| This slot car project details the process of taking the
model kit of a 1/25 scale 1996 Mustang Cobra Convertible and converting it into a slot car for use on
most home 1/24 scale slot car tracks such as Carrera Exclusiv, Sears /
Marx, and many others.
These projects give you the realism for your slot car racing without having you spend a ton of money to buy an original vintage slot car. Read below to see what's involved. |
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| NOTE: If you are under the age of 18, please have an adult or parent/guardian help you with this conversion project. Do not try it yourself. This is best done with safety in mine first, so take your time and have fun :) |
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As
you can tell by looking at the FCR Chassis Guide,
these Mustangs from Revell-Monogram fit on the 4inch wheelbase 1/24 scale FCR
brass chassis. Most of the hardtops fit nicely without any screws but the
convertibles will need some screws and holes drilled since they don't have the rigidity
of the hardtop coupes even with the top glued in place.
The first thing to do is to work on the chassis. Take your X-acto knife and carefully enlarge the body-mounting pin holes in the rear position on both sides of the chassis. Do not force the blade as it will break. All you need to do here is just enlarge the holes a tiny bit for the drill to get a foot hold. Now, take your hand-operated drill. A WORD OF CAUTION: Do not use a powered drill here, a hand-drill is slowed but a lot safer!!! Use the drill with the 1/16" bit to drill through and drill out the holes you got started with your X-acto knife. It will take some time but slowly drill them out. Use slight pressure and the drill will go drill, do not force it. Once you get both sides drilled out, take your self-tapping screws you purchased and screw them into the holes. They might be hard at first to turn but once you get them through, the screws will be easy to go in.
As per the photo above, assembly of the rest of the chassis is pretty easy. I had some Candies Silicones Tire/Wheel Sets in my Parts Box so I grabbed those from the rear. For current items, you can replace them with American Line Coated Silicone Tires/Wheels #1063D available from most hobby shops and online stores that deal in slot cars. For the front I had some left over vintage Firestone Cox brand tires and aluminum wheels from the '60s that I found on eBay but you can substitute them with Pro-Track #319s or fronts from American Line #1075. You can also find from American Line or REH the threaded axles I used front and rear - these are #7100. Use the assorted nylon spaces to keep the wheels in check with the chassis, use the motor screw to attach the motor once you get the pinion on using the pinion press tool, and insert the wires into the front part of the guide flag. Most of the assembly of the chassis you can figure out yourself from looking at the picture above plus by inspecting the pieces yourself.
| Once you get the main chassis unit built and assembled, the
next hardest part is making the holes in the body. The easiest
method I found out is to drill out the holes or make any modifications
before you begin painting or assembly of the model body.
The first thing you want to do with any project is to just dry-fit things as they say in the model kit world so just take the model body and fit it onto the chassis. The wheels and tires should clear the body front and rear with no part rubbing. If they do rub, try adjust the bushings in the front and rear. Once you see everything fits nicely, the drilling part is next. You should take some scotch-tape and attach it to the sides of the body once you have it on the chassis, this will keep it from moving. The photos to the right shows the holes I drilled in the body so it will attach to the FCR chassis. |
[Click on Photos for a Closer Look] |
Take a fine-point black marker and mark the holes from the inside of the chassis on the body. These are the locations you would be drilling out later. Make sure you make each hole clear for each side of the body so you get it even. This is the part you have to be careful. Once you get the holes marked, remove the tape and body from the chassis. Take the body and carefully get the holes you marked started using your X-acto knife. DO NOT PUSH HARD HERE, slightly pressure to get the holes started. Now, take your hand-operated drill with the same 1/16" bit and drill through the body where you marked the holes and got them started with the knife. Take it slowly here as to not warp or bend the body. Once you get them drilled out, take the self-tapping screws and thread them in. You may need to enlarge the holes a bit with your knife so the screws go through easily but do not enlarge them too much. Here you also may take your body and see how it fits on the chassis before you start assembling the body per the model kit instructions.
About the convertible model kit body...If you have patience, you may create the interior of the car since it a convertible but I took the easily way as you can see in the photos by using the up-top and blacking out the windows. Some will use a flat plate for the interior and add their own driver and part of the dash from the model kit, etc. Other may use the dash and interior from the kit but cut out the part where the motor is and substitute other seats or a plate over the motor with only the tops of the seats, etc.
Final ThoughtsUsing the instructions from the model kit, you can use the painting guide and assembly diagrams to help you finish the body work. Since I decided to keep the body in white, I didn't need to paint it. I painted the top a darkish navy blue using some Monogram ProModeler paint from my paint box. I think it came out pretty nice. The hardest part is painting the areas around the rear clear red lenses so I just left them go, I figured it's built for racing so what the heck :) Remember you can decide on how you wish to build it. Choose your own color for the body, top, etc. and go from there. Here you can see I painted the front amber turn-signals and the up-top. Some bodies need more painting then others but the fun is in building these creatures for your 1/24 scale slot car track like Carrera and others. I will have some track times listed on my Test Drives Data Sheet section for your examination in the near future. |
[Click on Photos for a Closer Look]
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