What if I told you that you could build a car yourself, a competent, competitive Super Stock car without spending a lot of money, and that it would be fairly easy? I will show how, in easy, simple to follow step by step instructions, you can build your own car, and be competitive (as long as you can drive...I can’t help you with that).

Based on generally accepted rules and regulations - SCHOR - HOPRA (yours may be different), along with some “expert” advice on what to look for to get the most from off-the-shelf parts, we will build a legal Tyco (err..um..uh.. Mattel) 440X2 super stock race car.

Step one is, of course, to get a car or a chassis. You can do this a number of ways, any one of which is acceptable, but some may be better than others.

• 1) You could just go buy a brand new, complete 440X2 with a pretty body. This will get you mixed results. First, you might not get the “right” chassis, which I will explain later. Second, a lot of the parts on a shelf car will not be used in a super stocker (such as that pretty body), and you may find this to end up being an additional expense not needed.

• 2) You could buy a “roller” - a chassis only with an arm, magnets, stock axles and tires and such. Again, this is extra money spent on parts not used, but at least you can pick the “right” chassis.

• 3) Or you could buy a “prepped” chassis from one of the many “builders” out there. This type of chassis comes without a motor or magnets or axles. It is just a chassis, but it will have the front shoe hangers pinned (to guard against breakage) and will have pin tubes properly mounted for attaching a Lexan body. This will also allow you to acquire the “proper” front and rear bulkheads.

OK, what is this guy talking about, the “right” chassis and the “proper” bulkheads? Over the years, Tyco has produced many variants of the typical 440-X2 slot car. The chassis all look similar, but there have been slight differences in the molds, which creates subtle changes to the handling and speed characteristics of the car. The most common type out there now is a “pan” chassis, which you DO NOT want. (Unless you plan on racing at Shaunadega) These "pan" chassis are most of the NASCAR type bodies, and are easily spotted by the dark black color, and the wide, black pans spread out on each side underneath the car.

The more common chassis for racing purposes is the narrow type, gray chassis. These are mounted under most of the late model Corvette bodies (you know, the blue one) and the Lamborghini bodies, to name but a few.

Here is where it gets real interesting! Among the narrow chassis made over the years, you will find different series that you need to look for! The Malaysia chassis is out there, with 1 or 2 dots imprinted on the bottom back edge. Some also have no dots. (1)

**Since I originally wrote this article for HOUSA in 1998, there have been some changes to the Tyco narrow chassis. There are now a couple new variants that say "Mattel" or "China" on the side of the chassis instead of Hong Kong. No reasearchhas been done as far as I know on what this means to racers, or my theories. And there's more - read on!!**

Confused? Wait, there’s more! The bulkheads are even MORE important than the chassis! First, the front bulkhead. Look on the front of the bulkhead, directly above the endbell portion where the armature comes through. Up there you will see one of the following: nothing (toss it), 3 little dots (toss it), 4 little dots (if you must use this go ahead), or....... a large check mark. (2)

**Again, since the time of my original article, there is a new rear bulkhead out there, without the wide bottom portion that has traditionally held the magnet in place. This is completely new territory, as Rick Burneson wrote in HO World.**

Second, the rear bulkhead. Same scenario, different spot. Look at the very bottom on the back end of the rear bulkhead for the following: 3 dots (use this with a HK 4 chassis), 4 dots (a HK 3 chassis or Malaysia 2 dot) or nothing (use this with a Malaysia 2 dot as an alternative). (3)

You can experiment with other combinations, but I find that these combos typically pay off. What you are looking for, again, is proper alignment and getting the magnets as low as possible (in this case the traction magnets). This is serious stuff, boys and girls! The proper choice of bulkhead and chassis can make or break a good race car from the start.

Next step is to “pin” the pickups on the car, if you bought a bare chassis. This is tedious and time consuming, but if you don’t do it, you could wind up losing a race because of an off, by breaking one of the tabs that hold the pick-up shoe on the car (read: no-go).

It's very important that you turn the chassis different (5) angles, so that you maintain a straight attack into the hanger! Do not go too fast, as consistency and alignment is what you are looking for. Continue to drill into the hanger till you are actually drilling into the chassis, about 1/4 inch.

After smoothing one end of the piano wire, dab a little super glue on the end of the wire and stick this end into the drilled hole until it bottoms out into the chassis. At this point, break the remaining wire off with dikes, and use a Dremel or similar tool to bring the edge smooth and flush with the end of the hanger. Do the other side the same way and you now have a “bulletproof” front end.

Pick your spot. The tubes on this chassis are about as far apart as you can put them on a Tyco, this helps to keep the body from rocking. Using a #62 (.038) bit, drill carefully and slowly into the points you have picked for the tubes. (7) Pay close attention to the mounting of the front, so it will not be in conflict with the brush tubes or pick-up shoes on the inside of the chassis!

Buy, beg, borrow (but don’t steal) a set of THREADED aluminum body tubes. Don’t use the flanged kind, as they just will not stay in the hole, no matter what kind of gorilla snot glue you try. Thread these in by using your pin vise (not too tight around the aluminum, as it will bend) until they seat nicely and flush with the inside of the chassis. If you did it correctly it should look kinda like the picture to the right.

Now on to the "Go" stuff! We must have POWWERRR (har, har). Many guys out there sell “hand picked” armatures. Some of these are really good, and some are not. So what I do is to buy a bunch of cheap arms and go through them until I find one that is balanced (naturally, of course - anything else would be cheating).