# Pancake Chassis Ideas



## cwbam (Feb 8, 2010)

stolen from Bill Hall

His comments about Xlerator I bottom of chassis with springs and brushes.
and then the idea of pop out axle .....
got me thinking

What else would a Pancake chassis have?

A shaved top plate to fit more bodies
Gearing (anything is better than that AW crown / drive combo)


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## dtomol (Mar 30, 2005)

I have modified a Tjet Chassis it now has a snap in rear axel, as well as I sanded down the top of the chassis to get the top plate to site lower. My next Modification is going to be to make the magnet pockets wher the magnet site to be deaper. This wil allow me to further lower the top of the chassis. I have also installed brush tubes in the same chassis. I got the original idea from the post below.

(This post came from HO world.net):wave:
Thunderjet Chassis Mod - Cook Up a Low-Profile Pancake
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By Mark Owyang


This article was originally published in the Fall '99 (v.13, no.2) issue of HO-USA. 
When I returned to slot racing a few years ago, I didn't expect to be working much on t-jets. I had fond memories of running and modifying t-jets as a kid, but remembered giving them up when Aurora introduced the AFX. The AFX was the latest, so I figured it had to be the greatest, right? Like the t-jet, the AFX was an ideal platform for modification and improvement, so I was soon drilling holes, cutting brass, and trying out ideas to make it run faster and handle better. Not that I ever had much success! My parts box was always littered with the hacked up carcasses of pancake chassis experiments gone awry. But for me, this process of experimentation was perhaps the most enjoyable part of the hobby.
I missed out on the Magna-Traction chassis somehow. With high school in full swing, I was devoting less time to the hobby. But I sure do remember seeing the first G-Plus cars. Though slot cars had slipped down on my priority list, that beautiful Aurora Ferrari 312 body drew me back in. And man, were they fast. It was clear to me then that the pancake motor era was over, once and for all. Or so I thought.
Fast forward through college, marriage, and the birth of two kids. Slot cars were just a fond memory. Then in 1995, I discovered through the Internet that slot cars were still very much alive. I was drawn back in again. My first new cars were the Super G+'s included in the race set I bought in 1996. Snapping off the body and studying the chassis for the first time, it was obvious the design had evolved from the original Aurora G+. While learning to tune the cars, I found that the hobby was still fun.
Yet the cars were so fast, any major modifications seemed unnecessary. I found myself missing one aspect of the hobby I'd really enjoyed from my youth: innovation and experimentation in chassis development.
The Fray in Ferndale got me back to running and enjoying t-jets. It was just a matter of time before I wanted to build a modified car again.Remembering the rewound arm, drilled gears and wide brass pan on racing pioneer Carl Dreher's creation from Auto World's 1970 HO Racing Speed Secrets, I thought I'd try to recreate a vintage "pro" car. However, as is often the case, I got sidetracked with another project, and my first modified t-jet ended up being a quite different car altogether.
One of the most common goals when modifying a t-jet is to lower its center of gravity. Brass pans, drilled gears, and vacuformed bodies all contribute towards this goal. On a hard bodied car, trimming the body posts and thinning the plastic allow the body to be mounted as low as possible. But the stock t-jet chassis puts strict limits on how low you can go. Staring at the venerable t-jet chassis one night I had a brainstorm: what about lowering the gear plate into the chassis to create more clearance for the body? A low-profile pancake. A flatter flapjack!
I made the low profile t-jet by sanding the gear plate and the inside floor of the chassis to about half their stock thickness. The magnets sit lower in the chassis, allowing the gearplate to drop down as well. Though the chassis is lighter than stock, the center of gravity is now lower. The chassis is nearly 1/16" lower than an unmodified chassis. The body, of course, can now be lowered that much more. The car handles better, and it looks a lot better too. Check out the effect on Aurora's Porsche 904 (bottom). Now that's closer to the stance that a Porsche should have! Bodies with a flat rear deck or trunk lid benefit the most from this modification.
It's a lot of work, but I think these changes lead to a mighty cool t-jet. The car is great fun to drive, retaining but improving upon the characteristics of a stock t-jet. Of course, now I want to build one with a rewound arm, stronger magnets, and a brass pan!
.


(this came from Nitro Slots board)
If anyone is intrested in doing this, I found it pretty easy to do. Front tabs are cut off of top plate, and plate just rests on additional front magnet. Between plate clip and screw I've had no problems with plate moving. Though Ron (bondoman2k) has told me of someone that has a clip that fits plate over front magnet. Magnet poickets are cut down to chassis floor in line with inside of side pocket walls. This will leave a small projection that keeps additional magnets from shifting. 
sides of chassis are cut to floor just behind top point of plate tab pocket. Everything between the cuts cleaned out to floor. T-jet sized magnets fit between chassis floor and plate (like they were made for it). In rear magnet pockets are cut the same way. Then second cut was done by putting original magnet with additional magnet attached in top of magnet pocket to get point where to make cut in chassis. Did this on an AW chassis and magnet fits between traction magnet housings and top plate (again t-jet sized magnet). Inside of chassis (between sides) where hole for plate screw is needs to be arched for clearence. This can be done without interfering with hole for plate screw. Do this a little at a time, and trial fit magnets till right. Put back together with additional magnets and your done. If anyones going to try this and has any questions, just ask.


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## Gerome (Sep 25, 2011)

I saw somewhere, maybe here, where a guy cut the bottom out of a chassis and then shaved the bottom of another and attached it to the first one. This allowed him to lower the gearplate the same amount as the bottom chassis thickness. This allowed him to lower the body.


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## Gerome (Sep 25, 2011)

Or this:

http://www.howorld.net/archives/howto/conversions/tj_chmod/chassmod.html


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## mowyang (Mar 24, 2008)

Wow, haven't looked at that HO World article in a long time.
I also shared later variations of the flatter pancake here on HobbyTalk:








 Lowered Dino Tjet

 Batman deserves better! 
















 MEV Lotus Eleven

Finally, on the pop out axle idea, my concern is that notching the rear axle hole would add unwanted slop to the rear axle assembly. Yes, it would be convenient to be able to swap rear axle assemblies, but not if it's at the expense of a smoothly turning rear axle. 

Cheers,
Mark


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