Adjusting Pickup Travel
One of the first speed tips I learned was to increase pickup shoe spring tension to get the best electrical contact for the motor. But the problem was that it also tended to push the car out of the slot. So I went web surfing and found multiple different suggestions including bending the pickup shoe hook, bending the top of the pickup shoe, and using heat tubing among others. I found that I could never get the hook right, I could only correctly bend 1 in 10 tops (the remaining 9 were trash), and I could never get the shrink tubing adjusted exactly where I wanted. So I had to derive a different solution and the idea of the rubber band restraints was born. They are simple to make and cheap.
First the tools: x-acto knife or razor blade, small narrow straight screw driver (narrower than the rubber band), a small container for your finished product, and of course the rubber band. I prefer thicker rubber bands made of modern elastics to the older "rubber" bands.
Next step is to cut a small slice of the rubber band. If you can get a thick rubber band, then a narrow cross section slice works best.
After cutting, take the cut section and place your jeweler's screwdriver in the center. Be certain to use a screwdriver slightly smaller than the width of the rubber band section.
Press firmly and rock back and forth to cut a small slit in the rubber band section. When completed, the rubber band section should fit over the end of your screwdriver... like this.
Now that you have created the "rubber bands", the next step is to slide them over the end of your pickup shoes like the following picture. Actually this is the hardest part of the whole process.
Use the screwdriver to adjust up or down as appropriate and see what you think!!
Alternative suggestion, use the rubber bands to find the optimal setting on you pickup shoes prior to bending to restrict travel.