Quick, Easy Ninco Mosler Hopup
Ten years or so ago Ninco was more or less dragged, kicking and screaming, into the era of magnetic traction. It wasn’t until Fly, its new competitor in the Spanish market, entered the fray using small but powerful rectangular magnets to stick its cars down to a degree previously unseen in the slot car hobby outside of HO racing that Ninco rather timidly embraced the concept by installing notably weak disc magnets in a few of its cars.
Scalextric, of course, had been using magnets for quite some time, but its magnets were even less powerful than Ninco’s. Scalextric, however, had done one thing correctly from the very start of the magnet era. It equipped its cars with long, wide, transversely mounted bar magnets that, weak though they were at first, had the stellar virtue of providing whatever downforce they offered over much more of a car’s width than either Ninco’s or Fly’s. As a result Scalextric’s cars have suffered less severely from the classic strong-magnet car syndrome in which the car enjoys increased grip as long as the back end of the car, and therefore the magnet, remains centered over the track’s steel strips but loses it entirely once the back end slides even slightly. As magnet strength increased Scalextric used its longer, wider magnets to make impressively drivable cars that maintain a more realistic and fun character while still achieving high cornering limits.
You’d think that after years of this Ninco and Fly would have caught on, but for whatever reason they are still producing cars with small centerline magnets. Depending on the amount of brute magnetism available the cars are either so stuck down they are a bore to drive or so quirky in their handling they are frustrating to drive, especially for beginners.
Fortunately, the introduction of aftermarket magnets over the years has made it easy to give most Ninco and Fly cars, as well as many Carreras, SCX’s, and others, the kind of driver-friendly character most Scalextric cars come with from the factory. All you have to do is give them a Scalextric-type magnet installation.
Ninco’s recently introduced Mosler MT900R is a prime candidate for this kind of handling makeover, and it will take you all of 15 minutes to do.
First, take the body off the chassis by removing the three self-tapping Phillips screws that hold them together. Next, press the Ninco disc magnet, mounted just forward of the motor up out of its socket by inserting the tip of an Allen wrench into the small hole in the bottom of the chassis and pushing the magnet up and out. Snap the rear axle assembly out of its mounts. Sand one side of a Slot It SICN01 magnet just enough to roughen it up and provide some “tooth” for the adhesive of your choice to stick to. Then use contact cement or CA glue to glue the magnet to the upper side of the chassis just aft of the motor between the rear axle mounts. While you’re waiting for the glue to dry replace the Mosler’s rather hard, gripless rear tires with a pair of Indy grips IG3002 Fly MPV silicone tires. When the adhesive securing the magnet has set snap the rear axle back into place, and remount the body. Back the three body screws off about one full turn from fully tight to let the body float slightly on the chassis. When mounting the body be sure you get the towing ring on the front of the chassis in its proper place in the center air intake opening, not caught between the body and the chassis.
The increase in magnetic downforce, mechanical grip, and body float shaved more than one full second from the Mosler’s lap times on the Electric Dream Team test track, enabling it to race competitively with “tuned” Slot It Group C cars. Even better, the car is transformed from a cranky, indifferent handler to a pleasant, high-fun factor car you’ll want to run long endurance races with.
You can use this same simple technique on many cars, though on some you may have to do a bit of surgery on the chassis to get the larger magnet to fit where you want it. You can alter the grip level by moving the aftermarket magnet’s position forward or aft in the car, changing its height above the track, and using or not using higher-traction rear tires of various sorts. In this way you can bring a wide variety of cars into the performance range of your choice, allowing them all to race equally with each other, and you can tailor your cars’ driving manners to suit your own preferences. It may take some experimentation to get the exact result you want, but you’ll find it part of the fun of the hobby. Enjoy!