# How to properly lower a body?



## Joe65SkylarkGS (Feb 15, 2010)

I see some talk about this here and there. What can I do to lower some of these high bodies? Seems the mocel motoring are some of the highest i've seen.

Thanks in advance and yes i'm a noob so go easy on me.:dude:


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

It all depends on the body, and the accessories. A JL/AW/MM/Dash T jet style body lowering job starts with a good look at the body with the chassis installed. How much room you have for lowering starts with how much clearance you have between the top of the chassis and the inside of the body. Once you have determined that figure, you have a starting point for post trimming. 

The next thing to look at is what type wheels are you planning on using? Stock skinny wheels and tires or wider tough ones wheels, or custom wheels like RRR or Vincents?? The fit of the wheels will determine the rest. If the wheel tire combination will fit comfortably inside the body the only thing you need to watch is the chassis to body underside space. Grab your trusty dremel and start taking level bites out of the body posts. If tires are a consideration, check the space between the wheel wells and the tops of the tires and don't exceed that dimension. 

There is one other trick with tires I need to mention. Shaving the inside of the wheel wells takes a steady hand. You can gain a small amount of clearance (side to side mainly) by putting a sanding wheel to them. Use caution, low speed will work better, and always take small steps. Burning a hole through a wheel well pretty much kills a body.

Take small bites off the posts and check your clearance with every stage. You don't want the glass hitting the gear plate at all so stop short of that point! There are other tricks you can try to get a bit more room... Many bodies have the glass hanging down lower than others. Some can be trimmed off to gain an extra 1/16" or so. The front rails of some T jet chassis can be trimmed too.It all depends on what is hitting and how critical that spot or section is for good performance. 

Please note. I very rarely trim an original T jet body. There are way too many hacked bodies out there already. :lol: I do almost all my drilling, cutting and hacking on newer bodies. I don't feel so guilty doing it that way. Good luck!!!


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## Joe65SkylarkGS (Feb 15, 2010)

slotcarman12078 said:


> It all depends on the body, and the accessories. A JL/AW/MM/Dash T jet style body lowering job starts with a good look at the body with the chassis installed. How much room you have for lowering starts with how much clearance you have between the top of the chassis and the inside of the body. Once you have determined that figure, you have a starting point for post trimming.
> 
> The next thing to look at is what type wheels are you planning on using? Stock skinny wheels and tires or wider tough ones wheels, or custom wheels like RRR or Vincents?? The fit of the wheels will determine the rest. If the wheel tire combination will fit comfortably inside the body the only thing you need to watch is the chassis to body underside space. Grab your trusty dremel and start taking level bites out of the body posts. If tires are a consideration, check the space between the wheel wells and the tops of the tires and don't exceed that dimension.
> 
> ...




Dude i'm with you one hundred percent on the originals. I like messing with the newer bodies myself. I've done alot of lower window shaving in the past but never thought of trimming the posts. Most of them don't have alot of underside clearance so I guess i'll start a hunt for some good candidates to lower. I like em low!!

Any recomendations on which bodies get down there pretty low?


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## Voxxer (Oct 25, 2003)

*Body*

Hi:

Here is a great web site for info on lowering a body. Go to the work bench section, it will be at the end.
When doing this DO NOT push down on the body, you will take off to much

http://www.hosers-slotcars.com/tools.html

Voxxer


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## roadrner (Jul 21, 1999)

Voxxer,
Great site. Couldn't believe the shop he has set up.  

:thumbsup::thumbsup: rr


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*Silly putty!*



Joe65SkylarkGS said:


> I see some talk about this here and there. What can I do to lower some of these high bodies? Seems the mocel motoring are some of the highest i've seen.
> 
> Thanks in advance and yes i'm a noob so go easy on me.:dude:


Lower, dump, er slam ....it's kinda up to you to figure out. I use silly putty and lay it across the chassis top. Then I press body and chassis together, or snap them in, whatever ya got. Silly putty wont stick to the gears and what not so dont think about modeling clay! IT WILL

Carefully remove the body and the putty and measure it at it's minimum thickness. Write that number down so you dont forget. I usually check it twice and average it. Then measure the fenderwell to tire clearance with the body and chassis properly mounted. This will tell you if you can move the chassis up and whether or not you'll need to keep tires and wheels as they are or start fishing. 

Do you tip toe up to the edge and retain stock wheels and tires? 

Do you go over the edge and retain what you have and carve the wells?

Do you narrow the hubs and create a tire to tub underneath without changing the well externally?

Are you going to narrow hubs, grind tires, and modify axles?

Do you add flares?

Each design feature you add to a given build adds another layer of difficulty and another pile of problems for the builder to solve. The lower you go the deeper the can of worms can get. Up and to the point that the chassis comes out the top....whoops....then you have created a fray style car...snicker.

Start small, learn post and glass shaving. Learn to modify wheels, tires, and axles to meet the need. Learn to scoop the insides of a body out WITHOUT screwing the pooch. Seek alternative chassis applications and learn how to mount them. Learn how to install screw posts or chassis mounting tabs where-ever the heck you want. It's really about how bad you want it. Many of us go to ridiculous ends to get the right look. (visit the thread "Back at the Shop" by Randy Matlock) Look carefully, Randy makes it look easy and moves stuff around at will. 

By learning the fundamentals you'll be able to recognize what's doable and whats a pipe dream based on the individual peculiarities of the chassis and body combination you have chosen.

For myself I keep a pile of old burnt chassis that have each been modified in one way or another. Some have rear drop axles, some have beveled or shaved front axle rails, some have no nose and use floating pick ups, some have shaved rear aprons and shaved plate rails...some have all of the above.
This allows me to R&D an idea quickly to find out what combination of modifications is required to pull the look off.

Start now ....get whittling! :thumbsup:


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Added Note:

Take the time to dig through the archives for "ParkRNDL" aka Rick Wurtz. Rick has great side side how tos where he lowers AW cars into respectability. You'll have to dig back about two years er so, but it's definately wurth the effort.


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

(blushes modestly)

heh. i was reading thru this thread, thinking i'd link to some of those old posts, when i saw bill's last post. thanks a bunch. that's high praise, especially coming from you.

anyways, yeah, i got a little dremel-happy with some of my JL/AWs... but it's good source material to work with; i think they came out pretty good. here's the ones i think made the most dramatic difference in the stance of the car (and also the ones I took the most pics of):

http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=97957

http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=98123

http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=98246

http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=97869

http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=101945

And like I said in the threads, I'm really not doing a whole lot of custom work here... just judiciously removing material. You guys who do the custom paint and body filler and piecing stuff together are exercising a lot more talent than me. But I think hacking and lowering is a good place to start if you like to play with little cars...

--rick


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## Joe65SkylarkGS (Feb 15, 2010)

ParkRNDL said:


> (blushes modestly)
> 
> heh. i was reading thru this thread, thinking i'd link to some of those old posts, when i saw bill's last post. thanks a bunch. that's high praise, especially coming from you.
> 
> ...


Rick thats some cool shaving you do. :dude:I guess i'm going to try a few things now seeing it can be done and done clean and right.

Thanks a bunch.:thumbsup:


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## bobhch (Apr 22, 2007)

*This is a great lowering thread...thanks everyone for the low down...*

rick,

Cow-a-bunga Dude those are some great Stop, Drop and Roll threads from 2004 man!! I learned alot from all the great instructional pictures and written how to do, do's. Low is good! :thumbsup::thumbsup:

I myself can't stand it when a chassis is half showing from under a rocker panel. Those low cars you did look sweet rick and yeah those redlines are Coooooooool Stuff! Had a few pairs of them back when but, then the builder stopped making them. He also made some with bluelines too. I don't have any of these redline or blueline tires now. Redlines sure would look Hot on my Mev 1965 Imapala when it gets painted up metalic blue this summer. Maybee I can red sharpie some Monkey tires up?

Slotcarman has a great note of dremeling the wheel wells from the inside carefully to get them away from the tires. This also reminded me of a thread I saw someplace on HT a while back in larger scale of rusty rear quarter panels with rust holes. The poster said that he didn't make the car but, that the guy who built it for him said the rust holes were dremeled from the inside to get the holes...Hey I like rust so, yeah don't throw that body away if yah mess up! Heck drop the rear end more just like the leaf springs are old and shot. 

As always I make sure to pay attention to Bills post carefully as he thinks out loud and always has good useable advice. 

AW Dune Buggies don't need lowering just big tires in the rear and Dash VW Ghias are pretty low from the get go. Dan did a good job on the Ghia as it is small (as it should be), covers the chassis very well and lighter without bumpers. lol I don't need no stinking bumpers.

Bob...rick is da lowerer of low de dow de dow, dow...zilla


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## Joe65SkylarkGS (Feb 15, 2010)

Rick...you inspired another. I been dremeling like a fool!!!

The model motoring 67 chevelle looks amazing dropped!! And the 70 Daytona also needed to be dropped. I'll get pics in a bit. I forgot to do before shots!!DUH!!:dude:


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## Joe65SkylarkGS (Feb 15, 2010)

bobhch said:


> rick,
> 
> Cow-a-bunga Dude those are some great Stop, Drop and Roll threads from 2004 man!! I learned alot from all the great instructional pictures and written how to do, do's. Low is good! :thumbsup::thumbsup:
> 
> ...


Post a pic of the dune buggy.:thumbsup:


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

I have 2 or 3 of those Chevelles that I haven't gotten around to lowering yet...

--rick


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## bobhch (Apr 22, 2007)

*o.k.*

This aint no SkylarkGS



















Bob...when low doesn't matter...zilla


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## Joe65SkylarkGS (Feb 15, 2010)

Here the 67 Chevelle looks good lowered but the charger won't allow me to get the rear end down any further.


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## slotnewbie69 (Dec 3, 2008)

i didn't have too much luck with the aw/jl charger either.the rocker panels are really shallow to fit a big tjet chassis in.and it didn't look quite right with skinnies.i posted it somewheres here...


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## Joe65SkylarkGS (Feb 15, 2010)

slotnewbie69 said:


> i didn't have too much luck with the aw/jl charger either.the rocker panels are really shallow to fit a big tjet chassis in.and it didn't look quite right with skinnies.i posted it somewheres here...


Yea i'm not a big fan of the skinnies on the charger either but the 67 chebby looks cool with them!!

I have issues with some dash bodies too. Some fronts rub and some rears, like the 69 chevelle and the 69 hurst olds.


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## slotnewbie69 (Dec 3, 2008)

yeah i have the dash vw split window van,lowered with skinnies,and had to grind a hair out of the insides of the front wells,as the wheel base didn't quite match up as i would have liked.beautiful model though,i love tearing around the track with a mean green in it and aw magnets!it,s fun to watch with the sports cars.


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

Yeah, one time a guys car went off the track and smacked the floor.
Before he could say "track".......


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## Joe65SkylarkGS (Feb 15, 2010)

slotnewbie69 said:


> yeah i have the dash vw split window van,lowered with skinnies,and had to grind a hair out of the insides of the front wells,as the wheel base didn't quite match up as i would have liked.beautiful model though,i love tearing around the track with a mean green in it and aw magnets!it,s fun to watch with the sports cars.


Hmm? The dash van? I have a Herbie 53 VW van. Is this the van your talking about?

Have a picture?:dude:


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## roadrner (Jul 21, 1999)

Just hog out the wheel wells. :devil: rr


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## slotnewbie69 (Dec 3, 2008)

mine is the two tone black bottom,white roof.the bumpers barely clear the rails now.its fun though.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

O-ring front tires help a lot. PVT t-jet tire stretched onto a narrowed AFX hub is the ticket here.










I didnt find any future in tubbing this set up and using a wider tire. The rear tracking width is such that pulling the inner edge of a fatty tire towards the rails is more unsettling handling-wise than dealing with a skinny tire and just learning to drive it. Vans are gonna capsize no matter what unless you install or use some anti grav.


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## Joe65SkylarkGS (Feb 15, 2010)

Bill i'm not following all your lingo there. What type of body and is it a t-jet chassis with afx rims??


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## slotnewbie69 (Dec 3, 2008)

nice van bill!love the afx rims.did you mill the rears down?


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Joe65SkylarkGS said:


> Bill i'm not following all your lingo there. What type of body and is it a t-jet chassis with afx rims??


That's a Dash Bus. Nice detail and tough as nails.

Chassis is "Something Jet"...LOL...I ferget which....JoeZ has it now. I'm thinking it may be an Otto Whirled with a brass gear conversion. 

Rims are standard AFX five spoke mags that have been narrowed. The diameter remains stock. Obviously you have to take a bit off the axles as well.


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## slotnewbie69 (Dec 3, 2008)

hey bill.did you post a tute on how you narrow down those rims?just curious,i would like to see it done and try it myself on my dash van,as those afx wheels look great!


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Not much to it.

For rear AFX or the like, I just hang the flange/rim over the edge of my cutting board then roll them along under my Xacto blade. For added control it helps to poke an axle partways in. Keep rolling until you cut through. Then sand the back nice and smooth (1200). I usually go a little big and use the sanding part of the program to dial them down to the exact size I want. 

For the front rim I just flip the idea around and roll them on narrow little spacer part. Ill fitting tires are bonded with thinned contact cement and then trued.

I dont anymore, but if you feel like you have to, you can make rear flanges from styrene sheet stock using a gasket type hole punch and bond them to your narrowed hub. Dont forget to compensate for the additional thickness.

Make sure you pick/check your rim first so you dont waste time modifying a crappy rim....they do exist.

Good luck!


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## slotnewbie69 (Dec 3, 2008)

thanks bill.so you are cutting the back side off i would guess?ok wait that was a silly question.


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## drumz (Jan 10, 2008)

Here is a lowered AFX/Nissan on a Magna-Traction chassis:wave:.


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## Joe65SkylarkGS (Feb 15, 2010)

drumz said:


> Here is a lowered AFX/Nissan on a Magna-Traction chassis:wave:.


How do you lower a snap in AFX? 

Looks sweet!!!:dude:


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## drumz (Jan 10, 2008)

Joe65SkylarkGS said:


> How do you lower a snap in AFX?
> 
> Looks sweet!!!:dude:


 I found a link years ago on lowering a JL/Dodge Viper. First you need a sharp X-acto knife. You want to trim the top of the body tabs a little @ a time, and some of the bottom also if you remove too much, you can use hobby putty or the body filler of you choice. It's kinda hard for me to explain, but if I find the link, that I printed I can email it to you. Here is a pic of a Super G+ Stocker, that I'm working on.

thanks


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Joe65SkylarkGS said:


> How do you lower a snap in AFX?
> 
> Looks sweet!!!:dude:


The "Hilltop Method" ...but of course!

Randy?


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## Joe65SkylarkGS (Feb 15, 2010)

Bill Hall said:


> The "Hilltop Method" ...but of course!
> 
> Randy?


And i'm supposed to know....???

I'm not getting it.:wave:


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*This aint McDonalds drive thru*

Nope and ya wont, until Randy makes with the pixs or ya search it out of several years of way back in his garage thread "Back at the Shop". A beautifully simple technique that allows you to orient the chassis any which way ya want, AND with the added cool factor of FIRE....YES....FIRE!!!! :thumbsup:

What could be more fun than combining slotcars and fire? I just cant imagine!!! Gunpowder maybe.... or some type of flammable liquid....fireworks??? Oh yeah..."D" = All of the above!

I'm sure Randy will be along sooner or later


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## Hilltop Raceway (Feb 12, 2006)

I guess I need to turn to this channel more often. Try this, scroll down to post #200, it's an AFX I lowered...RM

http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=212249&page=14

P.S. Also works for making Lifelike bodies fit AFX chassis's


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## slotnewbie69 (Dec 3, 2008)

cool thread!thats how i gotta make chassis mounts for a long overdue build!


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## BrentCorvette (Jun 11, 2008)

Please don't use a dremel. 
I've lowered many H.O. slot car bodies and I only use hand files. 
Just take your time and think about each little bit you file.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

True dat!

The dremel should always be just out of reach. Just enough so that you have to get up off your keester to grab it.


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## 1976Cordoba (Sep 20, 2000)

Silicone works with everything, as a nice plan "B" when you get sick of filing & fiddling around.


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## Crimnick (May 28, 2006)

Hilltop Raceway said:


> I guess I need to turn to this channel more often. Try this, scroll down to post #200, it's an AFX I lowered...RM
> 
> http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=212249&page=14
> 
> P.S. Also works for making Lifelike bodies fit AFX chassis's


Sheesh...how did I miss that!

Brilliant!:thumbsup:


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## Crimnick (May 28, 2006)

1976Cordoba said:


> Silicone works with everything, as a nice plan "B" when you get sick of filing & fiddling around.


I did the sticky velcro for the trevco nascars I did with some SG+ chassis...

Gonna try the vasaline and hot glue method for the same bodies and a tyco pan...


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