Need help w/ pinewood derby speed tips

[Diesel Dan]

Hello guys

starting to build a pinewood Derby car for my son and just cant justify spending 15-20 bucks for those video's and booklets just for my son to do well. however getting a little helpful hints from my friends would be ok wouldn't it



has anyone bought this stuff and is it worth the money or does anyone have the hot ticked for me and my son.



All responces are appreciated



Thanks

DD

 

[Bob Wagner]

been there done it

1. add as much weight as allowable



2. graphite the axles



3. low profile shape (wedge)



4. have fun

 

[Morphious]

Ditto, I have built many of the racers. The best thing to do for weight is to use lead shot for muzzleloaders. Remember aerodynamics. I would also sand the wheels smooth to ensure no burrs slow you down.



Morph.

 

[FFutch]

Bomb it

Maybe bigger injectors and a P. E comp. . Seriously tho. what the others said. Get as much weight as possible. We used to drill a hole in the back and add fishing weights,then cover hole with wood putty and paint. There is a weght limit I think. It's been a long time since I was in Scouts. Doug

 

[CharlieMiller]

Diesel Dan ( Double D )



I've done it for years and I have seen kids win that had no help and it looked like it came right out the box and was painted and the wheels slapped on. I helped my son and he won a few but I let him do most of the work. A few things I would recommend though are to lightly sand off the rough edges on the wheels and nails, add plenty graphite only so much will stay on. add the max weight allowed, align the wheels and glue in place with elmers or something similar but don't hide the center because solid axles aren't allowed. Let you son do most of it design etc you can cut it out for him. Let him do the paint job. But most of all HAVE FUN AD ENJOY EACH OTHERS COMPANY together. It will be time well spent. I know it can get rather competitive but my feeling its not whether you win or lose but that you did it together snd had a good time doing it. You son will long remember that and no money in the world can buy that.

 

[JR2]

What the others have said is really good.



I would add that rounding the wheels so they only make contact to the track in one place helped my cars when I was younger. I do not know if it is still legal to do this so you may want to check.

What we did was stick the axle through the wheel and chuck it up tight in a drill. Make sure to push the axle in as tight as you can get it so when you turn on the drill the wheel turns too. Then take some real fine emery paper and round the wheel from side to side. You are rounding in the same axis as the axle. This cleans the casting marks off the wheel and then rounds them even more.



The other trick is to get the weight to the limit and I mean the limit. Finish up the car completley and then weigh it again. Add the necessary weight to get it to just a tad under the limit and be done. The more weight the faster the car.



The aerodynamics are important too. . best car I ever saw was about 1/2 inch slab with a sheet of lead on it for weight... it did real good till it broke in half after bouncing off the track.



It would be cool to do a small dodge ram.....



The other hint is to get a second car kit so if you mess up real bad you can start over.



Good luck and remember its your sons car, but you get to help. . heheh

 

[The Sequel]

My son and I have done it the last two years for his AWANA club. I had never even heard of pinewood derby so I went searching on the web and found a lot of good info. We were fortunate enough to get first place the first year and second place the next. In addition to what others have said, make sure the car tracks straight when you put the wheels on. That will make a big difference. Have fun!

 

[JR2]

I did a quick search for info and found this site.



This guy seems to have some good info, it depends on how much you want to do... axle angles, axle polishing, wheel truing, weight placment... etc... .



His site is free... good luck.



I fondly remember building several cars with my Dad.

 

[obert]

check for an adult class so you can build one too. My ventur crew is going next month and i plan on entering in my districts adult class. (i guess the class was made to enshure junior made the car himself while dad was busy on his own car)



But have fun. Im still trying to convince my crew they're NOT allowed to use model rocket engines! --wouldn't that be cool though?... ...

 

[Morphious]

Never did any rocket powered racers, but did get into Co2 power racers. Object there was light, aerodynamic and just plain fast. They ran down the track on a string to the end. Course you need timiming gates and a computer for those types of races.



Morph.

 

[Scot]

Originally posted by obert

But have fun. Im still trying to convince my crew they're NOT allowed to use model rocket engines! --wouldn't that be cool though?... ...

Cool! Make it look like a little '67 Impala with a JATO on the back! Make the urban legend live! MAybe even have a little cliff for it to crash into...

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

Some years ago, when the Batman movies were out, I helped my son do his. He was pretty antsy because I didn't get to it until near the deadline. I chucked a wood burr into my high speed die grinder and shaped a batmobile. He was amazed how fast that grinder worked. Painted it black <of course> with yellow headlights, red taillights, etc. He didn't win but everyone thought it was

 

[Sled Puller]

My second and last year, we went all out. drilled three holes in the bottom, melted solder in them.

The thing was very sleek, and the wheels polished smooth.



The weigt was dead on.

Too bad one of the Fathers was weighing in the cars. He said it was overweight, and proceeded to drill a gob of solder out.



Won my heat races, even though one guys car kept jumping the track and bashing mine! Where was the black flag!?!??!!?



In the final, I got third, edged by the second car, but the first place car BLEW us away!!!!



It was a square block with blotches of paint and BOLTS Taped on top for weight.

Guess who the kids Father was?



The scale man.



Always a conspiracy.



Gene