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The NASTE Forum → Posts by wb0s
So I got quite a bit done today, more than I had hoped for. I got all the joints and screw heads Bondo'd and sanded. Next step will be some minor touch up painting of all the track surface joints.
Although I decided to do a little more work than I originally planned on, I don't think it will set me back much, and I believe it will be a better finished product for everyone to enjoy.
This is what the countersunk screws in the track surface look like before the bondo is applied. They're pretty deep and the trick is, if the track should ever have to be moved, these puppies have got to come out! We spent quite a bit of time digging them out so we could separate the track pieces.
When we were taking the track apart, we didn't even know exactly how many screws there were to remove, or exactly where they were located. Being a realistic type of person, I know some day this track will be moved. Probably not in my life time, but someday. So for the next caretaker of InSlot's Checkered Flag Raceway I am taking lots of photos illustrating where and how to disassemble this beast! Plus, where there are countersunk screws in the track surface that MUST come out to complete the disassembly, I am covering the screw heads with a small piece of paper. I'm hoping this little piece of paper will not only keep the Bondo filler out of the phillips head screws, but keep the Bondo from bonding to the screws as well!
My original plan was to do a minimal amount of work to get the track up and running as quick as possible. Well...that was yesterday's plan. Today I started working on the track's running surface. I knew I had these countersunk screw holes to fill to meet even that minimum standard.
Since I felt I needed to at least fill the screw holes, I decided to go ahead and refinish all the track surface joints where it was taken apart. They were lined up really well, and I probably could have just relaid the braid and got it going, but I really do want the track good and smooth, just like it was before. The first thing I did was block sand the joints to eliminate any steps or drops where the pieces met.
Once the joints were block sanded they were good, flush, and ready for a skim coat of Bondo.
Whatever you're thinking Doc........Save it for the Halloween Race!!!!
I'm OK with your Trans Am car, and I agree with your remark about "lack of competitiveness".....
Bob had been using Naptha. He gave me a couple spray bottles and partial cans. It is a strong solvent/thinning agent so it stinks a bit, plus you should probably use plastic gloves. But it definitely cleans! Takes off dirt, grease. whatever with ease!
Thanks guys!
Regarding the visibility. My vision is that the drivers station would be on the outside of the short "L" leg, have the view down the long portion of the track. I feel like as long as the track isn't too high, you should be able to see the full distance just fine, especially if I don't have a lot of obstructions from elevations and overpasses.
Zack
That sounds like a good plan Zack! Short leg or long leg on the outside should be fine!
The last thing I worked on today was the braid. I started to remove the old glue used to hold the braid to the track surface using an old knife I have. I was very pleased to find the braid land was well painted by Kirk Smith when he originally built the track. Being well painted helps save the MDF underneath from damage when the old braid and glue is pulled up.
This old knife was my grandfather's. I have no idea what he used it for but it works perfectly for scraping off the old glue in the narrow land next to the guide slot. It is dull so it does not cut into the paint or MDF. I love it when I can put to good use some of these really old tools my grandfather had. I know for a fact this knife is much older than I am!
I measured the minimum clearance of the underpass at 2 3/4 inches. Although this is not much my tallest racing cars pass through just fine. Probably not so much for any Halloween cars!
1/24 NASTRUCK.
1/32 Slot.it Chaparral.
After I had the track surface cleaned, I did an assessment of the condition of the braid. I used blue painter's tape to make the areas of concern.
The good news is other than where the track was disassembled there are np portions of the braid that MUST be replaced. There are some worn spots, but nothing terrible. For the most part all of the braid is in very good condition.
My plan includes storing my routed HO track underneath this track. I will build a platform on casters for my 8 foot X 4 foot HO track table. I moved and removed some of the track's legs to make room for storage of the HO track underneath the two straights.
Before:
After:
I am thoroughly enjoying my shop now! I have access to, and can find ALL of my tools!...Well except for some of the tools I use for building slot cars. Those are still packed.....somewhere....But I now have a track to work on, and in my shop I can crank up the music (yes, I have a stereo in my shop) and fritter away the hours. And, when I'm done working I can leave a mess if I want to, because I don't have to try and get a car inside at the end of the day! With the new track now in place I have gained 176 square feet that is good for nothing but....wait for it.......STORAGE! That means once I have the track operational I can start going through all the boxes in the attic! This is AWESOME!
Today I finished cleaning the track surface off.
Before:
After:
Zach, one thing to consider about an "L" shaped track is visibility. If you are considering an "L" shape with the long side up against a wall as well as the short side, you will have the potential for a really bad blind spot. This is due to the need for turn marshals to go into the inside of the "L" to re-slot cars. My last track was an "L" shape, but with the driver's stations located on the outside of the "L"'s longside (the cars travelled away from the drivers or towards them when negotiating the "short side"). Configured like this, for the most part, turn marshals did not block drivers line of sight when turn marshalling.
When it comes to power taps on a track, I consider lap length, the type of power or power supply, and the types of cars to be raced, and the number of lanes the track has. Any track with a lap length of over 40 feet I would break into quarters with a power tap in each quarter. My last track had a lap length of 84 feet and I used four power taps spaced equally around the track. My HO track has a lap length of approximately 30 feet and I used two taps spaced half around. My considerations for power taps are probably overkill, but I have raced on many tracks with "power issues" and it is really a fun killer! With that said, the track I just got has only two power taps and all reports were that it was just fine. Let your conscience be your guide, knowing that too many is WAY better than not enough!
Zack, if holding club races is something you're interested in, don't let the number of tracks around influence your reason for the track build. Through the years NASTE racers have experienced times where there were so many tracks there were only one or maybe two races on any one track during the official point series season. Scheduling can be worked out to accommodate racing at a lot of different tracks! My philosophy has always been, the more the better!
Plan?..........drawing?..............hmmmmm..............I've never tried that!
I come in at night!
Track builds depend on what you want to do with the track and how much space you have available. Whether you want to hold club races or just use it for practice and tuning. All you really need is a router and a 1/8" bit. There are several methods you can use when routing the slot for turns.
I have used Trackmate for a lap counting system for years. You can purchase it with everything you need to connect it to your track for about $150. It is also compatible with Race Coordinator, and I later switched to using RC. The nice thing about using Race Coordinator through the Trackmate interface is you don't have the power shut off glitches like we experience at Al's.
As far as a power supply, the Pyramid units are very good. I picked my variable power supply up off of Ebay for quite a bit less. Search power supplies that are not slot car specific. Lab units are also very good. You can get as good or better than a Pyramid for less money.
I purchased a copper tape laying tool. I have laid copper tape with and without the tool and I'll tell you, the tool makes it a LOT easier! You're welcome to use mine if I can find it...........
Lastly, check with Chris. I think he would like to find a home for his current track. It is a small 3 lane track that fits in a corner. It is not very long but it is a blast to run on!
Thanks Smooth!
My plan is to get it up and running so everyone interested can do some racing on it at its new location. After we get some run time on it I'd like to maybe do some maintenance work like rewiring the driver's stations, replacing some of the side boards, and maybe new braid. It doesn't really need anything, but I'd like to put some of my own touches into it at some point. I want it to retain its character and heritage, true to its original builder Kirk Smith, and its home clubs PASER & OSCAR it served for years. I don't want to change it into something else.
I figured the reattachment of the 180 degree curve at the exit of the banked turn would be the easiest part.....uh, nope! Getting it aligned well along with the curve at the marshal's hole was frustrating. Jacking up the table, attaching legs, and a little light mallet work would get one of the two just right, but upset the other. I finally got it right but it was a battle!
This joint at the 180 degree curve where it connects to the short straight in front of the driver's station was probably the second most troublesome. I finally got it lined up after I realized that straight needs to go downhill just ever so slightly, and the table needs to slope down to the left front corner from the rear just a bit. And I mean just a bit! You don't even notice it unless you stand way back to look. It's probably less than 1/2 inch slope in 5 feet right to left, but until I got it right I had a bump in the track joint because the two surfaces were not level. One thing I soon realized, there is a reason they started building slot car tracks in modular type sections with adjustable legs!
After today's work the track is all one piece again. The joints are all aligned and ready for a little finish work. Finish work means filing, sanding, and a little bondo, but it won't take much. 
Here's a close up look at the upper/back straight track surface joint. It went back together very well and I'm pleased with the alignment. The gap is very narrow and the pieces are level, no drop or bump in the surface.
The lower curve where the turn marshal's hole is located was really hard to get right. I used the floor jack and post to get it level, but when I started setting the other parts of the track onto legs the joint would shift. Probably due to differences in my shop floor from Bob's. This joint took a lot of persuasion, mallet, wood, jacking, and track table leg resetting!
Clamping the track's framework underneath allowed me to get everything lined up before I screwed and bolted it together. I used multiple clamps at various points to get the job done.
I replaced the lag screws holding the two different sections of the track's framework together with bolts, nuts, and lock washers. I like this method a little better because it allows for some minor adjustments.
These are just some of my "minor adjustment" tools, the rubber mallet and wooden board.
I used clamps underneath the track surface on the framework to hold everything together while I made minor adjustments.
More jack and post work to align the lower curve leading to the short straight.
I truly love Harbor Freight Tools, but sometimes you realize you get what you paid for!
The track is now in its new location in Vancouver and today I spent most of the day working on the reassembly. It is good to have all the legs reattached and the track together as one piece again. I had originally planned to raise the track a few inches to allow for more storage underneath however, I really like the original height of the track surface so I decided not to raise it. Kirk Smith hit the optimum track height right on the money with the original build!
I started the day's work by first lining up the top or back straight. I used a pick in one of the screw holes to keep it somewhat aligned as I wiggled the track around to get the joint as tight and level as possible.
It's been quite some time since I've done any work while on a creeper! Seems like it was more fun when I was younger....
Getting the top/back straight joint aligned well required a floor jack and short post, and some clamps.
This project could never have been completed without all the help from my friends in the slot car community!
Thanks to Bob McFarland for allowing me to be the next guardian of Checkered Flag Raceway.
Thanks to gary "Howie" Howard for his help, bringing his trailer to the party, and his support throughout this endeavor and in my slot car interests in general.
And a big thank you to everyone that cam out to help, Mitch Brooks, Chris Kouba, Jeff Fields, Amy Fields, Rico Locati, Tracy Flood, Bob Nakamura, Dennis Hart, Jeff Burns, Beau Frazier, Al Christensen, Marty Barney, and Ted (sorry Ted, I still don't know your last name). You are all AWESOME and valued friends!
After legs were attached to one side we raised the opposite side and attached a few more legs so we could move the section into place.
Lastly we reunited the two sections!
Howie did an outstanding job of backing that trailer up the driveway. He had less than 3 inches clearance on each side, and overhead to get under that TV satellite dish!
Once we got the large section out of the trailer we rolled it into the shop.
Once we had close to where it would be set up, we used clamps to secure some of the legs back in position.
The NASTE Forum → Posts by wb0s
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