The New Guy In Town

When you say tire is rubbing arm........ do you mean pick-up shoes on bottem of chassis ? Probably why I tapered backside of wheel, also o-ring stays on outside of wheel. Tires could be cut and glued on.

Don't worry about power supplies yet....... have fun with the kids. The cars run.
Hey, think the kids would like to see their cars in a race. Get their names in print during race reporting. Be part of the show ? N/FC is a NTRA stock 4g class running again this summer in New Zealand. Entry is easy, just ask for entry #'s when sign up starts. Name and class to be entered will get you entry #'s posted on list. We all ship cars from pre-determined spot at same time.
There is an age restriction to register on site, BUT NONE TO RACE !

Hope to see all three of you at some of the races........... think the kids would have a blast............ Peter

Dave, i have no intention on chopping the chassis now, ive subframed the car myself and have too many hours in it now to start cutting again. I need to fix what the officials said needs to be done and finish up the interior. I love driving the car around, it turns heads. As a body style not alot of folks like i think it looks very good, i kind of like it for that reason... you dont see many nice ones, bad thing is you get unwanted attention lol.

Thanks for clearing that up about Aurora.

Peter,

Yep thats exactly what i mean, thanks for reading between the lines. I understood what you were telling me earlier and it would make since on why you cut the wheels down the way you said.

Indeed, all this car talk just wants me to make some fast cars lol. Youre absolutely right, they really dont care how fast... they get from A to B and thats fine with them.

I think they would love to see their names on a screen and print out, but im lost as to how this works. We all send our cars to New Zealand? And someone there i am assuming will run them? Give me the low down on how the whole thing works.

Hey Flat,
Look for a thread called. Winter National sign up. You'll see how it works. Races every month for several classes. Entry fee is 7 dollars for up to 6 cars. $ is used to return cars, 2 day priority mail. Mailing info is posted with sign up or sent to entrants via pm's.
New Zealand race is a little different. Entry is a little bit higher...... and shipping info is posted. Cars need to leave a bit earlier than for domestic events.

Proxy racing is one of the sites features. On home page (desktop version) are links to schedule & rules.

........ Peter

Yep, all cars shipped together overseas...... Lewis , mentioned customs. Apparently last year they were having a hard time coming to grips with toys being insured. And race was delayed. Kiwidave, our host for the race. Jumped through hoops & did what it took to get the racing going though.

I always thought those year Camaros looked good. Compared to the ugly little cars that are out today they look terrific.
I don't remember the exact point where a roll cage was needed but I think it was 10 seconds and the faster you went the more cage and safety features you needed. Believe me you will be glad you have them if anything happens. A friend of mine rolled at around 200 and survived.
I myself was sideways at well over 100 but I drove thru it, did not touch the centerline or guardrail, When I saw the video it seemed so quick but in the car I thought I had a lot of time. Track crew congratulated me for the save.
You don't have to have a setup like I have to race. I wanted to go fast with these cars and I went a little overboard. You can find 0-30v 10 amp power supplies on E bay for under $100. This will give you all the power you need unless you are looking to go crazy fast with these cars.. We were able to see the amp meter peak at about 9 amps when just running one of the hot cars, but it happens so fast the meter cannot keep up.
The idea about using high capacity capacitors,(10 farads is a lot of juice), is good but as you mention dangerous. That charge is going to stay in those caps even when the power is off unless they are discharged. As you stated most of the amp draw occurs in the initial hit and then it diminishes as the car moves down the track. My system shows the 60' time and I can see that there is a definite loss there when the power is not available. I think I have some 5000mfd 50v caps around and I might try them as an experiment.
I would suggest reading the rules and entering some of the milder classes for starters. Even the small wall packs run those cars OK. The stock class in the upcoming race would not draw 1/2 and amp with 2 cars running. They are going to have to time my stock cars with a calender, boy are they slow.

This may end up to be a long post but i came across more Qs and stuff i want to talk about.

1st... with lewis and peter on the New Zealand race.

Dont take any of this in any way negative, im just highly curious, i have pennies it seems in my cars vs some of you, so far per car im lower than 20$ each, some ive seen are well into 100+. How is it you guys trust sending your cars over seas and not worry about them being stolen... or parts removed and replaced or even chassis switched? Also while they are there, say theres a problem with the car and i wanted to be like dave and Al and go 100mph but in doing so it goes up in flames like a rocket ship. I assume youre just DQ'd and your charcoal goes into the return box ahead of scheduel? I would guess there is no pits and there is no rebuilding the motor for the next race. I would assume someone is friends with someone in New Zealand and thats who will be taking care of the cars?

I havnt looked at the Winter National sign up, but i will after this and things may make more sense, thanks for the hook up Peter. I think i could do the 7$ 6 cars would be sweet, two cars for each of us, when the time comes ill let the kids pick out which cars they want and send them off. Mind you, theyre all slow... except that white and blue car and i bet my son picks it first -.- lol. I would simply assume my cars meet the regs, they are pretty much just out of the box AW 4gears lol no mods.

O-ring Axels : Looking at the picture of the axle i may agree with you Peter, this chassis is a straight, wider chassis than the 4gear i run. Im glad you brought that to my attention before i blew 10.00, Good Lookin Out Buddy. BUT...i messed up the stock tires trying to narrow them like a DA ( HeeHaw HeeHaw ). So i will be adventurous and see what i can make, the oring idea has got the wooden cogs burning, i just cant think too hard on it... start a fire or something.

Dave, Thanks for the compliment. When i got the car it was Iroc Blue and was fadded/rusty and was in a storage unit with a million boxes piled on it full of someones belongings that had been long forgotten since early 90s, the car had less than 50k miles but due to it sitting didnt run. It was the World Trade Center for a mouse village it seemed, i found over 50$ in coins alone, snap-on sockets, trading cards and a BUNCH of stuff. I bought it not running for 1,500 and repaired the fuel problems and the rat nest wiring and drove it for awhile. I landed a job as a oil field mechanic and made real good money when it was booming, i was making more money than sense and parked the car and dismantled it and over 4 years made it into what you see. I worked for a hot rod shop here in town after coming home from the military as a youngman and we built numerous cars that were sold at Barret Jackson, 56 Murcurys to 71 Short Wides a Bullet Replica Mustang... you name it. But a young guy and a wife to be can only live on 300 a week for so long and off to the oil patch i went, never looked back. All that experience is why the car looks the way it does, you learn to hide all the manufacture inperfections. So far ive been lucky and never had any of my cars sideways, ive had the cuda up to 160 and the camaro will get up to 180-190 range but with the low gears shes wound for sound.

I think i will look into a power supply, and if you beat me to the capacitor idea let me know how it works. I would say to discharge the capacitor would be easy for times you arnt racing, simply unplug your power or turn off the power, set a car on the track and try and make a pass... good thing about capacitors is you can fill and dump them as many times as you want, they take a beating.

like i said earlier, most of my cars are straight from the box. I dont even think thwy will have a chance BUT like peter said, the kids will enjoy it and to me... thats all that matters. I raced a AWD 2004 silverado short wide here in town a couple months back, he was pushing 1100rwhp with twin turbos. HP alone i already knew he had me but we raced anyway, its not winning, its the race for me. I just like to race, you cant win them all.

but you can try like hell. ;-)

LOL! No Way, However... my RL life car, i wont even let the wife drive it! lol.

Nope, i feel that if everyone here sends their cars im not too worried about it. It was just on my mind was all, im not saying anyone here would do that sort of thing but its just crazy to me i suppose on how far slot cars has evolved since i was a kid. Gotta think, the last time before i purchased this kit for my kids that i raced slot cars was 91-92ish and i was 6 or so LOL. I would have never thought in a million years that i would grow up and send slot cars to New Zealand and someone there would race them for me. But im all for it... Now... to convince the wife. The way i will tackle that is get the kids first... especially the daughter, then she plays the puppy dog eyes and BAM im in Winter Nationals. lol!

Couple Qs about it, i read over the rules and let me know if im right.

I would be in the N/TF, 6 cars total. 2 for me 2 for Dominic ( my son ) and 2 for ( Jasmine ) my daughter. So i would let ninja know, pay 7$ to enter and stuff the cars in a box with 7$ and send it to where ever they tell me correct?

Your Malibu looks good, theres a schoolbus yellow one about the same year it appears as yours ( 86ish im assuming ) but its a 4 door, its alright i suppose. Its caged and all that jazz but i can get him close to everytime by 4 cars, depends on if i have my pillow and fall asleep or not. I havnt weighed mine recently but i would be willing to say i fall in at about 2700-2900. But No interior No Cage. Ada is about an Hr to Hr n a half from me " Thunder Valley " its an 1/8th and all the guys from Street Outlaws go there... its a madhouse... not only that the cooldown section is pretty short and makes an abrupt turn at the end and alot of accidents have happened there after the races are over. Then theres Tulsa, its about the same distance but its a NHRA sanctioned track, more rules, more watchful eyes and not as much horsing around. Everyones real polite and the staging lanes arnt croweded with people like at Thunder Valley.

But... TV is TV so dont believe all you see on Discovery Channel.

Flat,
This summer's race at Voltage Valley Raceway will be the third at this track.
I've been sending cars to NTRA events for 4yrs, this will be my 5th season. I use US priority mail....... have been delays with Fedex, don't think anybody uses them any more.
The overseas race does not involve cars of expensive builds. One of the classes, N/FC is stock 4g's w/slip on tires. Just like you have. Thats why I suggested it.
If loss is a concern insurance is available for little $. Think priority mail comes with $50.- insurance.

........ Peter