Lowering Without a Dremel Made Easy

Difficulty: 3 of 10

Materials needed:



Standard Metal nail file ( a pin will work too)
Open Flame (candle, zippo, etc.....)
Zipzap Body (obviously )

I notice a lot of people ask about how to lower a ZZ body on here, and I thought i'd add my 2 cents on lowering them. IF you aren't lucky enough to have a Dremel (join the club neither do I), I have found that using heat works quite well. If you have a steady hand, and a metal nail file you can do quite a good job with that. The standard plastic-handled metal nail file as it turns out, is the perfect size to form the slot in the body.

1. Use a candle to heat it and go straight in from the OUTSIDE of the body.

-----GO SLOWLY!!! do not make the entire hole in one try-------

This will cause it to be messy.

By taking it slow and working from the outside in, the plastic that melts will go to the inside of the body, avoiding any unsightly melting marks on the outside of your body.

2. After heating you can then use the file to make the hole neater.

3. Afterwards you may need to thin out the wheel wells to accomodate the wheels though....I use a pocket knife to shave off some excess plastic from the inside of the well, (NOTE: do it BIT by BIT....take a little off try it....and if it's still not right take a little more)

4. then polish it down with fine-grit sandpaper. Just shave the well down to fit so the wheels can spin and turn freely and you're golden.

To date I have done 6 lowerings, and only botched one (a mustang, which proved quite difficult to lower, just a warning).
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dragster wheels or mosnster truck wheels (if done on all wheels)

Materails needed:

Zip zaps gear set (all zip if doing monster truck)
lego wheels (the wide ones)
Lego tires to fit them
exacto knife(if u want to fit your body on without modding it)
roughest sand paper u can find(For the same reason as the exacto knife)
hot glue gun
hot glue stick

1.take your lego wheels (with out tires) and hot glue them to the oue side of your zip zaps gear set but dont push then in all the way first u have to fill in the gap with hot glue then glue on ur lego wheels

2.reapet step one on other side of gear set (the front wheels to if u want a monster truck

3. cut the tire so it fits on the wheel but doesnt touch the body when it is on sand the tire out so u can get it perfectly there

4. attach the gear set to ur car and ur done
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Gear Burr Removal.


Tools: X Acto Knife

If you look at the back of a ZZ idler gear, you'll notice there's a tiny burr on it. A burr is a little plastic nub left over from the forming process.

If you look at the chassis, you'll notice a little swathe cut into the chassis. Removing the burr with an Xacto will stop peroidic contact between the gear and the chassis, which causes friction, inconsistent mesh and vibration, slowing the car.
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Tint your windows


Just put electrical tape on the inside of the windows. looks good if you lay it on evenly.
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rear wheel cover mod:

materials needed:
a dremel, pieces of plastic (big enough to cover the rear wheel), an open flame candle, and plastic model cement.

step one:
take a piece of plastic and soften it over a candle and mold it around the side of the rear wheel well. you should cut the plastic to give it a circular look.

Step two:
Glue down the formed plastic with the model cement.

Step three:
shape the plastic with the dremel, you may have to sahve off some of the inside of the cover in order for the rear wheels to spin freely.

Step four:
paint and have fun.

i know these directions might be a little confusing, but it's kinda hard to explain by typing. here's a pic of my car to give you a better idea. i know it looks kinda sloppy, i have some finishing touches to put on. If you have any questions, e-mail me jettajon16@yahoo.com
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a better way to tint the windows.

if you get the multi pack of sharpies you can tint them many differant colors and it is really easy.
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Want a clear hood? Tape off the hood then very carefully use paint remover to remove the paint from the hood then wa la. You have a clear hood.