Tyres to use on wooden floors

[pete c]

The club that I race at is in the process of moving from a room with carpet to a hall with no carpet (wooden floor) :mad:
We might buy carpet to put down to race but we think it will end up just the committee putting it down every race night :( , so we are thinking of trying to race on the wooden floor first :eek: .
The 10th scale lads can use mini pins or such like, but us Mardave drivers are stuck with foams that will not grip or rubber tyres that will not grip!!
I have been told that years ago in another club they used foam tyres with a thin coating of silicon (spelling!!) this was done with a piece of glass, silicon, soapy water and with a twisting action you ended up with little spikes of silicon on the tyres :confused: . Can someone please give me proper instuctions on how to do this, or if you know how to get mardaves to grip on wooden floors.
Any help will be very usefull
Thanks
Peter

[derekk]

Here's your answer, we race on wooden floor with Mardaves and the answer is.............................

Use Schumacher yellow mini pins, the same ones the touring guys use. all you have to do is a bit of cut and shut. cut the tyre across the carcase, remove 6 rows, 7 makes it a tight fit and glue back together. As long as the cut is straight it holds together no problem, use superglue, just watch what you are doing with it.

Most people use the wide tyres, but the narrow ones work as well, you will have to scrub them in, as it takes a lot of use with a Mardave as they just don't have the weight to generate the grip. Don't expect mega grip, but the cars do go round, suggest you will require electrnic speedos, but in reality if you use the standard Mardave motor, you won't be spending much more than a servo and resistor anyway.

[Gary Crisp]

or back to the old silicone on tyres like we did in the 70's

Gazza :cool:

[allanicars]

Now that brings back fond memories....
When I raced 20 odd years ago we raced on wooden floors and had silicon stippled tyres.....

This is how I did it ... (I think !!!)

to do it you need the following.....

1 tube of Silicon - any colour !!!
1 extremly smooth surface (glass or warerite )
soapy water...


the most important thing to remember is to roll the stipple in 1 direction...

firstly true and Glue your tyres....

then on the smooth surface cover it with soapy water (not too much otherwise you don't get the stipple effect)

then squeeze some silicon onto the surface, and also cover the tyres with an even coat...

then with an axle / rod through the wheels (do them as a pair) roll the tyres across the silicon in 1 direction only (I used the pull the tyre towards me - with the spokes etc... on the outside edge as though they were on the car - as this then produces stipple with the grip to go forwards)

Allow to dry.... (best for about 2 days)

you can then peel off the excess silicon from the smooth surface ready for next time....

you can try with varying amounts of soapy water / silicon to create different grip levels/stipple lengths....

but remember to put your tyres on as pairs... and that the stipple is in the right direction for gripping forwards (the same orientation as you rolled them !!!)


Hope this helps.....

[pete c]

Thanks for the info

I'm off home now to have a pratice before the wife comes home and finds out what I have been doing with the hall mirror

I will let you know how I get on

Peter

[pete c]

Well I gave it a go and failed to get any stipple on the tyres :(
I started with plenty of soapy water all the way down to no water at all. :confused:
I think next time I will try putting more silicon on to start with.
Peter

[Doughty]

back in the day when me and my dad did this he used to roll the 2 tires together against each other, both coated in silicone.

Is that method no longer the best?

[Gary Crisp]

pete C

should have some pictures and instructions some where if you are intrested
but rolling the tyre together is the best way as "Doughty" says ahhh the smell of vinegar. . . . any one got any chips LOL
Gazza

I.C & Mardave racer for some 26 years and still going

[pete c]

Hi Gary
Yes any pictures would help, rolling the tyres together sounds good.

Vinegar!!!! :confused: :confused:
Thanks Lads for info, I know it's only toy cars but its fun :)
Peter

[Gary Crisp]

ok will dig out some old pics etc ?

yea the smell of vinegar from the silicone ( dow corning ) i think it was called it really smelt on vinegar ? but just put some on each tyre and an axle in the wheel and roll them together to get a stipple I used to use armaflex insulation foam rubber ( B & Q ) sell it now even. And is great and cheap for wooden floors
will dig it all out for you tomorrow

Gazza
I.C & Mardave racer for some 26 years and still going

[TheChard]

Just some info for you guys who would appear to have a somewhat dubious fetish for the smell of Vinegar,the smell is actually acetate that the silicone release as it cures.
Due to coshe regulations a lot of sealants etc are now waterbased so you often don't get any smells anymore.
anyway Gary i prefer pickle onion vinegar on my chips !