When a little fun turns to an obsession...slot cars

[John Ranalletta]

Bought a starter set for my grandson at Thanksgiving and got hooked. Luckily, my SO loves to race (and crash). I need a lap counter to keep score.

 

Since I have the room in my office, I indulge in designing/building variations of tracks with the materials I have on hand. Since Hobbytown is only a 5-minute drive, parts are handy.

 

Usign Scalextric's free design tool, one can design a track. It stores track inventory and creates a "buy" list. Handy, huh?

 

 

The real track takes shape on the floor. It doesn't have all the guard rails and shoulders yet; but I'm just trying to find a design I like and will build in the basement. This is a 44' circuit. I'm aiming for a ca 75' circuit, but have to redesign and plan for elevated sections to minimize the footprint. This footprint's longest leg is ca. 15'.

 

 

I'm using analog, but likely, it won't be long before transitioning to digital. Digital cars are chipped to match a controller and > one car can operate on a track. Digital has pits, fuel capacity, etc.

 

Some cars in the collection:

 

These came with the the stock set: Viper and Jaguar GT cars.

 

 

The Jag by itself. The tires can be sanded round, magnets enhanced and lots of other mods. Too cool...

 

 

McClaren MK2 and Saleen S7R

 

[Whip]

I was into that serious when I was 12. They came out with the G-Plus cars and I lost interest. The magnets were so strong all you did was hold it down watch it go. Before then we had to work on our windings and rubber combos to make em fly. We used the guardrails to hold us on the track. I still remember the smell of 3 in 1 oil and electricity in the air.

 

I spent a lot of time in my basement designing new tracks for the big events when the guys would bring over their toys.

 

He man women haters.....heheheheh

 

 

[John Ranalletta]

It's highly likely, this will all head east to my grandson, but not before I enjoy the hell out of it.

[Matts_12GS]

I guess it beat watching the Colts last fall...

[John Ranalletta]

Unfortunately, it wasn't their last fall. They'll fall a lot more next year; or, until Irsay ponies up for a few good players.

[Bud]

I can remember going to the "Track" at the local slot car business and running my British Racing Green Lotus.

 

IIRC it cost $.50 per half hour for track time.

 

Good memories.

[upflying]

I too have the same memories. Just around the corner from where I lived in Oakland, there was a big commercial track set up at a local store front.

I still the have brass, tubular framed slot car I ran there 47 years ago.

Come to think of it, it was the old tymer version of today's video games.

[OoPEZoO]

Awesome!

 

I love slot cars. My parents gave me an unrelentless line of crap about not being able to set up a track in our basement because of the cement floor (electricity conducting through cement and all). Anyway, I've though many times about firing up the old passion again. There are a lot of cool options out there now that are WAY cooler than they had when I was a kid........including motorcycles!

[Tasker]

On my way over...

[Ohio48]

We use to put all the straight track together and made a dragstip with it.

[SeanC]

Great stuff, John. I'm keeping alive a tradition my dad started when I was a kid: we set up a really cool slot car track after Thanksgiving, then take it down and pack it up in late February. Each year we may get a couple new cars, more track, etc., but the whole thing is like a new gift that never gets taken for granted. Here's this year's track:

 

 

I created the table from a 4x8 sheet of plywood, cut in half and assembled with dowels (like sections in a dining table) and clamps for easy tear-down and storage. We design different track layouts in Adobe Illustrator using a symbol library I created specially for the purpose.

 

 

H.O. scale buildings and scenics are either hard to find (lots of stuff for railroads, but very little for slot cars) or very expensive, so I bought some balsa and basswood from the architectural modeling section of an artists supply store and built them myself.

 

 

 

I found the various logos on the internets (or designed them myself), printed them on clear label stock, and with a little clear spray fixative or lacquer, they look like they were actually painted on the buildings.

 

Since Finn and friends often crash spectacularly with cars flying off the track and table, I created higher guard walls out of poster board, applied sponsor logos, and on certain track sections I created safety fencing using wire mesh from Home Depot:

 

 

Most of the cars have interchangeable resin bodies, but this year we added our first lexan body to the stable. Lexan bodies are very cheap, but you have to cut them from the mold yourself. They're also clear, so you have to paint them. I had a hard time finding the right blue for this classic Gulf Porsche 917, but it came out pretty close:

 

 

Larry mentioned how the strong track magnets took the fun out of H.O. scale racing, and he's right about that, but about half the cars in our stable are G-Jets from BSRT, and the others are either stock Mega-Gs (Tomy) or G3s (BSRT). The G-Jets have the same chassis as the G3s, but lack track magnets, using brass weights instead. The armatures are also tuned to run at 12-volts rather than 18, so the speed is a bit more realistic (the Mega-Gs and G3s can run at either 12 or 18, but we find 12-volts to be a lot more fun). Finn's friends typically race the magnet cars because they lack the skill, but Finn and I race the G-Jets, which slide (or crash) through turns.

 

The car on the left is a G-Jet, the one on the right a G3. Note the brass weights where the traction magnets would normally be. The G-Jet also has a brass weight at the nose of the chassis, and runs with o-ring front wheels.

 

 

Here's a shot of dad's G-Jet 917 owning a G3 coming out of turn 4:

 

 

This stuff is so fun, we may leave the track up a few extra weeks this year!

 

PS: If you haven't already, definitely upgrade your controllers to a set of Parmas. That revolutionized our racing experience almost as much as going to G-Jets and 12 volts. Stock controllers are terrible by comparison.

[OoPEZoO]

ummmm........droooooool

[John Ranalletta]

Very cool. Thanks for taking time to share it.

 

The track design rocks.

[Bud]

Darn you Worst Influence, now there is something else I will have to drool over and since I have 6 grandchildren, I could justify it??????

[John Ranalletta]

There are lots of things to do with grandkids, but when it comes to racing, the boys and girls get into it. It's not really expensive. $200 buys a very respectable set of Scalextric 1/32 or HO track and cars.

 

My grandson is 700 miles away, so we are starting to exchange cars. When we skype, that's all he talks about.

[SeanC]

My grandson is 700 miles away, so we are starting to exchange cars. When we skype, that's all he talks about.

That's priceless right there.... When Finn and Molly have kids one day, I really hope I'm around to do the same thing.

 

I kinda regret not going with 1/32 scale, but space was a major consideration for us, and I'm able to fit a whole lotta H.O. track on a 4x8 table. In fact, I have more than enough track sections to create a 4-lane version of the track in my photo. We decided on just a two-lane design this year because last year I spent most of my time picking up crashed cars whenever Finn's friends were racing.

 

H.O. scale racing has a huge following on the internet, with lots of cool mods, hop-up parts, etc. available online, but the hobby stores tend to stock a lot more 1/32 stuff than H.O. But like you said, it's an inexpensive initial investment for either scale. The starter kits are definitely the way to go (if you were to buy the same number of track sections, power supply, controllers and cars separately, it would cost 4 or 5 times as much as the kit).

 

Next year we're adding a papier mâché mountain (complete with tunnels and snow) to the track, as well as a digital lap counter/timer and electronic braking (our new controllers are already wired for it, but the track itself isn't), which means we'll also add true hairpins to the course. We already have the hairpin sections, but without powered braking, even the good racers crash out every time, so we took them off the course.

[John Ranalletta]

Craigslist can be another source for good slot stuff. Lots of it is like new. A fellow in Cincinnati has this track diorama for sale for $200!!!

 

 

A recent, now expired post in Rockford had a similar set up for $250.

[VinnyR11]

Per John's OP: "Since I have the room in my office, (and)....Since Hobbytown is only a 5-minute drive, parts are handy." We all know where this is going to wind up... "I need a bigger office!"

 

Boy, does this bring back fond memories of hours and hours spent in my parents' basement. I remember how huge an event it was just to go from an oval track to an elevated figure eight.

 

Great hobby and outstanding work by you guys. John and Sean, very impressive stuff, and I'm lovin' Sean's detailing.

 

John, I'm sure you're aware, but the car listed as a "McClaren" is a Ford GT or GT40. One of my all time favorites.

[KevinH]

H.O. scale racing has a huge following on the internet

 

Sean your layout is awesome. The catch fencing was a great idea. HO does have a cult following. Do you have this link?

 

HO Racing

[EffBee]

I can remember going to the "Track" at the local slot car business and running my British Racing Green Lotus.

 

IIRC it cost $.50 per half hour for track time.

 

Good memories.

Yup. I used to race Strombecker and Russkit cars before I learned how to solder, bought the brass tubing, and learned how to make my own chassis. First one handled like crap. But I just bought more tubing and more solder. Eventually, I learned how to make them lighter, and how to tune each chassis for the right amount of flex for each track we raced. Used to go to a new track location with 4 or 5 different chassis in a box. Also, we didn't have digital controllers back then. Lots of guys used microswitches. I used a modified telegraph key. Quicker response.

 

John's Hobby Raceway in West Covina, CA. Fifty-cents for a half hour. Two dollars to enter the Saturday night races. I'd mow lawns all day Saturday and blow it all at the track that night. Three, maybe four dollars would get flushed down the toilet of entry fees, tires, tire dressing, pickup braid, and other "essentials."

 

Thanks for the memories. 'Twas a tremendous time in this man's youth.

[John Ranalletta]

John, I'm sure you're aware, but the car listed as a "McClaren" is a Ford GT or GT40. One of my all time favorites.

 

You bet. It's a Mcclaren commemorative. it was just one of a boxful of NIB cars I found on craigslist.

 

This is the car and kit:

[Glenn Reed]

Is that the HO version of The Stig standing next to it?

[John Ranalletta]

When I bought a box of cars, the seller said, "You don't want to run these because they'll lose their collectors' value..."

 

So, the choice is keeping the car in pristine condition or watching my grandson's eyes get as big a saucers when he takes it out of the box and lets it rip down the track.

 

No contest.

 

When I get the track set up, I'd like to try building brass rod chassis, but that's not going to be soon.

 

[SeanC]

Here's our stable of Ford GT40 Mk.IIs from the 1966 Le Mans:

 

 

#1 Ken Miles/Denis Hulme (second place), #8 Sir John Whitmore/Frank Gardner (DNF), #2 Bruce McLaren/Chris Amon (first place)

[Les is more]

My Dad bought slot cars "for me" When I was a little kid. "We" loved them. Seems as if they took the place of the train we used to set up each Christmas.

[VinnyR11]

Here's our stable of Ford GT40 Mk.IIs from the 1966 Le Mans:

 

 

#1 Ken Miles/Denis Hulme (second place), #8 Sir John Whitmore/Frank Gardner (DNF), #2 Bruce McLaren/Chris Amon (first place)

 

I remember watching that on TV. Might have been broadcast on "ABC's Wide World of Sports" or something like that. Beautiful job on the cars and a wonderful time for U.S. road racing. That was the first of 4 Le Mans wins in a row.

 

I think we haven't won Le Mans overall.

[SK_in_AB]

What a great thread.

 

I only had an simple Eldon figure 8 Lemans set, but my brother and I played for hours. It had headlights on the cars so you could race in a dark room. We migrated to drag races on a straight track and then customized the cars. They didn't need the front tires so we glued them on the back and sprinkled flour on the track - then there were lots of spinning wheel power outs. Great to see the fancy set ups some of you were into (and still are)!!

 

Then when hot wheels came out that took a lot of our attention.

 

With 3 daughters I tried to get them interested in a slot car set for fun, but it never really took.

 

 

[bayoubengal]

Dangit gents my 11 year old caught me drooling on this threads pics and joined the droolfest. OK somebody post the recommended websites and a good recommendation for a quality HO starter set.

 

Man this site is expensive...

[SeanC]

For H.O. starter sets, definitely go with Tomy/AFX (you can run cars from any manufacturer on it, but you can't mix track from different mfrs). They offer a handful of sets, but the two best ones (and best bang for the buck as well) are the "Super International Raceway" and "24 Hour Champions" sets. The former has 25 feet of track for a four-lane setup, the latter 35 feet of track for a two-lane course. You should be able to find the International set for about $170 and the 24 Hour for $140 (give or take). I prefer the two-lane 24 Hour set because it has more sections of long track (both curves and straights). Even though the International set has more total track, a lot of the sections in the set are small curves and short straights intended for inside lanes. If you're interested in setting up a four-lane course, however, it is definitely the way to go. The International set offers four F1 style cars and the 24 Hour only two, but those two are the coolest new Le Mans cars Tomy has released (which sell for $65 bucks apiece independently!). Also the 24 Hour set has the "Tri-Power" pack power supply, which I highly recommend over the standard power supply (especially for kids). If you go with the International set, consider purchasing two Tri-Power packs separately.

 

As for websites, my favorite for information, tips, track layouts, etc. is Greg Braun's HO Slotcar Racing. You'll find just about everything you need to know about HO slots there. He evens offers cars, bodies, parts and track for sale. A good portal site for HO slots is HO Slot Racer, and a good site for searching for and purchasing individual cars is HO Slot Cars. There are many, many other HO sites, but these are good places to start. eBay, too, has more HO stuff for sale than you could imagine.

 

If you get into it and start modifying cars for racing -- or just want the best chassis, motors, tools and components available -- BSRT is the place to go. Their website design, layout and navigation is maddeningly stuck in the 90s, but their stuff is the best and their service is excellent. They offer RTR (ready to race) cars at reasonable prices. We run both BSRT G3s and G-Jets, which are snap-on compatible with car bodies from Tomy/AFX, and will fit bodies from other mfrs with a bit of tweaking.

 

Here's an interesting article about the BSRT G-Jet, which is what prompted me to buy them (the article is inexplicably not linked from BSRT's own site!). After reading it, I just knew G-Jets were for us. Most of my son's friends aren't good enough to race them yet, but Finn's getting pretty good with them (he's not yet 6 years old, but he's a maniac for all things race car related, and could probably figure out how to drive an actual F1 car if you let him).

[longjohn]

We use to put all the straight track together and made a dragstip with it.

Same here. We used Sure Grip on the tires for more traction. Then come the weekend it was off to Lyons, or Irwindale, or OC, or even San Fernando to watch the real thing.