My son's first pinewood derby and he took 1st!

[probesport]

This was the first car we had made together - sorta. My son Ben has been building real cars with me since he was a toddler so a great deal of this was not new to him. He actually did a bulk of the work which surprised alot of the other scout parents as apparently when they are younger the parents do most of it and it turns into a competition amongst parents.

I was never in scouts and when reading the rules I was concerned that even using power tools was a no-no. Everything was done with hand tools save for drilling a hole in the center to add weight.

He's very excited, it was his first trophy. His times were 2.52 @ 187mph

http://oarenj.com/pinewood/P1330768.JPG

http://oarenj.com/pinewood/pinewood2.jpg

http://oarenj.com/pinewood/pinewood1.jpg

Just wanted to share and this seemed like barbershop banter :thumbup:

[The Nid Hog]

That looks great. I still remember working on my derby cars with my dad. Congratulations to you both!

[flabajaba2213]

:thumbup:

I still have my old pinewood derby car that I won 2nd place with in a box in the closet. (The secret is liquid graphite on the axles.)

[thatguy1807]

I remember when I did that, I won 1st place in my pack then I won the district. I was so excited because I've never won anything before. The real secret is dry graphite on the axles, liquid graphite will gum up and slow the car.

[probesport]

Yep, dry graphite. I knew I wanted to put something there but didn't want to use any of my liquids for feat of damaging the plastic wheels or wood.

[diverdoug]

I remember when I did that, I won 1st place in my pack then I won the district. I was so excited because I've never won anything before. The real secret is dry graphite on the axles, liquid graphite will gum up and slow the car.

I took 1st as well, dry graphite is key and I polished the axle nails with a Dremel mototool.

[tmanqz]

I concur, dry is the bomb...
Congrats!

[probesport]

I took 1st as well, dry graphite is key and I polished the axle nails with a Dremel mototool.

I thought the rules were more strict and we did ours with files. I avoided power tools because I didn't want him to get disqualified

[mattface]

Congrats!!!

I took first in my first pinwood derby too! MAN that car was SO sweet. My dad made me do like 37 coats of primer and paint wet sanding between each coat with 2000 grit. the result was a glass smooth red paint job that looked fast just sitting there on the table. INstead of lead we weighted it with BBS in a hidden compartment covered with red masking tape in the bottom.

DNF the second year. I fell victim to the old lead in the bottom tht dragged on the track after it was drilled. :mad3: The paint job wasn't as good either. :blushing:

[probesport]

We didn't do lead either, I drilled a hole through the center and put in a length of 3/8" steel rod I had in my shop, then used body filler to cover up the holes

[diverdoug]

I thought the rules were more strict and we did ours with files. I avoided power tools because I didn't want him to get disqualified

The rules may have changed in the past 39 years :biggrin1:

[JoshuaA]

We can use power tools in my son's pack.

[jakespoppy]

That's a great looking car, and a great looking scout, too. You both should be proud, as that is a very competitive event. Congratulations! :thumbup1:

[BingeAndPurge]

Congratulations! This year was our first go and took 1st in the pack as well. It was a lot of fun. We sanded and polished the heck out of the wheels and axels, spun them on the dremel and ran a carpenter pencil along them to try to inbed the graphite, and dry powdered them. We stuck weight to the bottom of the back-half of the car, weighed them on the digital kitchen scale, and then added splitshot into holes in the back to bring it up to 5oz exactly. Playing with the wheel tracking was the tricky part, and we never did get it perfect. And yes, I forced him to help with all of it, even if it was just pulling the trigger on the drill.

[diverdoug]

that's a great looking car, and a great looking scout, too. You both should be proud, as that is a very competitive event. Congratulations! :thumbup1:

+1

[jd1965]

:thumbup:Congratulations on the win!!:thumbup:
It's a FUN event!!
John

[probesport]

It was fun, he wants to build more just for the heck of it. Apparently he's not content just helps on real cars anymore :biggrin:

[TnutsShave]

Nice Ken, congrats to you and the little guy! I remember my pinewood derby car...it was more of the all show, no go, ilk. I don't recall how it rain in the races, but it did win "Sportiest".

:lol: