# Six years ago



## Mike(^RacerX^) (Mar 15, 2003)

Exactly six years ago today I posted this on HT:

http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=169280

The person that gave me the camera that year is no longer my wife,and my son is now 20 years old.

Had you put me in a time machine then and zoomed me six years ahead to right now,I would have no idea where I was,who anyone in my life now is,not a single solitary thing that I could connect to my past to make sense as to why I am here right now.

Just got off of a slow moving train wreck that spread itself out over four years.Six moves in four years among other things.

So now things are settled down and I have gotten some continuity in my life,its time to get some quality of life back and start enjoying some of my hobbies again.

Ive been dabbling in RC helis over the last few years.I suck at flying them,pretty rudimentary stuff,but boy oh boy can I fix them.Flying them can be frustrating,not always so relaxing,and,as I found out the hard way,tho its perfectly safe to run some hot laps in the middle of the night in your underwear,flying helis in the living room in that outfit is a bad idea.

Slots have been something that has bugged me since I was in about the first grade.That would be around 1968.

Long story short,helis go to the back burner,slots to the front.

I had said awhile back that I was getting back into the game.But,I was kind of in a quandary as to hang up the HO stuff and make a switch to 1:32 scale digital.
During this last move,I was able to consolidate all of the stuff I saved,and I have too much HO stuff to turn back now.And,too many projects I want to take on.....scratch built brass chassis,the new mega G chassis,building some fray style T jets,maybe a little modeling....the list goes on.



















That was my last track when it was almost finished.I ended up taking that small curve section out that you see in the second pic and just running a long straight instead.

That was a few hundred hours of work.I worked the track in big sections.I assembled the sections on the bench upside down and soldered jumpers with silver solder to all of sections of track.then I sanded out the joints and used spot putty to smooth out the track surface,and then painted the track.
When the track was all fastened to the table,I drill small holes in all of the sections and injected Gorilla glue.As we all know,gorilla glue expands as it cures.And once it did,the track was rock solid to the board,like the track was machined out of a piece of MDF.
Worked very well,and the track was super smooth to run on.
Made borders out of cork around all of the curves,shimmed then,hot glued them in,spot putty and sand the cracks smooth,painted the track and cork,and it was like the track was made that way.
I made the gaurd rails on the outside of the track out of sliding glass door vinyl vertical blind slats.Worked pretty well.

Man did it take hours!!!Years!!!!!

Now its in a land fill somewhere probably.

Got left behind.....No worries.Fantastic learning experience and this next track will be better.


Folding tables from Walmart will be my bench so to speak for my next track.Two 8 X 3 ones are what I will ultimately be using.

Probably going to grab a Super International set in the near future.I lost my galinko power supply,and that set comes with four mega g cars as well as power supplies.
And there is no time like the present to get a big twisted up mess of crappy set controllers going again.Just got rid of the one I had.

Sectional track is fantastic.Just not for me anymore.
The thought of spending all those hours again to build a sectional track to me would not be fun.I'd rather work in a coal mine or in a steel mill.Drudgery.

So whats out there as far as max tracks or wiz tracks or others I may not know about???

Lap counters.......Anything out there yet for an ipad????Or anything else out there for that matter,stand alone,whatever.....
End of the day if I go back to using Greg Brauns Lap Timer its fine by me.


Probably mess with the Mega G's straight off.Having been big into the SG+ type cars for years,I am really looking forward to messing with this chassis.
If anyone would care to point me towards some discussions about what guys are doing with these I would appreciate that.

And to wind this post up and bring it back to where it started.....Life is a funny thing.In the end,it all works out.Maybe not how you would have thought,or not as you planned,but,in the end,it all works out.

And with that my friends,I say to you what I said exactly six years ago today....merry Christmas and a happy new year.

Hope I didnt bore anyone to death

Mike


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## 1976Cordoba (Sep 20, 2000)

Like most journeys, life has a few unexpected twists & turns sometimes. Good to see you back :thumbsup:


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

Mike, not boring. Welcome back, and Merry Christmas to you too.
Hate to hear you went through some hard times, but glad you're 
still in one piece. Is that your Soldano amp head in the first pic?
You play guitar too? Cool beans. My guitar stuff holds up my 
track now. 

I've seen a lot of Maxx and Wizard tracks for sale on this board
within the last few months. There's a couple of good MegaG threads in
the tuning section. We look forward to your builds.

Post pics...


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## Mike(^RacerX^) (Mar 15, 2003)

NTxSlotCars said:


> Mike, not boring. Welcome back, and Merry Christmas to you too.
> Hate to hear you went through some hard times, but glad you're
> still in one piece. Is that your Soldano amp head in the first pic?
> You play guitar too? Cool beans. My guitar stuff holds up my
> ...


Thanks for the heads up.:thumbsup:

Yes guitar has been a passion since I was a kid.Pretty much find time to play every day,at least an hour,usually more.

That soldano is sweet.Its one of the first Hot Rod 50's from 1992.The original owner bought two.Used one,and this was a back up that sat in a closet unused until I bought it 5 years ago for 700 clams.

Also have a blue stripe(Metallica black album)Mesa Boogie MKIII.Had it built for me in '87,when Boogie only built amps to order.
With that amp,a guitar,and a cord to plug it in,you are set.Unreal.One of the best sounding amps I have ever played through,and I am lucky enough to own it.

A bunch of other cool guitars and stuff,no case queens,all players.

Maybe I will start an OT guitar thread when time allows.I can talk guitars and music for days.

Mike


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## Ralphthe3rd (Feb 24, 2011)

Wow Mike, I'm glad you survived all that, and are back in the Hobby. :thumbsup:
And yeah, Life is funny like that, you wouldn't believe what I was doing 6 years ago....but that is behind me now, with a New life ahead of me also.... New faces, new horizons, new goals, it's all good now....


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## sethndaddy (Dec 4, 2004)

Mike, I was here 6 years ago when you posted and I'm still here. Glad you came back over to the dark side. there have been lots of great guys that leave and never return. It's sad,, But great when someone comes back.

Welcome back and stay right here, We are family. (hear that Ralph)


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## Ralphthe3rd (Feb 24, 2011)

*The Slottard Family*

*Yes Sir,.... Dad* 



sethndaddy said:


> Mike, I was here 6 years ago when you posted and I'm still here. Glad you came back over to the dark side. there have been lots of great guys that leave and never return. It's sad,, But great when someone comes back.
> 
> Welcome back and stay right here,* We are family. (hear that Ralph)*


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Yeah, "guano occurs" Mike. 

Welcome home, pretty much the way you left it.


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## torredcuda (Feb 1, 2004)

I don`t want to jump on your thread so I`ll just say I`ve been through the same sort of cow pie recently also.I just bought another house and one of my priorities is rebiulding my slot car track.Welcome back!


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## joegri (Feb 13, 2008)

here comes mike slidin into home... SAFE!!!!! glad to see ya made it back.


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

I think somebody needs a hug,lol:wave:

You were missed Mike

Good to have you back home:thumbsup:
Rick


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

good to see you back, and that you weathered the storm... hoping you continue to find peace and calm in these little cars... 

--rick


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## beast1624 (Mar 28, 2009)

Mike
Welcome back. Glad to hear you came through the fire with yourself intact. 

Hornet has an ongoing thread about Mega-G brushes, springs and barrels in Tuning Tips...some great information:

http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=380033


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

Mike(^RacerX^) said:


> Thanks for the heads up.:thumbsup:
> 
> Yes guitar has been a passion since I was a kid.Pretty much find time to play every day,at least an hour,usually more.
> 
> ...


Cool! that's a great idea, starting a guitar thread. 
I know there are several guys on here that would love to talk equipment and 
trade old band stories. I'll be first in line to post...

Would you do the honors?


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## fordcowboy (Dec 27, 1999)

Weclome home


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## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

hey Mike, nice to meet you. I wasn't here back then and I am still a "newbie". LOL


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## Harold Sage (Apr 6, 2008)

Hey Mike(^RacerX^)
Sorry to hear about the Journey you had but glad to have back. I also have a rc heli and have a blast flying it every once in a while. Like you also I put a hold on rc's to get into doing slotcars again.


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## roadrner (Jul 21, 1999)

Well, we have all experienced some of life's little hurdles. Although they don't seem little at the time. Glad to see you've made it back and it does get better as time goes on. As others inferred, been there and done that! Get that track going. :thumbsup::thumbsup: rr


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## Mike(^RacerX^) (Mar 15, 2003)

Gentleman:

Thanks for all of the kind words and info.

Every time I have gone to this thread,I end up back tracking and sitting and reading the past threads about dynos and mega g brush barrels and all of the other stuff I missed out on.

So I see that while I was off flying rc helicopters and taking care of unpleasantries that came my way,something came along called the Mega G.

Most of the last few years I played with slots I messed with g3's.Moving forward,I am going to get back on board with the Mega G chassis.

Believe it or not,I have a few kids that work for me that ask me almost on a daily basis when I am getting the track going.

The mega g will be great I figure.I can do a box stock hard body thing,with the only change being allowing slip on silicones.Build them all pretty much the same,and do an IROC type race thing.Monday night will be slot night at Mikes house.Eat food and race little cars.

These kids are all around my sons age,20-23 or so years old.

Gotta keep the sport and the hobby alive!

I will end on this note for now and ask some questions in the other forums.....

I think I said before how this never gets old.

I still get as excited about this now at 51 years old as I did when I was when I was in the first grade down in my cousin Rocco's basement racing on a small oval that he made.Good memories of racing Oscar the track cleaner against the Aurora tow truck,and soaking chassis in that red oil and lighting them on fire with the lights off.Good times.

You keep it to yourself,because you get odd looks when you tell people that you build and race little tiny cars I your spare time.
They look at you and think that you probably have 87 cats and besides playing with children's toys you also are writing a manifesto like Ted kazinski.

Here tho,all you gets "get it".

Best site on the Internet to talk Ho slots on a daily basis,and,the best and most knowledgable guys in the hobby all are right here.

Good times.

Guitar thread starts on my next day off.

Mike


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## torredcuda (Feb 1, 2004)

"You keep it to yourself,because you get odd looks when you tell people that you build and race little tiny cars I your spare time.
They look at you and think that you probably have 87 cats and besides playing with children's toys you also are writing a manifesto like Ted kazinski"


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

:thumbsup::wave::wave:.

Good thing most of us are past the dating stage,could you imagine telling a member of the opposite sex your hobbies include little toy cars,wonder how far that'd get you towards another date,lol:wave:

52 just went by for me Mike,still think like i'm 22,but feel more like 82 getting outta bed in the morning,lol

Rick


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## madsapper (Jan 25, 2001)

Welcome back Mike!


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

Mike(^RacerX^) said:


> (snip)
> 
> I think I said before how this never gets old.
> 
> ...


I'm 43, and I remember the ozone smell more than the red oil... but I did just happen to acquire an almost full jar of red oil in an old Pit Kit. Score.  

I remember trying to keep my Tyco-Lok layout together as more and more pieces lost their lock tabs, and I remember using some article as a guide to turn my orange Nomad into an El Camino (still have it!). My brother and I always got cars in pairs, and I remember our first G-Plus cars: a fluorescent pink/white Marlboro Mclaren for me and an orange Indy car (AJ Foyt?) for him. I remember getting a couple of lighted HP-2s at the local hobby store: I got a brown Mustang Cobra and he got a powder blue semi. Then a few years later, I remember my uncle bought us a pair of new Magnum 440s for Christmas, both '79 (?) Corvettes; I got the white/red one, he got the yellow/black one. I still have some of them in my collection, and I have replaced those that have been lost over the years, because those are the memories I think of every time I turn on the lights and go down the steps to the dungeon... running those cars.

I don't tell as many people as I used to, either... but hey, I'm pretty sure that everyone is weird, just in different ways. This is definitely one of the more harmless ways to be weird. LOL. :tongue:

--rick


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## Ralphthe3rd (Feb 24, 2011)

*Dating stage, etc*

Well, I'm 54 yrs old, but still in the Dating Stage(although I consider myself TAKEN now -lol).
Anyway, when I told my lady what I was into, she was Greatly relieved and glad, as she said it could have been alot worse, and she herself is a Toy Collector and fellow Flea Market Vendor.
So in MY case, it was a Match made in Heaven 
PS- and I hear ya about that getting out of bed in the morning, I just cannot imagine what it would be like at 82 yrs old, and my father was 88 when he died back in '08. But he seemed to get going in the mornings better than I do now ! Then again, he never raced(and crashed) motorcycles when he was younger either  .



Hornet said:


> :thumbsup::wave::wave:.
> 
> Good thing most of us are past the dating stage,*could you imagine telling a member of the opposite sex your hobbies include little toy cars,wonder how far that'd get you towards another date*,lol:wave:
> 
> ...


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