AFX MAGNATRACTION SLOT CARS: BASIC PERFORMANCE TIPS

-Clean all dirty oil off the chassis soon after racing; don't oil car again until just before practicing. Try Mobil 1; the teflon lasts even if the oil burns off.
-Clean motor-brush coil-spring tabs inside armature compartment; clean gently with a folded over pipe cleaner or small wire brush on a Dremel.
-Check motor brush coil springs fairly often. These springs loose their ten sion due to the heat and pressure they're subjected to, and if they start to go bad, your motor power can go away, too. Change them whenever you detect a loss in performance, or if they are just very old.
-Occasionally clean pickup shoe hooks where they hook into chassis. Use a pipe cleaner or wire brush on a Dremel.
-To clean motor brushes, use a wire brush on a Dremel. Don't forget to clean around the nub on the bottom. If you don't have a Dremel, use very fine sandpaper or an index card.
-Polish commutator and shaft gently with a wire brush on a Dremel.
-Sand brass idler gear with increasingly fine grades of sandpaper, then pol ish to a bright shine with a fingernail buffer.
-Spread out front and rear tires as far as the rules and/or tech block will allow. Use spacers on the front end. Use Super-Glue gel to secure press-on hubs, but make sure they do not wobble before the glue sets.
-Check drive pinion/crown gear mesh. Remove magnets and idler gear and spin rear tires with gear plate mounted in chassis. Tires should spin freely and not bind. If there is binding, make sure everything is oiled and assem bled correctly, check crown gear for flawed or broken teeth, check cluster gear assembly for free movement, make sure a tire, wheel or gear is not rubbing the chassis. As a last resort, try another gear plate or crown gear.
-If crown gear and drive pinion actually slip past one another (a fairly com mon occurrence) place a very thin spacer behind the crown gear. As a last resort, try another gear plate and/or crown gear.
-Adjust motor brushes so car rolls fairly freely when power is cut; if rear tires lock up, or car stops abruptly, then the brushes may be too tight. If car runs too slowly (or not at all), then brushes may be too loose. Adjust brushes with motor removed; if too tight, remove spring and brush and press down gently on top of chassis spring/brush tab; if too loose, gently push spring/brush tab up from bottom of chassis. When done, brushes should be at the same height when sitting in their barrels.
-Wheelies caused by excessive pickup shoe tension is not that much of a problem with Magnatraction cars because the magnets hold the car down; however, you can capitalize on this by increasing the spring tension which can increase your power. Just don't increase the tension so much that you overpower the magnets and force the car out of the slot.
-Tweak pickup shoes so the contact patch sits flat and full on the rails. Run car for a few laps and observe wear-stripe; it should run evenly through the entire contact area, not just a spot at the front or rear. Bend slightly to com pensate, run, then check and adjust again, if necessary.
-If the rules allow, use low bodies with the least amount of front and rear overhang.
-Make sure that all of your tires and wheels are on straight and have as little wobble as possible.