All,
I'm rejoining the sport after a "brief hiatus"...ok, I haven't done anything with RC since 1981-2. My last car was a 1/12 Associated something or other. My Dad and I raced with the local club back then and had a ball. Now I've got my own boy, and a basement perfect to set up a 1/18th track. Grampy is all set to race too (he actually started RC car racing in the early 70's...when all of the 1/8 gas cars were home made).

So I lurked around and decided that the BRP SC-18s were for us. I've got mine built up, and am currently awaiting the radio.

OK...my questions:

Does anyone solder the rear bushings into the rear bracket like slotcars?
Can the SC-18 be made into a "fun won" with a front suspension change and bigger wheels?
Does anyone make light interiors for the bodies?
I'm going to run on my basement floor. Right now it is gray Behr Epoxy (flat, not glossy). Can I get away with another coat of epoxy with sand, or will I have to go to carpet?
How wide should the lanes be for decent racing? Can they be 3' wide, or is that too narrow?
What should i use for lane borders? PVC, firing strips with water pipe insulation, anything I've got laying around the house?
Has anyone made a banked turn for a basement track...any tips?
I hear talk of traction treatments for the tires...what do people use for this? In slotcars we used this stuff called Tiger Milk...never did figure out what is was...WD-40?

Any other tips for a newbie basement racer?

Thanks for your time.

Bob

bob welcome as for the tigers milk go to a website called hoslotcars.com there is link there called chemicals and it shows you how to make tigers milk as for the borders pvc pipe works great but actually u can use anything a garden hose will even work

You can glue the bushings to the pod no solder since the pod plates are alum.
You can make them into fun wons but you are better off runing as are in tight area.
Don't know of any interiors.
try the epoxy floor first make sure it is dust free. lanes of 3' OK.
PVC pipe works fine.
Don't know of any bank turns??
WD 40 will work or any of the RC tire tractions out there.
Hope this helps You out!! :)

Hi Bob
You've made a perfect choice for newbies and veterans alike. You'll find the BRP cars to be durable, fast and most of all ...fun. :p
Most just super glue the bushing in. Be sure to have the axle in them and spinning freely before you secure them to make sure they're aligned.
You'll need Fun Won rear hubs, the wider front beam, longer tierods and 1/12 scale front tires and wheels trued down to 1.80" to do the conversion.
For track surface I think carpet is prefered, but traction paint will definately help. It depends on how big of an area you have and how much speed you'll be able to get them up to which leads to width of your lanes. 3 feet seems to be about as narrow as you can go and still be able to race side by side.
There was a group that were racing on roofing felt paper with sucess. A plywood banked track covered with carpet would seem ideal to me.
This link needs up dated, but you may find something useful:
http://pennswoods.net/~fortner/BRPittips.html

When times get tough in the winter and we need the fix, roofing felt on my garage floor works extremely well, no traction compound needed. Overlap the joints so you are always driving off the current paper onto the next. some duct tape strips hold everything together. It will need to lay for a day or two in order to flatten out to the floor. May not be the perfect option if your basement is a finished area like a rec room. old 5/8" garden hose filled with sand is on the outside perimeter, a piece of 1" pvc is the center divider. The lanes ended up being 3' wide.