PDA

View Full Version : Pine Wood Derby Time



eautosales
01-07-2004, 08:33 PM
well its time to build a screamin & flyin pine wood derby car
father son bonding time:) post pics of your cars im tryin to be different my son wants a x wing fighter car (star wars) but i dont think i have that much patients. ive searched on google & found a lot of good info but looking for your thoughts:D
its kind of a must to be the fastest:eek: but time will tell

maybe a hydrostream with wheels:D

eautosales
01-07-2004, 09:44 PM
ANY ONE TRY THE CNC MACHINED AXLES?:D

Vector77
01-07-2004, 11:13 PM
About 10 years ago my son and I were unbeatable for 3 years. We even won the regional championship. Make sure the axle are in perfect alignment, the body is as small as possible, it weighs the maxumum weight, the wheels are round, the wheels are riding on as small a area as possible. Make sure that when you put the car on the track that it's stright. I used to install the axles first, run the car to check alignment and only finish the bodies that were the fastest.

beko21
01-07-2004, 11:20 PM
We have the Akron derby about 10 miles to our north, ever heard of it? I've never been to it but it gets alot of attention, some very nice cars on the news channels that cover it.

stvhelm
01-07-2004, 11:22 PM
just a few cheap tricks I did. I moved the weight towards the rear and mounted 1 front wheel so it wouldnt touch the ground. It ran on three wheels, less drag. I also used a small amount of graphite powder on the axles. the axles were polished smooth. they dont let you use any lubricant on the wheels but the powder can sneak in. just wet the axle and dip it in the powder so it sticks to the axle when you put it together. Im sure theres a ton of great tricks on the web but thats all I did and it worked pretty damn good.

AlaskaStreamin
01-08-2004, 11:28 AM
My son won two years in a row (his first two years in scouts) and we hope to win again this year. We're using a indy body. This year my son wants a Ferarri Enzo coupe. Our secret is "keep it simple". Just like what the other guys said, axles, wheels, and keep the weight in the back. This year they are going to do a "parent" race so we can make our own cars and let the kids do more of the their own building. Here's what Justins car will look like.

AlaskaStreamin
01-08-2004, 11:34 AM
I'm going with a 34 Ford. I'll post pictures when they're done.

rev.ronnie
01-08-2004, 05:09 PM
I built one with a friends kid a couple years ago that flew. (I am actually the guy my friends come to a day before the race with a block in a box and have not started on it yet!)

I machined the wheels so they rode on a fine leading edge on the outside. I had to make a mandrel to turn them with , and then put in just enough taper to get the job done. Then polish the face back so you can't see any machining marks. We needed 2 kits to get 4 wheels that would match. I'm sure this is illegal, but the car will fly if you do this right. The car would practically roll up hill.

I build a Titanic one year for a friends kid, he was into the move at the time. I did the whole upper deck on the milling machine and it was pretty intricate.

Vector77
01-09-2004, 11:37 AM
I machined the wheels so they rode on a fine leading edge on the outside.

Less rolling resistance.

I had to make a mandrel to turn them with , and then put in just enough taper to get the job done.

Yes!

Then polish the face back so you can't see any machining marks.

Look at every thing very closely, inside of wheels, axles, the head of the nail that the wheel rubs on, etc.

We needed 2 kits to get 4 wheels that would match.

You can usually buy extra parts of a higher quality at a Hobby Shop.

IT'S ALL IN THE DETAILS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AlaskaStreamin
01-18-2004, 06:19 PM
I almost scrapped the Ferarri due to the complexity of the lines. I tried bondo to build up the low spots. It worked great!! Here's Justin spraying the red paint.

eautosales
01-18-2004, 06:22 PM
wow nice work :D

AlaskaStreamin
01-18-2004, 06:27 PM
Here's my 34 Ford, Robert (the neighbor boy's) sprint car, and Justin's Ferarri all painted in red.
Next my mom (who's into toll painting) will do the detail work painting the windows, lights, grills, ect...

AlaskaStreamin
01-23-2004, 12:03 PM
Just need to polish the axles and true up the wheels. Man-O-man my mom did a great job on the paint!!! Sure brought the car to life. It's amazing the flaws that are hidden now. My car didn't turn out like I wanted. I'll spend some more time on the grill. Where's everybody elses cars???

Guess what?? No weight limit on the parents cars. Can you go overboard on the weight???

AlaskaStreamin
01-23-2004, 12:09 PM
Another angle.

Liqui-Fly
01-23-2004, 12:15 PM
X-wing would be easier than you rhing. I have a band and scroll saw too so if you need to cut out some stuff. The X-wings could easily be made from some thin balsa available at most hobby shops and cyanoacrylate glue dries nice and fast.

David

eautosales
01-23-2004, 10:28 PM
AlaskaStreamin you go overboard on everything you do you are a craftsman :D :D

heyFLY MAYBE ILL COME VISIT YA I HAVE NOT SEEN YA IN 2 YEARS? & YOU CAN KICK ME IN THE BUTT TA FINISH MY NEVER ENDING OR NEVER STARTED PROJECT VECTOR:eek:
will it see romp o4???????????????????????

TNT
01-24-2004, 03:44 PM
i am the pinewood derby king!! lol

Liqui-Fly
01-26-2004, 08:36 AM
Let me know when. Anytime is good for me.

David

MODVP22
01-31-2004, 12:30 AM
None of my pinewood derby cars were all that pretty looking. They were the typical door stop looking wedge shape. I used a can of spray paint to paint them, never looked all that well. But, I had the book on building pinewood derby cars. The changed the stinkin' rules because of me, hehe :D

AlaskaStreamin
01-31-2004, 08:58 PM
We had to play by VERY strict rules this year:mad: We sucked!! The best time was 3.818 sec.
Both Justins car and mine ran 4.018 and 4.034 sec. as our best times. Justin got an award for "most appealing". The kids ran three races (one in each lane) and the best times won. Here's Justins third race. You can see him sitting on the left in the blue / white hat.

AlaskaStreamin
01-31-2004, 09:05 PM
Here's the table of cars. Justins is #43 and my indy car (I liked it better than the '34 Ford) is in the back row. Alot of nice cars!!

AlaskaStreamin
01-31-2004, 09:10 PM
Here's my car in the "parents" race. I suck!! BUT I look cool! :D

AlaskaStreamin
01-31-2004, 09:13 PM
Justin and his Ferarri Enzo.

AlaskaStreamin
01-31-2004, 09:15 PM
Some of the award winners. I like the pencil!

AlaskaStreamin
01-31-2004, 09:17 PM
More award winners.

MODVP22
01-31-2004, 09:21 PM
Whoa! those look sweet. We were never alowed to do th at kind of appearance mods. Lookin' good man, our son must be proud:)

AlaskaStreamin
01-31-2004, 09:21 PM
Last award car. This is the neighbor boys Sprint car.
Where are everyone's cars?? How'd it go??

insptech
02-01-2004, 05:29 PM
We just rented one this year:D

Ally 1988
02-21-2004, 08:21 PM
Again thanks to all who gave tips to Pine Box Derby Cars.
Thanks to all the tips we came in FIRST PLACE 1st Place. And Now we move on to the next race...
Pictures of the car are soon to come. Again thanks to all the Scream And Fly people who help make this little car go really fast. And to make a dad happy to see his son win his first race. Hopefully not his last we move on to the region next week with no expectations just glad to be there. But we would not be there without all your helpfull tips. :D :D :D :D :D

eautosales
04-18-2005, 05:13 PM
this is the trick for winning