Pinewood Derby Car Help

[UTBASS]

I bought the block-o-wood and am ready to get my son's car up and running ... any tips?
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[RuttCrazed]

Use graphite when attaching the wheels, cuts down on friction.

Rut
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[kidsnme]

make sure that you use the nail that are supplies for axles. Some kits have a solid axle and I found out the hard way that they are not as fast as the nail axle.

Also keep the weight to the back and low if possible and also get right on the 5 oz mark.

I have heard of people using a small hollow copper rod that they insert in the axle tracks then insert the nail inside that, It needs to be very small so that the nail is tight.

Good Luck
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[Coldfooter]

For fun racing any shape will do but to win keep its enter profile as low as possible and give its nose and tail the "cutting edge" to cut down on air resistance. Lightly sand the wheels with fine sand paper were they contact the track to make sure their smooth by removing any tiny bumps of plastic and to make them as perfectly round as possible. If the wheels have a tiny raised ridge run around their center try not to remove it, just the bumps. The ridge of plastic around the center portion of the wheel will allow for small contact point between the track and wheel hence less friction between the wheel and the track and faster speeds. And by all means, Graphite on the axles. Once your finished shaping, sanding, and painting and have attached it axes and wheel weigh it. If it weighs in light, drill a hole or two in its botton as close to the center line as possible and use lead to bring it back to proper weight. The smoother the entire unit is the fast she scoots! Have a ball! Their great fun! Altho' its a few years out, I cant wait until my grandson's are ready to race em..
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[kd...]

Having had three sons go through the cub scout program we've built our share of pine-wood derby cars. If the nails have a bumpy section next to the head be sure that you smooth it up by chucking the nail in an electric drill and filing the "barbs" off the underside of the nail head and the nail shaft next to the head. You might even find some "better-smoother" nails for the wheel axels. Get the weight as close to the 5 oz as you can without going over. You can do this two ways. 1. Load it a little heavy and then drill it out the night of the race with your electric drill. 2. Drill a couple of empty holes in the bottom and then push plumber's lead wool into the holes with a blunt punch the night of the race. You should do this while checking on the scale they use at the race. Make sure the wheels are perfectly round so they don't "hop" as they spin. The best way to do this is on a lathe but it can be done in an electric drill or drill press. Just mount them on a small bolt and chuck them in the drill and smooth them with a file. Some people file the edges of the wheels so that they have a sharp "V" edge that runs on the track. This reduces friction also. Make sure that the car runs perfectly straight so it isn't crowding one edge all the way down the track. If the car straddles a central guide strip on the track instead of running between two guide strips, be sure that nothing on the car can ever touch that center guide strip. This is especially important where the track bends from the down hill slope to the flat level straight part. I've seen a lot of cars drag their rear bumper right there at the bend. Lube the wheel axels with powdered graphite and shape the car with a low sharp nosed smooth profile. A bullet shape or torpedo shape is great. Give it a real nice smooth paint job and then wax it! That should do it.
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[pleasantmisery]

looks like coldfooter and kd have covered it. They only thing I could add would be to make sure the wheels are aligned, kind of like the ones on your car. Aligned wheels will go straighter and the car wont "bounce" or sway left and right as it goes down the track, keeping the friction as low as possible.
Other than that, just do what they said.

Funny how a scrub's (cub's) pinewood derby ends up like a car show for the fathers. Loads of fun.
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