Special Delivery - New Additions

 First things first, I picked up quite a bit of odds and ends over the last couple of days. But before we get to those, here's the new car to add to the lineup:

NSR Porsche 917K Lucky Strike Kyalami 9hr 1971

I have taken this thing out and run it and it's fantastic. Plain and simple. The most dialed-in car out-of-the-box that I've gotten so far. More in a bit.

I also got my big order of Ortmann tires and replaced the rubbers on the entire lineup, all the way down to the Carreras. Everything is fitting great so far. 

Also on the order were some things to help make tuning easier: a setup plate, long tweezers, applicators for oil and lube, and spare parts from Slot.it. Screws and stuff.

So I got right to it. Changed the tires on the Lucky Strike car, lubed it and tuned it, setting ride height and body float. I thought I would take it and a few other cars up and see what kind of laps they would do on the Ortmanns. The tires came in two types; slicks for the 917 and 908 and treaded tires for the rest. The Alfa's tires were slightly different. 

I got the tires and the car from Overdrive Slotservice. They're a very nice company and are friendly, helpful and courteous. They're a full-service company, so if you don't have it in you to do upgrades, but need them done, they'll do it for you. They'll also install and run motors, digital, tires...a whole bunch of stuff. 

So how did the cars do? Well, most did very well, some amazing, a few went a little bit in the other direction, but overall I think it was an improvement. 

Car                           Time           Lap

Matra                      2:17.32       5.48       

Shell GT40             2:17.46       5.48       

Alfa                          DNF            --    

Tergal908               2:17.30        5.48            

Gulf 917                 2:18.62        5.52

Lucky Strike 917   2:16.66        5.44

Sunoco 908            2:19.32        5.56

The Lucky Strike car ran great with sanded tires, fast and nimble. The Gulf Porsche was also fast, but not as fast as the Lucky Strike as I had left the tires unsanded on it. I sanded it afterward and it was already running better. The Matra, holy cow. I know it's got a recently discovered unadjustable ride height, but that doesn't mean it's giving up. It absolutely loves the new tires. Laid the 3rd fastest lap time at 2:17.32. 

Since I've gotten this car, I've been struggling with what to call it. At first it was the 908, but then I got another 908. But saying Escuderia Montjiuch was a real mouthful. Then I thought about it. I have a Gulf 917, Rothmans 917, Leyton House 962C, Sunoco 908, etc., all sponsors. So, by looking at this car, one things sticks out as the obvious sponsor: Tergal. So it'll be called the Tergal 908 from now on.

So, the setup plate. It's impossible to setup these cars on an uneven surface like a track piece. You end up compensating and sometimes missing real issues. A setup plate is going to help set ride height, look for problems, and balance the car so it's ready for everything. I put each car on to see how close it was and while it was pretty close on most cars, some weren't, and the Rothmans 917 has a warp in the chassis. It's pretty bad, and I'm surprised I hadn't noticed it earlier. It flattens a bit when I attach the body, but it's still there. It still hauls ass, so it doesn't seem to be much effected by it. I'm definitely going to have to look into fixing it, though. I really like that car. 

I got the long tip syringe applicators because I was really making a mess trying to apply oil and lube directly from the tube like before. This way is much more precise and efficient. You don't end up wasting it on places that don't need it. The long tips can really get in tight places and get the job done without making a mess. 

I also ended up getting some long modeling tweezers, as I was struggling with little pieces and my last pair gave up on me, I also got this great magnetic bowl to catch screws and whatnot. Stroke of genius, that thing. And lastly I picked up some blades for my art knife. 

So one more car coming and that will be the last of the purchases. I'm especially happy to have the Ortmann tires sorted, and I'm glad that they are fitting without trouble. I'll be sanding and testing over the next few days, and we'll see how far we can get. It's still Lockdown, so we're not going anywhere for at least the next week. By then I'll have that last car and anything can happen after that. 

I'm going to hopefully run other cars tomorrow and see how they're doing with the changeover. Overall I'm pleased with the results.