Class racing Nationals individual championship for classes of GT1 Group C Muscle car NSR Classics 27th to 29th July at Pitlane Club Dunedin Rules here Contact Tony Cook hotslots1@outlook.com And yes, I’ll be there too

Group 5 Proxy Series

Our second half of the year constructor series, for modified Group 5 cars. Entries open May Contact Dave Carter mini70clubman@gmail.com

The DTM Classic – a Slot.it Shootout

A weekend event in Hawkes Bay, build, bring and run Slot.it DTM inline saloon cars, for individual drivers 7th to 9th Sept at Thunder Road Raceway, Hawkes Bay Contact Mark Burgess sales@slotraceshop.nz See the tune and test article on the next page as a guide to setting one up - Well obviously I’ll be here

Call me if you have any questions about the event

Thunderslot RTR Enduro

A very special event which will include overseas drivers and the owner of Thunderslot 12th to 14th October at NSR club Nelson Contact Tony Cook hotslots1@outlook.com If your club is hosting or arranging an event, I would love to know about it, so we can promote it for you.

Tune and Track Test

So now for something different. Setting up a Slot.it classic DTM saloon car. I have opened up one each of the Opel Calibra and Alfa 155 V6.

With us hosting the DTM Classic at Thunder Road Raceway in September, this article can also serve both as a quick-start guide for anyone considering coming to the event.

Like the Slot.it Group C cars, these are configured as inline - as they are just too narrow to host other configurations. The pod is typical 4 screw mount, 0.5mm offset - which means the rear axle is 0.5mm higher than the motor shaft, to create the result that the car can sit a little lower than would otherwise be possible.

The motor is a new one developed with this class in mind, and has specs of 21,000 rpm 150g/cm torque 7.9 watts, compared to the rebadged "orange bell" replacement MX16 at 23,000 rpm 170g/cm torque for 9.8 watts which is the standard motor for Group C and classics models.

So these DTM cars are a little milder to drive, and well suited to home tracks as well as club racing. For plastic track racing, there is the usual magnet mounted at rear - and able to be moved between the rear and forward positions in the pod to change handling characteristics to your preference.

Wheels fitted are 15.8 x 8.3mm both end, the fronts being plastic, the rears alloys as usual. Gearing also typical 9:28, so

the final ratio at the wheels is a little lower than for Group C, due to the hubs being that notch smaller than the 16.5s on Group C cars. Tyres at both ends are C1 formula, which is typical for plastic tracks, but for our wood racing in NZ, a change to softer rubber such as F22 or N22 is usual.

There are the usual holes at top and underside of the chassis at front to add grub screws for fixing the front axle ride height.

In mirror of the real cars, length is around 150mm, width just 58/59mm, and height 39 - 44mm, so they can be rolled more easily then low GT and sports cars. Setting these up for balance and grip is quite different.

With the stock cars, the outside tyre diameter was 19.2mm.

With the PT1171N22 fitted it was 19.75mm, but after glue and

true it came back to 19.4mm As I have set the pod screws up

¾ turn off of tight, the pod sits a fraction up from flush with the

chassis, and the rear chassis ride height is about the same as

stock.

The front of the Alfa is lower at 18.2mm after truing unglued

fronts, and on the Opel it is 18.85mm

I have swapped the stock braid for SP18 tinned copper braid, -

soft and a shade thinner, and fitted 6mm grub screws under the

front axle to lift it, and 3mm grub screws above the axle in the

front holders, so it is pinned and cannot rock, but spins freely.

As little as 1/16th turn can be the difference between catching

and floppy. I have set the front ride height so that the guides sit

as deep as possible in the slot – as shown below.

The Opel is 1.5mm wider in the rear track than the Alfa, and

also sits lower. It weighs just 1 gram more.

Wanting to equalize the test cars for the DTM Classic in

September, I added 8 grams weight to the Alfa, taking its total

weight to 76 grams, while leaving the Opel stock. This lowered

the COG on the Alfa nicely. A little lead behind the guide plants

the front, some either side for stability, and a tiny bit at rear to

encourage controlled sliding before roll.

The track owner of Thunderslot Raceway Mac & I ran both cars

on his centre two lanes in this configuration. On his favourite

red lane he was able to get the Alfa around in 7.405 fairly

easily, then switching to the Opel, gradually worked it down to

7.29.

Meanwhile on Yellow lane, which is usually just slightly slower

than red, I drove the Opel first and got it down to 7.39, then

switched to the Alfa and dropped my best time down to 7.32,

0.07 faster than the Opel, and close to Mac’s best time for the

Opel on red lane.

Overall, I think these setups have them very close to level.

If you are considering entering the DTM Classic, check out the

details on the link in the FEATURES dropdown menu on our

website.

I taped the underside of both pods after loosening them one full turn. The loose pod de-stresses the chassis, encourages some “tip” for improved bite in corners, while the tape acts as a dampener, softening any sudden movement. Both cars were set up by me and tested elsewhere first, then tweaked to this subsequent set-up and taken to the track for this test. I think I have the result close enough, that depending upon your driving style you may be quicker with either car. One thing I did not do, is flatten the chassis on a steel plate.

Entrants in the DTM Classic are welcome to do so.

I don’t think the weight in the Alfa takes much from straight line

performance on that track, what counts is cornering speed,

smoothness, tyre bite and acceleration out of the corner.

If I had to choose either one right now for race day, I would

probably take the Alfa as I liked the degree of predictability and

forgiveness when slightly over-cooked into a corner, - it just

flicks the back out slightly and leans. Having also run the Alfa

on the “Black Widow”; I enjoy the leeway it gives if you get the

corner speed slightly wrong. Others may prefer the Opel which

is flat and stable, driving far easier than you would expect from

a saloon car.

So the rules for the DTM Classic will have the Opel running

un-weighted, and the Alfa with a max weight of 76 grams.

Entries are open and coming already, so please send your

entry and make payment as early as possible to ensure a

place, as we can realistically only host a field of about 24

drivers at Thunderslot Raceway.

Tech Article – Repairing a Ninco rear end

Ninco parts are now almost extinct. As most Ninco cars had 2.48mm axles in the old Spanish standard, rather than 2.38mm; just swapping out parts for other brands is difficult. Swapping a whole back end over to 2.38mm is generally more than it is worth unless you are deeply madly in love with the car. But if you feel confident to bore out a 2.38mm alloy gear with a 2.5mm drill, you can do an alright job of creating a replacement gear setup fairly cheaply. The Ninco spur was about 17mm.

For a consistent solution, I suggest going to the Slot.it 16mm spur gears such as the 28 tooth, mated to normal 11 tooth pinions instead of those tapered Ninco pinions.

This is just a quick test fit using a 2.38mm axle and gear, so it is a bit wobbly in the bush, but the mesh will come up nicely with the right axle, possibly

using a small shim spacer between the axle bush and inside of the spur gear if you need it, to push the gear out into the best meshing position with the pinion.

Note that the pinion is slightly proud of the end of the motor shaft, which is needed to get “reach” out onto the spur teeth. This gives you a fairly common gearing.

But if you want a bit taller gearing with that low revving NC-5 motor, just use say a 26 tooth spur instead. By boring out that gear to 2.5mm, which is close enough, you achieve a repeatable fix for Ninco cars, for just the cost of just a spur and pinion. The gear mesh can be set to be much smoother than original, even with the small anomaly of theoretical 2.5mm versus 2.48mm

In Closing Who do you know that just might get the same buzz you do out

of slot racing. Make a plan, get them along to your group, or

your home track. Let them have a good go at it, and tell them

what you enjoy about being one of these adult males messing

about with these fun, frustrating, endlessly enjoyable cars.