New Arrivals

[Rokon]

UPS just dropped off two D124’s this morning. Got another Porsche 917k, this one a Martini&Rossi #3.
The second car is a Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta “Breadvan”. Being an older release it was nice not seeing the Electric Toy sticker. This one is just a choking hazard......
30D9EC82-A0A9-49D8-88F9-B38164A2E5A3.jpegA42CD487-077A-47B4-AF50-BA44F474724F.jpeg

[dw5555]

I think you're gonna find you need a running mate for the Ferrari. It doesn't quite run with modern cars. I love the Martini livery in silver.
Dave

[Rokon]

Are there big differences with the Breadvan (2004?) motor, gearing, chassis layout compared to newer models?

[dw5555]

I don't really remember. I never owned the Ferrari. 32LbKing who is on here has all the old ones and we run them at his house. I know on his 250Gto I had to true the tires on that one just get it to hook up at all. I'm sure he'll chime in with his experience. Again they won't run with the newer cars as you found out with your Gt40. Different tech from then til now.
Dave

[32lbKING]

Dave, if you remember that 250GTO had a real wobbly wheel or a bad tire, and you had to really work on it on the truer to get it right. It actually runs pretty good now. You did a good job
Rokon, the chassis on the Breadvan is a newer version, slightly improved. Mainly, the newest drop arm [rev2 printed on the arm]. The older cars have the drop arm with [NEW printed on the bottom]. The Rev2 drop arm allows the guide to rotate a lot further so the car can drift further to the side, so they do not deslot as easily.

Also the newer chassis no longer has the leaf spring suspension on the front end. It is now a fixed axle suspension like all of the new cars and this is an improvement.

The Breadvan should run pretty close to the GT40. The Breadvan's and 250 GTO's have a narrow wheelbase [like the GT40], but are a little longer. Motor and gearing is the same as all the other D/124's [10/50], except the BMW M1, which I believe is 12/48 because of the M1's small diameter tire, to keep a larger gear from rubbing the track.

One thing I noticed on my Breadvan is a lot of side to side movement on the drop arm. I put spacers on the metal pin of the guide arm to tighten up the slop. You can use axle spacers, but I am to cheap so I just cut my own from a plastic coffee can lid. You can cut a slot in the spacer if you don't want to remove the drop arm to put them on the pin. If there is still slop up by the guide, you can glue a thin plastic shim to the side of the arm in that area between the arm and the chassis to get rid of the remaining lateral movement. Most will not need that.
Randy

[Cobra243]

Great cars Rokon.........put some vids out with them in action

[Rokon]

Dave, if you remember that 250GTO had a real wobbly wheel or a bad tire, and you had to really work on it on the truer to get it right. It actually runs pretty good now. You did a good job
Rokon, the chassis on the Breadvan is a newer version, slightly improved. Mainly, the newest drop arm [rev2 printed on the arm]. The older cars have the drop arm with [NEW printed on the bottom]. The Rev2 drop arm allows the guide to rotate a lot further so the car can drift further to the side, so they do not deslot as easily.

Also the newer chassis no longer has the leaf spring suspension on the front end. It is now a fixed axle suspension like all of the new cars and this is an improvement.

The Breadvan should run pretty close to the GT40. The Breadvan's and 250 GTO's have a narrow wheelbase [like the GT40], but are a little longer. Motor and gearing is the same as all the other D/124's [10/50], except the BMW M1, which I believe is 12/48 because of the M1's small diameter tire, to keep a larger gear from rubbing the track.

One thing I noticed on my Breadvan is a lot of side to side movement on the drop arm. I put spacers on the metal pin of the guide arm to tighten up the slop. You can use axle spacers, but I am to cheap so I just cut my own from a plastic coffee can lid. You can cut a slot in the spacer if you don't want to remove the drop arm to put them on the pin. If there is still slop up by the guide, you can glue a thin plastic shim to the side of the arm in that area between the arm and the chassis to get rid of the remaining lateral movement. Most will not need that.
Randy

Thanks for the tips on the drop arm. Pretty new to tuning slots and Carreras. Mostly truing wheels and tires. Been changing out most of the cars to firm PG urethane tires. Not even sure I understand the purpose or gains of the drop arm. If the car can pull wheel stands I get it... it seems to me you would want a bit of upward movement of the drop arm when the car is on the track and in the slot. Or is the goal to use the adjustment to get the front wheels to barely touch? That seems hard on the braids and draggy to me. Just getting into the Carrera 124 after messing with the 132's. Seems like you can do more with the 124 chassis.

[32lbKING]

Personally I could do without the drop arm. I guess it may help on banked curves or the Carrera bridge/crossing track sections where being on these track pieces causes the car to lift and therefore the guide would be further from the rails. Another reason could be because of the spring suspension in some of the older cars. Some older cars have a screw between the chassis and the drop arm that allows the guide height to be set.
Also most of the D/124 cars have adjustable ride height on the front and rear. If I remember right, I did lower the ride height on the rear of my 250GTO, and that helped quite a bit along with the trued PG tires.
On the front you just flip the axle holder upside down [on cars without spring suspension]. On the rear you remove the motor and cradle assembly and flip flop the axle holder on the axle. The axles sit slightly off center of the axle holder giving them different heights when flipped [they are not perfectly centered on the axle holder]. Hope that makes sense the way I worded it.
You are definitely on the right track with truing and PG tires. That is the modification that makes the most noticeable difference in handling. I run my cars like Dave... PG tires and remove the rear magnet, and we leave the center magnet in. Good handling and still get a nice controllable drift without snapping out of the slot, like a full magnet car when it reaches the point of no return and the magnetic attraction lets go.
Randy

[dw5555]

Told ya he would know..
Dave

[dw5555]

Or is the goal to use the adjustment to get the front wheels to barely touch? That seems hard on the braids and draggy to me. Just getting into the Carrera 124 after messing with the 132's. Seems like you can do more with the 124 chassis.

This is one thing I can comment one. The 1/24 cars WANT the front tires touching on the ground for some reason. I have done a lot of testing with the "Tripod" effect popular with 1/32 cars and it doesn't work with Carrera. The cars handle much better with the front tires planted. Not sure if it's the weight of the car or what but they just feel better.
Dave

[Rokon]

Great info. Ive'd messed a bit with the drop arm adjustment only on the GT40 and it is definitely more happy with front wheels solidly on the pavement.
I've got a long ways to go making ideal set ups. I mostly just try to get all my cars close to the same, tweaking the squirreliest/slowest first and working up thru the roster. I've actually got the GT performing quite well now.

[32lbKING]

That is what I do to. I couldn't care less if they are real fast. I just want them to run close to one another so they are as competitive with the cars in the same class as possible. If I had 1 car that was way above it's running mates I would try to detune that car, rather than try to get all of the others faster.
Randy

[Rokon]

A gaggle of BMW M1's arrived the other day. With all the variety of liveries for this car it makes it easy to have a race class of these where everyone has the same thing that you can tell apart.

C22B0109-9074-47C9-B7E5-15F68DF2CB61.jpeg

[32lbKING]

They look good together on the track.

[dinglebery]

A gaggle of BMW M1's arrived the other day. With all the variety of liveries for this car it makes it easy to have a race class of these where everyone has the same thing that you can tell apart.

C22B0109-9074-47C9-B7E5-15F68DF2CB61.jpeg

Nice!