Pinewood Derby Anyone?

[PxTx]

With proper polish and lube, the coefficient of friction is less against the head of the axle than then the wheels scrub the body. It will be impossible to keep t. wheels off both side the whole way down. I'm not gonna say you can't come up with a faster method, but it would be wise to start with your first build utilizing the best practices.

I have done clear nail polish, then graphite where the hub could rub.

5 oz is the max allowed. Heavy is fastest. Most of the scales will only read in tenths. You could try and get it to 5.04 oz with a means to subtract if nessisary on race day. Fwiw, around 8 - oz starts causing too much friction on the wheels.

Don't know about precut. The kits years ago had a notch for like the driver's cockpit.

Yes, build several cars.

You can simply use a small wood plank as a ramp and measure how far you can get it to roll. Use a string and a treadmill to check aligment. We have an old wooden track you are welcome to test on.

Tear down is unlikely. You don't want to subject a kid to that. They might have an informed visual inspector.


Ask your friends in the pack what kind of track and timing they use. I suspect with those rules it will be an aluminum track with digital timing and et display. My wood track is just a win light on each lane.

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

Thanks Paul - this feels like Jr Dragsters all over again [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/eek.gif[/img]

Here's Danny's pre-cut car, looks nice but that big flip up in the back is not going to help:

[69SSZL1]

Watch the movie &quot;Down and Derby&quot; (google it). Parents get way out of control, building test tracks in their bedrooms, etc, very funny!

The first time we did a pinewood we won it all. With just a P.O.S. car that a Pack parent helped us add weight to on race day. We did not know a thing except to smooth the axles.

The next time, with my middle son, we did all the tricks, but had a so-so showing.
The next year, it was raining while we were building the car and the paint would not dry. So we put the car in the oven to dry the paint. It was too much and split the wood. We finished the car anyway and it took first place!

It just means all the tricks help, but luck is needed too. We saw alot of professional looking, parent built cars, but you never know when a car is just &quot;right&quot;. Kind of like musclecars.

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

Funny, I just took Danny's car body out of the oven! I read the speed secrets book cover-to-cover 2x, and Danny and I are planning to do as many of the secrets as possible. This includes baking the body to remove water weight so we can install more weight in the rear of the car. The body weighed 2.44 oz before baking, and weighed 2.27 afterwards. That's a reduction of 0.17 oz, which is 7%! I have plenty of Tungsten weight to get us back to 5.02 oz, [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/grin.gif[/img] .

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

Just in case you thought I was kidding, [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/grin.gif[/img] At least I used an old cookie sheet....

[LIBoomer]

Well, today was race day here in Houston. The boys did a good job. Two for Two. Lots of hours in those cars. A good time was had by all. Wife is building a car for next years adult class. I may run an Open car. Hope everyone has fun at their races.

[PxTx]

Great job with the kids and cars Todd! Thanks for the pics too. Got any action shots?

[LIBoomer]

Paul,
No action shots. You bring up a good point. We tend to take stills to provide moments in our lives, when with todays technology we should be capturing memories in video format. Next year will be a family affair as we all (5) participate, and I will have that captured on video for sure. This year we did have a new feature in the form of instant replay. The race heats and line ups have always been projected onto a large wall in the building we race in. This year we set up a dedicated camera and lighting to project instant replays on the wall as well. Each heat race is replayed twice. Pretty cool addition which opened up more conversation amongst the kids and parents. I ride a mountain bike for fun, and excercise with my nut case friends, and some use a GoPro to capture their experiences. I suppose it's time for me to purchase one also. My Boy Scout is starting to climb cliffs and repel, and I know he's wanting one also.

[PxTx]

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Unfortunately my kids had to run each other. Batman in the left and &quot;Frozen&quot; in the center. We set the track record today and had the fastest cars there which is exciting anytime you are in the upper tier. The scouts were a bit jealous that a girl was running so fast, but most were great to her. My son was real cool for only 3. Kids said it was worth almost gluing their fingers together, with a smile and I had to laugh!

Times for all three cars were sub 3 seconds, which is flying. The run off between these two actually had Batman flying off the track. FROZEN ran a 2.958 ET that pass! My kids were a bit confused when their names were not called for trophies, but we were guests and I told our friends I didn't want to take a trophy away from another Scout 's sibling. They got over it pretty quickly and we're all smiles.

[Plowman]

Camera #2 with the car flying off the track after the finish-line! Crowd response is unedited!



This may be easier to view. Consolidated a few runs. The flying off the track is at the end here.

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