Southern Area Slotstox "Ruislip Rebels"

The "Ruislip Rebels" cars were conceived from demonstration cars used for Corporate Entertainment, Craft Fairs and Open Days and are modelled on the Rebel cars which race on short-circuit oval tracks in the UK. The cars were built by the club’s promoter, Ian Rivett. The principle is simple. To encourage everybody to "have-a-go" the cars must be robust and easy to drive for anybody who has never driven a slot car before.

The search was on, therefore, for a car which was virtually indestructible, would last in the hands of a variety of very careful drivers(!), would keep going all day without breaking down, could cope with an oval slot-stox circuit complete with a six-lane chicane, could be raced as a "contact" formula and would not be reduced to scrap metal by the time the event was over!

With such an easy specification to satisfy (huh!), the Parma Womp-Womp chassis was an obvious choice. Using the brass version, which enables easy soldering of additional parts, two main rails were constructed, supported by pillars and soldered either side of the motor for the length of the car, to allow bumpers to be placed at the front and back. This feature would allow contact racing and protect the bodyshell from end-on-end damage. As damage is relevant to the speed of the car, the slower Parma Homeset motor was used instead of the standard 16D version. To complete the construction, black sponge tyres and 1985 Metro 6R4 0.020" Betta bodyshells are used. Strange but true, initially 0.007" bodyshells were used but were prone to damage. The thicker 0.020" bodies are much stronger and have not altered the handling of the cars at all!

The Rebels cars will be available for at the Brooklands event for the Southern Area Slotstox Club "SAS Brooklands Challenge". Competing drivers will race over a series of heats, accumulating points based on finishing positions. The top scoring drivers from the heats will qualify for semi-finals and ultimately the challenge final.

Oval racing is quite different to circuit racing and will provide an opportunity to try this form of racing. The chicane section of the track, passed through once every two-to-three seconds, provides an obstacle that has to be carefully negotiated and included in the race strategy. Successful negotiation of this part of the track can win or lose the race. Remember, in working out how to juggle your way through the chicane, only one or two of the six cars racing can pass through this point together! Try the cars, see if you too can be a Rebel!

Parma "Hotrod" Cars

(Parma "Hotrod" Cars, race prepared by Ian Rivett)

The "Southern Area Slotstox" Club based in Ruislip Middlesex, is now in its’ twelfth season of racing and has used the Parma cars since the club’s inception.

Based on the standard Parma Womp-Womp steel chassis, the only significant modification is that the axle width has been reduced to two and a half inches. All cars are then race tuned, having their motors correctly aligned but still using the standard magnets and unbalanced 16D armature.

The chassis is as standard, except that the rear axle bearings are glued in place to stop them spinning and the slot-guide is set-up to be self-centering. Gear ratios are fitted to suit the track. Our track is short and requires quick acceleration and good braking. The best gearing we find is a 6-27 configuration, giving a ratio of 4.5:1. Tyres used are standard black sponge cut down to a low profile of 0.750". A small amount of stick-it-lite goop is added to the track surface to give a good grip racing surface.

For oval track anti-clockwise direction racing, 30 grams of weight added to the left-hand sidepan on the chassis, will provide excellent offset ballast for quick cornering.

To top the car off, a Betta 0.007" 1985 Metro 6R4 clear lexan body has proved the best of all for style, durability and handling. It also provides good coachlines for a simple but effective two-tone paint scheme. To represent the various grades of the drivers, some Trimline vinyl fixed to the roof denotes the white (novice), yellow (b-grade), blue (a-grade), red (star), double red (superstar), silver (points champion) and gold (club champion) grades that are used.

Racing is formatted over the track’s six-lane oval circuit, which is a D-shape, with a chicane through the curve of the "D". Heats aim to rotate the drivers around the lanes, to even out the differences in lane length. Having said that, it is not unusual for a race to be won on lane-6, which is the very outside lane. Our finals are graded, with a format of either a straight race and lanes allocated in order of qualifying merit, or using a two-leg "sevens" principle (i.e. lanes 1&6, 2&5 or 3&4). Race times are usually held over one minute, with lap distances reaching up to and occasionally just over 30 laps, around one lap every two seconds – this is oval racing at its’ best!

Enjoy your racing…………………………………….……………………………..Ian Rivett

For more information contact: Ian Rivett – email: IanRivett@aol.com