Converting Hot Wheels into slot cars
Any interest? I belong to several groups on Face Book that only do dieecast conversions..I Joined this forum awhile ago, and had every intention of building a Hot Wheels drag strip...But when I set up my HO oval and dragstrip I got re-bit by that bug!..I wanted to do HW because it was inexpensive racing...I stumbled across a few FB groups that do only diecast conversions. BANG! I was hooked. I just finished building 13 HW and Matchbox conversions. My drag strip gets a lot of attention from friends, family and company. But my HO cars were never equal. So I decided to make about 16 equal cars, so everybody would be on a level playing field..Each car has a new Auto World 4 gear chassis (under $12 each), and a Hot Whheels or Matchbox body...Almost every car cost me less than $14...Here's a few.
Discussion
Yea man sweet looking cars!
Great looking builds!!Have seen your work on Home Racing World..Very nice.
LeagueofSpeed slot car racing is as advanced as one wants..What we enjoy is just what you described.You contol the car,learn the track,learn when to let off and apply power.There are digital systems that will run ghost cars for you to compete with..The simpler the better for me.I run the car in my lane,you run yours.Tons of fun and these diecast builds are also fun to run.We have HO,1/43 and 1/32 scale.All fun.Pull the mags and do some dirt tracking...It is all about have fun with toy cars..
- I got ya...straight line drags I can see...thought we were talking road course — LeagueofSpeed
- yes sir I was talking road course..Fun stuff.. — Rusty
That's awesome, thanks for sharing. I never really thought about how Hot Wheels could be made to be slot cars. Love that Super Bee, it's bitchin'
I've been thinking about getting a slot car set...nothing too fancy, just a starter set that I can use with my kid. We went to a hobby store where they had a fullsize track, big scale cars (probably 1/32? Dunno) but she loved it. I love my old Tyco slots too...but the investment is pretty big compared to just orange track racing. But now if I can combine the two...hmmmm...
I am planning on entering some HW races, and hopefully put a track alongside my HO drag strip...I've seen a pic of Rusty's set up along side his HO track and that reigniting me to get busy with one in the future.
You got any video of them racing? Just interested in seeing how they look and move on a slot track. I know nothing of slot stuff but would think a diecast/heavier body would impact that quite a bit, no?
- We've nick named HO diecast conversions as "The Darkside of HO"..There are HO enthusiast that absolutely despise diecast conversions, and aren't afraid to let you know. They think that they can't run very well. Look at the video below and you tell me...I do it because it's cheap and there's thousands of body styles to choose from. — Sweet
...use this thread as a shot over the bow...sometimes the reins just need to be in the right hands...we will have a Sizzlers Circuit in 2019...count on it.
- What's a Sizzler Circuit? — Sweet
- Sizzlers were chargeable cars...that's what all the Fat Track aka wide black track raced on — LeagueofSpeed
- Just looked them up...I like em! — Sweet
Here's a short video of this car..I don't have any quality video equipment. This was just testing it..These were the very first laps on the car.
Thisone is my favorite. It's a Matchbox El Camino. This one is also made for the drag strip. I've used it on the oval to..It went better than I thought it would...TOTAL cost of this car, new chassis and body..$13.85
I started out doing plastic bodied HW first..I like to chop and section the plastic ones...The short track cars are Maximum Leeways and a Cockney Cab...The drag trucks are a Rig Storm and a (sectioned) Rennen Rig and a Bassline...The first one is a Poppa Wheelie....So yes, I do like Hot Wheels.
So do you have a ton of slot cars? Or do you have a few slot chassis and then just swap out the HW bodies?
- I've only been doing HO slots for a few years. My very first car was a Tyco 57 Chevy, which I customized as soon as I got it. I got hooked on having cars that other people don't have. So every car I own is unique. I'm not a collector of certain models or brands. Each HW you see has its own chassis. I buy Auto World 4 gears in bulk, usually 12 at a time. Each chassis has to be modified to fit each car. The mounts from one won't fit a body from another.. The plastic (early builds) have different frames, Mega G or G+, or an AW Superlll.. The Black Poppa Wheelie and the black Bassline share the same chassis..The Poppa Wheelie body was damaged beyond repair in a insufficient drag racing catch box...so the Bassline was born..So in reality I only have about 30 complete slot cars, and a big pile of broken parts. I wish they were interchangeable, it would save me a lot of time (and money) I've sold a number of customs on ebay, but not worth the trouble to me anymore. — Sweet
- The two ERTL modified stock cars, I just finished them for an old friend that I haven't seen in over 50 years. We used to race 1/24 scale cars on commercial tracks in the 60's....He spotted my name on an HO group page and PM'd me...He's just gettingback into slots after a 50+ year "vacation" and sked me to build those two cars for him. — Sweet
Very impressive Builds!!!
...that being said, and let me say I still love slot car racing, but that's also the catch for me. IMO you have to be there in person with the controller in hand and learn the nuances of the track...when to accelrate when to throttle down and having someone else do it for you just takes the fun out of it...for me. Now if I have how the races would be run nowadays wrong, is it automated? ...I apologise, but I don't think the Human Element has been removed from Slot/HO car racing.