Pinewood Derby (1 Viewer)

[shuke]

so make the last increments of weights removable so that you can add/remove weight.

Any suggestions on making this part easy? The reason is that I will not be at the weigh-in on the Friday evening, I will be traveling. My wife will have to help my son with any modifications.

 

[shuke]

I had my best results with 80% of the weight on the rear axles. And I bought 6 sets of axles before I found 4 straight ones, but I just used them every year after that. Put a dab of glue on them to keep them from shifting, but don't cover the tips so they can be inspected.

What do you mean by this last part?

 

[shuke]

Good stuff, guys. Thanks.

 

[sho nuff]

so make the last increments of weights removable so that you can add/remove weight.

Any suggestions on making this part easy? The reason is that I will not be at the weigh-in on the Friday evening, I will be traveling. My wife will have to help my son with any modifications.

Small stick on weights...Or, Ive seen people with a file sanding off part of the car/external weights to drop a fraction of an ounce.I had mine a touch under weight on my home scale, then added a little to get it to the limit when they first weighed it and give it back to you to add if you wanted to.Some people just left it at whatever they were at.

 

[shuke]

so make the last increments of weights removable so that you can add/remove weight.

Any suggestions on making this part easy? The reason is that I will not be at the weigh-in on the Friday evening, I will be traveling. My wife will have to help my son with any modifications.

Small stick on weights...Or, Ive seen people with a file sanding off part of the car/external weights to drop a fraction of an ounce.I had mine a touch under weight on my home scale, then added a little to get it to the limit when they first weighed it and give it back to you to add if you wanted to.Some people just left it at whatever they were at.

I was thinking of a way to get it to exactly 5. We have a postage scale at home but assuming some error I was going to have him finish the car a little under, but with a bolt and nut coming out the top of the back that he can add washers to on the spot. Given that people are saying that the aerodynamics don't matter this could work. Maybe even have two coming out and incorporate it into the design. He says he wants to do one of the following:Star WarsPokemonDinosaurSnake

 

[Disco Stu]

so make the last increments of weights removable so that you can add/remove weight.

Any suggestions on making this part easy? The reason is that I will not be at the weigh-in on the Friday evening, I will be traveling. My wife will have to help my son with any modifications.

Small stick on weights...Or, Ive seen people with a file sanding off part of the car/external weights to drop a fraction of an ounce.I had mine a touch under weight on my home scale, then added a little to get it to the limit when they first weighed it and give it back to you to add if you wanted to.Some people just left it at whatever they were at.

I was thinking of a way to get it to exactly 5. We have a postage scale at home but assuming some error I was going to have him finish the car a little under, but with a bolt and nut coming out the top of the back that he can add washers to on the spot. Given that people are saying that the aerodynamics don't matter this could work. Maybe even have two coming out and incorporate it into the design. He says he wants to do one of the following:Star WarsPokemonDinosaurSnake

Yeah, you need to make it very simple if you aren't there for the weigh-in. Depending on how serious your pack is, their scale accuracy and precision could be less than what you have at home. Our pack scale only reads to one decimal place, so the car could theoretically be anywhere from 4.95 to 5.04 and still read 5.0. What we did last year was include an extra hole in the bottom side that was sized to hold pennies. Make the car slightly underweight, and then add pennies until you reached the limit. Use a small daub of super glue to hold the pennies in place. Simple enough for a woman and small child.Just be sure to send a variety of pennies, since old ones will weigh slightly more than new ones.

 

[Disco Stu]

OK, at the risk of being compared to a Trekkie, let me give this a shot. I am a cubmaster; one of my boys has moved on out of scouting; and my younger boy is a Webelo I.

As my boys progressed through scouting we did a lot of reseach and had a lot of success. Combined, they have over 30 Pack and District championship trophies. I am often invited to give seminars and workshops and I freely give out every single bit of advice I have. I have also hosted workshops at my house and over 60 boys have built their cars in my shop, and dozens of them have won Pack and District trophies.

There are many ways to build winning cars but here are the keys I stress:

1) your son needs to decide if he wants to build a cool looking car or a fast car. Rarely is a cool looking car fast. Fast cars are generally very basic and boring. Here is an example of a simple car.

2) note that my son did not use the pre-cut axle slots. It's much better to drill new axle holes as far forward and as far back as possible. Try and find a floor drill press to do that. Don't have the front wheel extend past the front of the car.

3) try and place your weight so that the center of mass is about 3/4th of an inch in front of the rear axle. You can measure that by placing the car on the edge of a ruler to see if it balances there. Another goal is to have 1 ounce of weight on the front wheels and 4 ounces on the back.

4) file and polish axles. An easy way to do this is to put the axle in a dremmel tool or drill and get it spinning. Use a fine file to file off the ridges on the axles. Dont' take off to much material. Less is better than more. Then use wet and dry sandpaper to progressively polish the axle. Start with 600 grit and work your way up to 2500 grit. You can then use a micro polish and to put on the finishing touch. Wash and dry the axle thoroughly after that.

5) BSA changed wheels 2 years ago and the new ones are pretty good. Prior to that the old wheels had a molding bump that had to be shaved off. I wouldn't suggest messing with the new wheels unless you have access to a lathe of some sort. As a side note, don't place wheels on axles and spin them until after you've filed the axles. Otherwise the unpolished axles will make tiny grooves in the bore of the wheels that are nearly impossible to identify and remove. You should verify all wheels spin freely and don't wobble. If they wobble go to the scout store and get new ones.

6) get some high quality graphite from one of the pinewood derby websites. Place the wheel on the axle, squirt graphite in, spin the wheel hard 10 times. Repeat the process 4 times for each wheel. Graphite consists of crytals that must be crushed to be effective. Do not squirt fresh graphite on the wheels unless there is time to break it in.

7) push the axles/wheels into the axle holes. The wheel should be the width of a credit card from the side of the car.

8) roll the ar on a clean, flat surface to make sure it rolls relatively straight. If it moves towards one side or the other more than an inch over a foot you need to make an adjustment. Pull the axle and wheel out of the front hole and try and place a very slight bend in the axle. Do not do that while it is in the car or you will break off some wood. Place the axle/wheel back in and re-roll it. Rotate the axle until it starts rolling straigher.

9) put the car away and do not mess with it again until the race. Most disasters happen during this time.

Here is a thread on building an outlaw car for the dad's race. Most of the concepts also apply to building a scout class car.

Lots of good stuff here. What do you think about running on three wheels? Is that allowed by your Pack?COM is important. IIRC 3/4" in front of rear axle is what we did last year.

Also, be sure you know your Pack (and District) rules. Some of the advice given in this thread could get you disqualified.

 

[babydemon90]

My 1st grade son will be doing one of these, starts after New Years I think...

I was never in the scouts - and am not very handy. This should be interesting.

 

[Godsbrother]

I had kids in cub scouts and HATED pinewood derby time cause we had to build TWO cars. Notice I said "we" because pretty much the only thing I did was cut them. The kids did the sanding, painting, detailing, etc.

I've always thought that the kids should have worked on them for an hour after each den meeting, with the den leader (or any adult volunteer) would assist them. That way they knew that it was actually the kids working on them.

My younger son miraculously won his den's race and then went to a regional race and there were grown men with tool cases and their cars were unbelievable -- they looked like they rolled off an assembly line. No friggin' way these 7 and 8 year old kids had much, if anything, to do with the building of those cars.

I like the idea of pinewood derby but adults ruin it, as usual...

 

[St. Louis Bob]

You guys are actually advocating cheating? At this?! Good freaking night.

 

[The Doctor]

You guys are actually advocating cheating? At this?! Good freaking night.

Good day to you

 

[Flying V]

I had my best results with 80% of the weight on the rear axles. And I bought 6 sets of axles before I found 4 straight ones, but I just used them every year after that. Put a dab of glue on them to keep them from shifting, but don't cover the tips so they can be inspected.

What do you mean by this last part?

They have to be able to see the tips of the nails to be sure they are the approved axles and not some trick custom axle (or something like that). At least that's the rules we had to follow in our pack.

 

[The Doctor]

I had kids in cub scouts and HATED pinewood derby time cause we had to build TWO cars. Notice I said "we" because pretty much the only thing I did was cut them. The kids did the sanding, painting, detailing, etc.I've always thought that the kids should have worked on them for an hour after each den meeting, with the den leader (or any adult volunteer) would assist them. That way they knew that it was actually the kids working on them. My younger son miraculously won his den's race and then went to a regional race and there were grown men with tool cases and their cars were unbelievable -- they looked like they rolled off an assembly line. No friggin' way these 7 and 8 year old kids had much, if anything, to do with the building of those cars. I like the idea of pinewood derby but adults ruin it, as usual...

go checkout the southpark episode on pine wood derby cars.. classic episode

 

[The Hank]

I had kids in cub scouts and HATED pinewood derby time cause we had to build TWO cars. Notice I said "we" because pretty much the only thing I did was cut them. The kids did the sanding, painting, detailing, etc.

I've always thought that the kids should have worked on them for an hour after each den meeting, with the den leader (or any adult volunteer) would assist them. That way they knew that it was actually the kids working on them.

My younger son miraculously won his den's race and then went to a regional race and there were grown men with tool cases and their cars were unbelievable -- they looked like they rolled off an assembly line. No friggin' way these 7 and 8 year old kids had much, if anything, to do with the building of those cars.

I like the idea of pinewood derby but adults ruin it, as usual...

Maybe some of them are in this thread!

Looking forward to (eventually) doing this when my son gets older in a few years

 

[The Hank]

I had kids in cub scouts and HATED pinewood derby time cause we had to build TWO cars. Notice I said "we" because pretty much the only thing I did was cut them. The kids did the sanding, painting, detailing, etc.I've always thought that the kids should have worked on them for an hour after each den meeting, with the den leader (or any adult volunteer) would assist them. That way they knew that it was actually the kids working on them. My younger son miraculously won his den's race and then went to a regional race and there were grown men with tool cases and their cars were unbelievable -- they looked like they rolled off an assembly line. No friggin' way these 7 and 8 year old kids had much, if anything, to do with the building of those cars. I like the idea of pinewood derby but adults ruin it, as usual...

go checkout the southpark episode on pine wood derby cars.. classic episode

Agreed, Excellent episode

 

[bakes]

OK, my thoughts - and for the record, my son did Pinewood Derby twice - first year he finished middle of the pack, year 2 he finished second (out of about 30 cars overall).

First, graphite graphite graphite. Get some 600 grit emery cloth, sand the nails well, then apply powdered graphite to the axles and wheel holes and spin them for a while to get the graphite embedded.

Second, use that same emery cloth and graphite on the outside of the wheels.

Third, when mounting the wheels, give them a bit (maybe a degree or so) of positive camber so that just the outside edge of the wheel is touching the surface. Less surface area = less friction, and most races will have someone checking to make sure that all four wheels are touching. I know that ours did. But if just a fraction of the tread area is touching, it's like you're using very skinny wheels.

Fourth, drill out a hole in the underside to hold the weights (shot or sinkers work well, weigh them in the car with the car upside down) and then, when you're at about 4.9 ounces, seal them with lead weight tape like you'd use on a golf club. Also makes a nice smooth underside.

Fifth, get a can of ultra low friction milspec graphite paint or, if you really want to blow the budget, a rattlecan of Krylon. It's all the same. Wax the thing when you're done if you want.

Sixth, and most importantly, let him design it and build it to the extent practical. It's cool to cut out the shape for him, but ultimately he has to do at least some of the work. My son's second Pinewood Derby car looked like a four man bobsled with four matching red-with-red-helmet Lego guys in the back. I routed out the inside and did the shaping with the bandsaw, but he did the final sanding, painting, and putting in the Lego guys.

Have fun!!

 

[pittstownkiller]

so make the last increments of weights removable so that you can add/remove weight.

Any suggestions on making this part easy? The reason is that I will not be at the weigh-in on the Friday evening, I will be traveling. My wife will have to help my son with any modifications.

Small stick on weights...Or, Ive seen people with a file sanding off part of the car/external weights to drop a fraction of an ounce.

I had mine a touch under weight on my home scale, then added a little to get it to the limit when they first weighed it and give it back to you to add if you wanted to.

Some people just left it at whatever they were at.

I was thinking of a way to get it to exactly 5. We have a postage scale at home but assuming some error I was going to have him finish the car a little under, but with a bolt and nut coming out the top of the back that he can add washers to on the spot. Given that people are saying that the aerodynamics don't matter this could work. Maybe even have two coming out and incorporate it into the design.

He says he wants to do one of the following:

Star Wars

Pokemon

Dinosaur

Snake

Taping on some coins for the last ounce or two would give you the necessary weight adjustment that would be easy to alter on race day. Remember the time you spend with your son building this (and that young kids bore of this quickly), will mostly be what they remember; take your time and help your son along with his design. You can do some of these "tricks" but win or lose, how you support your son is what counts. I also found it nice to help out other parents that are struggling with a car. The race is a good time, make sure you do your best to keep it that way. Good luck!

 

[bakes]

I was thinking of a way to get it to exactly 5. We have a postage scale at home but assuming some error I was going to have him finish the car a little under, but with a bolt and nut coming out the top of the back that he can add washers to on the spot. Given that people are saying that the aerodynamics don't matter this could work. Maybe even have two coming out and incorporate it into the design. He says he wants to do one of the following:Star WarsPokemonDinosaurSnake

Use golf swingweight tape and apply it to the rear bottom. Works well. Most troops will take the cars and hold them following official weigh-in until the day of the race.Tell him you want him to paint the car to look like a hoagie with a cardboard cutout of GM's head, mouth open, stapled to the back of it.

 

[shuke]

Third, when mounting the wheels, give them a bit (maybe a degree or so) of positive camber so that just the outside edge of the wheel is touching the surface. Less surface area = less friction, and most races will have someone checking to make sure that all four wheels are touching. I know that ours did. But if just a fraction of the tread area is touching, it's like you're using very skinny wheels.

Whoa.

 

[Cawdor]

I remember drilling holes just in front of the back wheels. Then melt some fishing weights and pour the lead in the holes. This allows you to shave off the lead or if need be drill some of the lead out before the race. This along with a thin profile and graphite won first back to back.

 

[shuke]

You guys serious with this melting lead stuff? I don't even know how I would do that.

 

[johnnycakes]

So you're going to have the kid use the parent's technology to build a winning car... just don't claim the kid got minimal help. There's technology and know-how, and then there's the actual building. It takes both to make a competitive car.... and how many of these ideas can a 7 year-old realistically execute himself? Point being, where do you draw the line between the car being the dad's and the car being the kid's?

 

[gameday]

So you're going to have the kid use the parent's technology to build a winning car... just don't claim the kid got minimal help. There's technology and know-how, and then there's the actual building. It takes both to make a competitive car.... and how many of these ideas can a 7 year-old realistically execute himself? Point being, where do you draw the line between the car being the dad's and the car being the kid's?

It all depends how it's handled. When I hold a work shop we first spend time talking about what makes a car fast. The boys have to come up with all the ways to reduce friction. That leads to discussions on car shape, weight and weight placement, axle prep, wheel prep, and alignment. Then we move on to cutting out the car shape. The only thing I do is run the table saw. The boys have to use the drill press, scroll saw, and belt sander. They also have to do all their own work filing and polishing axles, sanding the car, painting it, inserting the axles/wheels, applying graphite, and running the alignment tests. Many times the dads are there working with the boys, and sometimes the dads just want to stand in the background and have me direct them. Regardless, the main focus is on having the boys do as much work as possible and learn as much as possible. One of the lessons they learn is that the more effort they put in, the more they get out of it.I'm sure there are cases where the dads just buy cars, or do all the work themselves, but it's a shame because both the dad and the scout are missing out on a fun experience.

 

[St. Louis Bob]

So you're going to have the kid use the parent's technology to build a winning car... just don't claim the kid got minimal help.

I'll have no problem whatsoever claiming this.

 

[urbanhack]

So you're going to have the kid use the parent's technology to build a winning car... just don't claim the kid got minimal help.

I'll have no problem whatsoever claiming this.

Facebook it?

 

[Godsbrother]

So you're going to have the kid use the parent's technology to build a winning car... just don't claim the kid got minimal help. There's technology and know-how, and then there's the actual building. It takes both to make a competitive car.... and how many of these ideas can a 7 year-old realistically execute himself? Point being, where do you draw the line between the car being the dad's and the car being the kid's?

It all depends how it's handled. When I hold a work shop we first spend time talking about what makes a car fast. The boys have to come up with all the ways to reduce friction. That leads to discussions on car shape, weight and weight placement, axle prep, wheel prep, and alignment. Then we move on to cutting out the car shape. The only thing I do is run the table saw. The boys have to use the drill press, scroll saw, and belt sander. They also have to do all their own work filing and polishing axles, sanding the car, painting it, inserting the axles/wheels, applying graphite, and running the alignment tests. Many times the dads are there working with the boys, and sometimes the dads just want to stand in the background and have me direct them. Regardless, the main focus is on having the boys do as much work as possible and learn as much as possible. One of the lessons they learn is that the more effort they put in, the more they get out of it.I'm sure there are cases where the dads just buy cars, or do all the work themselves, but it's a shame because both the dad and the scout are missing out on a fun experience.

If you really do this as a den leader then you deserve kudos. However I can tell you that the only thing that my son's den leaders did was hand out the boxes and then weigh the finished cars a week or so before the race. This was true of my both of my nephew's dens and the same for a few of my buddies that had sons.It was real obvious when we went to regionals that these cars were not made by grade school boys.

 

[shuke]

So you're going to have the kid use the parent's technology to build a winning car... just don't claim the kid got minimal help. There's technology and know-how, and then there's the actual building. It takes both to make a competitive car.... and how many of these ideas can a 7 year-old realistically execute himself? Point being, where do you draw the line between the car being the dad's and the car being the kid's?

I personally plan to use these "tips" to help teach my son. He will definitely be hands on and will learn from me why we are doing it.

 

[bakes]

So you're going to have the kid use the parent's technology to build a winning car... just don't claim the kid got minimal help. There's technology and know-how, and then there's the actual building. It takes both to make a competitive car.... and how many of these ideas can a 7 year-old realistically execute himself? Point being, where do you draw the line between the car being the dad's and the car being the kid's?

I personally plan to use these "tips" to help teach my son. He will definitely be hands on and will learn from me why we are doing it.

My son learned the valuable lesson that the best response after dodging a flying chunk of wood is to turn over the router and cuss loudly at the bit. Which is why I recommend picking up a spare car blank.

 

[shuke]

After discussion tonight, decision was made. Darth Vadermobile it is.

 

[MasterofOrion]

Great stuff.

Here is something we tried and it worked great for a while. We put the weight in the wheels. The car started off slowly but during the flat the centrifugal energy generated by the weight in the wheels helped maintain the speed generated in the hill. The first several races we won dramatically, it wasn't even close. But then something happened and the wheels came misaligned. Not sure if was because of the weight in the wheels became uneven or the car wheels got bumped. But the car did not roll right after a while and we couldn't fix it.

It is hard to get the weight in the wheels evenly but I believe the strategy is sound.

Most people created thin wheeled tires until the practice was outlawed.

Also, a good way to make your paint job stand out is to prime the wood with boat paint. We used fiberglass paint, let it dry and buffed it. Then we painted it. The paint job looked fabulous.

 

[Disco Stu]

Great stuff.

Here is something we tried and it worked great for a while. We put the weight in the wheels. The car started off slowly but during the flat the centrifugal energy generated by the weight in the wheels helped maintain the speed generated in the hill. The first several races we won dramatically, it wasn't even close. But then something happened and the wheels came misaligned. Not sure if was because of the weight in the wheels became uneven or the car wheels got bumped. But the car did not roll right after a while and we couldn't fix it.

It is hard to get the weight in the wheels evenly but I believe the strategy is sound.

Most people created thin wheeled tires until the practice was outlawed.

Also, a good way to make your paint job stand out is to prime the wood with boat paint. We used fiberglass paint, let it dry and buffed it. Then we painted it. The paint job looked fabulous.

Yeah, that's the rub. You'd have to get this perfect, or it's going to do more bad than good (I assume).

 

[shuke]

I'm still waiting on our pack official rules, but typically what are the rules about height and length? From stuff I've seen online it seems adding height is no problem, but can we have something sticking out of the back? We are thinking of putting those bolts out the back end to make it look cooler.

 

[urbanhack]

I'm still waiting on our pack official rules, but typically what are the rules about height and length? From stuff I've seen online it seems adding height is no problem, but can we have something sticking out of the back? We are thinking of putting those bolts out the back end to make it look cooler.

and tape or glue some shreds of orange and yellow tissue paper to the back of the bolts to make it look like flames.

 

[gameday]

I'm still waiting on our pack official rules, but typically what are the rules about height and length? From stuff I've seen online it seems adding height is no problem, but can we have something sticking out of the back? We are thinking of putting those bolts out the back end to make it look cooler.

Every set of rules I've seen specify a max length of 7", max weight of 5 ounces, and a height of about 2 3/4th inches. The car needs to fit under a timing gate so you don't want it too tall. Anything that extends in the back of the car will be included in the 7" limitation.

 

[St. Louis Bob]

So you're going to have the kid use the parent's technology to build a winning car... just don't claim the kid got minimal help.

I'll have no problem whatsoever claiming this.

Facebook it?

What do you have in mind?

 

[urbanhack]

So you're going to have the kid use the parent's technology to build a winning car... just don't claim the kid got minimal help.

I'll have no problem whatsoever claiming this.

Facebook it?

What do you have in mind?

PICS of your wood

 

[St. Louis Bob]

So you're going to have the kid use the parent's technology to build a winning car... just don't claim the kid got minimal help. There's technology and know-how, and then there's the actual building. It takes both to make a competitive car.... and how many of these ideas can a 7 year-old realistically execute himself? Point being, where do you draw the line between the car being the dad's and the car being the kid's?

I personally plan to use these "tips" to help teach my son. He will definitely be hands on and will learn from me why we are doing it.

My son learned the valuable lesson that the best response after dodging a flying chunk of wood is to turn over the router and cuss loudly at the bit. Which is why I recommend picking up a spare car blank.

Router? Drill press? Liquid lead? WTF are you people?!! Do you know what my training in the mechanical/engineering/wood working arts consists of? My dad telling me as a youth to figure out how to make enough money to pay somebody else to do it for me.

Got my eye on this little number.

 

[The Doctor]

So you're going to have the kid use the parent's technology to build a winning car... just don't claim the kid got minimal help. There's technology and know-how, and then there's the actual building. It takes both to make a competitive car.... and how many of these ideas can a 7 year-old realistically execute himself? Point being, where do you draw the line between the car being the dad's and the car being the kid's?

I personally plan to use these "tips" to help teach my son. He will definitely be hands on and will learn from me why we are doing it.

My son learned the valuable lesson that the best response after dodging a flying chunk of wood is to turn over the router and cuss loudly at the bit. Which is why I recommend picking up a spare car blank.

Router? Drill press? Liquid lead? WTF are you people?!! Do you know what my training in the mechanical/engineering/wood working arts consists of? My dad telling me as a youth to figure out how to make enough money to pay somebody else to do it for me.

Got my eye on this little number.

 

[johnnycakes]

So you're going to have the kid use the parent's technology to build a winning car... just don't claim the kid got minimal help. There's technology and know-how, and then there's the actual building. It takes both to make a competitive car.... and how many of these ideas can a 7 year-old realistically execute himself? Point being, where do you draw the line between the car being the dad's and the car being the kid's?

I personally plan to use these "tips" to help teach my son. He will definitely be hands on and will learn from me why we are doing it.

My son learned the valuable lesson that the best response after dodging a flying chunk of wood is to turn over the router and cuss loudly at the bit. Which is why I recommend picking up a spare car blank.

Router? Drill press? Liquid lead? WTF are you people?!! Do you know what my training in the mechanical/engineering/wood working arts consists of? My dad telling me as a youth to figure out how to make enough money to pay somebody else to do it for me.

Got my eye on this little number.

You're a FBG. You want to win. THINK BIG.

 

[bakes]

Router? Drill press? Liquid lead? WTF are you people?!!

Do you know what my training in the mechanical/engineering/wood working arts consists of? My dad telling me as a youth to figure out how to make enough money to pay somebody else to do it for me.

Got my eye on this little number.

More fun and cheaper to do it yourself. No, I'm not talking about sex life after marriage. Here is a shot of the bobsled car.

 

[bakes]

If I had the time and a kid who was still in cub scouts, I'd help him make a pinewood derby car that looks like this.

Better yet! You need four wheels on the ground, right? Build the Ker####ettymobile!

 

[ffldrew]

So you're going to have the kid use the parent's technology to build a winning car... just don't claim the kid got minimal help. There's technology and know-how, and then there's the actual building. It takes both to make a competitive car.... and how many of these ideas can a 7 year-old realistically execute himself? Point being, where do you draw the line between the car being the dad's and the car being the kid's?

I personally plan to use these "tips" to help teach my son. He will definitely be hands on and will learn from me why we are doing it.

My son learned the valuable lesson that the best response after dodging a flying chunk of wood is to turn over the router and cuss loudly at the bit. Which is why I recommend picking up a spare car blank.

Router? Drill press? Liquid lead? WTF are you people?!! Do you know what my training in the mechanical/engineering/wood working arts consists of? My dad telling me as a youth to figure out how to make enough money to pay somebody else to do it for me.

Got my eye on this little number.

Was he smoking a unfiltered Camel with a can of Bud in his hand when he said that?

 

[pittstownkiller]

Router? Drill press? Liquid lead? WTF are you people?!!

Do you know what my training in the mechanical/engineering/wood working arts consists of? My dad telling me as a youth to figure out how to make enough money to pay somebody else to do it for me.

Got my eye on this little number.

More fun and cheaper to do it yourself. No, I'm not talking about sex life after marriage. Here is a shot of the bobsled car.

That bobsled car is great! What a cool idea.

 

[patrickmcgroin]

Make it where only three of the wheels touch the track. Have the front right wheel up just enough where its not noticeable. WINNING!

 

[culdeus]

When we did this they had a dad category where anything was legal, but it had to make weight. This was to encourage the dads to not take over the projects and it worked. I lived in fort worth while they were still building F-16s and a gyroscope designer made one out of Military hardware. It shot down the ramp like the griswald christmas vactation sled. Guy used military grade ball bearings and milled the body out of aircraft aluminum and titanium. Hand machined the wheels. It was the most badass thing ever.

 

[gameday]

Here's a car I made for the Dad's race. It has razor wheels with ball bearings. It's very, very fast.

As a side note, last night two scouts came to my house to spend more time working on their cars. I have 40 more kits lined up for all the kids that will be by in the next few weeks. I'll post some pics. I do nothing more than direct them, but I think y'all will be blown away with the work they do.

 

[Disco Stu]

My son and I started working on his new car Sunday. My link

We went really basic with the shape. Top side is facing up in the picture. Hole is for this canopy/weight. Also ordered some of this putty for the additional weight. I figure multiple putty holes drilled in the bottom side will be an easy way to get the center of mass where we want it. And then obviously it's easy to adjust at official weigh-in.

The front of the car is cut opposite of how you would expect from an aerodynamics standpoint. But I'm hoping that is more than made up for by allowing a quicker start. I figure it will start moving with the starting pin, instead of having to wait until the pin is completely clear. Just a theory though. I haven't seen anyone recommending that style.

We bought Rust-oleum primer and paint. Does anyone have recommended sanding/priming/painting instructions? To make up for the boring body, we'd like it to at least be very smooth and shiny. (that's what she said?)

 

[pittstownkiller]

My son and I started working on his new car Sunday. My link

We went really basic with the shape. Top side is facing up in the picture. Hole is for this canopy/weight. Also ordered some of this putty for the additional weight. I figure multiple putty holes drilled in the bottom side will be an easy way to get the center of mass where we want it. And then obviously it's easy to adjust at official weigh-in.

The front of the car is cut opposite of how you would expect from an aerodynamics standpoint. But I'm hoping that is more than made up for by allowing a quicker start. I figure it will start moving with the starting pin, instead of having to wait until the pin is completely clear. Just a theory though. I haven't seen anyone recommending that style.

We bought Rust-oleum primer and paint. Does anyone have recommended sanding/priming/painting instructions? To make up for the boring body, we'd like it to at least be very smooth and shiny. (that's what she said?)

The directions with the car recommend a sanding sealer for the car before painting; I looked for this at home depot but they only had gallons and it was pricey. I have since seen sanding sealer in much smaller container at Micheal's and the like; I haven't tried it but will this year.

 

[gameday]

My son and I started working on his new car Sunday. My link

We went really basic with the shape. Top side is facing up in the picture. Hole is for this canopy/weight. Also ordered some of this putty for the additional weight. I figure multiple putty holes drilled in the bottom side will be an easy way to get the center of mass where we want it. And then obviously it's easy to adjust at official weigh-in.

The front of the car is cut opposite of how you would expect from an aerodynamics standpoint. But I'm hoping that is more than made up for by allowing a quicker start. I figure it will start moving with the starting pin, instead of having to wait until the pin is completely clear. Just a theory though. I haven't seen anyone recommending that style.

We bought Rust-oleum primer and paint. Does anyone have recommended sanding/priming/painting instructions? To make up for the boring body, we'd like it to at least be very smooth and shiny. (that's what she said?)

Well, you asked for some recommendations. Mine is to use Duplicolor Mirage Ice instead of the Rust-oleum. The Duplicolor is a 3-part system that is very, very, easy to use and results in an amazingly vibrant, shiny paint job. You can get Duplicolor at most auto shops like AutoZone.First, get a Duplicolor high build primer. Paint the primer on in several thin coats. Don't over due it or you'll get runs. Wet/dry sand the primer after you have a few coats laid down. Then put on the Duplicolor. First you put down the base coats, then you apply the color coats, then you'll apply clear coats. Each coat dries in about 10 minutes, but I would wait even a little longer between coats. You can wet/dry between layers, but it probably isn't necessary, and you might sand through the layer.

BTW, the canopy weight is nice, but it's only 2.5 ounces. You might need something else besides the tungsten putty. Good luck.

 

[gameday]

My son and I started working on his new car Sunday. My link

We went really basic with the shape. Top side is facing up in the picture. Hole is for this canopy/weight. Also ordered some of this putty for the additional weight. I figure multiple putty holes drilled in the bottom side will be an easy way to get the center of mass where we want it. And then obviously it's easy to adjust at official weigh-in.

The front of the car is cut opposite of how you would expect from an aerodynamics standpoint. But I'm hoping that is more than made up for by allowing a quicker start. I figure it will start moving with the starting pin, instead of having to wait until the pin is completely clear. Just a theory though. I haven't seen anyone recommending that style.

We bought Rust-oleum primer and paint. Does anyone have recommended sanding/priming/painting instructions? To make up for the boring body, we'd like it to at least be very smooth and shiny. (that's what she said?)

Well, you asked for some recommendations. Mine is to use Duplicolor Mirage Ice instead of the Rust-oleum. The Duplicolor is a 3-part system that is very, very, easy to use and results in an amazingly vibrant, shiny paint job. You can get Duplicolor at most auto shops like AutoZone.First, get a Duplicolor high build primer. Paint the primer on in several thin coats. Don't over due it or you'll get runs. Wet/dry sand the primer after you have a few coats laid down. Then put on the Duplicolor. First you put down the base coats, then you apply the color coats, then you'll apply clear coats. Each coat dries in about 10 minutes, but I would wait even a little longer between coats. You can wet/dry between layers, but it probably isn't necessary, and you might sand through the layer.

BTW, the canopy weight is nice, but it's only 2.5 ounces. You might need something else besides the tungsten putty. Good luck.

you can scroll through this post to see some examples of cars painted with Duplicolor.