Fly Classic Modified Class

Porsche 908 Flunder Kurz  (Artikel på dansk i MiniRacing Nyt nr.12 pdf-fil)

Since their arrival on the market, I have loved the Fly Classic Racecar series, especially the cars from the 1968-1971 era. The quality of the cars, with superb tampo-printing and fine details, combined with reasonable pricing give you great value for your money. 
However the quality of the mechanical parts do not live up to the standard of the exterior. The lousy fit of the bearings, uneven wheels and other misfits makes the cars almost undrivable without the magnet. These problems have unfortunately increased over the years.
So what do you do if you want to race your beautiful cars ?? - of course you modify them (as you probably do with most of your cars, as Fly is not the only sinner in the field). 

That's the background for the Fly Classic Modified (FCM) Class: replace the sore parts with other parts of higher quality, but keep the scale appearance of the Fly Classics.

My club, Højfyns MiniRace Klub in Skalbjerg on Funen in Denmark has adopted the rules and is starting up a modest Club Championship with these cars and we hope that other clubs will join in, so we can set up a regional league as an alternative to the Slot-it series with the current LeMans/GT cars.

Link to rules for Fly Classic Modified class: 
(English)  www.racecars.dk/FCMRules.htm  (Danish)  FCM Reglement

Modifying the Fly Porsche 908 Flunder kurz.

I have always liked the 908 cars and have allready worn out one of these Flunders. I like both the looks and the handling of the car and wanted to build a new one. As its no longer available from Fly, I had to look out on ebay and was lucky to find one at a reasonable price.
So I took the opportunity and took some pictures of the process and now hope that this article will inspire others to follow in my footsteps and get these great models rolling. The Flunder may not be your favourite, but most of the hints should apply for other Fly Classics as well.
My approach is only a suggestion and there is lots of possibilities, so I will start with a list of parts, which might be used in stead of the original Fly parts.


Alternative parts

Guide: Slot-it, TSRF
Front axle: replace the miserable plastic stub axles with a 3/32" solid steel axle
Front wheels: Use the Fly wheels if they are round or use alu wheels from BWA, Slot-it or similar manufacturer. Turn down the Fly wheels for inserts. Picture show BWA wheels and Ortmann no.49 Tyres with turned down Fly wheel as inserts.
Front tyres: Fly, Slot-it, Ninco or whatever. Make sure they are round (use your Dremel).
Motor: keep the Fly motor or use the Slot-it V12/2 25K motor
Gear: keep the Fly gear or replace with TRSF, Slot-it, NSR or similar gears. Beware of the larger diameter of the replacement gears and take care that your rear wheels are big enough. Fly sidewinder gear are approx. 18mm, Slot-it are 19mm. TSRF are 18,5mm.
Rear wheels: use alu wheels and turn down Fly wheels for inserts. Alternatives could be Pattos Euroscale, BWA, Slot-it, NSR and similar.
Bearings: flush the Fly ones out in your toilet and use Slot-it or similar replacements. I use Patto 3/32" oilites, which are a bit too small in diameter, but I have some in stock. I use masking tape and super glue to mount them.
Axles: 3/32" drill blanks.
Rear tyres: Ortmanns or similar high-grip tyres. Watch out for rear wheel diameter !! Ortmann 43's or 51's might be on the small side. On this car I use Ortmann no.49 F1 tyre and turned them down (messy!) for this exercise, but normally use no. 43 with patto rims. No 51 might be used with the big Slot-it rims.

Hint: normally I use what I have in stock to keep costs down. I enjoy re-using old stuff, but do whatever pleases you. Your imagination is the limit.

Rebuild

1. Motor Pod
Take the chassis components apart and mount the new bearings and axle in the motor pod. I have used Patto oilites and axle. The bearings are too small in outer diameter, so I cover them with small strips of masking tape and mount them with super glue. Using Slot-it replacement bearings is easier as they just pops in.
I have tried the TSRF nylon gears on other FCM cars and were pleased with them. For this build I wanted to try the TSRF alu/steel 14/45 combination. But use what you like (or have in stock).
I have invested in some BWA rims, because I like the looks and wanted to try an alternative to my old and trusty Patto Euroscales. However they are very small in diameter and I will therefore test Ortmann's no. 49 tyres for this car. They are normally for Ninco F1's, but the small inner diam. and plenty of rubber makes them a candidate for the BWA's. However they need to be sanded down, also to remove the irritating F1 groves :-(  Remember to round the edges of the tyres. 
Now the motor pod is nearing completion. Use thin 3/32" washers to get the wheels out in the fenders. Take care that there should be a small sideways play in the axle. I use a piece of paper stuck between the bearing and the wheel/washer when I mount the wheels. The thickness of the paper is enough.

2. Chassis
I have a hysterical dislike of the wobbling of the Fly (and similar) guides. I think this comes from my background in "real" wooden track slotracing (Jet Flags guides etc.).
I am not sure how important this is, because the Slot-it HSR has a similar pitiful and wobbly guide mounting and drives OK with it. But all the same - I will try a TSRF guide on this car, even if it means a major rebuild of the front of the chassis.
The TSRF guide comes with a small brass tube that has to be glued into the Fly guide post. Use super glue and you are rolling in a few seconds. The guide is however bigger than the standard Fly one, so you need to cut out in the Fly chassis to make room for it (see picture). On the other hand, the guide comes with big braids that will last a year or two and gives you plenty of contact, so thats worth a few moments of cutting and sanding. You need also to make a small cutout in the rear of the guide, as the front chassis mounting screw will be covered by the guide. The small cutout gives access and has no effect on the guide at all.
I use the standard Slot-it guide (with screw mounting) on other FCM cars and they drive very well. This is much easier to mount. For wooden tracks, use the special Slot-it guide.
I always glue the motor pod to the chassis with super glue to get a stable platform. Take care that the axle is 90 degrees to the center line. Mount the guide with the nut included (with a small washer beneath).
I planned to use BWA rims in front, but used them to soup up a Scalex Chaparral 2G, so I had to use the small Slot-it HSR front wheels with Fly rubber. Put them in your Dremel and sand them so they are round. Use the Fly wheels for inserts. I mount the wheel on an axle in my Dremel and cut them down using an X-acto knife and sanding sticks. I even have a small Unimat 1 lathe, but its faster to use the Dremel. For the BWA wheels its important to make the inserts as thin as possible. The inserts are only 9,5mm som take care not the break to sprokes.
DO NOT use designer alu wheels or photo etched inserts on these classics !!!!!

Link to detailed tips on how to make inserts: http://slotcarillustrated.com/HowTo/inserts.shtml

Front wheel ride hight is a source to many discussions and there might not be any right answers as the right setup might depend on your driving style, track surface, car CG etc. etc. However I like the front wheels to barely touch the track, so I place a thin piece of cardbord beneath the front wheels when deciding the ride hight. For this car the combination of Slot-it rims and Fly Classic rubber was OK. I just rounded the tyres in the Dremel. But you may have to try different combinations of rims and tyres to get it right. Alternatively you may choose to replace the Fly setup with a fixed brass front axle tube superglued in place.

3. Body and interior
On my latest cars I have mounted the interior directly on the chassis as an alternative to the normal fixture in the body shell. The reason is to avoid the lead wires getting tangled underneath the interior tub. I cut down the rub so it fits on the chassis and use doublesided foam tape for mounting. The lead wires are routed on either side of the tub.
The Fly driver sits a bit stiff and helds the arms pretty high. You can sand his abdomen a bit in an angle to get the arms down and superglue the hands to the stearing wheel. You don't need to do this, but I think he looks more comfortble af this operation :-). Paint the seat belt black while you are at it.
On the flunder the engine is barely visible and only the cylinder covers are protuding on top. This part of the interior is also the worst sinner when it comes to rubbing against engine leads etc. so grab the opportunity and sand down the major part of it. In my head this has nothing do do with weight trimming. I just want the chassis to move freely without anything rubbing against the motor and lead wires. Furthermore the scale appearance is not changes (see picture).
The rear engine mockup is also sanded slightly to minimize the contact with the chassis.
To mount the rear view mirror you have to glue in a bit of plastic with a 2mm hole on the underside of the body.

4. Chassis and Body
Make a trial fit. Shave the edges of the chassis where it touches the body. You want to have a floating body that only touches the chassis at the mounting posts. Look at the picture above and see how I have tucked away to lead wires, especially on top of the motor to avoid any rubbing against the body. I have also added 7g weight behind the guide to keep the nose down.
When tightening the mounting screws I normally turn them back half a turn to ensure that the body moves freely on the chassis. Others may like a tight fit, but try it out for yourself. As mentioned above you need to make a cut in the rear of the guide to get access to the front mounting screw (not shown in picture).
The lead wires are from halogen lamps, but keep the Fly wires or use whatever brand of silicon wires you like. The wires are mounted is a way so the guide centers automatically by the tension of the wires.

5. Finish
Paint the wheels and inserts semigloss black in Porsche style. You may leave the rear inner face of the wheel in natural alu to simulate brake discs.
For this particular car I have made some decals with no.28 to make the sister car of the no.27 Langheck that was third in the 1970 LeMans. The decals are made in Corel Draw and printed on a standard Canon Inkjet printer. The decals need a coat of varnish before dipping them in water. It is also a good idea to coat the decals with varnish to make them resistant to the harsh life on the track. I use a waterbased varnish for vinyl floors which can be applied by brush and is very resistant.
Before I mount the decals I remove the cars tampo printed no.5 markings with cellulose based thinners and a q-tip. Be carefull not to remove too much!!! and take care of ventilation.

6. Test drive
Now we are getting serious. How does the car behave? - have everything been done correctly or do we have to make changes or adjustments?
Well, I'll leave that up to you. I had a little problem getting the wheels round as the grip of the Ortmann tires make them difficult to sand. You don't need very coarse sand paper, use wet and dry paper, especially for finishing as the Ortmann tires are best when they are smooth.
Apart from that - the car went like a dream!!  - and looked good too !!!!

Final Thoughts
Have a good time racing. I hope I inspired you to carry on modifying the Fly Classics, to combine great looks with great handling. You might have worked out my philosophy: make anything necessary to improving racing abilities, but don't sacrify the scale model looks. And Yes, I know the Fly cars are a bit out of scale, and thats one of the reasons you won't see me racing a Fly Porsche 908/3, but compared to the horrors like Vanquish's 1/28 cars, The Fly cars are some of the most correct and good looking Slot Cars you can buy for a reasonably sum of money.

Above: our car with its 1970 LeMans sister car, also from Fly. This particular car has a German Schöler chassis.

The cars below are the starting field in our first FCM Club Race. The winner (Gulf Porsche 917) is modestly parked in the rear. The Porsche 908 Flunder from the article was lend out to a friend and racing for the first time. It was third in the race after the Gulf 917 and the Martini P 917. The first three cars was prepared by Neckcheese Magic Touch Classic Model Car Racing.
 

Link to another web-site with modifications of FLY Classic cars: http://www.freewebs.com/atadd/upgradingflyclassics.htm