John Ford has been a leading
authority on slot car racing since 1965.John Ford has been a leading
authority on slot car racing since 1965.
| P |
Pactra - While they were in the business of making slot car ready to run's back in the 60's, they like many others abandoned the slot car market and are today only in the business of making paint for models in general.
Paint - Do I really need to define this word? In slot racing, it is critical as to what type of paint the track surface is painted with. See Latex, polyeuerethane, & epoxy. In body painting, it is also critical to your slot racing body. Butrate and Mylar bodies can be painted with emamel paints, but Polycarbonate or Lexan bodies must be painted with a special paint made especially for that material.
Pans - Usually referring to two flat pieces located either side of the main rails and hinged at the front. Sometimes also hinged at the inside edge as well. Technology of this type was used until the late 80's when newer smoother tracks caused there to be no need for these bump dampening types of chassis designs.
Paper driver - This driver got lots of attention, and though when folded properly, fit all the current USRA rules, was disqualified for a period of time simply because it wasn't plastic. The rules do not specify plastic. This disqualification was later deemed as unreasonable, and the paper driver was allowed to compete again. Plastic versions of flat drivers are now available, but the ability to color the paper driver with marking pens makes it still a favorite in some circles. The design can be found in the first edition of the Slot Car Digest, and was originally conceived by John Ford and drawn by Kevin Stevens, of San Antonio.
Parimeter - A design of chassis which gained in popularity in the early 80's. So named because it is a frame which has a piece of steel completely surrounding the outside parimeter of the chassis.
Parma - Owned by Ken MacDowell of Ohio. Parma began as Parma International Raceway, and when slot racing was in its death throws, Mr. MacDowell bought out Jim Russel's Ruskit company, and began making the now famous Parma trigger controller. Since nearly all the Cox controllers were taken to the dump, and most people did not like the feel of the MRC controller, the trigger controller was the only other choice. Except for a few die hards, most slot racers quickly adapted and the rest is as we have said before, history.
Parts - Simply referres to all the stuff that goes into making up a slot car, controller, etc. You'll find them hanging usually on the pegboard behind your local raceway counter.
Pass - To make a "run" on the drag strip is to make a "pass"
Peanut motor - Orignially developed in Europe to make a smaller motor faster. Using a useless tiny mabuchi motor, fitted with polymer cobalt magnets and a group 7 armature, this set-up was fast IF it could be put together right. Before this design could catch on, a more reliable motor using standard cobalts was invented by Stuart Koford. See feather.
Pegboard - That wall behind the counter with all the holes in it, and holding all those wonderful toys.
Perfect light - Usually used in drag racing, meaning the driver pulled the trigger at the precise moment that the green light came on. on a .40 tree, a perfect light would be a .40 etc.
Perfect run - Usually used in drag racing, meaning the car performed perfectly, usually resulting in a win.
Phenolic - A washer or spacer that is used on the armature. It is named for the material it is made of. In low power motors, it is installed inside the set-up against the commutator. On high power motors, it is installed outside the set-up up against the ball bearing on the endbell side of the arm. The purpose in both instances is to cause oil to spin off the washer, and not continue down the shaft to get on the commutator.
Piano wire - A tough, hard to bend wire used to build slot car chassis. Most commonly comes from K&S and used in the most common of varying sizes from .032 to .062.
Pick-ups - In H.O. racing, the pick-ups are located on each side of the guide pin. They are called such because they "pick up" the current from the rails and transfer it to the motor.
Pieces - What you pick up after taking a horrible wall blast with your car.
Pigtail - See pre-shunted motor brushes.
Pillow blocks - The portions of the frame that stick up, usually in the rear, and hold the bearings or oilites for the axle. On a stamped chassis, these are simply called up-rights. If they come seperately, and are soldered in place, they are called pillow blocks.
Pinched oval - A type of oval track design with one end smaller than the other.
Pinion - The small gear that fits on your armature shaft.
Pin- Straight pins are used to hold most slot car bodies on the chassis. Of course in order for them to work, they must be bent slightly so they are no longer straight.
Pin stripe tool - A small device with a bottle, wheel, and guide, used to roll paint stripes on each side of the slot.
Pin tubes - Referrs to the small brass tubes that are attached to the chassis for the purpose of sliding a straight pin through. The straight pin goes through the body and then into the tube, holding the body to the chassis.
Pitch - Could refer to the angle of the motor in the chassis, but most commonly referrs to the amount and size of teeth on a gear. Most cars come out of the box with 48 pitch gears, and most high speed slot cars use 64 pitch gears. In modern times, there has been some success using 72 pitch gears. The smaller the gear, the higher the pitch.
Pits - The place where you work on your slot car at the raceway. In your home, it is called the kitchen.
Pit-Man - A person generally not participating in the race who performs maintenenance work on the race car for the driver. A pit man may do such things as change braid, lane stickers, motors, tires or any general repairs allowed within the rules. Thanks to MG Brown for this.
Planer - A type of resistor developed by Stu Koford of Koford Engeneering. It utilizes small strips of nichrome material sandwiched between aluminum heat sinks. This resistor comes in the Koford controller, and represents the first major change in the resistor system used in controllers since the refinement of the Russkit controller by Parma International in the early 70's.
Plumber - A type of hinge, usually near the front of the chassis, on either side, and used to hinge the pans, causing them to be able to lift from the rear. The amount of travel is limited by an up-stop located on the main rails coming in contact with a cross bar attaching each pan at the rear.
Plumber rail - A piece of piano wire fitted into the plumber hinge and bent to run parallel with the main rails. The pans were attached to the plumber rails either with hinges or static.
Pole - When used by itself, usually referring to that part of the armature with the wires around it. See Laminations. See stacks.
Pole position - In 1 to1 scale racing it is the front row inside lane. In slot racing, the driver on the pole gets his or her choice of lanes to start on. In both cases, the pole is awarded to the driver with the quickest time in qualifying.
Polistil - A manufacturer of 1/32 scale road race sets and cars from Italy. Very popular in the 70's all over Europe. A few sets made it to the U.S. and are still operational. Some of the sets and cars are still available from various sources on the internet.
Polyeurethane paint - Commonly used to paint slot car tracks. Popular because a clear coat can be painted over most any other type of paint and give a good luster, or look to the finished job.
Poly-oval - A relatively new term given to the new breed of ultra swoopy tracks. Meaning they drive like an oval, but have many left and right turns on them.
Positive - The side of the battery with the + sign on it. Also, the right side of the braid on the slot track in the direction of travel of the car. On the motor, the positive side is always the side located to the front of the car.
Positive gate - The proper way to wire your slot car track. The current of the battery should go to the negative side of the braid straight from the battery. This allows the car to get the current first. This is the most efficient method since all the "line loss" is on the back side of the circuit. This method also causes the controller to run at its coolest and most efficient rate. The positive gate referrs to the switches in the circuit. Both the relay and the controller is a switch in the circuit, and a positive gate system would have these components in the positive line going to the battery. DC current flows from negative to positive. See Negative gate.
Power supply - In the beginning of slot racing, most all tracks were powered by a transformer. Later, as the cars began drawing more power, they began to be powered by batteries. Most low power slot cars, like H.O. are still powered by transformers which provide the current to the track.
Power to weight - Referres to the amount of horsepower generated by the motor in relationship to the overall weight of the car. To go fast, you should have a very high power to weight ratio.
Practice = Prior to sign up there should be at least 15 min. of practice in order that all lanes on the track may be adequately prepared for qualifications and racing. In some cases, cars entered in the competition are placed in impound, so practice is done with a spare car. This practice eliminates the possibility of a race car being damaged before competition begins. All lanes should be run so that it can be determined if any application of tire traction substances is required.
Pre-shunted motor brushes - These motor brushes come with a pigtail, or shunt wire attached. Though not popular today, it is still the best way for a beginner to learn how to apply shunt wire to his motor. See shunt wire.
Press on - Referrs to a type of pinion that does not need to be soldered on the armature shaft. It is designed so that it can be pressed down on the shaft, and will not come off even with the abuse of slot racing.
Pre-stage - The first light on a drag strip is the pre stage light.
Prince - Resembling a small King track, but only 110 ft. in length.
Princess - Resembling a small Queen track, but only 110 ft. in length.
Prize certificates - A popular way to award prizes to the non pro racers in any slot car racing competition.
Pro - The top of the line racing. Reserved for those who race the unlimited cars for cash.
Production - Sometimes this term is used to denote a stock class, meaning it is just as it came off the production line at the factory.
Pro-Slot - Dan DeBella of Grand Rapids, Michigan is the owner of this slot car company. Starting out as just motors, and always known as one of the big three motor manufacturers for professional slot racing. Pro-Slot today serves a wide range of slot car interests.
Pro-Track - A slot car tire company from California. Most noted for their drag tires.
Purple - See Soverign. Also, the seventh lane down on the track, located right next to the gutter lane.
Purple mile - See Soverign
Purse - Meaning the total amount of money and prizes to be given away as prizes in a race.
Forward
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
#'s
These pages designed and maintained by
johnford@2fords.net
Web pages as little as $25.00 - Hosting as
little as $7.50mo. Paying more somewhere else? Why? Email me now!