# Johnny Lightning chassis:How to make them run



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

Well,for the last week or so,I have been doing a little back and forth corrospondence with fellow HobbyTalker mking on Johnny Lightning chassis and getting them to run.

I sent Mike off a bunch of parts I had for him to play with.Here is the email he sent me detailing what he did:

Hi Mike



I got your package, and rebuilt several JLTOs. Several of your JLTO chassis were pretty straight. I was playing around with some green dye, and the black looking chassis really are your gray chassis!



Here is a breakdown of the tuning. The number is the fastest lap I ran on my 4x8 road course. To put it in perspective, I bought a fray RTR car from http://www.kc-jets.mahorkc.com/ and it ran 5.681. So 5.87 for a cheap JLTO is good!!! My best JLTO was 5.67. 



5.87 chassis. BSRT shoes ($1), wizard FHR51 front rims ($2), 0.55 piano wire front axle ($0.25), o-ring fronts ($0.25), drill rod rear axle ($0.25), matched JLTO magnets (easy for me to match magnets, but not as important to do for JLTO than for stock tjets), BUDSHO rear tires ($1). $4.75 in parts. 



5.95 chassis. Stock shoes (restricted fronts, I use 1/16 heat shrink tubing). Custom front (your JLTO hubs ground down, brass tube front axle ($0.25), o-ring fronts ($0.25), chrome plated brass weights from RC plane ($0.75)), drill rod rear axle ($0.25), matched JLTO magnets (easy for me to match magnets, but not as important to do for JLTO than for stock tjets), BUDSHO rear tires ($1). $2.50 in parts. 



6.240 chassis. Stock Tjet copper shoes (restricted fronts, I use a bit larger heat shrink tubing for tjet shoes and BSRT shoes). Custom front (your JLTO hubs ground down, brass tube front axle ($0.25), o-ring fronts ($0.25), chrome plated brass weights from RC plane ($0.75)), drill rod rear axle ($0.25), un-matched JLTO magnets, weird jack reject tires ($0.50). $2.00 in parts. This chassis has a lot of torque, and I can’t control it. Rear sponge silicone (spendy $8 per pair) might make a big difference. This chassis might actually run better with stock JLTO shoes, so I added a pair. 



I clean my tires with rubbing alcohol every 10-20 laps. Makes a difference!!!



I liked your bushing idea, I never tried that. On the 6.240 chassis, you had shimmed the crown gear. I removed the shim because it was too tight, and the gear train was binding. 



I also added front screws, you need these screws because the fronts are so low the stock screw will drag. 



I really liked the way the wizard front end handled. Most of my cars use the home made front with the chromed weights, but I use special hubs that are $1 a pair (they run truer with less wobble, the fronts I made out of the JLTO hub wobble a bit), so the cost per front end goes up to about $2.25. http://stores.ebay.com/H-O-Reproductions You can get the wizard front hubs for $2, so the cost with the axle and o-rings is about $2.50, but it seems to perform better. One thing I don’t like about the wizard front is the axles is 0.55, and my custom front uses a 0.625 axles, which fits the axles holes in the chassis better. If you want to spend $7 you can get a different version of the wizard front with a larger axle. But I like the challenge of seeing how fast I can go for cheap! 





I had fun tuning these. Took me about 90 minutes. 



END PART ONE


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

*Part 2*

Ok,I got the three chassis from Mike yesterday.I have to hook my lap counter up again,but I threw bodies on them and ran a few laps late last night.

I will have to say,that by Mike doing the things he did to these cars,that they dont just run better,they are 1000% better.

On my 4 X 16 4 lane track,these things are like freakin bullets with tires.The handling is as good as it gets for a tjet type chassis.These things are an absoloute BLAST to run.

For a long time I REALLY wanted to like the JLTOs.I tried and tried and tried again,and never had any luck.As a matter of fact,I was going to trash all the JL chassis and replace them with NOS Tjet chassis.

The things that Mike did to these cars he sent me changed my mind.Enough so,that I ordered a set of the soon to be released AW T Jets after I ran these.

Heck,for the amount of JL chassis I havein my box,it pays for me to invest in the boiling jig,and all of the other stuff mentioned in his email.It will be well worth it.

I'll post some lap times later on if I get a chance.

END PART TWO


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## mking (Apr 25, 2000)

*hey mike*

which front end do you like better? i am trying to decide which one i prefer. i will try to post some picutres of the 2 different styles

which car ran best on your track? my track is short (and routed with braid, not rail) so its nice to hear how cars that run good on my track run on other kinds of track


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## T-jetjim (Sep 12, 2005)

Mike (Racer X) - I was the lucky one to get a JLTO tuned chassis from Mike (MKING). This thing flies. I have had to make a few adjustments to compensate for my MM Lock and Joiner track, but it is a rocket. I took it apart to examine and did work on one of my JLTO's. When you power up Mike's vs. mine there is a big difference in rpm's. One thing that I noticed on Mike's and a Mickey Hurtado chassis I rec'd in the Camaro bash, is the brush contacts have bends in them nearer to the rivet. Mike can you explain your process of adjusting brush tension?
Jim


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

mking said:


> which front end do you like better? i am trying to decide which one i prefer. i will try to post some pictures of the 2 different styles
> 
> which car ran best on your track? my track is short (and routed with braid, not rail) so its nice to hear how cars that run good on my track run on other kinds of track


Mike.......

Haven't had a whole lot of time since my initial post to do more testing.A hard drive crash,as well as a guitar neck that needs to have the frets leveled and fitted to a body has kept me busy.But tomorrow is my day off,so I will do more testing.

So far tho,the one with the Wiz front end seems to handle the best.But,I need to run the other two more to be sure.

And as to what Tjet Tim said about the brush adjustment,I too am curious as to what you do.
40 years on and off of messin' with tjets,and I could never get the brush adjustment thing quite right.

Mike


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## mking (Apr 25, 2000)

*brush tension*

i am afraid i cant help there, as i pretty much leave the brushes as they are.

i clean the brushes by rubbing them across paper (actually i use the top of my work bench). when i assemble the chassis, if the brushes seem too low, i will gently push the contacts upward. but i really only do that for maybe 1 chassis out of 10. 

some people like the brushes forced tight against the com, giving alot of brake. some people like the brushes just touching the com, giving more coast. i like some brake, so i can speed up on my short straight and still slow down for corners. but normally the stock brush tension works fine for me. 

i admit i have ruined more than chassis playing with brush tension. now i pretty much leave well enough alone and focus on other areas i can make improvements without screwing up!


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## 41-willys (Jan 7, 2000)

I heard the you push the brush contact up through the hole and then use needles to hold them down so you can put the brush in and reasemble it. Is that right?


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## mking (Apr 25, 2000)

*pictures*

here are pictures of the two types of front ends i sent racer x


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## mking (Apr 25, 2000)

*any favorite so far?*



Mike(^RacerX^) said:


> Mike.......
> 
> 
> So far tho,the one with the Wiz front end seems to handle the best.But,I need to run the other two more to be sure.


hey mike did you decide which front end you liked better?


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## roadrner (Jul 21, 1999)

Great tip thread miking. :thumbsup: rr


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

mking said:


> hey mike did you decide which front end you liked better?



Yes Mike,I did.

I like the Wiz one the best.But it seems to be better if I put skinny tjet sillys on it.Too low with the o rings.

Tho I like the other two as well.My son is running one with o rings on it with a stock tuff ones GT 40 body.Just ever so slightly slower then the one I have with the Wiz front end.

Again,these things are a BLAST to drive!!!!!!

Mike


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## slotnewbie69 (Dec 3, 2008)

Mike(^RacerX^) said:


> Well,for the last week or so,I have been doing a little back and forth corrospondence with fellow HobbyTalker mking on Johnny Lightning chassis and getting them to run.
> 
> I sent Mike off a bunch of parts I had for him to play with.Here is the email he sent me detailing what he did:
> 
> ...


can you explain how the stock jlto hubs are ground?


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## mking (Apr 25, 2000)

*JLTO hubs*

hi

look up the thread a bit for the pictures, and then look at the picture on the right. 

the front end uses JLTO front hubs, but the nickle plated brass weights between the outside of the hub and the chassis only have a 1/16 diameter hole. the JLTO front hub has a shaft in that same area that is larger in diameter than 1/16. so i just ground off that shaft. the shaft acts as a space. i wanted to use the brass weight to help the car handle better. instead of modifying a JLTO hub i could have used a stock Tjet hub. 

turns out that b/c of the width of the brass weights (a stock R/C plane part called a wheel collar, i used them b/c they were cheap and readiliy available, just like me!) and the width of the JLTO hub or the stock tjet hub, you need to grind down some of the hub if you want to make sure the front end is narrower enough to fit through a tech block.

using an aftermarket front end like a wizzard or RTHO front end avoids that problem. those are about $7-8. the weights i used were about $1-$1.50, i had brass tubing handy (and 1/16 brass tubing is cheap), and i already had the hubs and orings, so for me that kind of custom front end is considerably cheaper.


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## christos_s (Jan 16, 2008)

Hi , and Merry Christmas to you all,
Mike, (Mking) looking at the chassis' photos, are the things attached to the p/u shoes weights? copper? lead?


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## Grandcheapskate (Jan 5, 2006)

Mike(^RacerX^) said:


> Heck,for the amount of JL chassis I havein my box,it pays for me to invest in the boiling jig,and all of the other stuff mentioned in his email.It will be well worth it.


Mike,
I must have missed something somewhere. Where is there mention of a boiling jig?

Thanks...Joe


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## mking (Apr 25, 2000)

*boiling jig*

alot of JLTO chassis are warped. you can fix this with a boiling jig, an aluminum frame with rods to fit in the axle holes. 

the idea is you heat the chasiss up in the frame and the warped chassis "learns" the new straight shape as it cools down.

it works ok, but actually its easier just to stagger the tire sizes in the front to correct for the warped chassis


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## Grandcheapskate (Jan 5, 2006)

I kinda figured that's what a boiling jig was, I just don't see it mentioned anywhere in the list of tuning steps. That's why I was curious as to where it fit in.

I have also noticed the problem on original AFX chassis as well. One front tire will touch the track while the other does not.

Where are these boiling jigs found?

Thanks...Joe


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## resinmonger (Mar 5, 2008)

RT-HO makes a strudy, precision boiling jig. All of RT-HO's tools are built to high stardards so they aren't cheap. Please see the link below.

http://rt-ho.com/tools.html

Hutts love slot-tools! :thumbsup:


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## dlw (Aug 17, 1999)

The main reason Thunderjets/TO are so twitchy is the stance of the cars mixed with the speeds they can attain (Like I'm mentioning something new here.... Just a point for the novice/newbie). Running these cars at 12V makes them very controllable, much like a stock Aurora tjet.


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## GoodwrenchIntim (Feb 22, 2005)

Jack up the body............................................................................................................. and drive a TYCO UNDER IT  AHAHA sorry I had to


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