Show us some pix of a car you lowered that came out good, either because it looks just right or because it handles so much better or whatever. I did this over the weekend:

I have 2 blue Aurora Firebirds. I bought the first one a few years ago at the first slot car show I ever attended, and was all excited and spent $40 on a near-mint original. I very seldom do that anymore. I also got the second one at a show, but it was in a box of junk bodies... this one had no bumpers, no windows, a broken window post, pretty badly split screwposts, and a light cut on the rear wheelwells. Price was $2. Now THAT's the way I like to buy 'em.

This was the weekend I finally decided to do something with the project Firebird. Here's what I had after the Dremel stopped and the dust cleared...

http://home.comcast.net/%7Erwurtz/images/lowbird01.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/%7Erwurtz/images/lowbird02.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/%7Erwurtz/images/lowbird03.jpg

The windows and rear bumper are JL, front bumper is a damaged Aurora, both screw posts have aluminum sleeves, and a section of one window post is made of (get this) white glue. Still looks darn good as a runner. I have a Wild Ones chassis under it, and I like to pair it up with my lowered JL candy red Mustang which also has a WO chassis...

so what have YOU lowered? I'm thinking that some of the cars in the Bowtie release have the potential to drag their rocker panels without too much work...

--rick

I didnt lower this one, but it fits this category, so here it is.... JoeZ's resin cast of a truly tail draggin 40 Ford Pick-up. All I did was paint in the chrome, black out the windows, and drop it on a running chassis. Joe cast it it that deep blue, so I left the color as is. Enjoy!!

JP, Looks Marvelous To Me.... Guess I need to hurry up and see what I can do with the truck body Joez sent me... I will try to get it finished this weekend...


Jeff

I just looked, and seem to have deleted or "lost" the before/after photos of some lowered cars I have, but I did find a few shots that show the "after"...

The two Shell Porsches below are quite different, but the one on the left is sitting on an SG+. This 962 body is notorious for how high it rides in stock form...and the only "fix" is a "clip lowering". I had to scrape the interior of the body thinner to get this one to sit happy at that stance.

The GrandSport 'Vettes are on differerent wheelsets, and demonstrate how the stock setup will allow even AF/X wheels to fit. This body rides low, anyway, but has room to "descend" as on the green car and the blue car.

The Chevelle was lowered as much as could accomodate the RRR wheels and silicones.

Hey all, here is mine, I hope the pic worked, the first pic I tried was too big a file, and if anybody can see...where did I get those wheels, I dont remember and cant find them anywhere, they look great and are perfect scale

Kev,
Those are great wheels! They look great....try to remember where you got them and let us know!

Here are a few JL TO's that have been significantly lowered. Wish I had 'before' pics. The GTO and Charger have been lowered what seems like 1/8". The GTO and Boss 9 handle surprisingly well, the Hemi Cuda is handles decent. The Charger still sucks after cutting out the side window glass and thinning the roof to try to lower the CG.

They all have small front tires, about .320-.330". Some are ground down stockers, some are o-rings (yea, I got lazy).

Hopefully the pics show up.......

Praise the Lowered—and pass the Dremel!
These are a couple of Bow’s that needed to be dropped of that high-altitude stance. I added the pull-back wheels and that helped a lot too.

http://photos.hobbytalk.com/data/519/8231Pict0012.JPG

http://photos.hobbytalk.com/data/519/8231Pict0020.JPG

I like the way they look much better now.
Cheers..

Howdy Slotheads!
Yall got cool lowerin projects there. Always interesting to see.
This is a comparison of the "glow in the dark" x-2 corvettes. I am converting the lowered one into a dirt late model, and the other is what I started with. As normal my pics suck but you guys get the idea. Halleluhea and "praise the lowered!" --- Circle Track DAC

Hmm, I think I have more than one lowered-to-the-max cars...

My peronal favorite is this resin copy of the vintage Estrela VW Puma (the car does NOT REALLY look so ugly! It´s the digipic... ;-P)

http://www.aus-dem-rahmen-gefallen.de/slotcars/ch_vw_puma_flake02.JPG
My best handling T-Jet!

Then I think th JL Vega and the Firebird look sharp when lowered, too:

http://www.aus-dem-rahmen-gefallen.de/slotcars/jl_firebird+nova_low!_05.jpg

Hmm, think I can´t show any more pics again in one posting...

Claus

www.c-jet500.de.vu

all of these look so much better than stock. I am going to have to give this a try.

don't worry, I'll post my first few attempts so you can all get a good chuckle over them. LOL. Hopefully I'll actually pull a decent job off. Haven't done things like this in over 10 years.

Boss,
Those Chevies turned out nice! :thumbsup: rr

Bossman, I agree with RR on this. :thumbsup: I really like how that ProStock turned out. I have seen some great "lowerings" in here. Guess its time for me to do some grinding on mine too! :D


Jeff

Thanks for the comp’s Gents!
I hope to have a few more pieces ready, and will post pics in a couple of days (like I used too). :)

Oh, and Claus--I love the Vega! I never thought that one could be lowered so much. Mine is on the table for a re-do, now that I've seen what can be done by you. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:. Brilliant!

Cheers..

When the first round of JLTO's came out, I 'freyed' out a Chevelle body (in case a JLTO race comes along). Sorry about the dark green body not showing too well, but you can see by the comparison to an untouched body how lowered it is, and it's nice to see I have a little more slammin room should I want to take it down more.

http://thumb4.webshots.com/t/14/15/5/91/54/291559154PwNstA_th.jpg

http://thumb4.webshots.com/t/24/25/5/91/4/291559104ykQJuC_th.jpg

Just in case, here are larger pics of the front (http://community.webshots.com/photo/21992956/291559104ykQJuC) and rear (http://community.webshots.com/photo/21992956/291559154PwNstA) of the Chevelles.

Hi folks,

I just finished the 3rd resin bug for my personal fleet: As announced before it´s a Fray-style racer. And I have to confess, that I love her. Great handling, although I usually prefer SWB cars on my twisty home track!

http://www.aus-dem-rahmen-gefallen.de/slotcars/ch_vw_bug_frayed_03.jpg

http://www.aus-dem-rahmen-gefallen.de/slotcars/ch_vw_bug_frayed_05.jpg

http://www.aus-dem-rahmen-gefallen.de/slotcars/ch_vw_bug_frayed_04.jpg

Have a nice weekend all!

Greetings from Germany,

Claus

www.c-jet500.de.vu

Hello Claus :wave:
The Beetle looks sweet! Great Job!!! :thumbsup:

Greetings from Daytona Beach
Larry

Definitely have her low! :eek: :thumbsup: rr

Hey Claus,

That’s very low! Looks great too!:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Another thing-- you mentioned this in your “Bug’s life post--
“The bumpers are resin copies of the diets plastic parts. Quite easy to do: Just a small 2-part silicone mold with the separation line in the middle of the bumpers. If interested I can take some pics of the molds and post them here.”
Can you please show detailed pics of your method to do this, I would really appreciate it!

I have refrained from delving into casting yet for two reasons. The first being I’d want to make a 2-part casting to start with, and get it close the first time. The second being I’m worried that once I do one, I’ll want to do dozens. I have thousands of die-casts to choose from. A scary thought to me! :eek:

Do you remember when we first met on another board- you asked if I had stock in Bare Metal Co! That was a few years back, just about the time you crashed and broke the mint Ferrari GTO T-Jet! You posted pics of the carnage.

Cheers Mate...

Boy, just one little hic-up in the track and it's going to do a very good impression of a tumble-weed!
I tip my hat to you, Claus!

Well I guess this answers the 'ol question "How LOW can you GO". Man that is sweet... Super :thumbsup:


Jeff

man that is REALLY low. I bet the running boards scrape on uneven track joints...

--rick

That's one of the absolute nicest VW casting I have ever seen. You must have a very keen eye and a very steady hand. Where did you get the license plate?

Can you mount that VW body on a narrow Tyco 440-X2 chassis?

Claus,
The more I look at that detail the better it looks. Great job!! rr

Hi AfxToo!

Thanks for the compliment! :-)

Yep, my eyes are still O.K. (at least I still can work without glasses or a magnifying glass), the steady hand thing is only a matter of the right tools, techniques and some decades of training... ;-)

The license plate was taken from a sheet of vintage (early 80´s) HERPA decals I found at a swap meeting some years ago. They´re not as nice as they look on the photo (they were made in the pre-computer-ara i.e. they´re handpainted!).

Hmm, mounting the Bug on a narrow X2 chassis? Cool idea! Never thought of that (honestly speaking I don´t think very often of doing custom magnet cars at all... ;-)), but I´ll check that later (a magnet racer Bug will definitely be cool!!!)! Thanks for the input anyway!

CU,

Claus

www.c-jet500.de.vu

.
.
(1 hour or so later...)
.
.

Hi, I´m just back from test mounting alternative chassis fro my Bug! Hey, look at this:

http://www.aus-dem-rahmen-gefallen.de/slotcars/ch_vw_bug_tycotest.jpg

on a narrow Tyco "formula" chassis - looks quite promising, eh? :-)

Or that one (for the ones who have spare Aurora G-plus formula chassis laing around):

http://www.aus-dem-rahmen-gefallen.de/slotcars/ch_vw_bug_gplustest.jpg

*sigh* And I thought I could set aside the Bug mold for a while...! ;-)

Back to my work bench (I have to try sth.)...!

Greetings from Germany,

Claus

Hi Boss!

Yes, of course I remember when we first met some years ago (I think it was at SCI?) and I still have my heavily crashed Ferrari 250 GTO racer (reglued, but still one of my favorite runners)! :-) Here´s the pic I think you were referring to:

http://www.aus-dem-rahmen-gefallen.de/slotcars/dead_gto.jpg

On to your question about the Bug´s bumpers mold:

http://www.aus-dem-rahmen-gefallen.de/slotcars/ch_vw_bug_bumpers.jpg

Basically you just have to fill a small mold box (LEGO´s) 1/2 up with clay, then press the original bumpers half way into the clay and pour silicone over that. Then (when the silicone is cured) turn over and cast the other mold half with the bumpers stuck in part 1 of the mold. When you take a look at my mold you´l discover 4 "pins" helping to keep the mold halves alined. Casting is just as easy: Pour a little bit of resin into both mold halves and put together the mold. Adding a little weight on top of the assembled mold lets the surplus resin squish out of the mold and you´re done.

Errr - so you´ve got some 1000 of diecast cars at home waiting for being brought to a new, real sense of life? ;-) So what keeps you from getting started? Fun and excitement for the rest of your life (and the life of your children and grand children as well) is lying right before you!!! :-))) And yes, once you´ll start that thing you´ll probably never stop again!!! Scary but FUN!!! Go on and get yourself a resin "starter kit"! There can never be enough nice slot car bodies!!!

Have a great weekend (and take a closer look at all those diecars waiting for you, imagine running them on your track - they´re all yours...)! ;-)) ***DARK SIDE IS CALLING!*** :-)))

Claus

www.c-jet500.de.vu

Wow, the wheelbase fit with the Tyco narrow and G-Plus looks absolutely perfect.

Hey Claus,
Glad to see your memory is still good. I guess I’m the only one getting old! Yes, that’s the pic I was referring to. I know you were sick right after it happened. The wife got some grief for dropping (and breaking) a pretty rare car. Now whenever she picks one up she asks, “Is this a Jesus Christ car?” because that’s what I yelled at her the first time around! :freak:

Thank you so much for posting the casting pics. They’ve helped me understand the procedure a little better, but I still have some thinking to do.
You are quite convincing in your post to start casting now, but it might not be as bad as I thought.
I took a JL slot chassis and went through about 180 die-casts this weekend like you said, and only about 8 lineup with the wheel-base. That’s not to say I can’t stretch it, but a lot of the bodies are a bit big anyway. I will try soon though.

Thanks for the inspiration and the positive thoughts. It’s appreciated when others push you to advance your skills. When I start, you will be one of the first to see the results. :) :thumbsup:


Cheers, Mate!

This just arrived at my door yesterday afternoon from RR’s house. He said he didn’t care for the hopped-up Mopar body. I partially knew why and tried to fix that. Here are the results so far. Yes it runs this way...

http://photos.hobbytalk.com/data/510/8231Pict0331.JPG

http://photos.hobbytalk.com/data/510/8231Pict0329.JPG

http://photos.hobbytalk.com/data/510/8231Pict0330.JPG


Thanks so much RR!
Pics soon when the rest of it is done.

Cheers..

Geezs Bossman, That is so low, if you were to add a little piece of velcro to the underside, you would have a real tight looking track cleaner. :D

Great Job on this one. :thumbsup:

Jeff

Now THATS how *I* like'm! Scorchin' pavement or the lawn.....way low...
...I can almost hear the rumpity rump!
She's a real beauty, Phil!

boss,
:eek: Slammed ain't the word for it. Looks great. May have to reconsider and do one of these myself. Only other mod I'd do now would be to lower the blower about 1/2. Great custom! :thumbsup: rr

Nice job Boss-
Guess I better get to hackin up the Chargers I got! Like how the rears are just tucked into the fenderwells.
Circle Track DAC