I just thought I would continue with this (perhaps Interesting to Some tale),..lol
As can be seen by the Literal FLOOD of helpful and informative links and suggestions offered by So Many, I thought I would take this opportunity to personally Thank Pete 'Richo', for his previous contacts, Photos and all round helpful, and informative info, attitude, etc.
How's the 'How-To' coming along ??,..lol
So,..as I Had suspected,..the Longer Main chassis plate Was a Good Idea and after having completed My 'Initial' assembly and Noticed that a LOT of Stuff was NOT Flat and Needed attention, I set about pulling it apart, Again !!, sadly also Not to be the Last either.
OK, visit the track, and try to get all the EXTRA bits I once again Need,..and Can you believe, even after a couple More purchases, I am still to have everything I either Want OR NEED in my grubby little hands.
Now this is Partly due to getting what you Think you need and then after getting home and re assembling, you realise you actually NEED another 'Bit', sorry Guys, but for those that have a 'Box' full of 'Bits' it Isn't a Problem, BUT doing as I have done, from the Basic "Kit", there is a LOT Required and Not supplied.
It is Also Due I will endeavour to a lack of Knowledge, OR trying to be Too clever,..lol
Mounting methodologies for the particular Carrera body I have chosen are relatively limited and as I am still rather unsure as to Just HOW one Can Modify the Body Mounting 'Bits' and still be legal, with them complete as Standard, I am NOT at all Happy with the way the Body Mounting process is Going at all !!
As far as the Chassis is concerned,..well, deciding I Don't really Like those Nylon style Axle mounting Spacers and thinking either the Taller Axle Blocks themselves OR the Metal Spacers would be better, I attempted to Purchase the suitable items,..Hmmmm, unfortunately Not that easy, (from My local raceway that is!),.
Now in That I am Not all That Unhappy, as there IS an absolute Plethora of various PlaFit 'Bits' that would seem to be needed to be Stocked,..a somewhat Mammoth undertaking Initially I am sure and then early on to Keep on Top of Stock levels requires a bit of settling down and Product Knowledge etc, so in That regard I guess we are All learning,..the outcome of which is Still,..Unfortunately,..that I do NOT YET have a car that Has even Turned 1 single Lap and it has been re-built a Number of times, with as I Now realise yet More re-building to go to get it in My View,..'Race-Ready',..sigh,...
The Other BIG ISSUE, that I seem I must admit to almost becoming Obsessed with,..lol,..is the ever increasing realisation of Just How STRANGE it is, that as a Slot "Car" manufacturer, Plafit, don't actually Offer that Complete facility, Ex-Factory!
Correct me if I am wrong, but I am Not aware of Any PlaFit Bodies,..or Ahem,..Wheel Inserts !!, for their Odd Sized Wheels !!!!
Whilst I CAN Understand the Idea that as a Manufacturer, they were Merely 'providing' a Chassis, to which one Could, if One Wished, Mount Some kind of Body to,..to effectively Make it a Slot "Car" as such.
There Are already a Number of Other manufacturers that provide 'After-Market' Chassis and such,..BUT,..Many of them Also Manufacture or Market Extra Goodies and accessories, Including Bodies and Wheels, to Allow one to actually Build an Effective Slot Car from all the 'Bits' they supply.
Heck Imagine getting a Scalextric Race Set,..Only to Find you Needed to Purchase a Couple of Slot cars from Another Manufacturer altogether to get the Body required to Race !!
A somewhat strange situation,..Yes ??
I know of No Other manufactutrer, that actually requires the cannabilisation of Another manufacturers Product to Make their Own Product into an effective Slot car, Model or Toy !!!
What IMHO is even worse, is the development of a Rule Base, that 'Demands' certain requirements, placed upon what are to be Honest Whilst agreeably 'desirable' appearance wise, of Little consequence, Performance wise, Especially, when That particular requirement Is NOT supplied as an accessory within the 'Framework' of a Class Devoted Exclusively to That Manufacturer !!
Do you also Not find this a Rather Odd situation ??
Following on from My 'Ongoing' Personal 'Build', not Only do I have to Somehow find and purchase some Brand of aftermarket Wheel insert, Or Purchase (If I can Even find Any available) Carrera Spare Wheel Sets,...OR somehow 'Turn Down' the Wheels that came on the car I realise Now that I Must 'Trash', apart from just utilising it's Body Shell, which, without a Lathe, one either sees a rather 'dodgy',..read possibly dangerous excersise ahead Or having to find and Oh yes probably Pay someone to do for me, Just to make my car Legal to even Enter in the "PlaFit" race !!!
If I could either Purchase over the counter at My Local Raceway, or purchase easily, then as with any one else, it would probably have been an instant purchase of the 'suitable' item, to suit my car choice.
But as noticed in the Rules, the car has to apparently Retain the various Front and Rear Underbody Skirts and Diffusers etc,..an interesting Problem, as with My particular Body the front is complete and integrated into the Body shell, BUT, at the Rear, the Diffuser section, is simply Part of the Carrera Cars chassis, so once again, one has to work out How to effectively Remove Just That Part of the 'Other' slot car, Now rendering it as Uselass!! and then also How one goes about getting these Two Completey Different Plastics to effectively Now 'Bond' together Homogenously!
One wonders Just How Much of The Rear Diffuser/Undertray one Has to try and Keep/Fit, as having Too Much would be a Weight dis-advantage and Too Little Would preclude the cars Legality.
Plus there Is One Other point I am finding a Bit Odd, especially with all the 'Requirements' of Scale Realism, and is a point I tried to make elsewhere.
Both the Front and Rear Tyres I have purchased, defined within the Rules, means I have Tyres/Wheels, that In NO Way, Reflect the Running Reality of the Real Car, Nor do they in any way reflect Either of the Tyre/Wheel Combo diameters of that produced by Either Scalextric OR Carrera !!
It Would Not matter Which Body 'Shell' I ran, (although I am at a loss to understand How one could effectively Use the Scalextric Shell), the Fitted Plafit wheels and Tyres are Even simply Visually Far TOO Small for the Wheel Arches!,..let alone the fact the the Tyre Side wall ratio is, as can be easily be seen by virtually all the cars I have seen almost Non existent,..I mean C'mon guys, some of the cars look like they a running 5 or 10 series Tyres !!!,..lol
It's merely a thought, as I sit here looking at the Very Nice Scalextric Maserati MC-12, (You Know,..the Car you might have bought to canabilise), that I purchased For That very reason only to realise the Carerra version may be a better choice for my Plafit car, when, straight out of the Box, my 'Donor' Car, against a suitable field of Similarly equipped Standard Scalextric cars and Damn Good drivers, allowed me to have some of the best Fun and Extremely Close, competitive and enjoyable racing I have had with Any slot car !! and it Didn't require me to purchase Anything Extra to acheive that Simple Goal !!
Anyway,..enough Raving,..I'll get this damn thing together eventually, with the Correct Ride Height etc, etc,..Oh and Probably Wheel Inserts,..lol
Mind you it Does make an Interesting comparison to the Recent Scratch-built Aussie Retro F1 car I literally 'Threw' together in a day and finished in the car on the way to the race. All standard K&S Wire, with Standar K&S Brass and it actually works Really Well !! And was Unbelievably Great fun to drive and Race !! A soldering Iron, a Pair of Pliers and a $16.00 nibbler is all that would be needed to make the Same car,...cost of chassis parts? being generous I will say $25.00, complete running car ?,..well, we Know the answer there!,..lol Except Mine Has a Body !!,..lol
You know,..one other thing that maybe a small point, but can often be a Nice way of 'Personalising' this Type of slot car, would be to Allow people to 'Cocours Up there Donor Cars, like the Other classes and maybe allow Custom Liveries. I both enjoy and appreciate the Look of Real Race cars, but as this Whole class seems to Require Severe Modeling skills anyway, why Not allow some of the Really Good Modellers and Painters out there to Create Great Looking 'Personalised' cars, it would Not be difficult to keep the designs within the Spirit of acceptable standards, especially with the kind of Paint work we are seeing on Current racing cars,..anyway,..enough for now,..lol