# Custom tycos



## 440s-4ever (Feb 23, 2010)

I hope this thread inspires a few of you. Surfing the web one sees a ton of customizing but it leans heavily toward custom mounted bodies, auroras, and generally things you don't want to crash and bash. 

Personally my love of slots revolves around tyco and very specifically around the concept of click-on bodies. It's kind of like once you go to a race body mounts it's a whole different deal. Can't explain why. 

Here's the first up, a tyco funny car camaro. This one started just like the yellow example but featuring a bad brush paint job. With some TLC it's clearcoated chevy engine orange (#200, the darker variety) with water transfer deck stripes from a JL diecast 1st gen camaro kit. They're supposed to be black but are more of a graphite. SS 396 logos from the same kit. Drilled headlights/tail lights add a racy feature and are a lot easier than painting  

Overall, thrilled with the outcome and it represents a car that's barely slipped thru my fingers several times in the real world. We're running the heck out of it as evidenced by the chip at the top of the windshield. 

Sharp eyes will note the difference in stripe spacing front to rear, sharper eyes will already know that's how GM striped camaros. Strange but true. 

More cars to follow and please post photos of anything similar you're doing!


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## kiwidave (Jul 20, 2009)

Nice job on the Camaro. Here's a similar vintage Mustang I have done. I made some changes to the body!!! Orange Chevy and a blue Ford would look great lined up to race!!


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## 440s-4ever (Feb 23, 2010)

*Tyco butchery*

Wow that mustang looks great and it's even the camaro's pair car, great reply. Is it actual grabber blue or something real close?

Here's the latest off the hobby bench. Severely channeled Datsun modified to fit a tyco widepan (it clicks onto a stock chassis). Received in trade as a junker, cutup and halfway toward fitting a widepan. Anyway I took it a step further and glued in structural plastic for the back windows, and raised the wheel arches another 1/8th inch and removed more of the lower body. I kinda like the formula car look of the exposed front wheels

There's still work to be done once the paint's dry enough for taping, it'll get an accent painted window net, rocker panels, and rear window.

The color didn't involve much thinking. Obviously. One might describe it as metalflake track color. It was the last spray bomb on the shelf that wasn't already turning laps, not much more to say. The arrow stripe is reflective and flashes nicely, if any of you have crafty moms with cricut machines....put her to work!  That stripe is unfortunately as small as we've been able to get the cricut to cut vinyl without distortion.

It probably needs more waterslides to enhance visibility. Speaking of, those red stripes are the previously mentioned JL camaro taillights lined up to create a strobe stripe.

Any recommendations on water slide kits? I see a lot of nascar and F1 but no generic sheets of stripes/graphics. Most of the nascar/F1 stuff looks so direct-fit it would restrict custom use considerably.


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## bobhch (Apr 22, 2007)

*It's TYCO time in slotcar land...*

440s-4ever,

Hey here is a Custom I did after Rich showed us all his Nascar de-winged and nose cone removal trick. The front grill is from a HotWheels 99 cent donor car.

Beeing a Tyco buff you probably have a bunch of broken wing bodies laying around. 



















There are several Tyco Enthusiast here on HT...just keep hanging around and they will start popping up like flies....Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, bzzzzzzzz, bzzzzzzzz

I did up a Tyco Mustang like Kiwis ( nice blue Stang man!! ) also and have a bunch more waiting for their time to come. The opertunity for lots of detail painting is incredible on that Mustang! When doing up the Mustangs front end a JL body was used for reference for painting it up. The headlights were painted white ( this time ) to pull the white door pipes in visualy. I love the color white as it just pulls things together nicely. That is a nice swirly white arrow man!

Bob...all Tycos welcomed here...zilla


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## 440s-4ever (Feb 23, 2010)

The mustangs had so many vibrant colors and stripe options there is certainly a world of possibility. 

Bob, I've not seen that superbird to road runner conversion before (or is it a GTX because of the side scoops?). Totally sweet idea, mine will be hemi orange or sassy grass green w/flat black hood......Thanks for the compliments on the arrow, using reflective vinyl adds a neat effect, I especially like this silver/white stuff for headlights.


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## Hilltop Raceway (Feb 12, 2006)

Good looking Camaro ther 440s :thumbsup::thumbsup: I like those stripes and emblems. What type JL kit are they from??? Taking notes here...RM


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## WesJY (Mar 4, 2004)

440 for ever - cool cars!!! i am a tyco freak!! you should check out my tyco customs. Check out this forum "Hemi43 Custom Shop" and there's more!! keep them coming!!! :thumbsup:

Wes


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## 440s-4ever (Feb 23, 2010)

Hilltop Raceway said:


> Good looking Camaro ther 440s :thumbsup::thumbsup: I like those stripes and emblems. What type JL kit are they from??? Taking notes here...RM


Thank you. The JL kit is around 4 years old and featured a pair of white 1/64 diecast 67 camaros. Disassembled in the blister pack with multiple hoods/wheels/etc for customization There's a waterslide kit folded into the instructions, and unfortunately not visible until opened. 

The waterslides also have orange deck stripes & Z28 emblems, but I'm saving those for a tyco LT1 camaro painted white. (30th anniversary Z/28)

There's a JL mustang kit of the same customize-your-own series. Makes me wonder if there's some Mach 1 or Boss stripes folded into it's instructions. Anybody know?


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## roadrner (Jul 21, 1999)

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: rr


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## bobhch (Apr 22, 2007)

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah the old hide the decals in the instruction sheet trick....very tricky indeed.


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## 440s-4ever (Feb 23, 2010)

WesJY, neat cars in the hemi43 thread. Especially like your take on the satellite cop car.

Here's a tyco question only the faithful will know.......

Do TCR bodies sit higher in addition to the enlarged wheelwells? I ask this based on the 40 ford, got 2 of em here and the one with small front wheelwells has visibly different mounts and rakes the nose down about 1/16"


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## 440s-4ever (Feb 23, 2010)

Datsun is finished. Black rear windows & headlight bezels. Red window net. Silver rockers and front bumper trim. And another coat of clear for good measure. 

In the background is the next victim. Ideal(?) TCR, some kind of exaggerated 71-73 mustang. IMO much better looking than the mis-shapen tycopro 71-73 stang. It'd be neat to do it up in yellow/black as a nod to the actual Eleanor Mach 1 convertible rotting to death in my neighbors garage.......but the slot fleet has too many yellow cars.

Dug out the ancient stash of 1/24th scale waterslides and gonna see if there's something worth cutting down. I'm thinking white body, black scoop, black louvers, and some kind of tri-color graphics.


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## 440s-4ever (Feb 23, 2010)

*Here we go!*

The weird mustang pictured above is done

To sum it up, some kind of TCR that originally had a huge front & rear spoiler. Ideal? Not really sure, still haven't found a good picture of what it's supposed to be.

Added grooves and notches inside the body accept tyco widepan tabs. The body's original vertical rib pushes against the tyco receiver. All in all, pretty strong mount, mostly due to the extra thick plastic body.

The rear wheel openings had to be enlarged to the rear, and I embraced the body's forward push trying to keep rearward weight to a minimum. It's a heavy car and hopefully that long nose aids neutral handling. 

Body is white enamel rattle can & paint marker black/silver. Wanted the bold tri-color stripes to be the dominant feature & white seems to enable that. Black reminiscent of the boss treatments, taking advantage of the rear louvers & boss scoop, while also disguising a 2 pc. body seam on the rear decklid. Blue decals are from a 1/24 ford ranger kit and chosen to accent the blue windows. Assorted sponsor decals from assorted kits. Drilled sidepipes and opened hood scoop. Mucho clearcoat. 

If anyone out there has tyco basher bods, send a PM. Running out of ideas for the ones I got :tongue:

Please post any pics of your cool tycos


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

Hey, I like that Mustang you got there. I would like to get a couple for experimentation.
I agree that Tyco Pro Mustang is way out of whack. So, I did some modifications on this one.


















I think that one you have with its smoother lines would work better. :thumbsup:


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## 440s-4ever (Feb 23, 2010)

If a guy wanted a more original mustang look, the grille is recessed around 1/4" on the white one. Taking the leading edge of the body back 3/16" would go a long ways toward normalizing overall proportions, but might make the scoop's position look goofy.

Is the Petty car a Torino talledega? I like it.


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

It was a mustang. I smoothed off the hood scoops and added the back deck and front and rear grills from a hot wheels talladega.


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## 440s-4ever (Feb 23, 2010)

NTxSlotCars said:


> Hey, I like that Mustang you got there. I would like to get a couple for experimentation.


The more TCRs I look at the more I'm convinced it's a Lionel body.


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## 440s-4ever (Feb 23, 2010)

The latest victim, spirit of 76 roadrace vette.

The driver was awol, and my friends' kids looked at me funny when asked if they had any Polly Pocket heads to spare. Ever try to explain that kind of request?

So there were no polly pockets but much thinking. And it was decided the fastest driver on the track would be a driver that adds 500hp. So a dual engine hot wheels tudor was chopped for it's blowers, and the vette chopped to accept em. 

Testors ruby red spray, testors gold & silver marker with red taillight accents. And of course, drilled taillights & sidepipes. Red pinstripes courtesy of Darrell Waltrip. Or at least a waltrip pepsi monte. JL camaro waterslides used as "driving lights". 1/24 corvette license plate waterslide chopped for a vette logo on the gold tail panel. Lots O' Clearcote. Bad photo, it's quite sparkly in person.

Using testors paint markers with their spray clear SUX. I literally dry the marker coat for several days on the top of the house furnace. Yet the tiniest mist of clear makes them bleed.


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## WesJY (Mar 4, 2004)

sweet two tone paint job!!! :thumbsup:

Wes


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## kiwidave (Jul 20, 2009)

Cool, like the ruby red color!!


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## Hilltop Raceway (Feb 12, 2006)

That Ruby Red with a gold contrast excites me too!!! RM


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## Guest (Mar 23, 2010)

*Tyco: Simple yet Not*



440s-4ever said:


> WesJY, neat cars in the hemi43 thread. Especially like your take on the satellite cop car.
> 
> Here's a tyco question only the faithful will know.......
> 
> Do TCR bodies sit higher in addition to the enlarged wheelwells? I ask this based on the 40 ford, got 2 of em here and the one with small front wheelwells has visibly different mounts and rakes the nose down about 1/16"


Yes. There seem to be some differences in bodies that Tyco cast specifically for the TCR Chassis. I have found that some Lamborghini and the 90 Corvette bodies have multiple post-tab-variations. In some cases I have found that you must remove one of the post pairs on them to mount them to the TCR Narrow Chassis, however, having done so, the body will no longer sit on a Narrow 440 Chassis without wobbling or resting on the tires.

Tyco was very innovative with slot and slotless body/chassis swapping, but sometimes ended up making alot more work for themselves in the end.
I have spent years mixing and matching Tyco bodies and chassis, and I still get a surprise here and there.


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## bobhch (Apr 22, 2007)

Hey 440s-4ever,

This is a nice Vette you have here! Painted up, Horse Power, stripes & with a roll bar...nice!!

Your Custom engine deal here remindes me of one of my very first 1/24th models I built as a kid with my Dad. It was a Vandal. It was based on a Van but, had a large glass enclosure over the drivers side and an engine sitting in the passenger side...Hmmmmmmmmm now you got me thinking.

Bob...this build just kept running through my head today ( run, run, run )...zilla


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## 440s-4ever (Feb 23, 2010)

Wow, thanks for the response guys. I like it too. 

This project has made me look at "cheaped-out plastic-filled" hot wheels with a different eye. 

Here's a shot of the back, wish I'd had a different font available for the vette logo but am doing my darnedest to avoid spending one dime on materials. 

It's obviously time to find a new photo location with better lighting.


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## Slott V (Feb 3, 2005)

Ya that Mustang is a Lionel. I have the slotless version-


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## 440s-4ever (Feb 23, 2010)

Next victims are here.....brainstorm time! Between us all surely we can generate at least partly cloudy with minor sprinkles. 

I've got some of Bob Molta's cheapie tyco TCR jam mustangs and dodge vans. And absolutely no idea what to do with em. 

The 5.0 has round red cop lights, the van has one rectangular light bar. Which can hopefully be dealt with creatively. 

As a side note, wouldn't a 5 liter mustang cop car be double five-oh?

Thoughts....comments.....suggestions......


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## mainframe (Jul 20, 2009)

Here are a few Ideas off the top of my head, 

The mustang jam cars you could do a GT convertible

Shave and fill the center light bar to make a hard top. 

Drill / Carve out the head lights and insert a head light assembly from a HP2/7 or CC lighted mustang body (or fiber optics and led) and setup a wheat bulb for headlights and alternating red leds for the roof lights, paint with police dept of choice.

The van you could shave the roof lights as well and from there go from cargo van, tricked out hot rod van to van pickup or U-Haul type box truck.

Take two bodies shave the back of the van and cut the other body before the rear wheel well and merge to the rear of the shaved body to create a double wheels in the back, setup an extension for the additional axle on the chassis.


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

Another thing with the Mustang.
You could chop the body up and add some action figure parts so it can turn into a robot!!!

What?


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## 440s-4ever (Feb 23, 2010)

NTxSlotCars said:


> Another thing with the Mustang.
> You could chop the body up and add some action figure parts so it can turn into a robot!!!
> 
> What?


Hmmm, that is an interesting transformation to propose. 



The the dual axle van idea is groovy! Probably more than I want to take on but still interesting. Very interesting. 

Never thought about a convertible mustang. T-tops would also eliminate the cherries.

Cop-stangs are out of the question. Tyco already makes a black & white.

I've done a clone of a friend's 84 GT. Those had the hood bulge painted black which is easy to mask and easily recognizable. Still has cop lights, but you get what ya pay for and it's gonna be a gift to the car's owner.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Sorry it's not a Tyco...

I've done quite a few dual axle contraptions. The trick is to make the chassis first and match the body work afterwords.


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## 440s-4ever (Feb 23, 2010)

Wow that's DEFINITELY too ambitious for me. Nice work!! Hard to believe you're risking that skeleton chopping it in half though

My thinking was more along the lines of US-1 tycos with the rear axle hanging from the body.


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## mainframe (Jul 20, 2009)

That is awesome! Two powered axles is pretty cool.


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