Guides for Artin 1/43 cars
One of the major differences between most 1/32 slot cars and 1/43 cars is the fact that 1/32 cars use flag guides while 1/43 cars use a fixed pin with fixed braids. While some people like the pin guide and fixed braids (I am one of them), some other think that the guide is a superior system as the braids are always in constant contact with the rails even in the tightest turns. Going to the guide will not make the car faster but it will enable in some cases some smoother and more forgiving driving.
Adapting a guide on an Artin 1/43 car can be quite difficult as the cars are really small while 1/32 guides are usually big. It turns out however, that some of the Scalextric, SCX, and even Carrera guides are small enough to be adapted on a 1/43 car. Assembling these still requires some work, but should be manageable for most hobbyists.
v Scalextric guide: The part number of the Scalextric guide is W8373 (Blue guide) or C8071 (Black guide). See the guides at http://www.scalextric-usa.com/.
v SCX guide: Thanks to Rauncy from the HRW forum for the information on this conversion. You can see the SCX guide at http://www.scx.es/en/index.html, click on accessories, then in the menu select Braids.
v Carrera guide: Thanks to Matt4x4 on the HRW forum for the information on this conversion. You can see the Carrera guide at http://www.carrera-toys.de/. The guide of choice should be the ÒCarrera Universal replacement guideÓ.
v I have looked at several other guides: Fly, Slot.it, Scalextric new style (with the plate for the braids), but those above seem to be the easiest to convert.
v All of these can be found (usually) at your favorite Hobby shop or on-line dealer
Scalextric Guide
v Start with the car you want to convert to a guide. Remove the body from the chassis (usually through a front mounted screw).
v Remove the guide pin from the bottom of the chassis using pliers
v Remove the two braids. To do this insert a small flat head screwdriver under the tabs on the inside of the chassis and pull the braids once the tabs are vertical
v Pull the two copper tabs to which the light bulb is soldered
v Take the motor out and flip it 180 degrees such that the motor contacts are now at the top. To remove the motor, insert (very carefully) a small flat head screwdriver between the side plastic tabs and the motor and pull up on the motor until it comes loose. You should now have something similar to the picture below.
v Using a dremel tool or a file, grind away at the front bottom surface of the chassis until you get a perfectly flat surface (or close to) as shown below.
v Using a 9/64 bit (3.6 mm), drill through the front mounting hole of the chassis (the one where the screw was), this is where you will mount the guide.
v Using small electronic cutting pliers cut off the front sides of the guide as shown in the picture below (right: before cutting, left: after cutting). This will enable the guide to freely rotate (up to 45 degrees on each side) once mounted.
v Mount the guide in the hole, make sure it is freely rotating and make sure it is pushed all the way in while sitting level with the bottom surface of the chassis.
v Cur about 2 inches of small gauge (18 or 20) wire, silicon is preferred as it will be much softer.
v Using a small tip soldering iron solder the wires directly to the braids at the front of the guide. Mount the wires as close as you can from the center of the guide to enable as much free rotation as possible.
v Remember that for proper soldering, you need to pre-tin the tip of the wire itself and the spot on the braid where the wire will attach.
v Cross the wires as shown in the picture below and solder them to the motor contacts.
v Cut off the body mounting post on the body so it is not in the way
v If you have Artin track, you should also shave down the guide blade by about 1 mm or it will bottom out. On Carrera Go!!! track, it should be fine as the slot is a little deeper.
v For better guide performance, you might want to consider lubing the guide shaft and the area between the guide and the chassis with some plastic friendly oil.
SCX Guide
v Here is the SCX guide. The pointed part of the stem is what needs to be cut off (see line on the picture below).
v This is a picture of the chassis where I thinned it at the front (similar to what was shown above for the Scalextric guide) with the guide removed from the screw hole to show how I solder the wires to it.
v The wire had to be soldered in straight on so as to have plenty of room to clear the chassis and enable free rotation of the guide. You need to get the wire as thin possible and the solder also, which can be Dremeled down if you have too much build up of solder.
v Because the shaft is long and gets cut to fit the Artin cars you will need to use a nut (or equivalent) to hold the guide in place. If you run no magnets, a nut is a good idea as it adds weight right above the guide to help keeping it in the slot.
Carrera Guide
v Here is the Carrera guide. The picture below shows where the guide needs to be trimmed to enable more rotation and where to solder the lead wires to the braids.
v This is a picture of the chassis thinned and flattened at the front bottom (similar to what was shown above for the other guide).
v It also shows the additional hole for the new body mounting screw.
v Solder the wires to the motor, in this case the motor is mounted in itÕs original configuration (contacts at the bottom) so the wires are not crossed. You could also flip the motor 180 degrees (as in the Scalextric install above) and would have to cross the wires.
v Insert the guide into the hole and make sure it is freely rotating
v Add a new mounting post to the body you will use.
v Verify your connections and the mounting of the guide with the body assembled.
v Trim the guide blade, both length and height to suit your needs.
v Enjoy!!!
Last Update: 5/28/07 Drop me a note