[B]Who's Gettin Ready 4 Pinewood Derby's?[/B]

Just curious how many dad's of cubster's we got here!? Our pack hasn't given the boy's their car kit's yet but I started mine the other day anyhow! We have a family class in our pack, so the kids cars are actually the kids cars! I need to resize pic to post, but this year I'm makin a 71 Charger SuperBee Funnycar, real flopper! Have a tore up 1/25 Revell Pisano and Matsubara Vega providing Hemi and chassis detail to build into the base! Sent my body pic to one of the Scout leaders who thinks I'm nuts! So I sent him another pic of a kid's model car kit c1946. An ACE Model Shop Sportsman's Conv. (46 Ford), balsa. Even tho we still keep this tradition of wooden car modelling alive it saddens me a little that most think it a day project, or just about speed. Of course, I haven't lost a race yet either!

 

Here's one I built last year for competition at a local show. Got the best appearing trophy but got beat on the track by a kid with a stack of 8 penny nails hot glued on the back of a crude pickup. LOL

 

I am the den leader for my boy, it is his first year. he picked the design and I built the first one, showing him how to do it, then he built one. I did the dangerous stuff (he's only 7!, though he knows how to use a plasma cutter and a chop saw....at 6)
Mine is a top fuel inspired car, he wanted it to be a dragster. I even whittled a monster scoop for the front. His is a pinewood derby trophy. We cut the block down to a thin wedge, he drilled it to mount a plastic race trophy topper and we hot glued a hotwheels to it. weighs in perfect. Polished the axles, added a little top secret mojo and polished the wheels too. I am hoping he comes out with at least one win. I won fourth overall in my first PD, still have the trophy. I will try to get some pics up when they are painted and done.

 

Here is the last one I built. Outlaw class strictly for speed. lots of wheel and axle mods. Tungstun weights. balance point @ 1" ahead of rear axle.
Beat everyone by many car lengths.

 

daddyo- nice build! We're getting ready to start on our project soon... I'm assuming that your balance point is 1 inch in front of the rear wheels, or is it really 1 foot???

 

Working on it with my boys too. 7 & 9 and trying not to be "my" cars. They designed and I cut out. We are drilling, sanding and weighing before we move on to paint.
I love helping them....but we are doing an unlimited(i.e. dads) class this year for fun. We will see if I can get enough time to build my own.

 

Thanks Mac, I was 11" off................Don't tell my wife

 

I will have to take some pictures of my old Pinewood derby cars tonight. My parents moved this past fall and my mother cleaned out the attic and sent me a big box of my junk. Well my PD cars where in there, they are 27+ years old and still cool. My grandfather gave me a helping hand in building them. He is the person who infected me and my brother with the fabrication bug. A couple of my cars have smoothie hub caps that helped keep the graphite always on the axle. I won the best of show and the races with these cars, so maybe you guys can pickup some ideas to pass on to your PD car builds.

 

My son and I will start his this weekend. He has the car designed, so I'll cut it out for him.... but he'll do the rest. He's had some experience running in the AWANA Grand Prix for 3 different years/cars, bu this will be his first Scouts race.

 

Still have mine to.

daddyo- no problem, I can keep quiet... but it'll cost you that Rajo T engine

Stoggie, Brad54 gave me a great idea so that my son's car will stay "his".

I bought a second kit, so that we choose a body style and build them together- I cut, then he cuts and so forth. That way, he gets the great sense of accomplishment of building it himself and I can build one that isn't inhibited by the "rules".

 

very cool...I have 3 to do (2 sons and of course mine)...thinking about doing one to look like my Riviera

 

My kids are all growed up now but we had lots of fun with the PD cars back in the day about 20 yrs ago. First year we went with the kids designs and let them express themselves artistically. After that it was the simple wedge design and we never lost. I got a lot of tricks from Hodges Hobby shop and they work. The winning cars wern't pretty but functional.

 

Yep we have ours at the end of this month. Haven't started on his car yet. He's going to be doing it all himself this year. Last year my bandsaw was kinda sketchy and I didn't want him using it. It's fixed now so as long as he keeps his fingers from the blade he'll be alright. I haven't decided if I'm going to do one or not.

 

We start ours in a couple months, last year my son went 16-1 the body has a kinda of 32 roadster shape. I turned slots in the axles and polished them and they seem to hold the graphite very well since you can only juice it up once before the races start. this year we'll try and do a wing tank or Jocko bodied streamliner style. I want to see if I can make some type of jig to make the axles perfectly straight when mounting them in this year. All the other fathers and there boys are gunning for us this year. It is definitley a fun night that I look forward to doing with my son.

 

This is why my old cars have the smoothie hub caps with a small hole in the center to inject graphite into and hold it there for all the races.

 

Here's one my son and I did a long time ago.

 

With four sons with ages from 24 to 11, I (we) have doing them for YEARS. EVERY damn year, we make it a true Dad/son deal...they sketch the designs, I do the dangerous work and axles and they help paint and do most of the trim and decal work. We have had some decent years and I do not know how many den leaders (Have had a bunch of those, too) have stood up and threatened us with jail time regarding cheating, etc. Specifically, the past three years have been real trying...those same damn "enforcers" bring THEIR cars to the event (My job is to check in and weigh all cars) and I'll be damned if those asses aren't biggest flatout cheaters. Some of look like Mickey Thompson built them....

Like Belushi in Animal House, we aint taking it anymore!

Well, my youngest son enters his last year of the Derby and I sat him down and asked him what HE wants to do...build ALL of it, some of it or ????? The little guy looks at me, pauses and says..."heck, Dad, I don't care what we do...let's just make sure we are FAST and kick sone butt!"

So, old Dad has been "at it" to maybe allow my son at least an even keel. Am I proud of my third grade "let's go kick some ass" mentality? Nope. But we should be FAST!

Beware of the older Dads who drank the coolaid....we ain't drinking it now more!!!!!

Hee Hee!

 

Corvette GS
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y186/vettes2/P1010045.jpg

Hot Rod Woody
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y186/vettes2/P1010034.jpg

Woody surfer
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y186/vettes2/P1010040-1.jpg

 

We are building one this weekend. We will look OK, but slow like we left the breaks on...

 

I am getting ready to build one for myself and help the boy build one. My boy (7) is very competitive and I am sure he will want to win in the speed part. I will be checking back for more ideas as the time nears.

 

These two are my kids cars from last year. The tanker was not done yet for this picture.

 

My nephew's car is 100% him this year (95% last year). I am building a HAMB appropriate car and will post some pics when it actually looks like something besides a block of wood.
Something for you heavy hitters to consider...friction is a function of weight. It's fun to see the look on someones face when their unlimited gets beat by five ounces of fun.

 

My son and I are starting 2 cars soon. They have a dad class, to keep the dads from building the kid's cars. I'll cut the car out and help with the axles and wheels - everything else my son will do. I like the 2 car thing to keep everything on the up and up for the boys.

 

Stevie-

As representative of those of us who are left wanting when trying to translate "mechanical engineeringish"... what exactly do you mean when you say that friction is a function of weight?

AND

Better yet, how should it be applied to our little blocks of ingenuity?

 

cut out the rough shapes for my son and daughter today will work with him over the weekend to refine them. also got asked by the den & pack if I'd display my champ car in the lobby of the derby...I said "of course I will" they think it looks like a pine wood car.

Paul

 

shadow- that looks alot like my second car when I was a scout- it was a Gilmore sprint car.

 

EXCELLENT stuff guys! We don't have an unlimited class, everything must apply same rules. Simply the ones that matter are. Wheelbase must stay stock(overhangs may be altered) no wheel mods beyond sanding the casting dimple. Nothing but BSA approved graphite(Hobby Lube). No moving parts or loose items. 5oz.(472g), 2-3/4"x7", 3/8" min 1/2" max base height.

We started out not knowing much, but what seemed right has worked. I told my son that since we didn't know how to be fast, we'd look the best! He's earned best paint/appearing 3 straight years now! And won the races to boot!

I'll share what we've learned.
Every year it seems the cheaters try to beat us and can't. REALLY ticks em off! Wanna spot a cheater with oiled wheels? His is the car you beat by several carlengths in the first heat and later when he comes up the loser's bracket, the oil has worked in and he nearly smokes you. The graphite comes outa the tube too course, so we grind it with mortar and pestule(sp?) then apply some to the installed wheel and wick it in with rubbing alcohol on a #1 brush, push in with a toothpick, repeat. It's mostly wheels and axles. With such tight rules and the quick realization that internet bought axles are garbage we go to the scout dept at the local sporting goods store and buy an armload of 5-wheel packs. Match our own cavity numbers up and test spin each wheel on a smoothed axle to find the best ones. After filing the casting marks we smooth the axles while chucked in the Dremel with every grit from 320-2000, then polish with diamond polish I got when I worked in a foundry. Car shape seems to play only somewhat of a role. Zoomies and Blower motors etc... do tend to slow em down tho. To get a good cg you need rear weight and top heavy it as you can. Keeping the weight up top moves the cg forward on the hill(pulling) then behind on the straight(pushing). Has worked Very well for us! I'm betting some of you guys have MUCH better methods than us, but that's about all we've learned. Maybe it can help another novice woodrodder out there!

Now I'm gonna hafta get them pics and back this up, huh?

 

"Now I'm gonna hafta get them pics and back this up, huh?"

...yup!

Sounds like some great work, Rooster!

 

Rooster, I need all the speed tips I can get. I always put the weight on the bottom. no wonder...

 

All the info i've read says put the weight at the back but the best one I ever built had one of the tapered flat weights on the bottom with the wide end behind the front axle.