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Fiddley fly bodies.

Squeezing out those last few tenths
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wixwacing
Marshal!!!
Posts: 1871
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 9:22 am

Fiddley fly bodies.

Post by wixwacing »

This is really a tech tip but it pays dividends more so on a race days so I have put here. Most of you by now will know I have a bit of a love - hate relationship with the products Mr Fly has issued in the past.....and not without good cause. Many times he has thwarted my attempts to get one of his cars to win a race... or even just complete a few laps in respectable time. One of the bugbear's was the interminable frustration to refit the lead wires back under the driver's tray when refitting the body. One lead is long enough, but the other barely travels up the centre of the model and gets trapped approximately under the drivers bum, causing the body to baulk at going right home!!. 'Fit a longer lead' I hear you say, yes that works but then you have a couple of long leads awash inside the model, both needing to be placed at the outer edges of the chassis to avoid the driver's tray. I have even put a spot of super glue on the wires before now so they stay in place. But the day eventually comes when you want to remove the motor or do some other repair. Then the leads tear as you try to get them back off the chassis!! So, whilst renovating an old racer I inherited, I came across this problem yet again. The solution? to fit a couple of SCXesque style brass strips on the chassis inside!!!

I already had some thin brass strip which cuts easily with sturdy scissors, so I planned the shape and cut them from the strip. This tends to curl the brass a bit, so I flattened them both out and one at a time, superglued them into position on the chassis. Just for good measure and as a precaution against them becoming detached at a later date, I drilled a couple of 1/16 holes in either end. I then lightly countersunk the holes on either side. Last step was to fill the holes carefully with more superglue. These, I hope, will act like little rivets and help keep the strips in place. Another plus is that the shortened front lead wires act like reins and keep the guide facing forward for marshalling moments! The final test was to refit the body . Saints preserve us!! The body now drops on in seconds flat and the trauma of fitting Mr Fly's bodies at a critical moment in a race evening are gone forever. Well Mr Fly(slot), at the price you are currently charging for your models, I'm sure it wouldn't be too much problem to add this or something like it to some of your more difficult models???


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(n.b. the gold spray on the chassis is paint which it contracted in a former incarnation)
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When I'm not racing slotcars,
I'm out in the back yard, burning food!!

When I win, it's because of my talent, not my car or my controller!
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