John Ford has been a leading
authority on slot car racing since 1965.
1/8 - This number referes to the axle size of a slot
car. To put it simply, there are two rear axle sizes the 1/8 is
the largest one. See 3/32.
1/24 - The choice scale for commercial racing centers.
This scale is only used widely in the United States and Australia.
Everywhere else when slot racing is discussed, it is mostly about
the smaller 1/32 scale or H.O. cars
1/32 - The scale of choice for most of Europe. Mostly
because of the high cost of housing a slot car track, the Europeans
have adopted the smaller cars because the tracks are much smaller,
and a racing center could easily be put up in someone's home.
This is also the case for most club tracks World wide.
1/64 - This is the current scale used by H.O. racers.
The car is a little larger, and easier to work with.
1/87 - This is the original scale given to H.O.
3/32 - This number referes to the axle size of a slot
car. To put it simply, there are two rear axle sizes the 3/32
is the smallest one. See 1/8.
4033 - The part number for the most popular Ungar soldering
iron tip. There are others available that will acheive the heat
needed for soldering slot car chassis, but this one has become
the most popular over the many years it has been in production..
7D - This is the number given to a marine battery. A
better choice than the 8D for running a slot track. It is the
same size as the 8D, but is a deep cycle version. Its holding
compartments below the plates is still quite shallow, and this
battery will not last more than a couple of years in operation.
8D - This is the number given to a truck battery. Used
a lot by raceway owners to power their slot car tracks, it has
lots of power, but is not recommended because it is a short cycle
battery. It does not hold its incredible power for long periods
of time, and due to the unusual stress placed on a battery by
a slot car track, the 8D will not be a long lasting battery. The
8D has been popular for qualifying and drag strips because of
its high initial power.
8.88 - This is a chassis designed by Jan Limpach that
was quite popular in the '70's. It was named for its price tag.
16D - The original number used by Mabuchi back in the
'60's to designate a motor size. In the beginning, the original
16D was considered to be wimpy and not used by the majority of
racers. Stronger magnets and more efficient armatures led to the
16D eventually becoming the choice due to its lower center of
gravity, and it is still in use today.
21st Century - What that holds for the future in the
21st century remains to be seen, but for the present, 21st Century
is also the name of a prominent manufacutrer of H.O. wood C.N.C.
routed slot car tracks owned by Doug Shepard of Los Alamitos,
California.
26D - This was also a Mabuchi motor, and was bigger
in size, with stronger magnets. It was quite a hot number. So
hot, that in fact most burned up. But before they did, they were
FAST!
36D - This was the motor of choice for most racers in
the 60's. It was the biggest of the Mabuchi motors, and would
hold up under the stress of a hot rewind armature.
36 inch - A common width of slot car tracks. Using 4
inches from the outside wall to the first slot and 4 inches for
all the rest, results in a 36 inch wide track. During the '60's
this width was very common, and used today mostly for rental tracks.
42 inch - A common width of slot car tracks. The common
usage of this width was originally a marketing stragety of American
Slot Car Tracks in the early '80's. At that time there were still
plenty of old tracks from the 60's floating around, with 4 inch
lane spacing. So a new dimension was developed, 4 1/2 inch lane
spacing, to give the impression that you would need to buy a new
American track because wider would be better. It actually is better,
by a whopping 1/4 inch on each side of the car.
45 - Forty five degrees, could refer to the distance
around a turn, or the angle of the bank. It was quite common to
see 45 degrees on the early Engleman and All-Tech tracks main
bank. Only the Purple Mile, also known as the 220ft. Sovereign
had such a steep bank in American's stable of road courses.
'60's - Lovingly remembered as the "good old days"
by those who remember them. Collectors have a field day at flea
markets and trade shows swapping and buying cars from the '60's.
If you have one, don't let it go cheap without finding out its
actual worth. Some are today worth over $500.00.
60/40 - The proper combination of tin and led to be
used for soldering. Available at your local raceway, or Radio
Shack.
'70's - These are known as the "Underground years"
for slot racing in the United States. There was quite a bit of
slot racing activity going on in the few places that remained,
but for the most part, the tracks were few and far between. In
1977 when Scale Auto Racing News was just a concept on paper,
there was only 35 known tracks left in existance.
'80's - The rebirth years. With the advent of a new
magazine to help spread the word, (and the gossop) the sport began
to grow. American Slot Car Tracks came back on the scene with
a promise easily lived up to. The goal was to open at least one
new slot track each month during its existance. Hasse Nilsson
also came over from Sweden and added to the growth by building
new high speed competition tracks for National competition.
90 - The ninety is the turn just before going under
the bridge on the popular King track. This term could also be
used on any track having a turn of ninety degrees. This is never
used as an angle of a bank.
180 - A 180 degree turn must have the straight's entering
and exiting the turn parallel to each other, either before or
after construction. Example: The King track main bank is considered
a 180 because it was so before banking.
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