Damn, this post makes me wanna get my old cars out take pics but they're nowhere around. Here's what my Dad and I did, we really got into it and I would not expect every Father/Son to put this much work into it. First decide if you are doing a racer or a show car. Don't do both. We did racers, I built a ton of models as a kid and didn't want to make another car model. Friction is your enemy, reduce it at all costs, like this: - Low profile front end. Think a wedge design, nothing in front, getting wider as you go back. - I think the modern kits are just a block of wood with the axles already in them?? Anyway, create axles like the front axles in the really cool Down and Derby pic in the first post. You need axles because you want the front of the car to have a small surface area, and axles are the only way to keep the wheels wide enough to clear the track. - Once you have axles, streamline them. - Reduce the amount of axle wood that actually touches the plastic wheel. Just enough so that there is enough flat area to keep the tire from wobbling. - File off all burs on the nails. Put the nails in a drill and hit it with a nail file. Make sure you address the round portion of the nail and the head of the nail that hits the wheel. Smooth off the head of the nail for less air friction. - File all the wheels. They need to be completely flat and true where the wheel hits the axle. Put the nail through the wheel, put the nail in a drill and spin the wheel. File the wheel perfectly flat. Even file off the fake spokes, flat = less friction. Make sure there are no plastic moulding lines anywhere when finished. - When mounting the wheels, tap the nails just enough to let the wheel spin freely and keep it true. Don't let the wheel wobble and don't bind it. Once the wheels are mounted they must all be square to the ground and have no camber or toe. - Graphite the hell out of all wheels. Before each race too. Don't use an oil. Dry graphite. - We used melted lead poured into holes we drilled. Drill a long hole lengthwise, down the center of the block of wood, and make sure it's true and centered. Pour melted lead in the hole until you hit the desired 5 ounces. It was 5 ounces wasn't it??? If the car gets too heavy, you can drill out the lead until the desired weight is hit. The diameter of the hole we drilled was like 1/2 inch. - Only drill that hole in the last 3/4 of the wood. Put as little weight on the front wheels as possible. We added just enough to keep it from bouncing. Don't tape coins on your car. If you want to use coins, counter sink them. Anything that sticks out hits air and causes friction. - Sand, and seal the wood so that its perfectly smooth. Paint is a fine sealer. Once again, friction is bad. - We built 5 cars and raced them in the back yard until we found the fastest one. We built our own test track with two lanes for this purpose. - Also try to make the ground clearance as close as possible without hitting the track. Less air under the car is better. You can do this by mounting the nails higher in the body. You're sectioning it, really. Once again, we built a full size test track, properly curved and all so that we could test ground clearance. Hope I didn't spew too much, its just pretty fun thinking about all that stuff again. In the end, just have fun with your kid, and let him give some input. The body design I came up with as a kid was the one that was the fastest, my Dad didn't come up with it. I think I spent a lot of time in cl*** drawing cars and not studying. Mike
nice works Jeffster. i've been wanting to build one ever since my skills got a little better than they were when i was 10 years old!
"My little brother was a cub scout. He came home crying the other kids "excommunicated" him because he didn't go to services at the church before the scout meeting. That was back in the 60's and it STILL pisses me off." You see thats exactly what I was talking about. I dont want my son to put up with that B.S. ..damn when I was a scout I got the cold shoudler because I was a skater now here its because we are not LDS. I hope not! I have some friends who are LDS so I hope they dont get pissed that I am ranting, but that is ****ed. I will have my kid kicking their ***es if thats the case when he joins. My wife tells me thats excatly whats its like here, I dont know Texas is looking better and better as my kids get older and into school..
Now he will prob. be the kid (like I was only I was in Ca.) who raises hell and drops out of scouts to smoke pot.. [/ QUOTE ] Mike- They now have merit bagdes for that!
Wow, at tech post on pinewood derby! Cool I was never a scout, but we used to get the kits and build Estes rocket cars out of them.
Here's a thought...the HAMB Drags are coming soon, this seems like a good night time activity while drinking and bench racing, why not set up the pine wood derby track and keep racing. I'd bet there would be some awesome cars put together. I think you can get a basic kit at Home Depot and think of the bragging rights.
Wow, the pinewood derby. I'm an eagle scout now, I remember those days, my pops and I working on the little cars, his tricks of the trade. Awesome times. -Crew
[ QUOTE ] Now he will prob. be the kid (like I was only I was in Ca.) who raises hell and drops out of scouts to smoke pot.. [/ QUOTE ] Mike- They now have merit bagdes for that! [/ QUOTE ] ha,ha,ha- now get to work you slacker.. always ditching work..
[ QUOTE ] the HAMB Drags are coming soon, this seems like a good night time activity while drinking and bench racing [/ QUOTE ] rocket cars...
Make them out of valve covers for the HAMB drags. That way it won't look like a bunch of old men playing with kids toys...
[ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] the HAMB Drags are coming soon, this seems like a good night time activity while drinking and bench racing [/ QUOTE ] rocket cars... ............Oh Yea........!!!!!!!!
This was my 8-year-old's first year in Scouts. They did two cl***es--one by the rules, one Unlimited for Dad's and family members who weren't scouts. We made matching SoCal inspired Belly Tankers, with superchargers and Zoomies behind the roof bubble. Mine was white with the red nose, his was red with a white nose. He picked the number 9, so his was 9A (andrew) and mine was 9B (brad). His was by the rules, mine had razor thin wheels and the body was hollowed out and I melted half a cake of plumber's lead into it! With the matching cars, it was great--I'd do something on mine, he'd watch then do it to his. He learned about aerodynamics, friction, and how to use a bandsaw, drill press and Dremel tool. Nothing cooler than hearing "That's cool! I LIKE power tools!" Nothing more nerve wracking than hearing "Okay, I want to do the next cut, without your help" on the band saw. We spent over 48 hours or better building them in the evenings and weekends. I explained that he probably wouldn't win the speed races since this was the first time we were entering, but we could definately place in the Best Appearing category. He took Second--the matching cars are on our mantle flanking the trophy. When the "cool" wears off as he gets older, they're going in my den or shop on permanent display. Next year he wants to build matching front engine dragsters. There was nothing like teaching him all that stuff and spending that time with him making the cars. He's got a very, very good grasp of the effects of friction now, and has seen how friction and aerodynamics applies to other things every day. The best part is when you're not around sometime later, and he's working on a project with his friends, and whips out the Sharpie to mark his cut lines, does a diagram on s**** paper or figures out how to punch holes in something and hang it (they made Garage Sale signs this weekend, and put holes in them and Zip-tied them to the Uni-channel posts for the STOP signs in the neighborhood). You may not think they're paying attention, but when he says "I saw you doing it like that..." you'll never be prouder. Oh, and mine was the fastest car at the meet. -Andrew's Dad
[ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] the HAMB Drags are coming soon, this seems like a good night time activity while drinking and bench racing [/ QUOTE ] rocket cars... ............Oh Yea........!!!!!!!! [/ QUOTE ] Ummm... http://www.estesrockets.com/products/product371.html
great post Brush, your artwork is neat, I can see that being a great color combination for a future model car here. In Australia we didn't have the pin woood derby thing. But I have really enjoy all the post of the experiences you guys had.
The Jalopy Journal
