FMD Project L88

[waaytoomuchintothis]

If you can figure out a way to get a runner out of a Marcos without making it a sidewinder, you have really accomplished something. What kind of coffee are you drinking!?!

I lowered my L88s without screwing up the lights, but I set the limit of the lowering specifically to clear the lights. It doesn't really need much lowering, and as Harry said, its mostly for looks, anyway.

I find that one of my favorite things to do is set a constant speed for all 4 lanes and just watch the cars go by. Leftovers from my model railroad days, I guess. We used to have a really good guy here called "The Lee Marvin of Slot Cars". His signature was something like, "leaning over to get my eyeball down on the track to see them go by". Yup. That's me all over. Probably why I like lights so much.

[HomeRacingWorld]

Fly front motor? Oh yeah...mine run ok. You have deep pockets right? :)

This project is rearing it's "tinkering" head. :) Why can't we just leave things alone?

[waaytoomuchintothis]

Or, as my wife claims... its what we do to get out of yard work.

[Ky.Slot Racer]

looks like a job for Pauls special tires to get it close to the sample picture.

[HomeRacingWorld]

Yes, those SE's are nice for this. Good call.

[Gameover]

You are making want to find one of these harry!

[dreinecke]

Really turning out good! I'd lower it slightly myself.

[HomeRacingWorld]

[loosewheel]

Are you going to keep the stock plastic rear bushings?

[HomeRacingWorld]

Yes, trying to keep/utilize as much stock as possible.

[dreinecke]

I am going to have to get going on mine now. This is a great tutorial!

[HomeRacingWorld]

Lot of things going on, but I finished the project finally.



To make sure everything cleared when I lowered the car, I sanded/cut the bottom of the interior. It's not that glaring when it's all put together so I did not bother with making new pans.



I am glad I did this mod to the bars. I did not like how the bars and driver looked before. I cut and sanded the bars so they would fit cleanly inside the body and glued them in place.

Once this was completed I glued the driver figure back into the interior. I adjusted him to where I thought it looks best and let the hot glue flow.



That photo will also show you the lowering accomplished. Again, to do so will take some work and not sure if it's something you will want to do...but I had fun grinding :)



The rear of the chassis is where I sanded. I just used a flat file and reduced these areas slightly. You do not need a lot to get a better stance.



I removed the big pipes using a milling bit in my Dremel. Messy, but necessary. You will likely lose the "T" shaed mounts but the pipe can still be glued back on with the leftover material.



You need to remove more of the material on the sides to allow the body to sit lower. You simply have to sand until you get the look you are after.



Now you can see the interior back in place and also the lights. I soldered and shrink tubed the old wires together after removing the RF capacitor. Then each light board was installed and hot glued in place. I mounted them in the body and bypassed the original mounts obviously. I did this as it just makes it easier for me to remove the body and work on the car if needed. The wires curl nicely and form into the hood, out of the way.



All finished. I think it turned out ok.



And it runs wondefully. Lap times tell me I am right with some TA models in our series. In fact it was neck and neck with my fastest Scalextric Mustang with 3.7 second lap times.

Overall a fun project and happy with the results. Considering my goal was to keep as much stock as possible, the performance is pleasing.

[btaylor]

Been following along on this, as mine needed work too. Did you add any weight when you re-assembled? mine seems a bit light in the corners. I also had a crooked pinion on mine that I replaced with a brass unit.
This is a great car, and a very helpful tutorial!
Thank Harry

Bob

[HomeRacingWorld]

Hey Bob. Yes, added some lead sheet on bottom. Helped it a great deal. Before the lead, like you said, very light and traction was not the best.

I started trimming the lead sheet and ended up with a slab that fills the underside between the wheels.

[Audi1]

Very nice tuning step-by-step; thanks! And the car looks great, too!

Allan