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Post by FlatBlackCamaro on Feb 17, 2015 17:33:50 GMT -7
Hello All, My names Brandon, most people just call me Flat or FBC because of the car i drive. Its a 1989 Iroc drag car, 580rwhp close to 800 on spray and 9.6s is the fastest ive had it. For the moment the cars down due to changes that need to be made and upgrades so this winter ( Christmas ) i bought my kids the AutoWorld John/Ashley Force drag track. i was born in 85 and mid 90s we all had a track we would go to But... it was Nothing like this. I think i was just excited about it as they were, i figured ive grown up racing and they love to watch me race so why not take them back in time to something that was popular when i was a kid. So we unpackged it and set it up... to my disappointment the tree didnt work, i called and AW sent a new one to my house and just said keep the old one. The one they sent works but the pre-staging light on the left lane is burnt out or not hooked up. Needless to say...we raced and raced and raced. As kids do, theyved somewhat got bored and so have i a bit so i searched the web on customization and thus... here i am. Ive been kind of scouring the pages and picking up on hints, seeing what tools i need and trying to find ways to simply upgrade what i have. This is mainly for the kids so the " push,click,stage, go " set up is just fine, but i envy some of the beautiful tracks you fellas have... just Wow. And the RTs and ETs are just amazing, i read one post where someone made a 50mph pass... thats mind blowing to me. Im largely on customizing, and i love some of the realistic features you guys have put on some cars. Ive been reading over ( cant remember whos thread ) but its about slamming the funny cars and taking the cartoonish look away and giving them a more realistic look , bravo. Ive got a set of cars and they are just AW cars i dont have custom chassis or anything fancy.  They are set Left/Slowest to Right/ Fastest. |
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Post by FlatBlackCamaro on Feb 17, 2015 17:52:09 GMT -7
I took the slowest ( not in the picture ) and removed the body and followed instructions from here on how to narrow the rear. First i noticed i didnt have a way to remove the wheels and i searched around here and found that most of you had a tool that i did not... a wheel puller. After searching ebay and various sites the cheapest ive found was 20$. Im a field mechanic, i use and abuse tools on a daily basis so i see it as, if i couldnt get a tool with a warranty id just have to make my own. Heres what i came up with, i took a 1" Nut, drilled and tapped it to fit a 7/16 socket head bolt 2 1/2" long. I then took a 1/16th drill bit and drilled about 1" deep. I realized the front shaft was a smaller diameter than the rear, so i found a smaller bit that fit the front shaft from a finger drill or some people call it a torch drill you can find them at any welding shop for 7$. I melted flux on the end of the bolt and down the shaft, i then put the bit in the bolt and heated the bolt and used the heat to suck the solder down inside the bolt and thats what would hold the bit there giving me a hardened shaft to drive my wheels off. I used a bench grinder to thin the bottom side of the nut and used a small hand triangle file to file the inside so that the wheel would fit. Lastly i made a slot for the axle of the car to slide into. Heres what it looks like.   |
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Post by FlatBlackCamaro on Feb 17, 2015 18:31:46 GMT -7
My son has what seems like every Hotwheels car imaginable, so finding a victim isnt hard. First i found a 66 Nova that seemed to just call out to be made a prostock, i drilled the chassis and removed the wheels from the slot chassis using the puller and was pleased with how it worked. I saw where someone had advised to use a spare axle and spin the axle in the chuck of a drill and use a xacto knife. Well that left me $#!% out of luck... i have no spare parts and removing the axle from the chassis wasnt an option i wanted to make. So i removed the tire and chucked the rim side of the wheel inward very easy leaving a x2 paper thickness of the backing of the rim sticking out and used the back side of the blade as advised. It didnt take alot of strength on the chuck to the rim to hold the rim as i trimmed the excess off, theres not alot of force and i would assume it would be because you would use the same Technique as you would on a lathe and when thats taken down to 64th scale the stress isnt so bad. Anywho, on the front axle... i messed up. First i cut the axle too short and with the rims and tires on it rubs the arms. So... you can laugh lol but i tried to trim the front wheels until i realized they are grooved in the center. So - a set of front tires. Heres what i have so far.  here are a couple of Projects i have planned, i would like to build a Iroc like the one i race with, and i also have a 67 Barracuda that i would like to build a small replica of. I belive the hotwheels is a 69 but they are the same body style and are very simular.  im looking for easy and pretty cheap ways to upgrade what i have, if you have any ideas im more than happy to listen. Ive seen where different volts are used on tracks and im not 100% sure as to why or what are the advantages, im pretty mechanical so i could see how more volts more power but more heat. Id imagine on some of the track systems ive seen i would put money that at the end of a race the motor could get fairly hot. Ive also seen how the AW chassis are flawed in many ways... if theres any easy ways to make them a bit faster id like to hear that as well. However im lacking in the technical vocabulary that all of you have... silly tires this, green arms that... i am lost. With all that said, Nice to meet you all And Good Luck on your next race. |
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Post by pceng on Feb 17, 2015 18:54:46 GMT -7
Hey Brandon,
WELCOME TO NITRO SLOTS !
Tons of info on making AW cars faster. And other kinds of chassis also. If you need help finding anything or just have questions, don't be shy.
Nice job with the wheel puller......... you may find yourself making more tools for this hobby. Next time try a C-clamp, one less hole to drill & tap. ;-)
......... Peter
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Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2015 19:02:40 GMT -7
flat/brandon. Welcome, nice work on that puller. I have seen $40+ pullers that weren't that well thought out.
look around the threads and ask questions. many here love to help.
where are you located?
there might be someone very close by who could visit, or you could visit them.
I am in the Phi PA area and don't mind traveling to visit fellow drag slot heads.
also, I might have a rudimentary timing system available for you when you are ready to take that step.
again, welcome and congratulations on finding the best drag racing site in the world.
al
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Post by pceng on Feb 17, 2015 19:31:28 GMT -7
First thing many do is replace rear tires with silicone "slip-ons". Replacement tires with far better grip. The front tires can be replaced with o-rings.
Mean Green armatures are pancake style arms like in your cars. The stock arms in AW pancake chassis will have a resistance reading of 14 to high 15 ohms. Mean Green arms ohm about 6.0 give or take a few tenths. Less resistance means higher rpm.
Scroll down home page to bottem. Many of the logo's are links to sites. Lucky Bob's is a good one for parts.
Hope this helps....... Peter
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Post by FlatBlackCamaro on Feb 17, 2015 19:40:46 GMT -7
Thank You to both of you, ha ha that does make sense. I was merely working with what i had on hand, all together figuring the price of everything i may have a couple bucks wrapped into the puller. WOW 40+$... well i guess if you cant build your own youd have to choose on buying one.
I do have one question and thats on Lube. I see some use a small bottle of what id assume would be Marvel Mystery Oil? And they lube i would assume the pancake gear and that would move the lube around the chassis? Well in the industry im in i have a full silicone gel that claims it wont clump,melt,harden,wash away or deviate the area and its called SillGlide. You can buy a tube of it at Napa and most people who use it install windows in vehicles it takes friction almost completely away. I use it for almost unlimited things but i mainly use it on the rubber of oil filters. We all know that if you dont put oil or lube on the rubber that the next oil change will be a PITA. It had worked so well on numerous things i tried it on a peterbilt oil filter and after 500hrs of service i took the filter off by hand and there were no previous oil leaks around the seal. I see that friction as with most things anyone wants to go fast needs to be kept to minimal, less friction on the gears the easier for the motor to turn and more power put to the wheels. Since were talking plastic, do you think that SillGlide may be a good lubricant vs a thin oil such as Marvel or what others are using in a bottle?
I appreciate the willingness to help alpink but i live in McAlester,OK about 1.5hrs from the southern oklahoma line on highway 69. That would be one heck of a drive for some questions lol! i would like to know if anyone is around, as far as i know there arnt any places within 2 hours of driving to race. I may be interested in a timing system, depends on the size really... as for now the track i have lays on the floor in our game room and we pick it up when not playing. I would like to eventually have it solid mounted, ive noticed that these long straight pieces have a bow in the middle slightly and as i watch the cars they bounce a little.
As for the cars, the last 4 are pretty fast.. the first little blue and white promod is lightning fast, in fact its so fast we almost dont play with it because it almost 1/4 tracks the rest of them. As for why there is so much variants in chassis... idk. I would say too many movable parts and more areas for difference? I believe the chassis that i see most of you run where the motor ( or as ive seen it called an armature? ) is laying flat with two bearings/bushings on either end and a drive gear to a driven gear would be much more reliable. Any quick tips to put some spunk in these AW chassis? If you can, link me to where i need to go if theres too much information to be posted and ill read up.
Much appreciated fellas
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Post by FlatBlackCamaro on Feb 17, 2015 19:58:00 GMT -7
Tires, thats another subject i have Qs for. Like i said i have been reading over Alot of the info here and ive seen alot of talk about rims and tire sizes and apparently theres a vast variety of tire sizes? is there a code i can decipher that will tell me my rim size such as 275/45R18 would be 275mm 45% on a 18" Rim. If not i have no idea what to even order, i would like a thicker tire as ive seen on some of the slammed funnys ive seen the stock tires seem thin to me personally.
And Traction is another good subject. I was reading where someone removed one of the magnets that hold the car to the track and another removed both. With using purely stock AW cars i tried this and my outcome was waaaay different than what i was reading. Their cars were said to be faster, mine had increased tire spin on green and poor traction down the track. Would the slip ons be what would have made the difference in results?
I fully understand that less resistance = more power. Would i be better off adding copper braid or buying the green arms? I dont see lucky bobs but it could be that im using the mobile site on my phone, ill look it up thanks for the tip.
Flat
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Post by TGM2054 on Feb 17, 2015 20:28:31 GMT -7
I take out both traction magnets on the stock chassis' cars. You might check the rivet that holds the rear cluster gear, sometimes they need tightened up to eliminate the slop. The silicone tires will help a bunch too. I'd go with the smaller ones on a stock car, but there's others here that have had better luck than I.
Nice Camaro! I wish I still had mine, didn't have near the motor yours has, '86 IROC, 305 4bbl with a 5speed but it sure was a lot of fun.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2015 20:32:16 GMT -7
red transmission fluid is a very good oil for these cars. but there are all kinds of magic elixirs folks will try to sell you
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Post by ninjatek on Feb 17, 2015 20:39:04 GMT -7
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Post by TGM2054 on Feb 17, 2015 20:44:23 GMT -7
red transmission fluid is a very good oil for these cars. but there are all kinds of magic elixirs folks will try to sell you Dextron, Mercon, Type F ? Inquiring minds want to know. LOL! Just funning Al. |
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Post by pceng on Feb 17, 2015 20:45:58 GMT -7
Hey Flat,
I use mobil version also. At bottem of page look for desktop. A click will switch versions seen. Could always just punch in name.
Most tires are based on hub size. If you can phone in an order, whomever your talking to should be able to tell you whats available for given hub.
....... Peter
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Post by FlatBlackCamaro on Feb 17, 2015 20:50:30 GMT -7
Thanks for the comment on the car! Its a fully roller 350 4bm,bottle fed 110 aviation fuel @ 12.7:1, a 580 comp cam with 1.6 roller rockers which takes me to a 600. TCI TH350, Moser 9" rear posi alum TruTrack 3rd member, corvette subframe. But i still cant pull the wheels like yours LOL. But that doesnt keep me from trying.
I tried removing the magnets and visually the cars seemed slower and if i can tell just with my eyes and you guys have a timing set up on tracks i would say .3-.5 losses at just a guess.
Tightening a rivet you say lol, i would assume there is a tool for this? Or am i stuck with hammer and punch and hope i dont get it too tight?
Thanks for the help, ill give the magnets another go and do more tests, the only way i would remotely have a way to time the races would be to film the race on my phone and even then i would only be able to tell 00:00 difference. But its a start.
Flat
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Post by pceng on Feb 17, 2015 20:54:01 GMT -7
red transmission fluid is a very good oil for these cars. but there are all kinds of magic elixirs folks will try to sell you Dextron, Mercon, Type F ? Inquiring minds want to know. LOL! Just funning Al. Mobil super synthetic 5w-20........... Qt. of anything is lifetime supply compared to tiny bottles that cost the same or more. |
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