"The Little Engine That Could"

[chrisguyw]

Most folks have steered clear of the FF050 variant motors for use in their clubs' quicker (higher horsepower) classes, as virtually all of the available FF050's come with relatively low gauss magnets, resulting in lower torque levels (you don't need much torque to spin a DVD ) .......and while these motors are great for lighter cars, F1 cars, and the slower vintage sports car classes, they do not often find their way into the quickest classes in most clubs.

The 050 motors certainly have some inherent advantages over any FC-130 or FK-180 motor.............they have a lower cg., and weigh 3to 4 grams less than an FC-130 motor, 10 less than a FK-180 (both aspects are beneficial to reducing lap times),......their drawback has been "soft" magnets and a "soft" wind.

Professor Motor has had a "Neo" magnet 35K 050 motor out for a while now, and after some tests, I can say it will certainly change your mind about "wimpy" 050's. This motor is a match for any 25/30K FC130 motor, and the lower weight/lower cg. do not hurt handling either.

Being a "Neo" motor it will offer considerable magnetic downforce on any plastic track if that is of interest to you.

And, as with any higher RPM/small dia, arm stack motor it will favour high numeric ratios.........the one below is geared 7T x 30T.
As set-up here (obviously with tires ) the car has similar acceleration to any of my 25/30K FC motors, and, has better (much) brakes.

I set up two identical MrSlotcar McLaren chassis....this one, and one with a Thunderslot FC-130 anglewinder geared 11T x 31) ...both shared the same tires.......the 050 was just over a 2/10th quicker....your mileage may vary !!

Cheers
Chris Walker..........and Happy Holidays to all !!

PS the motor pod has not been cut out.....that is a triangular piece of lead on the motor pod.

[Movintage]

Thx Chris, informative and interesting!
BTW, is it just a oddity in your picture or does that motor have 2 pinion gears?

Healthy and happy holidays all!

[chrisguyw]

BTW, is it just a oddity in your picture or does that motor have 2 pinion gears?

It just looks that way, .......these pinions (4.5mm dia./.5 module) are cut and then about 1/2 the width is milled down to save a bit of weight ......the weight savings is minimal, and has absolutely no discernible effect on motors such as these......if anything it just looks a bit more "trick" than a full width pinion .

It is wise to leave the pinion full width where it meets the motor shaft, as this gives a "longer" surface where the pinion/motor shaft meet........this helps minimize any "runout" of the pinion due to less than perfect installation. or, a less than precise pinion bore, but cutting the tooth width is perfectly acceptable, and looks cool 😎

Cheers
Chris Walker

[gsnopoint]

Not familiar with these motors. Do they need a special pod and/or adapter to fit them in, say, a slot.it motor pod?

[chrisguyw]

FF050 or "Slimcan" motors have been used for quite a while in a variety of cars........most all of the Scaley F1 cars, and some of their sports cars, and all of the Policar F1 cars use them, so all of these chassis can accept most any FF050 motor.

As far a separate motor pods.....MRSlotcar (sidewinder), Scaleauto (Inline), and Devis design (inline,sidewinder, and, anglewinder) make pods for the ff050 motors.

Both the Scaleauto and the Devis design pods bolt right in to Slot-it/Sideways chassis. The MRSlotcar only fit their chassis plates.
The MRSlotcar and Scaleauto pods are available at a variety of locations, and the Devis design pods are available at LEB hobbies (possibly others)

You can scratchbuild a chassis to incorporate any of these pods, or modify an existing pod......there are no off the shelf adapters that I know of......

There are a couple of other folks making FF050 motor pods, some seen here on HRW, but, I am not sure that these are generally available

Cheers
Chris Walker

This is a F050 in a Devis design inline pod...........this pod will fit a Slot-it etc. chassis plate.



This is an FF050 in a scratchbuilt chassis





This is a Devis design FF050 anglewinder pod in a Slot-it GT40 chassis plate.......bolts right in !!



And a scratchbuilt F1 chassis.........

[gsnopoint]

Wow, thanks for the info Chris. I never tried the scratch build thing yet. Would like to learn how when I have some time, looks like I would enjoy it.

[chrisguyw]

Wow, thanks for the info Chris. I never tried the scratch build thing yet. Would like to learn how when I have some time, looks like I would enjoy it.

I think you would enjoy it ,.......nice to see something you have created go around the track,..........and there are several folks here who would be happy to help you out !!

Cheers
Chris Walker

[Hangtime]

Awesome cars. I do love the long cans.

[Dogsbody]

Chris, I need that F1 chassis...

[chrisguyw]

Awesome cars. I do love the long cans.

Hi Hangtime, I am sure that you are well aware that the motor discussed is a FF050 "Slimline",...not the FK180 which is more commonly called the "longcan"..........they are completely different motors both in physical size and performance characteristics. The FF050's are much smaller and weigh 12 to 14 gms (30+%) less than a FK180.

Cheers
Chris Walker

[slothead]

I'm hoping to build a bunch of sprint cars for my new oval. If built to scale the 1:32 wheelbase would be 2.75 inches. Short wheelbase cars can be twitchy so a mild motor would be best. And, even though the body panels would be made from thin styrene or thick & glossy photo paper, a low CG is also important to promote sliding rather than tipping out of the slot.

I like your F1 type brass & steel chassis but to get them all (12 or more) to be identical standard plastic or 3D printed might be the way to go.

Do you have any suggestions regarding chassis, motor, and gearing for a small (6'x16') slightly banked home oval with adjustable voltage?

[chrisguyw]

I would be happy to make some suggestions, but, in order to make them sensible, I would need more info.......do you want to build or buy your chassis, what rear tire diameter are you planning, tire compound (sponge/rubber/silicone etc.) do you want them to go reasonably fast, fast, or, stupid fast, will you be using magnets, etc???
I will be happy to discuss here, by PM, or by phone.

And as far as short wheelbase cars being twitchy,........I am assuming you mean the measurement between the rear axle centerline and the center of the guide post hole. (this is known as "guide lead", and is critical in the handling of a chassis) ........the distance between the front and rear axle are largely inconsequential in terms of handling

[chrisguyw]

Chris, I need that F1 chassis...

There are a lot of things I need as well,......a lot of them I am not going to get

Cheers
Chris Walker

PS If you are serious, I would be happy to help you with a build of your own, unfortunately, I do have lots of projects on the go, so can't commit to any customer builds right now.

[slothead]

Chris - thanks for the offer to discuss this. I'll do it on HRW for now since I appreciate reading about these things others likely will too.

Questions: "do you want to build or buy your chassis, what rear tire diameter are you planning, tire compound (sponge/rubber/silicone etc.) do you want them to go reasonably fast, fast, or, stupid fast"

Chassis - I built about 4 dozen chassis for my 'dirt' modified cars using the same design, but tended to get creative with materials (what was available) during building which created a lot of variability. For this reason purchasing probably makes the most sense, though I would go for assembling identical parts.

Rear tires - foam or silicone coated foam with large diameter (for realism). Took measurements from photo below and estimate the rear tire diameter to be about 1" to match a scaled wheelbase.

Speed - fast, but not unrealistically so given this is a dirt track car. World of Outlaws sprint cars are probably the fastest dirt oval cars (900 HP w/ 1400 lb. total weight with driver), top speed about 160 MPH. That speed would never be reached on the average bullring oval raced on. If my cars were too fast (stupid fast) I'd just turn the voltage down to make them slower while still needing skill to be driven.



In race trim there's also a front wing and top wing. They'd be as lightweight as possible to keep CG as low as possible.



Thanks for any thoughts you have.

[WB2]

Great write up, Chris.
You compare this motor to 25/30K FC130s. Is there a motor that fits between an 18K Predator and this one?

Where does the MRRC slimcan motor used in the Sebring chassis fit in?

Also, on the Devis Designs items from LEB: is availability restricted to what’s in stock since Devis closed up or is LEB now producing the product line?
I have ordered DD Carrera guide adapters from LEB in the past.

[slothead]

Using a top view illustration I calculated other sprint car specs for 1:32 scale:

Dimension	photo	1:32 inch	1:32 mm
Wheelbase	3.500	2.750	70
rear track	3.000	2.357	60
front track	2.750	2.161	55
height	2.000	1.571	40
rear tire D.	1.375	1.080	27
rear tire W.	0.750	0.589	15
front tire D	1.000	0.786	20
front tire W.	0.438	0.344	9

Rear tires : 1" diameter by 5/8" wide
Front tires: 3/4" diameter by 3/8" wide

I'm totally open to whatever guide lead value works best with the wheelbase set at 2.75". Over the years I've tended to place the guide hole 1/2" ahead of the front axle. While many slot car builders require the guide to be enclosed under the front of the car, that doesn't work for replicas of most modern dirt cars.



This would obviously require an inline chassis, and might be a perfect application for the FF050 motor this thread promotes.

[4424ever]

Joe just so you know photos stolen