One year we had the dad's race after the scout races. I built a killer car but tipped my hand earlier in the evening testing it out when setting up the track. Each entry kicked in a $10 entry fee, which went to the pack, so that was cool. There were about 12 cars entered and I got knocked out in a 2-car showdown at the end. It was still a lot of fun. Bob
Same here with the polished and rounding of the axle head also turned the outside of the wheels so each were the exact same size. Then chucked the wheels into a handmade collet and turned the insides so the wheels were very light. Also polished the wheels so they shined. Made hubcaps and filled with a moly/graphite powder mix. We then had to wait until the contest to add weight (used 45 cal 200 grain wadcutter bullets). We came in light compaired to the other cars. Our car would take off slow because it was light but when it came to the bottom of the ramp it would pull ahead of the other cars. I made sure the car tracked very straight. We cam home with 4 trophies and my kid was floating on air! Great memories!
Very cool thread, we just got our block of wood on tuesday. I was thinking a lakes roadster would be cool but we'll see what he draws up on the block. I got another car for my 2 year old, but that may end up "daddy's car" hehe
Our first year, I talked it over w/ Alex and we decided he was going to do it entirely on his own w/ minimal guidance from me except for using the saw. He was incredibly proud of himself. However, when we showed up at the school in race day for the weigh-in, it was readily apparent the majority of cars were built by the Dads. So much so that my 7 yr old commented, "those boys didn't build their cars. That's cheating. Should we tell the judges? Do they know?" I followed this with a brief discussion on his accomplishment and, although he didn't place in any of his races( he didn't even win the "slowest car" race) he enjoyed himself. The second year went A LOT like this as well. Fast forward to his last year, he approached me with some apprehension and asked if we could build a car like the other kids. Now, I came from a family that took the Pinewood Derby very seriously as a kid(my grandfather built the track that our pack used and their was a sense of pride and home turf to uphold). I called Alex's godfather who happens to have an uncle with a full carpentry shop in his backyard for making overpriced furniture for rich people. We headed out to the shop and had a design day. Came up w/ a sexy, sleek, sports car style body. Alex helped to cut it and did all the sanding. Next we sanded down the axles and pitched them on an angle so that only the very outside edge touches the track on all 4 wheels. This also helped to keep it in a straight line. Next was balancing it w/ the weights. This took some testing on an inclined table. We decided on a strip of 3 pieces together mounted just in front of the rear axles, notched in and laid flat and stretching toward the front axle. Basically, a rectangle extending lengthwise to in front of what would be the A-pillar. Alex picked the color and decals and applied both. It really looks SO Cool!!! I will post pics of it after I find it and upload the them. Long-story-short: we set the track record! We won every heat we finished*. he was jumping up and down w/ joy. Dads were placing bets on our car. Some of the engineer dads were asking me all about it. Alex was surrounded by admiring kids. *=we left the track a couple of times after coming down the incline and planing out. We also ended up deep into the rows of seats when we did complete runs. I chalked it up to leaving the car in a bag of graphite for a couple of days- right up until weigh-in and the track not being graded out enough. It realy was a pretty abrupt transition between the incline and the run-off to the finish line. I had one Mom approach my wife , not know who she was, and accuse me of cheating! I was helping to run the event and was in charge of staging the cars. She told my wife that I was clearly picking the fastest lane. This was despite the fact that we rotated the cars by keeping an eye on the previous heats through the software hooked up to the track.
Here's pics of 3 cars I did back when my boys were in the Derby. I was a Den leader, and was in charge of our aluminum 6 lane track. Had sensors in the finish that told us who won and what their time was, and sent that info to a computer. The Indy Roadster was an old model that my dad built when I was a kid. It had lost most of the parts, so all I had was the body, or I would not have cut it up. Cut out the belly pan and made a piece of wood to fill that and attach the wheels to. This was my car that we ran in the dad's race. One of those races me and some of the other guys kept sneaking change in it since it was hollow. Kept getting faster and faster! heehee. Eventually we chopped up pieces of lead and filled it. Ended up weighing 18 ounces. Sounded like a jet going down the track. Doesn't look like much, but I painted it different every year. The Vette looking car is all wood, no lead. Hollowed out the bottom to make weight. That car tracked straight every time down the track. Got lucky there. The flag car is by far the fastest legal car I built. My son finished second overall to a, let's just say, professional built car. He was a Tiger that year (first year), and drew it up, I cut it out, then he sanded and painted it. I just did the wheels. He was quite proud of that one. I miss Pinewood now since my kids are older. To you guys that are still in, have fun with it!
Here is last years car (green) and the red one that we will race saturday.I rough shape the wood and do the axles he does the rest.I outlined the numbers and stripes on the red car with a felt tip pen and he painted them with a brush(pretty good for a 2nd grader).
THAT'S REALLY COOL!! A local radio station here in Houston puts on a derby for adults once a year... here was mine from a few years back...
When I was in Cub Scouts Dad and I had a lot of fun. A couple of the things we did was instead of painting the car, to save weight we colored it with sharpie so we had more weight we could move around. We also polished the axles, made sure the wheels were true. We also put tiny screw in the bottom, so if we were over weight we could take a screw out and be on weight. Also one of the big problems we saw was that the car would not go straight so we got some plywood put some sids on it and put two lines down the center, we would run the car down the center and if it did not go straight we would turn one or more of the axles until the car went straight. We also drilled holes in the center of the car and put the weight inside the car. I had so much fun building the car with my dad. I was the pack champion twice and came in 2nd and 3rd at districts. I had a blast. Matt
My son Jake and I made ours into a tank...complete with rotating turret...figured if we couldn't blow by the competition we could at least blow them away...
we had a youth group pinewood derby , it was open to boys and girls and eve a parents class . My daughter wanted a hot rod pick up so we built one with a blown hemi... she won best of show for kids........my son wanted a coupe so we did a 5 window .... he won first for speed...... so i built a sedan just like mine and took firt place for design and first for speed... we had so much fun doing it toghether
This year was our first go at this in our small town. My son used a very basic shape but shot a nice coat of PPG Cayman blue and house of color clear (the picture doesn't do it justice). The car was pretty quick too.
There is a www site that explains what track layout favors the weight in the center of the car and what layout favors the weights high and rear. It has to do with the track shape, steep then flat or a more gradual slope. Run a machine screw through the axle hole in the wheels to cut threads. Minimizes the contact area and holds more graphite. Use the moly/graphite mix sold for pinewood cars. The white teflon stuff does not work nearly as well. We did back to back testing. Polish the axles and backcut the heads a little so only the center of the head touches, not the outside. Align the car so it rolls straight with only 3 wheels touching. In case you think this is a lot, I know that the Mack Trucks R&D center used to see pinewood cars testing in the wind tunnel for the children of the techs who worked there.
Wow - just like everything else in life, the progression of the PWD has taken the cars to a much higher level of sophistication since I participated in the early 1970's. Here is my entry from 1970 or 1971. This was considered fairly cool by the standards of the rest of my fellow racers of the day. But pales dramatically when compared to what the kids are doing today.
Super- I think the kids would be better off, today, w/ those tires. From my seat, it looks like only the center touches and, I bet, with a slight bias, one could get a VERY small contact on the tires. IMO, it's nice work, even by today's standards.
My 9 yr old got 3rd in his age group, my 6 yr old got best of show. We designed a really simple car and thats really what won it. Alot of the other cars were a bit overdone (dad building most the car) for skill level for the age group involved. There were a good 70 cars there.
Man, all this makes me wonder why we don't have derby's at the car shows or somewhere for adults. Maybe too many years or racing competitive Rc for me?
My son did one that looked like a dirt track modified this year. He tied with the kid that won in the Tiger Cubs on speed, so they went to time, and he was .01 seconds slower, so he didn't move on. His car really was good, though. First in Den. Second in Pack. "Sportiest Car Design". He's gonna need his own trophy case! Some of the tips and fun we had are here. (I'll even throw in a picture of my old cars from the early '80s, just because).
But how many of these kids are actually building the cars themselves??? I remember when I was in the pinewood derby, there were a lot of parents who had built the cars for the kids. I cut mine, sanded it and painted it myself. That is what the pinewood derby is about-kid work, not whose parents have the best set of tools...
The Jalopy Journal
