DIY Racer building, HOW TO & WHO NOT TO info
This section explains how to do your own repairs and how to build a hot race car for conventions. Also, a bit about who NOT to buy from because they sell really poor quality cars on Ebay. Flashy for pics but total crap! Ask anyone in the Facebook F.A.S.T. Club.
ALWAYS USE FRESH NEW TRIED AND TRUE BATTERIES ON RACE DAY! Test and take your best batteries. Not all batteries will perform equally. Its up to the Racer to test them.
HINT: Wake up your batteries! Take a Goose Pump. Apply a 20 second ON, 10 second OFF charge to your battery. Until you have reached 100 seconds of charge. Thats 5 hits of 20 seconds and 4 hits of 10 seconds off. This will prepare your batteries for long run times.
Remember that your charge hole rivet contacts MUST be clean underneath to get the best possible charge. I suggest you replace the contacts completely. I've heard that they are allowed from trophy winners. . You have little chance on winning the hardware if you're buying batteries from ebay sellers who claim new but are definitely old stock!
Before we get into it, I wanted to share my thoughts, and those of many competitors, about how these races are run.
A 16 foot oval is used. Its fenced around with plexi glass to keep the cars on the track but that's not always the case. Its an oval so starting is done by each person around the loop putting the car on the track at the same time, on their go.
Multiple people are spotting cars that could fly off the track or slow down and stop. They basically referee the race. Its mostly about going the distance than it is about how many laps a car will do. Last one on the track still running wins. We will discuss how to maintain this low current draw which maximizes the use of your battery.
There are multiple heats and winners cars may get inspected for originality so no modifications will be tolerated. Doesn't mean you cant put some "old school" techniques into it to help you get an edge on the others.
People often set up a table to do quick fixes and sell their products at the meets. Be advised that if the guy running the event fixes your car, chances are he's not going to give you a winning and competitive advantage if he's in the race or has others running his cars. Yeah, its dirty play but it happens. This is why you need to do the best on your own following some guidelines on how to do a professional racer.
Always trust the Sizzlers Shop (Alex Peter) to build you a racer that is competitive and have a chance to win these competitions.
The people running these competitions should have no biased opinion, and give all contestants the same fair treatment. Some of these people have a jealous streak and will always find a way to remove a competitor whose car was built by someone who has lots of experience racing so best is not to brag about the builder who could be yourself or another builder.
Some people enter a few cars under other people so that they can have more shots at winning the trophy and taking home the hardware. It should not be allowed. Some of the hosts running these races think that they are the cock of the walk and do this. Be aware of it and call them out if they do. One such person admitted it to me so watch out. I'm always happy to share this with you but a better way is to watch and listen to what other racers do and say. Some of them will rattle off a whole lot of "houey" after a few shots and beers so watch, listen and learn.
Most of the time, if not all of the time, these races are pure luck with a little strategy, but using quality speed tested parts, specific car castings and doing certain work will give you some advantage over the "off the shelf" cars being used.
Points of high interest begins with having good contacts.
ALWAYS USE FRESH NEW TRIED AND TRUE BATTERIES ON RACE DAY! Test and take your best batteries. Not all batteries will perform equally. Its up to the Racer to test them.
HINT: Wake up your batteries! Take a Goose Pump. Apply a 20 second ON, 10 second OFF charge to your battery. Until you have reached 100 seconds of charge. Thats 5 hits of 20 seconds and 4 hits of 10 seconds off. This will prepare your batteries for long run times.
Remember that your charge hole rivet contacts MUST be clean underneath to get the best possible charge. I suggest you replace the contacts completely. I've heard that they are allowed from trophy winners. . You have little chance on winning the hardware if you're buying batteries from ebay sellers who claim new but are definitely old stock!
Before we get into it, I wanted to share my thoughts, and those of many competitors, about how these races are run.
A 16 foot oval is used. Its fenced around with plexi glass to keep the cars on the track but that's not always the case. Its an oval so starting is done by each person around the loop putting the car on the track at the same time, on their go.
Multiple people are spotting cars that could fly off the track or slow down and stop. They basically referee the race. Its mostly about going the distance than it is about how many laps a car will do. Last one on the track still running wins. We will discuss how to maintain this low current draw which maximizes the use of your battery.
There are multiple heats and winners cars may get inspected for originality so no modifications will be tolerated. Doesn't mean you cant put some "old school" techniques into it to help you get an edge on the others.
People often set up a table to do quick fixes and sell their products at the meets. Be advised that if the guy running the event fixes your car, chances are he's not going to give you a winning and competitive advantage if he's in the race or has others running his cars. Yeah, its dirty play but it happens. This is why you need to do the best on your own following some guidelines on how to do a professional racer.
Always trust the Sizzlers Shop (Alex Peter) to build you a racer that is competitive and have a chance to win these competitions.
The people running these competitions should have no biased opinion, and give all contestants the same fair treatment. Some of these people have a jealous streak and will always find a way to remove a competitor whose car was built by someone who has lots of experience racing so best is not to brag about the builder who could be yourself or another builder.
Some people enter a few cars under other people so that they can have more shots at winning the trophy and taking home the hardware. It should not be allowed. Some of the hosts running these races think that they are the cock of the walk and do this. Be aware of it and call them out if they do. One such person admitted it to me so watch out. I'm always happy to share this with you but a better way is to watch and listen to what other racers do and say. Some of them will rattle off a whole lot of "houey" after a few shots and beers so watch, listen and learn.
Most of the time, if not all of the time, these races are pure luck with a little strategy, but using quality speed tested parts, specific car castings and doing certain work will give you some advantage over the "off the shelf" cars being used.
Points of high interest begins with having good contacts.
The DIY section
Here shown is an example of properly cleaned contacts VS the quick job restore. Notice the rivet area. This will definitely create poor contacts even though you think your car is charging properly.
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Once you have carefully drilled out the old rivets, clean your contacts using CLR! Don't listen to anyone who says to use Vinegar or Tarn-X because those 2 products are only good for mild surface cleaning and not deep cleansing like CLR offers. Also, CLR is an environmentally safe product that you can pour down the sink or toilet. Tarn-X is an acid based product that is very bad for our environment. This about what we are laving our kids and their kids. Its not a hard choice. CLR or Lime Away does the same job. I use it and I only use that product.
Motors. Often enough motors have been fumed or gassed with the battery acid for years. This acid happens to be inside the motor and even if its only minimal leaving invisible traces, its in there. I strongly suggest that you take the entire motor and immerse it in CLR for about 1 minute. Then, flush it out with warm to hot tap water to rinse it for about a minute. Not soak it but to rinse it under the tap.
Then have a look inside and see whats going on. Check to see if your magnets are still solid in place. If not, its time to open up the motor. Take a small pen knife and lift up each claw so that it just clears the contact plate. Spot weld bridge and wire can be removed with your penknife by prying it off and the wire type with a set of pliers. Get as much of the wire as you can because you will be folding it under the claw to make contact. Same goes with the bridge. You will be folding that under a claw.
Clean the surfaces and reglue the magnets with contact cement not super glue. Clean and dry everything with a hair drier and take 800 grit sandpaper to lightly sand off the commutators at the end of the armature and contact plate. Use 1000 grit automotive sand paper to lightly polish the shaft area that is hidden by the plastic hole and the cases end bushing. Then polish these with a tight buffing wheel until they gleam. If the springs on the contact plates appear seized, Get between the coils with a very sharp exacto knife. Chances are the green corrosion has built up inside and must be scraped out.
When building a race car, One of the easiest ways is to listen to the pitch of the motor. Go through a mix and match process to get the best combinations of armatures, magnets and contact brush plates. It often takes a long time to find a very fast high pitched combination of motors. If you are a pro at building race cars, get yourself a few motors built because you may need to replace motors during the qualification runs and race heats. Test trials with a speed gun or an RPM gun is best also. Personally, I take a 1.5V DC source that is constant, and I apply a tone frequency over top of it. I then check for the current being used with respect to the voltage applied and check to see that my tone frequency is still strong with an oscilloscope but not everyone does this.
Motors. Often enough motors have been fumed or gassed with the battery acid for years. This acid happens to be inside the motor and even if its only minimal leaving invisible traces, its in there. I strongly suggest that you take the entire motor and immerse it in CLR for about 1 minute. Then, flush it out with warm to hot tap water to rinse it for about a minute. Not soak it but to rinse it under the tap.
Then have a look inside and see whats going on. Check to see if your magnets are still solid in place. If not, its time to open up the motor. Take a small pen knife and lift up each claw so that it just clears the contact plate. Spot weld bridge and wire can be removed with your penknife by prying it off and the wire type with a set of pliers. Get as much of the wire as you can because you will be folding it under the claw to make contact. Same goes with the bridge. You will be folding that under a claw.
Clean the surfaces and reglue the magnets with contact cement not super glue. Clean and dry everything with a hair drier and take 800 grit sandpaper to lightly sand off the commutators at the end of the armature and contact plate. Use 1000 grit automotive sand paper to lightly polish the shaft area that is hidden by the plastic hole and the cases end bushing. Then polish these with a tight buffing wheel until they gleam. If the springs on the contact plates appear seized, Get between the coils with a very sharp exacto knife. Chances are the green corrosion has built up inside and must be scraped out.
When building a race car, One of the easiest ways is to listen to the pitch of the motor. Go through a mix and match process to get the best combinations of armatures, magnets and contact brush plates. It often takes a long time to find a very fast high pitched combination of motors. If you are a pro at building race cars, get yourself a few motors built because you may need to replace motors during the qualification runs and race heats. Test trials with a speed gun or an RPM gun is best also. Personally, I take a 1.5V DC source that is constant, and I apply a tone frequency over top of it. I then check for the current being used with respect to the voltage applied and check to see that my tone frequency is still strong with an oscilloscope but not everyone does this.
The Racers Toolbox!
Racing is insanely fun! Simple reasons can occur that can slow down your cars in racing.
- Cheap ebay old stock 350 NIMH batteries will do it,
- Bad connection from dirty corroded rivets that were not replaced and cleaned underneath,
- Loose connections between the contacts and motors,
- But the absolute number 1 problem is DIRTY BLACK ARMATURES WITH CARBON RING BUILD UP. This will cause arcing and sparks that will draw extra current from your battery and prematurely burn out your contact plates in your motor. his happens if you dont clean your armature BEFORE you race. Never do time trials with a dirty motor and never get on the race track with this carbonized armature. Dismantle the motor and clean the armature using 1000 grit and the carb cleaner. Retest your motor and do NOT use it until you race. This build up will be the difference between 40 laps and 80.
Below is a list of items that you need when you go to races.
- Cheap ebay old stock 350 NIMH batteries will do it,
- Bad connection from dirty corroded rivets that were not replaced and cleaned underneath,
- Loose connections between the contacts and motors,
- But the absolute number 1 problem is DIRTY BLACK ARMATURES WITH CARBON RING BUILD UP. This will cause arcing and sparks that will draw extra current from your battery and prematurely burn out your contact plates in your motor. his happens if you dont clean your armature BEFORE you race. Never do time trials with a dirty motor and never get on the race track with this carbonized armature. Dismantle the motor and clean the armature using 1000 grit and the carb cleaner. Retest your motor and do NOT use it until you race. This build up will be the difference between 40 laps and 80.
Below is a list of items that you need when you go to races.
- Zoom Spout Turbine oil. This is excellent. I think that 3 in 1 oil is similar.
- CRC Electrical contact cleaner from Walmart
- Spare Speed tuned motors. We sell them here.
- Extra Batteries that are fresh. We carry them. Stay away from ebay old stock 300 or 350s.
- 1000 and 2000 grit automotive sandpaper
- Domite or equivalent dry small flake powdered graphite for front axles
- Needle nose pliers, scissors, a multi-tool, jewelers screwdrivers,
- Spare polished axles with graphite installed in them, and nice tight back wheels with good rubber,
- Good clean ORIGINAL solid contacts that are polished.
- Try to find the wire motor. Thats the one that has a spot welded wire instead of the bridged ones.
- Side cutters and an xacto blade.
- A couple of your favorite brewski's
- Micro Wire on a spool. You never know when you have to rewire your contacts for an emergency.
- Decent fine tip soldering iron.
- Carboretor and choke cleaner is very good to use with the sandpaper to clean your armaturs and your axles. DO NOT SPRAY INTO A MOTOR!
- 1 MM rosin core solder for quick fixes and a quality rosin paste.
- A few small files if needed.
- Liquid chrome Molotow pen to redo your wheels to look good on the pedistel when you get handed the 1st place trophy!
- CRC Electrical contact cleaner from Walmart
- Spare Speed tuned motors. We sell them here.
- Extra Batteries that are fresh. We carry them. Stay away from ebay old stock 300 or 350s.
- 1000 and 2000 grit automotive sandpaper
- Domite or equivalent dry small flake powdered graphite for front axles
- Needle nose pliers, scissors, a multi-tool, jewelers screwdrivers,
- Spare polished axles with graphite installed in them, and nice tight back wheels with good rubber,
- Good clean ORIGINAL solid contacts that are polished.
- Try to find the wire motor. Thats the one that has a spot welded wire instead of the bridged ones.
- Side cutters and an xacto blade.
- A couple of your favorite brewski's
- Micro Wire on a spool. You never know when you have to rewire your contacts for an emergency.
- Decent fine tip soldering iron.
- Carboretor and choke cleaner is very good to use with the sandpaper to clean your armaturs and your axles. DO NOT SPRAY INTO A MOTOR!
- 1 MM rosin core solder for quick fixes and a quality rosin paste.
- A few small files if needed.
- Liquid chrome Molotow pen to redo your wheels to look good on the pedistel when you get handed the 1st place trophy!
Back wheels. Be sure that they are lint and dirt free. Be sure they run true and fit tightly. Any out of round will create a bounce. Shown are 2 types of tires. The Nationals will be checking the winning cars for the following. Correct tire size. That would be the smaller one on the left of this picture, they check for original running gear and original contacts. Sometimes people groove out the commutators which is a lot like down shifting a bicycle. This is not allowed. This is why I make sure that the armature commutators are proper with no sign of wear. The wheel on the right has a tire from a PM sizzler and will run faster and longer but depending on the car you use, it can rub inside the wheel well. Only ever use the one shown on the left.
Front axles should be free of rust, corrosion and any burrs. I suggest using a brass grinding wheel and a tight buffing wheel to clean and polish the shaft. Then, apply a very small bit of powdered graphite to the axle/wheel hole and NEVER USE OIL! It creates a drag. Only ever use sewing machine oil on the back axle.
HINT: I use a light paint brush dusting of dry powdered graphite on the commutator brushes and take a can of duster to remove anything visible. Trust me. Its there.
The proper way to lubricate is to take a toothpick and dip it in the oil. The with the rear wheels off, just put a dab of oil at the axle bushing spot. Wipe off any excess oil and NEVER EVER SPRAY OILS INTO THE MOTOR!!! It will prematurely burn the brush contacts and loosen the magnets. Not to mention it will run faster but just NEVER do it UNLESS, the race judge allows it. Be sure you don't put any on until you get the go!
HINT: I use a light paint brush dusting of dry powdered graphite on the commutator brushes and take a can of duster to remove anything visible. Trust me. Its there.
The proper way to lubricate is to take a toothpick and dip it in the oil. The with the rear wheels off, just put a dab of oil at the axle bushing spot. Wipe off any excess oil and NEVER EVER SPRAY OILS INTO THE MOTOR!!! It will prematurely burn the brush contacts and loosen the magnets. Not to mention it will run faster but just NEVER do it UNLESS, the race judge allows it. Be sure you don't put any on until you get the go!
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Here is a good product that I use to remove old gloopy oil and other scum. This works well but be careful with it.
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Another Clever trick I use is to put a slight bend into the switched contact like in the picture below. This really helps create a solid contact point. I do this for every car I restore.
Installing contacts and being sure to properly flare the charge hole installation is important. Otherwise the Juice plug won't fit. The 300 batteries in the back ground I use those as a minimum source because the current capacity is low and it simulates a weak battery. If you can get a good speed going and a long run with a 300 then you've done well with your contacts and motor rebuild. I dont suggest using anything less than 400 mah NIMH at the Nationals.
Here's another clever trick. You need to be proficient in soldering to do this. While the contacts are out, I solder a bead in between the contacts. Have a look inside this split contact and you will see a silver looking solder. Its clean and renews old contacts to provide a decent pressure onto the battery.
Place a small flat screw driver under the switch. Center the switch between the on and off position. Take a small pair of long nose pliers and squeeze the switch inside together so that it slips off with a light pry.
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Use a nail rounded out at the point end to begin flaring out the switched contact. Then, flip the nail over and use the head to finish the flare. Makes a perfect job. Use the technique on both short and long chassis.
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Once you get the motor in and put the switch back on you wind up with an excellent looking chassis with no worries about corrosion continuing under the contacts. I hope this has been a helpful tutorial.
TAKE AWAY: Racing Sizzlers cars can be real fun but keep in mind that its all about endurance more so than speed. I suggest that if you race any cars, your number one choice for shorts will be the Ford MKIV, and for longs the Ferrari 512S fairs out good. Wheel wells makes all the difference. Having open wheels is a liability that most of the time causes the car to flip off the track. There are spotters who take care of putting the car back on the track. More than anything, its all about fun. Enjoy!
Greedy Collectors, The Bad Traders, & Bid strategy
There are some greedy backstabbers that will make you feel like a friend. Wolves in sheeps clothing. Some actually are involved in running races. What they are really up to is trying to get what they can out of you for their own collection. I have had to call out and remove such members from the Fast club often. They are so greedy that they try to corner the market by back dooring ebay sellers listings by trying to buy out of ebay. The seller will sometimes cave in and remove the auction to privately sell to these guys. Its bad and some people do it. Other things that happen in places like ebay is these back doorer's who are rejected by sellers will often do up bidding. This is where they actually don't outbid, instead they bid slightly under and push up your bids in the process. An example is a bidder who places a bid of 49.98 rather than 50.01 is an obvious bid pusher. Beware of them. They will make you pay top dollar by pushing up your bids to your max. Always bid slightly lower than their 49.98 bids. A strategic bid is to bid 48.88 so that bid pushers wind up overbidding you and this way you know who's bidding and if its only to push up prices or to buy. Most backyard restorers do minimal work on what they sell just to get that glow and get the sale. EBAY is full of them and I have a list of people you should NEVER do business with at all cost. Contact me at sizzlerscars@aol.com for more info. The backyarders car work is absolute garbage and their batteries are old stock. Matter of fact, the market gets flooded with these then resold a few times over to get rid of them. Sometimes, they new owner contacts me to restore them. I now refuse to work on their crappy restored cars anymore that people want to send in because of just how much thick rattle can paint that they use and all the superglue that they put all over so that the buyer has no idea as to whats inside.
These bad traders prey on the newcomer. Contact me anytime and I will gladly tell you who NOT to deal with. Put it this way, If they say the words restored, reconditioned, working, runs, and show back ground images to entice the buyer and descriptions are long winded stories about everything but the car, You can be sure that these people are those you dont want to deal with. Others think they are "thee reference" to the hobby and these guys are worse because they are charismatic and can sell ice to eskimos.
One such bad trader comes off with stories about his dead parents and he does this to soften up buyers to feel sorry for him. He bashes our products and the FAST club. He is misinformed and spreads hatred and lies in the hobby. Do NOT trust his feedback! As we all know, the feedback system on ebay cannot be trusted and is a complete failure to how bad sellers can get away with their bad activity. I know this because, I know this guy personally from multiple bad dealings and I kept screenshots as proof. They sure don't tear down the cars completely and polish out any corrosion on the underside of the contacts or on the inside of the rivets and are able to get ebay to remove honest comments about this bad trader.
Below is a picture of who NOT to buy from. Cheap will get you cheap. This is an AFX slot car case modified with cheap printer paper glued onto it.
There are some greedy backstabbers that will make you feel like a friend. Wolves in sheeps clothing. Some actually are involved in running races. What they are really up to is trying to get what they can out of you for their own collection. I have had to call out and remove such members from the Fast club often. They are so greedy that they try to corner the market by back dooring ebay sellers listings by trying to buy out of ebay. The seller will sometimes cave in and remove the auction to privately sell to these guys. Its bad and some people do it. Other things that happen in places like ebay is these back doorer's who are rejected by sellers will often do up bidding. This is where they actually don't outbid, instead they bid slightly under and push up your bids in the process. An example is a bidder who places a bid of 49.98 rather than 50.01 is an obvious bid pusher. Beware of them. They will make you pay top dollar by pushing up your bids to your max. Always bid slightly lower than their 49.98 bids. A strategic bid is to bid 48.88 so that bid pushers wind up overbidding you and this way you know who's bidding and if its only to push up prices or to buy. Most backyard restorers do minimal work on what they sell just to get that glow and get the sale. EBAY is full of them and I have a list of people you should NEVER do business with at all cost. Contact me at sizzlerscars@aol.com for more info. The backyarders car work is absolute garbage and their batteries are old stock. Matter of fact, the market gets flooded with these then resold a few times over to get rid of them. Sometimes, they new owner contacts me to restore them. I now refuse to work on their crappy restored cars anymore that people want to send in because of just how much thick rattle can paint that they use and all the superglue that they put all over so that the buyer has no idea as to whats inside.
These bad traders prey on the newcomer. Contact me anytime and I will gladly tell you who NOT to deal with. Put it this way, If they say the words restored, reconditioned, working, runs, and show back ground images to entice the buyer and descriptions are long winded stories about everything but the car, You can be sure that these people are those you dont want to deal with. Others think they are "thee reference" to the hobby and these guys are worse because they are charismatic and can sell ice to eskimos.
One such bad trader comes off with stories about his dead parents and he does this to soften up buyers to feel sorry for him. He bashes our products and the FAST club. He is misinformed and spreads hatred and lies in the hobby. Do NOT trust his feedback! As we all know, the feedback system on ebay cannot be trusted and is a complete failure to how bad sellers can get away with their bad activity. I know this because, I know this guy personally from multiple bad dealings and I kept screenshots as proof. They sure don't tear down the cars completely and polish out any corrosion on the underside of the contacts or on the inside of the rivets and are able to get ebay to remove honest comments about this bad trader.
Below is a picture of who NOT to buy from. Cheap will get you cheap. This is an AFX slot car case modified with cheap printer paper glued onto it.
