Register now to get rid of these ads!

BSA Pinewood Derby Car Builds....Slightly OT but it is RACING

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Pontiacres Ranch, Feb 25, 2010.

  1. Pontiacres Ranch
    Joined: Jan 26, 2008
    Posts: 649

    Pontiacres Ranch
    Member

    OK, at Tuesday's Pack Meeting we got the Official Pinewood Derby cars. You know....the shapeless block of pine, 4 wheels, 4 axle Pins. Im sure there are HAMBers with kids in Cub Scouts or were Cub Scouts, maybe even some who still are Scouts. Lets see some Race Cars.....Past and Present Builds. Ill post pics of my car circa 1976 and progress on my son's before Race Day on March 13. Let's See em, Logan and I need some Inspiration!
     
  2. melsfine39
    Joined: Apr 24, 2009
    Posts: 235

    melsfine39
    Member

    OK Here's one my son and I did back in the 1980's. We used decals from ZZ Top model kit.
    Funny thing it ran faster backwards! He got 2nd in the race and won best design at local and district meets. Mel:D
     

    Attached Files:

  3. Ebbsspeed
    Joined: Nov 11, 2005
    Posts: 6,250

    Ebbsspeed
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Here's some we've done over the years. Note the working LED head and tail lights on the Stars and Stripes car.
     

    Attached Files:

  4. Pontiacres Ranch
    Joined: Jan 26, 2008
    Posts: 649

    Pontiacres Ranch
    Member

    That's CooL! Im digging for mine....I lll get a few pics as soon as I find it. It was kind of a Can Am car.
     

  5. harrington
    Joined: Jul 22, 2009
    Posts: 421

    harrington
    Member
    from Indiana

    When I was a lid my father and I built a couple. One year we made an old school Indy car and bought the lead driver and engine details to glue on it. One year we made a new school Indy car, it looked like a 4x4. My son and I are in the planning stages right now and are going to start cutting this weekend. He wants to do either a truck or an old school streamliner. I will post up some of our build pictures.
     
  6. OldsRanch
    Joined: Feb 18, 2004
    Posts: 185

    OldsRanch
    Member

    My son and I will be headed to the bandsaw this weekend. He wants a pickup!

    Back in the mid 70's I came in second in our local group. Kid that won had a daddy with serious GM ties. When you count the time in the fab shop for the wheel and axle blueprinting, and the time in the wind tunnel, that kid's car probably cost $25,000.

    Dad said "Life ain't always fair. Get used to it".
     
  7. thepolecat
    Joined: Mar 24, 2009
    Posts: 687

    thepolecat
    Member
    1. S.F.C.C.

    Think pinewood derby on steroids. My students compete in a program called F1 in Schools. We design CO2 powered cars in a CAD program them machine them in a CNC router and race them. It is like running a small buisness; they have uniforms, a display, a full profolio, and all the engineering background. The KIDS do it all- I am just the advisor who does the paper pushing.

    Take a look at our track, one of our past cars and some of our virtual wind tunnel runs.
     

    Attached Files:

  8. G V Gordon
    Joined: Oct 29, 2002
    Posts: 5,713

    G V Gordon
    Member
    from Enid OK

    one from a couple years ago.

    [​IMG]
     
  9. CharlieLed
    Joined: Feb 21, 2003
    Posts: 2,463

    CharlieLed
    Member

    These new ones are a lot different than those I built in the late 50s. We had a block with the passenger compartment notched out (no coupes), two crossbars to support the roofing nail axles, and skinny hard plastic wheels. The best you could do with the design is to make it rounded and look like a midget racer. My dad had a disc sander so I was pretty popular around pinewood derby build time!
     
  10. Pontiacres Ranch
    Joined: Jan 26, 2008
    Posts: 649

    Pontiacres Ranch
    Member

    Very COOL Co2 Cars, the technology. Just found my car, lost in the move for 4 years! I had to pulled the wheels off of it and put them on an Estes Rocket Powered AMT 55 Nomad that I used to run down the street on a string. Ill get some pics of it, in a few.
    We've got a build clinic this weekend at the Scout Cabin, Im gonna drag the little craftsman band saw down there.
     
  11. melsfine39
    Joined: Apr 24, 2009
    Posts: 235

    melsfine39
    Member

    The coupe was made from a pinewood derby block of wood with the passenger notch, a piece that trimed off was used to make the coupe by glueing it on and shaping it to look like a coupe. Same pinewood kit used by BSA for years. Mel:D
     
  12. katzenhammer
    Joined: Aug 26, 2002
    Posts: 398

    katzenhammer
    Member

    These pics are from a recent derby held at Bluecat Motors in St. Paul

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 1, 2014
  13. belair
    Joined: Jul 10, 2006
    Posts: 9,013

    belair
    Member

    Great memories-I liked the rocket derby too. The balsa was a lot easier to whittle on than that pine! Hope you and you son have a blast. I remember my dad helping me with mine back in the early 60s.
     
  14. Pontiacres Ranch
    Joined: Jan 26, 2008
    Posts: 649

    Pontiacres Ranch
    Member

    Here are Pics of my car from 1976 or 1977. I was too excited and didnt put it on the track right, I got knocked out in the 1st rounds. Logan is a bit more calm than I was, well see if he does better.
     

    Attached Files:

  15. Pontiacres Ranch
    Joined: Jan 26, 2008
    Posts: 649

    Pontiacres Ranch
    Member

    Katzenhammer....is that Alumimum track some kind of a Rental? The scout tracks Ive seen are wood.
     
  16. katzenhammer
    Joined: Aug 26, 2002
    Posts: 398

    katzenhammer
    Member

    It is what the Boy Scouts let us use so I assume it is regulation. I never got to do this as a kid I was in 4-H so I am new to this. Had a blast though!
     
  17. scootermcrad
    Joined: Sep 20, 2005
    Posts: 12,382

    scootermcrad
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Did this belly tanker more than 20 years ago in cub scouts...

    [​IMG]
     
  18. Von Hartmann
    Joined: Nov 21, 2006
    Posts: 988

    Von Hartmann
    Member

    Dude, I lived for Pinewood! I won the pack meet and should have placed at regionals, with my Shark car. I got paired up 1st round with the kid who took the whole meet. I beat him the first race and he got me on the next 2. They had to go to the computer to see who won. That eliminated me completely. He went on to win the meet hands down..

    My parents were in charge of Pinewood. So every year, we went through all the left over kits and chose the best 4 wheels and axles, and then polished them on the drill press with graphite. I flipped the block upside down and drilled my own wheelbase, instead of using the little nail slots that came in it. Put most of the weight in the back and a little up front for stability. I got 4th one year but won 1st in best design. Every year after that, I placed top 3
     
  19. t-rod
    Joined: Feb 7, 2009
    Posts: 423

    t-rod
    Member

    Here's one I did a few years ago for a Dad's Unlimited class. It is BSA size since it has to fit on the same track and weight was upped to 16 oz. It was slow off the line probably because of the tall wheels but it maintained speed on the flat part of the track. It caught the other cars when they slowed down and won every heat.
     

    Attached Files:

  20. There are several more really good Derby threads on the HAMB from the past. Just punch Pinwood into the search!
     
  21. This is great ! i just found mine from 1970 ish
    Funny the skull wold never fly today - Dad would be jailed and I'd be sent to therapy

    What a little hood I was - also the misc #s are funny now that I own a race car sticker business

    Now I want to build the first one
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: Feb 25, 2010
  22. I was a Cub Scout in 1968/69 ... my father & I built a detailed replica of the STP wedge-shaped Lotus Turbine Indy car :cool: ... it was super fast! :) ... but unfortunately, we built it too realistic (i.e., too low) and the front axle always got hung up at about two feet from the finish line (at the apex of the final curve) :( ... I know I've got some photos of it somewhere.

    In December 2000 / January 2001, I "helped" build my nephew's racer ... a '32 5wd "Bonneville Competition Coupe":

    Jared's Pinewood Derby Car - Jan 13, 2001.jpg
    click to enlarge

    It was chopped, channeled and painted '56 Cadillac 'Mandan Red' ... just like his Grandfather's Hot Rod (except gravity powered vice HEMI powered ;)) ... IIRC, he took first place in his class (he was a Tiger Cub) ... and third for the entire Cub Scout Pack (I still say those fathers cheated! :D) ... He also got an award for "Best Looking Car" (or something to that effect).
     
    Last edited: Feb 26, 2010
  23. spobanz
    Joined: Nov 15, 2009
    Posts: 79

    spobanz
    Member

    I love that tradition, and I wish I still had my old one.
     
  24. Mine are out in the display case in the shop, my little brother still has his..............Scouts were a big part of my youth.
     
  25. Crazydaddyo
    Joined: Apr 6, 2008
    Posts: 3,343

    Crazydaddyo
    Member

    Here is one I did recently:

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
  26. Peppered Rat
    Joined: Feb 26, 2010
    Posts: 23

    Peppered Rat
    Member

    Our BSA builds...a helicopter and the princess "bling" car for my 3 year old daughter....

    We're having a real car show with our Pinewood Derby Next Saturday, March 6th. Scouts will get to vote on the "Coolest Car" and winner gets a prize! Anyone want to bring their rod? Derby is in Richmond, VA.
     

    Attached Files:

  27. Pontiacres Ranch
    Joined: Jan 26, 2008
    Posts: 649

    Pontiacres Ranch
    Member

    Well....after looking a bunch Logan and I have decided to try to base our car on the Baron's Racing Team / Jack Moss Twin Engined Streamliner "2-Much" (page 44 in the "50 Years of Hot Rod Magazine hard back book)

    Ive drawn up some patterns in Illustrator and am about to start Cutting with the band saw.

    We've scammed a lead driver from one Hobby Lobby Pine Car and have scammed a Lead Blower and scoop from a Funny Car. That means Ill have to go back and get another Funny car for the 2nd mill.

    Pics as we make it happen.
     
  28. My son's from last year:
     

    Attached Files:

  29. No offense, but that kinda high tech approach misses the meaning of the event. Let teh kid learn files, rasps and sanding before gettin jiggy with CAD. Unless he is to that level already?
     

Share This Page

Register now to get rid of these ads!

Archive

Copyright © 1995-2021 The Jalopy Journal: Steal our stuff, we'll kick your teeth in. Terms of Service. Privacy Policy.

Atomic Industry
Forum software by XenForo™ ©2010-2014 XenForo Ltd.