John Ford has been a leading authority on slot car racing since 1965.

F

F-1 - Short for Formula one. A type of racing popular in Europe, and in some places here in the United States. If you have never seen one, they are small open wheeled cars that resemble the Indy cars. You have seen an Indy car haven't you?

Faas (GEFA) - The industry standard gears for many years. GEFA Instrument company of New York is the manufacturer. Gunter Faas, the man behind the company still races slot cars in the northeast.

Feather - Early name of one of the new breed of very small motors. Many people claim to have invented the tiny motor set-up that fits the 16-D size arm, but Stuart Koford can easily be given credit for making it famous. Originally named because it's weight was so light, it felt like you were holding a..... you catch on fast!

Fiberglass chassis - Only one fiberglass chassis was ever developed that I know of, and it was never fully put in production. The chassis was a shuttle design, and was first invented in the middle 80's by Barney Poyner of Front Line Products of California.

Fiddlestick - Another invention of the former slot racing great John Thorp. The fiddlestick is now manufactured by Phil Hackett of Sonic Products. It is a spring loaded device which when used properly, can tell you the tension of your motor springs. The purpose of which is to use equal tension springs on each motor.

Field - Magnets have fields, so do races. You can feel the field of your magnets by placing your motor next to a piece of metal. If you are discussing races, you and your fellow racers make up the field.

Finger - This could mean that digit on the end of your hand you pull your trigger with, or it could mean that portion of the slot track which sticks out from the rest. Usually on the king, that portion of the track between the deadman and the 90.

Finger chute - The straight portion on the finger leading into and out of the finger tip. Could be called either the front or back finger chute.

Finger tip - The further most part of the finger, usually a 180 degree turn.

Finish line - The other end of a drag strip. A road course does not have a finish line. Only a start line which in real racing doubles as the finish line only at the end of the race. This is non applicable in slots since all our racing is timed events.

First round - Usually referres to the first heat in a road course race. Also known as the "Q" or bottom consi. In Drag racing, it is just what it says. The first round of racing, which when over in drag racing, eliminates half the field.

Five oh tree - See four oh tree and make a guess.

Flat - Could refer to the track, but for that defanition see "flat track". Some axels have a "flat", meaning a flat spot or section that the allen screw can fit down on. This helps the tire from rotating on the axle if the screw becomes loosened a little. If the screw becomes loosened a lot, nothing can help.

Flat out fun - The long time slogan for Elmsford Raceway in New York.

Flat track - Referres to any track without banks. Popular in Europe for road courses, and usually requires a greater degree of skill to drive. The most famous flat tracks are the MTT, made famous by Hasse Nilsson and designed by Michael Theomeaux of France, and the Odessa, made famous by New American Slot Car Tracks and designed by the original owner of the Odessa Grand Prix owned by "Doc" Gibbs of Odessa, Texas.

Flex - Used to define the "bending" properties of a chassis before it becomes permently bent. See tweaked.

Flexi - A term commonly used to refer to the Parma Flexi Kar.

Float - Mostly refers to the body or the pans of a chassis. The movement is called the float.

Floor plan - The design of a racing center, either commercial, or a club in your home, that should be made up before work on a slot car tracks should begin. With the properuse of a floor plan, you can be assured that the new slot car track can be built in a factory and will fit when it arrives.

Floppy pan - Any pan, usually a side pan, or bat pan, that is hinged so it will move up and down from the outside edge.

Flux - A cleaning agent, used to clean metal prior to or during the soldering process. Two basic types of flux are used, acid and rosen. Sometimes the flux is inside the solder itself, such as acid core, or rosen core.

Flux magnet - Used on the bottom of some slot cars to collect the magnet attraction between the steel rails or braid and the magnet itself.

Ford - I suppose I am referring to me, John Ford. I'm the dummy taking all this time to write this dictionary. Founded Scale Auto Racing News, the longest running model car racing magazine back in 1979. Began racing in 1957 on a "rail" track. (see rail track) Opened the first of a Texas based chain of 9 raceways in 1965 at the age of 21. Still winning races as much today as anytime in the past. Read that as "not much".

Four oh tree - In drag racing a tree using .40 second count down lights is called a four oh tree.

Four wheel drive - Ever since the 60's man has been searching for a better way to get the power to the ground on a slot car. Naturally, four wheels turning at the same time would give better traction. So far no one has been able to make a four wheeled drive car work as well as a two wheel drive car. Russkit had the most successful in the late 60's. It had two motors, and the extra weight helped hold it down. The problem was getting the two motors in sync. In later years, Parma introduced a four wheeled drive pick-up. It used a pully on the front and rear axles and a belt connecting the two. Actually, this works quite well, with the only problem being that the extra friction robs power from a stock motor.

Frame - The frame is the same thing as the chassis before you put all the stuff on it. After it has all the tires, wheels, axles, motor, etc. it becomes a chassis.

Friction - This is what robbs the power from your car. To eliminate friction in all the moving parts, make sure your car is properly aligned and well oiled.

Front axle - That item which holds your front tires. With one exception, you get one front axle per car. To the best of my knowledge, there was only one car with more than one front axle. That was the ELF / Tyrell Ford which had two front wheels per side for a total of 6 tires and wheels overall.

Front axle brace - Two possibilities for this term. One is just what it says, a brace soldered from the chassis to the front axle that would re-inforce the front axle, and two, there are some that call the upright from the chassis that the axle goes through the brace. Actually, that upright could also be called a pillow block, or support. Take your choice, as it is not a commonly used term anyway.

Front Line - California based supplier of slot racing magnets and parts. Founded by Barney Poyner.

Fronts - Short term for front wheels. Commonly used on tech sheets.

Funny car - Usually a drag racing term referring to a specific body style and class of racing. Came into use because the factory body has been stretched out of proportion so as to look "funny".

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