• From: Hillsboro, OR
  • Registered: June 15, 2008
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Topic: The Next Big Thing at the Pen

Ok racers, we've run series for the Fly Classics and another for Racer, NSR and Slot.It cars.   Now we're going to switch gears and move to a new series featuring Ninco "coo-pays" with NC5 motors.  These will be just like the cars we have recently run in the NASTE series and they provide good close competition with a minimum of effort in tuning.  And another nice thing about these is that the cars should not be difficult to find or expensive.  Many of us already have some.  And there are many choices, in fact I have at least half a dozen here that I will use as loaner cars.

So what about some rules, we should have some.

The Rules*

1. General Procedures

1.a.  If it's not specifically stated below, you can't do it.


2. Cars

2.a.  Any Ninco COUPE that fits a stock NC-5 motor is legal.  It is not required that the car come with one but it must fit correctly.  No adjusting of the chassis for motor fit is allowed.  For instance a car that comes stock with an NC-2 could be upgraded to an NC-5 by virtue of a simple motor swap.

2.b.  Car body and chassis must be stock.  Minor chassis trimming allowed.  Major cutting or trimming is not allowed.  Bracing the motor and rear wheels is allowed and on many cars may be needed to help reduce both the "Ninco Hop" and broken chassis caused by said hop.

2.c.  Only non-pod chassis are allowed.  The newest versions with pods are not legal since they could quickly unbalance the playing field.

2.d.  Motor must be a stock Ninco NC-5.


3. Running Gear

3.a.  Wheels and Tires - any similarly sized (compared to stock) wheels and tires are allowed.  All wheels need to touch and roll.

3.b.  Tires can be rubber, urethane or any similar compound.  Silicon tires are not allowed.  We don't run Sili's at the Pen.

3.c.  Gears - any is ok.  Experiment away.


4. Chassis

4.a.  No traction magnets allowed.

4.b.  Weight can be added but must be inside the car.

4.c.  Chassis screws should be taped.


5. The Season

5.a.  January 2011 through June 2012.



* ok, these are more like guidelines and could change if someone has a really valid complaint or a really good idea.

"Big Smooth"

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Re: The Next Big Thing at the Pen

Hey Smooth, Can you give me a few examples of legal cars (i.e. make & body style)?

Thanks!   ----------------------Bill

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  • From: Hillsboro, OR
  • Registered: June 15, 2008
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Re: The Next Big Thing at the Pen

You betcha, try this link and you should get at least 50 or more examples.

NC-5 at ebay

And here's a selection of NC-2 powered cars that will fit the NC-5 too:

NC-2 at ebay

I'm sure there are many more, it's a wide selection.  I have no idea if some are that much better than others.

Most all body styles of coupes are acceptable.  No convertibles and no Formula cars.

Here's some NC-6 cars, same size motor.

NC-6 at ebay

"Big Smooth"

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Re: The Next Big Thing at the Pen

Cool, nice wide variety, and I have something that will work.............   ------------------Bill

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Re: The Next Big Thing at the Pen

Smooth, How do the new Ninco motor pod chassis cars compare with the older cars, and are the motor pod chassis cars legal?

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  • From: Hillsboro, OR
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Re: The Next Big Thing at the Pen

I'll have to look and see what I have.  Not sure I have any with the pod but if it's a stock car that fits a long can it should be ok.

"Big Smooth"

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  • From: Hillsboro, OR
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Re: The Next Big Thing at the Pen

Ok, cars with pods are outlawed.  Seems like those could quickly change the balance and make us all want to go buy new cars.  I think the older non-pod versions should be adequate.

"Big Smooth"

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  • reek455
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Re: The Next Big Thing at the Pen

Which Ninco's have pods?  No LMP cars?

Race cars are neither beautiful nor ugly. They become beautiful when they win.
  • From: Hillsboro, OR
  • Registered: June 15, 2008
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Re: The Next Big Thing at the Pen

According to Bill, it's the new Lambo and the Ford GT.  Personally I've never seen one.  Bill says he has one coming to see what they are like.

I had to look around a bit to find one with a picture showing the underside of the car but here you are:

Ninco Ford GT

"Big Smooth"

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Re: The Next Big Thing at the Pen

First I've seen of them.  Cool, too bad they are not legal.

Race cars are neither beautiful nor ugly. They become beautiful when they win.
  • From: Hillsboro, OR
  • Registered: June 15, 2008
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Re: The Next Big Thing at the Pen

I've updated the rules to include chassis bracing to avoid the Ninco hops.

"Big Smooth"

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Re: The Next Big Thing at the Pen

Thanks for the update Monte.  I braced my car tonight and to my eye it did help the handling and the lap times improved some too.  I think I'm ready for Sunday. 

Rico

Race cars are neither beautiful nor ugly. They become beautiful when they win.
  • From: Hillsboro, OR
  • Registered: June 21, 2008
  • Posts: 24

Re: The Next Big Thing at the Pen

Doors open at 1 p.m., racing starts at 2 p.m. Beans and Rice with ham and sausage is on the Soup Series menu. Wii and word games will be available. Ring in the New Year at Penguin Point!

Zen Racer

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Re: The Next Big Thing at the Pen

Got my Ninco Porsche 997 ready for the next race. I braced the rear of the chassis as Monte suggested. We'll see how it works...............

http://www.naste.org/members/bill/ninco9971.jpg

http://www.naste.org/members/bill/ninco9974.jpg

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Re: The Next Big Thing at the Pen

Looks good Bill, vey nice brace and sturdy too I bet.

Rico

Race cars are neither beautiful nor ugly. They become beautiful when they win.
  • From: Hillsboro, OR
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Re: The Next Big Thing at the Pen

Ok, gang.  We're just about half way through the Ninco season as scheduled so it's time to consider the next class that we'll run from July through December.  Here's what we've already run:

Fly Classics
Italian Stallion Shootout - Slot.It, Racer, NSR
Ninco NC5 Coupes


I've been thinking about either a classic F1 with lower powered motors or an LMP series.  I know with the tight layout at the Pen that NASCAR's would be fun too.  We'd have lots of side action with those.  What other classes sound like fun?

"Big Smooth"

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Re: The Next Big Thing at the Pen

Smooth,

I like classic F1, just not sure how much variety there would be with available cars.

LMP might be good. I think most people have at least one, and maybe the different brands might be close in performance?

NASCARs would probably be a hoot on your track! It would be interesting to see how the different brands compare in that class.

We talked a little about racing cars most of us already own. I've raced A1 GPs, SCX NASCARs, Slot.Its, and Carrera Vintage NASCARs at BSCC. Except for the Carreras I wouldn't mind racing any of those again on your track.

The 1/43 SCX NASCARs Dave was testing out on your track looked like they might be fun (without the magnets of course)!

I wouldn't even mind racing cheap crappy handling cars as long as everyone is racing cheap crappy handling cars! (My Ninco Mini Cooper comes to mind!!!!)

I would really like to see a class where people could race different brands (Scalextric, Ninco, SCX, etc.).

-------------------------Bill

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Re: The Next Big Thing at the Pen

What about DTM?  I have most, if not all, of the proposed classes so I'm pretty flexible.

Rico

Race cars are neither beautiful nor ugly. They become beautiful when they win.
  • From: Hillsboro, OR
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Re: The Next Big Thing at the Pen

Ok, toward the thought of different brands, I think we'll aim for something like this:


GT Class
Any sort of a GT car (coupe - ie. car with a hard top) with a max motor limit of 22k, no-mag.  This could be a car from one of the following manufacturers:
Ninco
SCX
Scalextric
Carrera

Let's leave out Slot.It and NSR or that's what we'll be running.


OR

Revell/Monogram Class
Open to any stock Mono/Revell car with upgrades allowed to tires, maybe a few others, no-mag.  I figure we all have some of these sitting around.

OR

CanAm Class
Any CanAm car with 20K motor limit.  No Slot.It.


Who's got a preference?  I know I've got a few GT cars that could use some track time.  My Revell-o-gram's have hardly ever been run.  I'm sure I've got a few CanAm cars that could use a run too.

Any other thoughts?  We'll switch after June.

"Big Smooth"

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Re: The Next Big Thing at the Pen

Which Revellograms?  Their selections are kind of all over the place.  They've got Nascar, TransAm, CanAm and a few LMP cars.  IMO the GT class is very similiar to what we are running now,  my Porsche is a GT-3 car and should be legal.  The CanAm class is intriguing, I've got a nice Ferrari 612 resin body but it needs a chassis, unfortunately it is designed to use a Slot.it Alfa chassis maybe I could make a brass chassis, hmmmmm......

Race cars are neither beautiful nor ugly. They become beautiful when they win.
  • From: Hillsboro, OR
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Re: The Next Big Thing at the Pen

You're right, they are all over the place, that would be the beauty.  And probably allow most of us to already have a car.  I'd probably have to give some consideration to the motor.  I recall some of those slim cans were pretty quick.  But as we've learned, a fast car is not always an advantage on a short, tight track.

"Big Smooth"

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Re: The Next Big Thing at the Pen

Well I think it's safe to eliminate the Revell Corvette Grand Sports...........you guys are right, they handle like CRAP!!!!

Rico's Revell Lola T70 seemed to work pretty well. I also like the mini cars like the Revell Trabant Dave was running around, or the small SCX or Reprotech Abarth Fiats.

The Revell cars (or Carrera for that matter) are pretty cheap to buy for those that don't have them. Some SCX cars are fairly inexpensive as well.

Isn't the GT class pretty much what we have been running? I'd be OK with Can Am cars also.

------------------Bill

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  • From: Hillsboro, OR
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Re: The Next Big Thing at the Pen

Point well taken.  I think low-cost and high-availability would be attractive for a group.

So I did a little studying.  I think the Scalextric line of Crash-Resistant cars is the way to go.  Those are the ones with the blacked out windows.  There's a reasonable variety and also quite a group of them available on ebay.  Cars would include:

Porsche 997
Ferrari F430
Lamborghini Gallardo
McLaren MP4-12C
Audi R8 LMS GT3
Mini Cooper
Nissan GT-R
Jaguar XKR GT3
Range Rover (why not!)

Probably a few others that I don't know about but basically any of the Scaley cars with the blacked out windows and the 18k motor.

Should also be enough liveries available that we won't all have the same car.  And since most of us will have to buy a car, some of us may have to buy more than one, at least the cost is reasonable.  I haven't seen one listed over $35 with many under $30.

I say we run them for 6 months.  The first three months they stay stock except for tires.  The last three you can also change the wheels and gears, maybe a few other things.

Give me your thoughts.

"Big Smooth"

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Re: The Next Big Thing at the Pen

Scaley cars do not mix well with the Point, the guides are too small and shallow.  I fear it would be a deslot festival and not easily correctible.

Race cars are neither beautiful nor ugly. They become beautiful when they win.
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Re: The Next Big Thing at the Pen

Is a guide flag swap feasible?

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