big den

Thanks to both Sticks and DM. I have placed an order Den

G'day Bowley, Have you thought about the SCX rally cars that come in the 4WD configuration as standard? These have an extended motor shaft which drives crown gears on both front and rear axles. You probably won't find many new ones for sale at retail outlets but I dare say there are still quite a few sitting in members' collections. Den

Thanks for the link Sticks ... I'll check out the Ace website. The 47.5 mm axles shown won't suit all applications but hopefully there will be various lengths. Den

After experiencing far too many bent 3/32 axles (including new from the packet) I decided to follow up suggestions made on some forums that I try 'drill blanks'. In my naivety I assumed that if you can buy manufactured drill bits for as low as $2 each then the 'un-manufactured' drill blanks would be cheaper. Not so it seems. Including in my EBay perusing was this one : https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/225194856834?mkevt=1&mkpid=2&emsid=e112358.m43.l1123&mkcid=8&bu=43755764345&osub=-1~1&segname=16TE179852_T_PREPURCHASE_CT1&crd=20230308090000&ch=osgood How desperate would you have to be to pay $4.77 for an axle PLUS $96.09 in postage? EBay asked me if I was still interested in the one above. NO THANKS! Den

Like you 'Cure' the postal charges from Spain have (until recently) deterred me from buying slot car supplies from that country. But around two months ago I found some 3D printed items on EBay that I really wanted to buy. Rather than the usual $40-plus postal charge that certain sellers charge, this EBay seller was very reasonable, charging around $15 for a 3D printed chassis and slightly less for smaller 3D items. The initial stumbling block was the EBay system which prevented me asking for combined postage because the seller had OFFERED a discount on some of the items. If I bought , for instance, two rear wings for Ninco DTM Audi cars I would save the princely sum of $1 but would pay around $24 postal charges just for those wings. Even if I did not buy two of the same item and therefore didn't receive any discount I was still prevented from requesting combined postage - because the seller had OFFERED a discount. After some discussions in which the seller said he often missed out on international sales because of the EBay policy, he created a special 'stock package' that was made up of the five individual items that I wanted to buy. So in the end I paid around $16 total in postal charges saving around $40 on what EBay wanted me to pay. I was lucky to have found a very cooperative seller. More recently I purchased an item from Hobby Classic in Spain which cost 75 Euros and the postage/shipping cost was 20 Euros, which I also considered to be quite reasonable.. Den

Hello Peter, It might be a bit late if you have already made plans for Saturday 18th, but as Phil mentioned we are having a Race-meet at the 'Legana Seca' track tomorrow. Legana is a satellite suburb of Launceston about 15 km north of the city via the West Tamar Highway. The track opens for practice at 12 noon and racing will start around 1 pm. I'm quite happy for you to send a PM (personal message) to provide details and directions. I'm sure I could arrange a couple of 'loaner' cars if you fancied having a run. Den.

Hello "curef99" ... I'm in agreement with Chris Walker - assuming the mounting holes in the can end of your Shark motor are the same 'pattern' as your long can motor, why not bolt it in and see how it performs? If there is no improvement or it happens to be worse then you simply undo a couple of screws, de-solder a couple of lead wires and restore the car to its original configuration. "With any luck the SW motor pods (FC-130) should be available by year end." Hopefully that will happen, but that's in Canada. Who knows how long before the sidewinder pod is available in Australia? Den

Hey there 'picko990' Depending on how keen you are to get tyres for your Dslot car you could try SlotCarsTyres who are located in France. Here's the link: https://www.slotcarstyres.kingeshop.com/accueil-caaaaaaaa.asp I dealt with the original owner-operator and received excellent service. Sadly "Bruno" passed away a couple of years ago Manufacturing was taken over by another enthusiast who has been operating the business for about 18 months. The website is mainly in French but you'll recognise the names of the slot car companies that are catered for. There is a small Kyosho section but it's not clear whether the tyres are for 1:43 scale. However, there is a sizeable 1:43 section on the website with several companies catered for, and tyres sizes are specified. You may be able to match your tyres with one of the many products shown on the website. Den

Hi Tony, I bought parts from Atomic some years ago but in more recent times I've experienced a similar problem to you - no response to email queries about parts etc. When the website started showing Cyrillic (Russian) characters in my browser I decided to give it a wide berth. Den

Bov, It could be a Concours score, or perhaps the value of the 'unmarked currency' attached to the cars. Den

Hi Rosco, I endorse the comments of the blokes who have mentioned Plafit gears as an alternative for 3 mm axles, and have actually fitted a Plafit spur and pinion to one of my Revoslot Ferrari 333SP. I mentioned the Plafit pinion as well as the spur gear as you have to ensure that both have the same pitch i.e. teeth per inch, and some times there are subtle differences that may affect gear mesh. Has the change of ratio worked? Having had very little opportunity to check lap times in the past couple of years 'the jury' is still out. In regard to the 'wrong-sided' hub on the MR spur gear Ninco actually made angle-cut spur gears with the hub in the same orientation as the MR. However, I am not sure whether spur gears are exactly 3/32nd bore or whether they are 2.50 mm bore as was Ninco's custom in their early years. Den

Thanks for the news Munter, sad as it is. I did a spot of Googling, including on Slotforum, and there are plenty of details about the new operator, who by all accounts is continuing Bruno's legacy. As I mentioned in my previous post Bruno came across as a real 'gentilhomme' who delivered great products very promptly, and always included a 'Thank You' note with his shipments. My tyres box proudly carries his Slotcarstyres sticker. Den

FYI Munter, If Slotcarstyres.com (Bruno) in France is the one you're referring to I believe he closed his business a year or so back for family reasons. I've bought quite a few sets of tyres from him over the years and always had great service from him. I recently got some MJK tyres to restore some Marusan F1 cars but that's still a 'works in progress'. The MJK 1:32 tyres I've used on various cars have always performed well. Den

Hi fellas, I'm not involved in this proxy but having just recently found an Australian source for Predator motors I'm eager to able to get to a track to test them out. An 18K motor for around $16 and the 22K double ball-race version for just on $20 make them very appealing. Den

Thanks for the info Matt. Although I probably wouldn't compete the event may just be the nudge I need to have a holiday. I'm not a great sight-seer but traveling to an event that is part of my hobby-sport sound appealing. Den

Hello Folks I'm planning to set up a small Carrera oval as a test track and would like to be able to connect the standard 'terminal track' straight track to a variable power supply, and to also be able to use my Professor Motor and DS hand-controllers. I'd prefer to leave the existing Carrera power supply and controllers leads intact, so I'm wondering if anyone might have any spare leads from a power supply and controllers that may have passed their use-by date? Alternatively, does anyone know what commercially available connectors that I could use to make my own 'patch leads'? Den

How about these 'Scalextric' gems? https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/185316534079?hash=item2b25b9e73f:g:LisAAOSwL69iGv9C Den

Now that I've had a few days to pick myself up off the floor Mal, my very AMATEUR opinion is that I always felt I had better low-speed control with the thumb-style controller. The bio-mechanics experts will probably have a different opinion and I have even heard discussions about which of your 'trigger fingers' gives you the optimum level of control. To explain my preference it is important to note that the era when I was using thumb controllers was almost exclusively involved with 1:24 scale cars on larger tracks than we deal with in our current Tasmanian 1:32 scale racing. It must also be taken into account that the 'resistor' controllers I was using, say 20 to 25 years ago, did not have the almost infinite range of adjustments that have been incorporated into our current crop of electronic controllers. In the end it comes down to what the individual feels comfortable with, but it is worth noting that a New Zealander, Dave Gick, had considerable international success using a thumb-style controller ... although it was probably a far different beast than the vintage models we have seen displayed in this thread. The passing of time also affects our own personal capacities. The 30-minute driving stints in enduros that I could handle during the 1990s are long gone! Den

Ebay, entertaining? At times, Yes, but with the capacity to be infuriating, confusing and just plain dumb as well. I'm currently looking to buy some decal preparation and finishing products (5 items) but Ebay wants to charge me separate postage on each small item, telling me that I "can't request an invoice total on items that require immediate payment". In other words "Buy It Now" rather than Auction transactions. So I will approach the retailer privately, ask for a combined postage deal, and Ebay will get Zero in fees. In another twist to the system a 'seller' offered me (supposedly) better prices if I dealt direct because there would be no 'third party fees' involved. But when it came to nitty gritty the prices were exactly the same as on Ebay and the postage was more expensive. Den

Vintage??? Doesn't seem all that long ago that I was using an MRC 15-ohm 'thumb controller' at the Hobart tracks - a little bit before 'Malomay' joined the the group. From memory it ended up playing havoc with the track power so I had to get me one of those newfangled Professor Motor controllers. Going a bit further back to the late 1990s I remember using an MRRC 5-ohm controller (similar to the Cox design) in the last bracket (heat) of a 12-hour race at a commercial raceway, much to the amusement and amazement of the younger drivers present. After finishing my driving stint I was surprised when my teammates told me to leave it plugged in so they could have a go with the ancient controller. It survived the full 90 minutes of the bracket without overheating or any other dramas. Den

Hello Paul, I am not entirely sure but looking at the 9.6 mm version of these inserts the pattern looks very much like the front wheels of early Scalextric F1 (and other) cars. If so there are probably bucket-loads of them among your club members' collections. Den

As someone who is involved with clubs that race a variety of 'vintage' categories using cars that the manufacturers no longer support in terms of spare parts (tyres included) I have found MJK tyres to have good track-holding performance. My Ninco vintage sports cars, Pioneer Trans-Ams, Carrera NASCARs and Revell-Monogram 'Stockers' are examples of cars that have shown noticeable improvement when MJK tyres have been used to replace the originals. I haven't had any trouble with trueing MJKs with fond memories of the piles of white 'debris' that accumulate during the process. The only drawbacks I have found can be in the 'supply chain' where I have had to purchase small quantities from multiple sources, which can be rather expensive in regard to freight/postage costs. It is not uncommon to find that a retailer or wholesaler might list the part numbers that I am seeking, only to add those three words that cause despair to customers everywhere : "OUT OF STOCK" Den

Hello davo43 Even if you do find that a particular motor (or motors) run faster in one direction, in practical terms there is little you can do to take advantage of the fact. In a sidewinder or angle-winder chassis that has the gear positioned next to the left rear wheel (when viewed from above) the motor will need to turn clockwise in order for the car to move forward. If you were to change the lead-wires over so that (potentially) the motor would run faster it would then turn anti-clockwise and the car would speed off in 'reverse gear'. In an inline configuration you may have the option of putting the crown gear closest to the left rear wheel but in most modern, mass-produced inline chassis there is a recess for the gear closest to the right rear wheel. You would have to modify the chassis to accommodate the gear if you were to move it to the left side. To gain advantage from a motor that revs faster when going 'the wrong way' you would need to scratch-build a chassis that has the gear positioned on the 'best revving' side. Den

Do you happen to have a link to the appropriate eBay site, DM? Thanks Den

Thanks a lot Chris. For some reason I had a fixation on using a round file where the square one makes more sense. Den