Hard body chassis wish list

[proxieken]

I was talking to a couple of friends last night and we were thinking about what was needed in a chassis. I have a small plastic injection machine in the workshop and was wanting to make some old model kits into slot cars. Not for extreme competition, but for model building and casual racing.
First off, I can not do the "pop" in style axle bushing holders. That requires a 4 axis machine and we do not have access to one. So the front and rear axles are both going to be half moons held in by locking plates and screws. One for both front axles and one for the rear. The rear axle hold down will also secure the back of the inline motor. We were thinking the motor in the front would be ideal to save the interior of the cars, but not sure if that is practical. That would require sourcing some sort of driveshaft. The goal is to make them as cheap as possible.
The wheel base has to be adjustable, but the guide flag should be adjustable as well so you can alter the wheel size and still keep it at the right depth. A place for magnets that can be adjusted, and a place where a digital chip can be installed if desired are the last 2 things I can think of.
I am building one of the AMT slot car/model kits and I am not real impressed with it to be honest with you. I want to like it because I fhink the concept is neat and it opens up a lot of possibilities. It just seems that plastic is a better option for a low cost and lightweight chassis.
Anything I missed?

[HomeRacingWorld]

I admire your ambition.

First, the AMT kits are likely the worst example of a slot car "kit" in our hobby. They never intended for people to try and race them, they are really more for collectors than racers.

Front motor systems are not very popular. I have seen many models built that do work with them, but for the most part, they invite many problems for the average racer.

I have my own chassis/parts I use in my builds, but I will be interested to see what design you come up with.

Good luck.

[DAVE]

I'm old school and still feel metal is the best material for 1/24th slot car chassis. But I
always keep an open mind. Is your machine hot runner or the old "bangalore torpedo"
style injection? Also, there are a number of mold componants that you can check out
which actuate during the ejection cycle and will allow you to mold the bushing saddles
without the extra cycle capability. Check out suppliers like Progressive Componants and
National Mold Supply to see if anything will work for you.
The problem I see with using plastic as a chassis for 1/24th hardbodies is the material
has to be rigid to support the weight of the body and resilient enough to take the heavy
impacts. I'd really like to see a plastic chassis happen. Keep us updated on your progress.

[Florida_Slotter]

We just finished up with one of the most FUN racing seasons at our local slot car track. We raced Parma FCR cars. 4.5 inch behemoths that run exceedingly good for what they are. For $39.99 you get a solid brass chassis, motor, wheels, tires, axles, guide, wires, etc'. About the only thing you have to add is a body.

One of our racers mounted a BRM Porsche 962C on his chassis and ran it around the track. It ran much better then it did with the stock BRM chassis under it. Seems kind of strange though to mount a $65.00 hard body on a $40.00 chassis.

I suggest giving the Parma FCR - either 4 inch or 4.5 inch wheelbase.

[DAVE]

The FCR chassis is set-up for small diameter wheels. What some of the guys I know are doing
is to take a knibbler and cut the top of the square bushing hole away so that the bushings can
be soldered in at a higher position to accommodate Pro-Trac 1 1/16 diameter wheels. Now the
car looks more scale.

[Dangermouse]

There are some places that offer 3D printing in plastic I have seen some designs for a slot car chassis on them.

http://www.shapeways.com/shops/neckcheese

1/32 but interesting
http://www.shapeways.com/model/137236/1 ... tened.html

You can pick up a rtr H&R metal chassis/wheels motor/guide etc for around $40-50. If you add up the cost of wheels, gears, axles, motor, bushings and guide flag Makes the price of the chassis pretty cheap.
cheers
David

[DAVE]

I have a friend who made some 1/24th chassis on a 3 D printer. They did work but were a little light on weight. They
were fairly sophisticated and had a separate pan and center section all done in one set-up. There are several different
media available but he did not find one which had both rigidity and resilience. Plus it is a bit expensive as a production
process. But it's the ultimate way to finalize the design before you spend a lot of money on tooling.

The H&R chassis also comes with body mounting hardware. And have so much adjustability that they can be made to
fit any body. They are just a little short on handling. But if you run it as a spec chassis that doesn't matter.