Has anyone tried to convert any of the die cast Nascar bodies from companies like Racing Champions or Winners circle to Slot chassis??

Some of the special Paint schemes would be pretty cool to own in a slot format.

If anyone has, how do they handle?
Best chassis to use??

Something like this would be fun to try with a reasonable chance of success :)

TG

I have not converted any diecast nascar bodies but did do some ornaments...

The length,width,and wheelbase are nearly identical... They should fit a 440 pan chassis in the longest wheelbase, the wheels will stick out about 1/64 "

The problem I see is that it will be more difficult to trim the wheelwells if they need to be opened up... and any kind of body posts will have to be removed,not impossible but harder to do than the plastic ornaments.

Dremeling diecast cars...
I don't exactly know kind of potmetal these dicast cars are made of, but it is not real hard to make one into a dugout canoe if you use the right stuff.

I use a round 1/8" steel cutter bit... hold the body good and tight and looking straight down, just start shaving the top off of everthing that sticks up.

Sounds Scarry Don't It ! But not really... the stuff cuts like aluminum, I think it may even have some zink and or lead in it. The point is to use a steel cutter and NOT the stone type, they will clog up and break, avoid trying to cut off any big chunks with a cutoff wheel, and DON'T Let It Get HOT!
Heat will ruin the paint job if it starts feeling warm set it down and let it cool for a while,also keep cleaning the shavings off of the body and your fingers I use an old toothbrush. The shavings can get stuck into the paint if the body is just warm.

Remember a Rotory tool can seriously injure you !!! Wear eye protection and a surgical mask... you don't want to breath in a bunch of mystery metal!
Kickback is the most common injury with a rotory tool, I try to hold something I'm dremeling, off to the side of my body so that if it should happen to get thrown it won't smack me between the eyes! but have had a couple of them go zinging past my head :freak:

Has anyone tried to convert any of the die cast Nascar bodies from companies like Racing Champions or Winners circle to Slot chassis??

Some of the special Paint schemes would be pretty cool to own in a slot format.

If anyone has, how do they handle?
Best chassis to use??

Something like this would be fun to try with a reasonable chance of success.

TG

It's the easiest thing ever (well maybe not the easiest but it can be done with great success). I've been running a Tyco HP7-based metal body slot car league since 1994.

Some pics:
http://photos.hobbytalk.com/data/500/ARA-2006-01-186-_012b.jpg

http://photos.hobbytalk.com/data/500/ARA-2004-15-170-0032.jpg

'doba

Doba, those are beautiful and exactly why I thought it would be a fun project. ( love that Winston Cup winners circle ;)

So which die cast companies do you reccomend?

Since ive been in Model railroading for over 30 years ( heavy into scratchbuilding ) I have done quite a bit of work with dremels and do own 3 of them but the safety reminders never hurt Zig ( especially considering many beginners may read these threads) and i do appreciate your input, and all input since I'm very new to this game. :)

Those truly are some great looking Pieces Doba!!!

I cant seem to stop myself from buying so I may as well just go with it LOL ;)

try this www.homeracingworld.com/diecastconversion.htm if that dont work go to www.homeracingworld.com and go to archives then to the ho scale link

Great Link, Thanks for sharing.
I would have to assume that converting using an HP7 chassis will be similar to this Marchon conversion with perhaps some slight variations??

Ive never run a Marchon chassis..........are they good runners?

I did stop and pick up a couple of racing classics nascar bodies at the super wally last night.
Definitly have to drill em out but the bodies & Paint are very very nice!!! :thumbsup:

Great Link, Thanks for sharing.
I would have to assume that converting using an HP7 chassis will be similar to this Marchon conversion with perhaps some slight variations??

Ive never run a Marchon chassis..........are they good runners?

I did stop and pick up a couple of racing classics nascar bodies at the super wally last night.
Definitly have to drill em out but the bodies & Paint are very very nice!!! :thumbsup:

I do it different -- the way I cut the cars the chassis actually 'snap' into place. You can adjust how the car handles by either going tighter or looser on the fit between body and chassis. Looser is faster as the chassis does a little more "float" while the car is running.

I also narrow up the rear framerail on the HP7 and move the tires in further.

I have to pen a tutorial sometime :lol: Takes me about 10-15 minutes to "gut & cut" a car.

'doba

'doba

Hi Gang :wave:
I wrote the article at HRW.

Ive never run a Marchon chassis..........are they good runners?

Marchon's are great runners! I have about 250 of the conversions, and they are a blast! I tried tyco & tomy chassis, and although they run good, I had some overheating issues with the other chassis, that I didnt have with the Marchon chassis. Another good thing about the Marchon is the cost, starting about $3 to $4 bucks each. :) Depending on the NASCAR diecast ya buy, you can have less than 12 dollars in a running NASCAR, a little more for those "special one race" paint schemes!! The marchon chassis are available thru SlotCarWorld.com. We have a ball with them! If I can help in any way, just email me. There is a photo of just a few of mine below. Yep, even the haulers have been converted. :) Hope this helps!

Larry

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v12/73winnie/DiecastHOConversions.jpg

Great Stuff Larry............and a well done article.
These tutorials are really helpful to guys like me that are way down there on the learning curve. They hyper accelerate the learning process and I believe help the hobby immensely.
I did print out an order form for Slotcar world to order a few Marchon chassis but I havent filled it out yet.
Are there any NASCAR Die casts out there that would allow the use of Marchons lighted chassis??

Doba,
i'd love to see a tutorial for your method as well. Since you are using the Tyco HP7 chassis ( if i remember correctly) It would be great to have options.
I currently have an HP7 chassis without a body ;)
Have you experienced any overheating issues with your runners Doba??
Have you done any lighted conversions? ( probobly not for actual racing eh )

Now that all the family gatherings of the past week are finished, I hope to get down to business and get a few things accomplished with the race room.
I picked up a 6 x 11' piece of indoor outdoor and glue last week. Hopefully I can get this installed this week.
I thought i might mess around with the HP7 chassis I have and one of the die casts also to see if I can make it work.Not being familiar with all the differant chassis, I am not sure if it is a long one or not......................So much to learn.............so little time!!! :D

Great Stuff Larry............and a well done article.
These tutorials are really helpful to guys like me that are way down there on the learning curve. They hyper accelerate the learning process and I believe help the hobby immensely.
I did print out an order form for Slotcar world to order a few Marchon chassis but I havent filled it out yet.
Are there any NASCAR Die casts out there that would allow the use of Marchons lighted chassis??

Doba,
i'd love to see a tutorial for your method as well. Since you are using the Tyco HP7 chassis ( if i remember correctly) It would be great to have options.

The HP7 will need to be driven with care/skill, the MR1 will be faster and more 'nailed'. Both are good options, so do some of each and post the results here!

Good luck - Dw

Doba,
i'd love to see a tutorial for your method as well. Since you are using the Tyco HP7 chassis ( if i remember correctly) It would be great to have options.
I currently have an HP7 chassis without a body ;)
Have you experienced any overheating issues with your runners Doba??
Have you done any lighted conversions?

Here's what I can tell you about the HP7 chassis -- we have never had any overheating issues. Now, the league we race these cars in uses short ovals, typically they fit on an 8' table, so you are looking at maybe 5-6' of straightaway before you let off for the turn.

The HP7 requires a good bit of driver input -- we race on the stock slicks -- so we are all pretty good at throttle control now.

One thing probably universal about die cast conversions would be this: If you are going to have longer straightaways, you need to have wider radius turns. On a short track bullring you can use 9" and 12" turns, but if you want to have some longer straightaways, I'd recommend going to 12" & 15" (or even 18" if you use Tomy track). "Short chutes" between turns are nice too, they help to settle the car back down after a hard turn-in.

I really gotta do a tutorial on this sometime -- we've been doing it since 1994 so maybe we'll find the time pretty soon :lol:

'doba

Here's what I can tell you about the HP7 chassis -- we have never had any overheating issues. Now, the league we race these cars in uses short ovals, typically they fit on an 8' table, so you are looking at maybe 5-6' of straightaway before you let off for the turn.

The HP7 requires a good bit of driver input -- we race on the stock slicks -- so we are all pretty good at throttle control now.

One thing probably universal about die cast conversions would be this: If you are going to have longer straightaways, you need to have wider radius turns. On a short track bullring you can use 9" and 12" turns, but if you want to have some longer straightaways, I'd recommend going to 12" & 15" (or even 18" if you use Tomy track). "Short chutes" between turns are nice too, they help to settle the car back down after a hard turn-in.

I really gotta do a tutorial on this sometime -- we've been doing it since 1994 so maybe we'll find the time pretty soon :lol:

'doba

It sounds fantastic, I gotta find a way to incorporate it into the racing here in the UK. Trouble is we already have two Nascar classes, Nextel and Winston so what would we call the third class and would we just end up with three weakly supported classes? Much to ponder, but the idea is solid gold...

do some of each and post the results here!

Playing around to see what needs to be done.
I filed the side body tabs on the chassis and ended up with this.
Tires stick quite a ways out and wheel wells need to be ground some more unless I find a way to mount the body.

I'm kicking around styrene body posts that would sit on the chassis and slip in behind the axle in front effectively keeping the front from moving. Rear....hmmmmm, lets just say, i'm working on it and am up for suggestions ;)

Well, after kicking this around for a while I decided to give the EZ route a try first.
I popped in to the big orange box for some of my normal business supplies and grabbed up a roll of carpet tape ( extra sticky)...........It worked like a champ and made adjusting the car very EZ
THANKS TO LARRY!! The suggestion was a part of his article.

The Die cast body with its extra weight runs a bit slower and handles differently then a plastic bodied car and requires a bit of finesse through the corners. On a banked corner it will still powerslide if you go too fast but at the same time it will roll on you very quickly if you slow too much.........The track that I have set up is around 52 ft and I was getting 6.2 - 6.7 second Best lap time in 10 lap runs) Comparatively my new Dodge Charger #9 Kasey Khane was pulling low 5's.

All in all I would say these Look Fantastic, are very fun to drive and are a relatively EZ project to boot. I can see why Doba started a league for them and they would be very challenging on a flat road course.............They do NOT LIKE Squeeze tracks at speed!!!
I am looking forward to doing more of these in the future but am preparing to focus on 1/32 scale very soon.

Wifey just ordered me a Scalextric Sport Digital set and I have another 100.00 worth of used sport track coming along with extra power supplies etc.

Cant wait to try this new digital set when it arrives!! :)