Scalextric Australian V8 Super Car - standard chassis. Many suggestions in this article apply to most slot cars

Set Up Recommendations - updated June 2015

It has been indicated the older versions of the Scalextric Super Car can be made to perform well with modification.

Motor Pinion & Rear Axle spur gear

One of the Modifications is to change to metal gears - spur gear and pinion. I prefer the NSR gears but Slot.it are probably just as good. I have found the Scalextric plastic gears seem to perform well so you may not see big benefit fitting metal gears. So I would try the original gears for performance before changing.

Generally the 11 tooth pinion is used. The shaft of the Mabuchi motor is swaged to take the original plastic pinion. The high parts should be leveled to the same diameter as the section of the shaft that is not swaged.

The Spur gear should be in place first so that the pinion gear can be pushed on to line up with it. The spur gear required if replaced is a 36 T

All should suit the 11-tooth pinion (of the same brand) and be the same external diameter of 18.5mm and fit a 3/32' axle. The NSR uses a 4.40 grub screw. Slot.it use the smaller M2 grub screw.

Rear Axle Bushes

NSR rear axle bushes are good quality with a lubrication recess on the inside of the bearing. Other brands of rear axle bushes can be of similar quality.

Sloting plus have eccentric bushes that lower the chassis height. They are available in 3mm & 6mm offset. These are used in the Holden and the older Ford chassis but not in the newer FG Falcon chassis as that is already low enough.

Once clipped in tho the chassis so the offset is correct and the 2 indents line up vertically I carefully put some drops of Super Glue (Locktite Brand is my favourite). This is added to the channel in the bush that clips into the plastic chassis. The Super Glue runs around the channel to secure the bearing.

You probably are unable to remove the axle bushes without damaging the chassis clips so be careful the set up is correct before super gluing. I have seen some super glue dissolving compounds advertise but have not tried them.

Rear Wheels & Tyres

Rear wheels - I suggest the 13mm MJK air ride - lightweight rims. But again there are many options. They have to end up with the maximum track that is able to fit within the body. The original wheels may have good enough in performance so it may not be an advantage to change to a metal gear. There is a small hub protruding on the rear face of the MJK 13mm wheel - this has to be removed to enable fitting within the body width.

The widest tire that can fit is the 4205 pro slot size and may have to be trimmed to fit under the rear guards of the V8 Super Car later models . Some select MJK 20x10 for Slot.it for the rear tyres .These usually fit without need to trim and do perform well.

Rear tyre truing can be done on a tyre lathe but most seem to perform well with out that with 4 small dots super glue applied on each bead of the rim with a tooh pick . I usually alternate driving and running the tyres on the sanding block until true.

Front Wheels & Tyres

The original front wheels & tyres can be used but roundness must be checked . Sometimes the tyres can be reduced in diameter a small amount by sanding on the tyre lathe. This is to lower the front of the chassis and reduce clearance between the track and the chassis . This means more bearing on the guide & braids and making the front tyres so they just touch the track surface.

We can advise on methods to do this operation if you ask we can detail what options there are to reduce tyre size & true the tyres Once the front tyres are fiited and trued it my pay to put some super glue in three spots around the rim beads to hold them in place on the rim.

The other alternative is to fit a new axle & removable alloy rims to the front . This simplifies truing the front tyres and adjusting the chassis height. The chassis height should be such that the front tires just touch on the track when the guide with braid fitted is in the slot.

Front Tyre anti drag treatment

If you do not have low slip tires fitted coat the front tires with nail polish. Bostic Multi bond glue very good & durable for coating the tyre. This is easy to apply by placing a bead of glue around the circumference of the tyre & the smoothing it around the tyre while rotating the other side wheel . I use a finger to smooth the glue over the tyre surface evenly while the wheel is rotating . It has to be done in only one revolution though.

The Guide

The guide is usually changed to a deep wood guide in place of the Scalextric plastic track guides. An "adapter " is needed to reduce the diameter of the guide post hole in the chassis.

These are produced by Nova - B and the 1/32" thick adapter is correct usually. Before fitting the adapter, the flange at the top the guide post hole has to be removed so the new guide post will pass through

When fitting the adapter. Just apply glue on the flat flange of the adapter. - not down the guide post hole.

I prefer fitting a "suspension" Guide. This allows for undulations of the track braid. and sharper and up hill corners. This is a guide with a longer post. If it is a "clip" in post a spacer is fitted at the top of the pole to prevent the guide dropping more than 2 mm . This enables the guide to hit the chassis turning stop without the guide from rotating too far. A correct tension spring is fitted between the base of the guide and the chassis to provide the suspension of the guide. Some do not like this method but I have had success with a wide range of slot cars.

Make sure the guide is free to rotate & self-centers. Self centering can be achieved by the correct placement of the motor wires. The self centering is highly desirable to assist corner marshals to quickly replace the cars after de-slotting.

Motor Wires

I suggest replacing the original Scalextric motor power wires. They are too thin for reliable service . Also there are plugs & wiring & radio suppression for digital operation which are not required and can be removed . A good quality "silicon " motor wire is recommended .

Two wire eyelets are required to fit the motor wires to the guide & the wires have to be soldered on to the motor power tabs. The correct polarity of the wires will have to be located on a test track. The positive wire goes to the right hand side of the guide.

The body can be lowered at the front by shortening the body posts but are careful to have about 1mm body clearance to the track.

Rear lowering is open to debate. I would not sacrifice rear wheel track for the sake of lowering the body. Having 1 or 2mm extra rear track is far more beneficial than a 2 or 3 mm lower body.

To retain the body I use Slot It 2.2 mm x 8 mm small head screws. Part # CH51 they are M2 fine tread screws. They are less likely to unscrew in operation than the self-tappers. They can feel a bit hard to get down to the correct body float position. They may need alternating the direction while screwing them in. But I believe it is worthwhile fitting the 8 mm screws as they are less likely to unscrew than the shorter screws. In some cases the 6 mm long acre has to be used if the body post is too short.

Added Ballast Weight

This is an area of experimentation. However quite a few seem to use a 20 mm x 20mm x 1mm block under the motor.This is fitted after removing the chassis "flutes" below the motor. This allows the weight to sit flush with the bottom of the chassis. The area is then covered with good quality wide tape - like Tarzan's Grip Tape. This position for adding weight is the most effective one for best handling. I use this method on all Scalextric sidewinder car in the Classic Touring & GT3 classes

Also about 12 mm by 20mm about 30mm behind the Guide position On top of the chassis . Try the 0.5 mm thickness but you may need more .

A 25mm by 10mm X 1mm piece of lead placed 10mm under the rear axle is worth while option to try on all models of the V8's and other scalextric chassis .As with all weight placement benefit can be gained by trying different positions and sometimes off set balance weights are helpful particularly for tracks with more corners that turn in the same direction. I call this weight balancing.

Motors

Motors - the only motor allowed in this class is the standard Mabuchi 18,000 rpm (Mabuchi’s Rating). But the "Black Stripe” motor may be used.

These motors have a mixed level of performance with variations of up to 3000 rpm. So good luck if you get a "good one" Some testing with an infrared RPM meter may be of advantage to find the best motor. However this class will be subject to fixed gear ratios in 2016 . So therefore there could be a "speed limit" on the cars.

 This means cars over a speed figure set may have to change the motor for one of standard performance. This is to equalise the field and not to give advantage to those few "lucky" to get an exceptional motor. The gear ratio in the V8 Class will be set at 11T pinion and 36 tooth spur gear of not less than 18.5 mm in diameter

When the car is complete and tested it may pay to use some Araldite or super glue to retain the rear axle bushes. Also a small of Bostic Multi bond on the motor will stop the motor dislodging . Check where to put the glue so as not to damage chassis.

Tire Truing - really true tires are paramount to good performance. Spinning the wheels on a sandpaper block can achieve true tires - if the wheels & axles are true to start with.

Tire lathes can also be used. The best performance seems to be if the tire edges are rounded so no "corner" can be felt.

Any suggested improvements to this article can be added to this article. I do not claim to "owned" by me. It is more a slot car community effort and I hope other see it in that light. The principals in this article can be applied to all slot cars and experimented with.

I believe no one in slot cars know everything and each car is an individual. So please Listen and experiment . Keep in mind if you think something is new it probably has all been done before.