NINCO F1 GTR Tune Up

[HomeRacingWorld]

Had to go a little further than I wanted because they used the wrong sized gear. So I decided to just throw in the good stuff, because it isn't everyday I get a new one of these and felt it was worth it.



Used the original wheels to make inserts. I use the Tire Razor and sand until the wheel just slips on. Then using a chisel top Exacto blade, I cut in half. Then trim the back off the same way. You can get flush with the brake rotor detail if you are careful.



Good old 15 x 8 inserts wheels and Paul Gage tires. I like this new size.



To eliminate the side to side free-play up front I used simple shims, one on each side.



Blocked the front with styrene plastic and added a tube for routing the wires. I also cut out the front and added a B-Nova guide adapter and then a Slot.it wood track guide. The NC-5 will be swapped out to an NC-2 to match the older versions of this car in my fleet.



All finished. Runs nice and smooth and will play around with some lead hear and there.

Though my mods added a fair amount to the investment, at least it runs how I like it.

Fun times today messing with this car. Brings back a lot of good memories.

[Florida_Slotter]

[HomeRacingWorld]

Thanks.

Well, yes the cost went up. But I like the car, it has sort of historic/sentimental value to me. These cars from 12-15 years ago were a blast and I remember them like you remember your favorites from the 60's.

Remember this is for my little track and I just race them together. Slot.it makes a killer version that looks great as well, we just like these NINCO models for the simplicity.

[Florida_Slotter]

Harry,

We are in total violent agreement on this.

I have, just as you have, upgraded so many cars to make them run the way we feel they should be able to run. I knew I was on to something when Doc paid a visit and my Chaparral zipped by him. The first words out of his mouth were, "Can you stop that so I can look at it?"

To me it's just another part of the hobby.

Each one of us is different in some way, but all of us like to have good running slot cars to tinker with.

Thanks for the opportunity to share.

[HomeRacingWorld]

You know what the largest impact on my tuning is?

Parts availability.

Back when NINCO hit the scene with these cars, we did not have ANYTHING compared to today. If I could have filled my Skunkworks with all the goodies back then I would have :)

Today, with this car? I was mulling over what to do, but TOM was here. He has this way of motivating you. He was like: "Well, you have the goodies here...doll it up!"

And it happened.

You are correct 100%. Play with these cars the way you want. Tune to the max or just run'em.

[Florida_Slotter]

Harry,

The best thing about tuning up our cars to run better is the lack of cost of slot car parts vs 1:1 car parts! :angry-screaming:

I remember one night at the track - car launched really, really hard. I was looking at the stars . . . . . then it hit the rev limiter and the front of the car came back down around the same time the explosion sound reached my ears. My "buddy" the starter walked over to me with a bucket of parts. "Do these belong to you?" Like he already did not know.

Took out the convertor, transmission and lots of expensive parts. I might have been able to buy a slot car store with what that night of fun cost me.

Yep, slot cars are a cheap way of having FUN. Besides, I've NEVER been injured working on a slot car!

[chappyman66]

In total agreement here. I have a Carrera Porsche GT1 in the yellow Rohr livery that now runs great.....since it has an HRS2 underneath. It's not a true Carrera anymore, just a Carrera body. But that's an early Carrera and while they were pretty they were pretty awful to run without magnets (I have the Bentley too, which will eventually get the same treatment).

I love what Harry did with the McLaren. For me, it's all about which manufacturer offers which body/livery combination. The beauty is that you can buy the livery you want and make it run the way you want. I have a Cartronic longtail, because it was the only one until the Slot-it came out (now I have two slot-its). I probably won't work on that car any more.

The Nincos - I have 3 McLarens, 3 F-50s, and three SCX F-40s - because I have a three lane track and wanted to have equal cars for newcomers or visitors to race. I don't doll them up, but just do the basic tweaks so they run decent (wood track). It's good enough for me - when I want speed and power I get the Slot.it cars out. And it's pretty hard to stretch their legs on my track so those are mostly used for club racing.