by HMGracing » Fri Jan 12, 2018 5:58 pm
Hi All,
I'm new to this form and new to Slot Car racing 1/32 scale. I was asked if I wanted to make a car for the Sprite Proxy race 2018 by my cousin Bill.
Well to say the least I scratch built a car. Wondering what to make the chassis out of I decided on Carbon fiber and Epoxy. I had built some tube chassis's about 50 years ago for 1/24 scale Slot Cars and didn't want to do that. Well, I bought a lot of Carbon Fiber plate in different thickness and some rectangular tubes so I would have some right angle bits. Spent lots of money and was warned that I couldn't sell to foreign governments, ha ha ha, I was off the races.
Wow, this stuff is hard and stiff depending on the thickness. No scroll saw blade would last more than 5 seconds so that was out of the question. But was no match for carbide tipped table saw blades. Drilling was ok but filing didn't work either but the Dremel worked ok. Just watch fingers and don't breath.
So cutting tubes to make motor mounts and axle carriers I thought was easy. After cutting I noticed that the sides were no longer parallel because of how the tubes were wound during manufacture. Oh well we fix.
Sorry the Pics are so big. You just have to scroll through them or click on them to see all.
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Lets make a drawing with some measurements we need.
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Drilling holes through the side of the rails for the axle wasn't great. I did first put members inside the tubes to try and keep the sides parallel but still not good enough. On the front I added a brass tube to contain the oilite bearings and then clearanced the holes so I could make them straight when the parts were epoxied together. The holes in the rear weren't too bad but in the end the axles ran smooth in the bearings but axle alignment was not great. And just like they do in NASCAR you pump up the tires. So the front left tire is about 0.015" taller than the other side. You have to understand that the chassis has no flex so that when the front tire would land, it would lift the opposite rear tire and loose traction. In the end it all worked out ok.
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Last edited by
HMGracing on Sat Jan 13, 2018 12:33 am, edited 3 times in total.