http://cgi.ebay.com/TYCO-440-Blueprinted-RACE-READY-Super-CAR-very-NICE_W0QQitemZ6043494270QQcategoryZ2619QQrdZ1QQcmd ZViewItem

I saw that ad too -- doesn't he say somewhere in there he has 30 years setting up HO cars? And yet no independent fronts or bushings in the bulkheads . . .

'doba

ya i thought the front end setup was pretty cheezeball, narrow o-ring on a full sized hub. i am all for saving a few bucks on parts, but i thought that set up look hokey.

traction sauce...........hmmmmmmmm............sounds yummy

traction sauce...........hmmmmmmmm............sounds yummy

I think you put that on road kill to get rid of the rubber taste.

I think you put that on road kill to get rid of the rubber taste.

... Vice versa if you're not a fan of road kill.

Chef Bob has definately found the recipe for success. A little traction sauce, some pin jelly, a little gear butter, and a sprinkle of armature garnish and your masterpiece is ready to be baked. Bake it on a preheated track for 350 laps and serve over warm noodles. Enjoy.

Welcome to the 1970's. :p Those sponge tires must do a great job with the neo traction magnets. :drunk: And he's using 440 rear bulkheads (not X2) - how in the hell is he mounting these traction magnets and just how are they "set at correct height for max handleing." ????? :freak:

He seems to make a big deal on all his auctions about "hand made" slot cars. I think somebody needs to ask some questions...

And he's using 440 rear bulkheads (not X2) - how in the hell is he mounting these traction magnets and just how are they "set at correct height for max handleing." ????? :freak:


His list it as a TYCO 440 not 440 X2 so I assume he glued in the traction magnets. Of course at the correct height :)

Help me out here guys- what is an ohmed arm? And how can I ohm my arms? If I could do that maybe I wouldn't need the traction sauce.
Jim

Hi Guys,
I Took a look at these cars...I hear what your all saying but what do you want for $15.00? I mean lets break it down...Lets say a chassis is $13.00---o-ring fronts $1.00---lexan body--2.00---traction mags---4.00---paint for body---1.00----ski shoes---1.25---total=22.25 before any labor.
Now add indepent front---6.95---bushing bulkheads---4.50---chassis---13.00
just those 3 items and your at 24.45 and I gotta tell you I've seen racers pull out cars that look like crap no bushings no indepent frt and tear a patriot a new a**h***......We race go karts, and I've seen the same thing at the go kart track...You don't have to have the latest and greatest to have fast stuff. It's all about setup and driver skill. I think for 15.00 it's a pretty good deal.

The saucy car is not a good deal to me at the $15.00 price. The wheel sets are stock stuff fitted with wheels and tires you'll probably want to replace with double flanged parts. All those "polished" parts could be shiny old parts. Not sure what benefit an "ohmed" armature is supposed to have. It may be a fun car to play with at home at half the asking price.

I do totally agree with 350z on the speed/cost disparity in some current classes of racing. A good old Tyco 440X2 with Phase II tractions and double flanged slip-ons ground to the right height and a tweaked electrical system can more than hold its own on the track against modern super stock cars. Any of the big 3 brand cars setup to SS trim level will set you back $100 easily just to get to the starting line of your first race. Add in some spares and a paltry 4 or 5 different silisponge tire/gear rear-end setups at $12.00-$20.00 per setup plus some front tire sets at $1.00-$2.00 a set and a spare body or two and you've got a chunky little investment. Then there's tools, a pit box, lube and cleaning and race entry fees. It adds up. But at the end of the day, it's real racing, it's a hobby you love, and you're having a blast. That's all that really matters.

AFX Too...I agree with the bottom part of your post but not the top part.. :rolleyes: $7.50 for a new chassis--new painted lexan body...epay fees etc. Where are you buying your stuff from? The cheapest I could find a nice new painted lexan on epay was 7.00...I mean a mans gotta eat. Tell you what---if any body has some NEW 440 chassis's with new bushing bulkheads and new indep fronts and a new lexan body at 15.00 I will take 2 dozen! or if you just have New stock 440's with a new lexan body for 7.50 each I will take 2 dozen of those. Being in business for myself, the only question I wanna ask is how the hell does one make a profit on an item like that? :confused: It's the not fiddle but how you play it :dude:

I buy unpainted lexan bodies for a buck each and paint them myself - with liquid mask and a brush. We're not talking Picasso, but something totally fun and rewarding to do and with results reminiscent of what you'd really see at a real local race track outside of the upper echelon of racing you see on TV. I like my hand painted bodies as much as the masterpieces I've gotten from one of the top painters in the country. It's a personal reward and satisfaction and "just having fun" kind of thing.

Up until fairly recently you could obtain new 440X2 narrow rolling chassis in the $7.00 range. If you wanted some Phase IIs they'd set you back about the same amount so you'd end up with a $15.00 or so X2 platform to work with. Adding dual flanged rears ($2.00 hubs + $1.00 for a pair of SuperTires) and independent fronts ($2.50 or less with tires) would up that to the $20-$22 range for a 440-X2 racer with all new parts and based on a platform that some groups are still racing. I look at the 440 (as opposed to X2) as being a fun runner for home use because nobody I know of is running it in organized racing. It's kind of an orphan. But I am willing to pay $7.50 for a fun runner, because that's about what it's worth to me. My personal price guide is all that matters to me.

You do realize that the first and second parts of my response are very closely related. The reason why straight 440s (and even X2s and SG+) are so devalued is because they've been legislated out of the rule books by most organized racing groups. A ceramic-only X2 is no match for any of the modern ceramic SS cars and the SG+ does not come in ceramic only form. So you end up with the obsolescence factor, just like that kickbutt Pentium III computer you laid down some serious cash for 3 years that's now worth about $300 on the market, even though it has not degraded in performance one bit since when you bought it.

Afx---I wanna buy independent fronts for $2.50 a set and lexan bodys for $1.00--you would do all of us a great service if you would tell us where we could purchase those items at those prices. Oh, and my cars are aching for a fix of pin jelly :tongue:

Our racing group (HOSERs) has a couple of classes for the X2s. We use SIG SH304 model maker pins for making independent fronts. I paid $2.35 for a pack of about 25 pins. Just use the stock wheels and make them like the tuff-ones front end. Parma sells a 5 pack of stock cars or GTPs for about $4.50 but we just use the Tyco stock cars. Just my $.02

hi

where can i get some of the SIG SH304 model maker pins? i like that idea

mike

I got them at a local hobby shop. SIG does alot of R/C airplane parts and building supplies. If you search their website, the product # is SIGSH304.

Oldraceral,
Thanks a million for info!!! I have tried that idea before but could never find the right size pins...I've looked in sewing shops...craft stores...and even tailor shops. Thanks

350z, lately I've been getting my lexan bodies from Parma (http://www.shopatron.com/index/137.0.6083.7570.0.0.0) which sells 5 for $4.49. These aren't the absolute lightest bodies available but they work well for me. The CanAms and GTPs are competitive. The classic stockers can be painted to look almost identical to an AFX body. I love the stockers, but you won't find any hard core racers using them unless everyone is using them. I'm not a good enough driver to have it really matter and I love the way they look. The Corvette GT coupe is awesome looking, very sculpted. I have switched over all of my retired from racing P3s to the classic stocker bodies for home use. They look infinately better than the standard Patriot bodies and can take the abuse that lexans endure. The stocker 5-pack includes a 71 Charger, 72 RoadRunner, 71 Cyclone, and a 72 Chevelle. The CanAm GTP set has a Porche 917, which I'm a huge fan of.

One of the local hobby shops also has a big box of lexan bodies that he sells at $1.00 each unpainted.

The local hobby shop owner had a bunch of double flanged plastic front hubs made up that he sells for $1.00 a pair. They slip on to a standard piece of piano wire cut to size and are held in place with a small donut of Plastruct tubing. Any standard narrow cut-to-size set of tires ($1.00 a pair from Wizzard) fit the hubs. For rear double flanged hubs I have always used the Wizzards ($2.00) on a 0.059 splined axle ($1.00) although lately I've been experimenting with the narrow double flanged hubs for magnet cars.