2018 Pinewood Derby

[SuperHornet]

Yesterday, our Northern California and Nevada District held our annual Pinewood Derby in Rocklin, CA. We had a pretty good turnout, including 18 cars in the Commanders Race. Trophies went 10 deep. SH's Danica Patrick car finished WELL out of the trophies, and was likely next to last, beating only the Magic Carrot. However, the Danica car DID pick up fourth place in the show judging. However, that was ALSO next to last, as only five of the cars entered were presented for judging.

Our two boys took home three trophies between them, with MUCH better cars than mine. One of them collected second place in the 3rd-5th grade division for workmanship with his dragon car. His little brother's Batmobile brought in mid-range trophies in both the K-2 race and the show judging.

The overall best car in the show was judged to be a K-2 hot dog mobile, beating out that guy's older sister, who had won the Open Division with a Now-n-Later Birthday Car (it was her birthday yesterday). That wasn't a very nice thing to do....

Overall, I was VERY impressed with the quality of cars that showed up at the race. We have some very creative boys and adults (not to mention sisters, moms, and friends) in our district. We even had a Lego exhibition division that drew 66 cars. I'm already dreaming about next year's Adam-12 car (which I think might be more competitive than a NASCAR in the race...ASSUMING I shave the wheels and polish the axle screws like I SHOULD have done THIS year. I'm also thinking about sacrificing the 2020 race to enter Squad 51 in the show judging. You see, it's not just football in which SH is old-school.

I'll post a pic of my Danica special if I can get a friend to take one and either email it or FB it to me. My Consumer Cellular Doro flip phone doesn't quite work like that....

[93henfan]

My sons have entered three local pinewood derbies.

They have three first place trophies.

This one was our favorite:




We even got Joey to autograph it:

[BDKJMU]

Yesterday, our Northern California and Nevada District held our annual Pinewood Derby in Rocklin, CA. We had a pretty good turnout, including 18 cars in the Commanders Race. Trophies went 10 deep. SH's Danica Patrick car finished WELL out of the trophies, and was likely next to last, beating only the Magic Carrot. However, the Danica car DID pick up fourth place in the show judging. However, that was ALSO next to last, as only five of the cars entered were presented for judging.

Our two boys took home three trophies between them, with MUCH better cars than mine. One of them collected second place in the 3rd-5th grade division for workmanship with his dragon car. His little brother's Batmobile brought in mid-range trophies in both the K-2 race and the show judging.

The overall best car in the show was judged to be a K-2 hot dog mobile, beating out that guy's older sister, who had won the Open Division with a Now-n-Later Birthday Car (it was her birthday yesterday). That wasn't a very nice thing to do....

Overall, I was VERY impressed with the quality of cars that showed up at the race. We have some very creative boys and adults (not to mention sisters, moms, and friends) in our district. We even had a Lego exhibition division that drew 66 cars. I'm already dreaming about next year's Adam-12 car (which I think might be more competitive than a NASCAR in the race...ASSUMING I shave the wheels and polish the axle screws like I SHOULD have done THIS year. I'm also thinking about sacrificing the 2020 race to enter Squad 51 in the show judging. You see, it's not just football in which SH is old-school.

I'll post a pic of my Danica special if I can get a friend to take one and either email it or FB it to me. My Consumer Cellular Doro flip phone doesn't quite work like that....

How many other cars did the Danica car wreck?

[Ibanez]

Yesterday, our Northern California and Nevada District held our annual Pinewood Derby in Rocklin, CA. We had a pretty good turnout, including 18 cars in the Commanders Race. Trophies went 10 deep. SH's Danica Patrick car finished WELL out of the trophies, and was likely next to last, beating only the Magic Carrot. However, the Danica car DID pick up fourth place in the show judging. However, that was ALSO next to last, as only five of the cars entered were presented for judging.

Our two boys took home three trophies between them, with MUCH better cars than mine. One of them collected second place in the 3rd-5th grade division for workmanship with his dragon car. His little brother's Batmobile brought in mid-range trophies in both the K-2 race and the show judging.

The overall best car in the show was judged to be a K-2 hot dog mobile, beating out that guy's older sister, who had won the Open Division with a Now-n-Later Birthday Car (it was her birthday yesterday). That wasn't a very nice thing to do....

Overall, I was VERY impressed with the quality of cars that showed up at the race. We have some very creative boys and adults (not to mention sisters, moms, and friends) in our district. We even had a Lego exhibition division that drew 66 cars. I'm already dreaming about next year's Adam-12 car (which I think might be more competitive than a NASCAR in the race...ASSUMING I shave the wheels and polish the axle screws like I SHOULD have done THIS year. I'm also thinking about sacrificing the 2020 race to enter Squad 51 in the show judging. You see, it's not just football in which SH is old-school.

I'll post a pic of my Danica special if I can get a friend to take one and either email it or FB it to me. My Consumer Cellular Doro flip phone doesn't quite work like that....

Damn....DP can’t even place in a Pinewood Derby.


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[89Hen]

We even got Joey to autograph it:

Did you have to help him with the spelling of his name?

[UNI88]

I love that the Pinewood Derby thread is in Other Sports.

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[93henfan]

We even got Joey to autograph it:

Did you have to help him with the spelling of his name?

I love that the Pinewood Derby thread is in Other Sports.

Why niggaz always gots ta be hatin’?

[UNI88]

Did you have to help him with the spelling of his name?

I love that the Pinewood Derby thread is in Other Sports.

Why niggaz always gots ta be hatin’?

Who sez I hatin'? Laughin ain't hatin'.

Besides pinewood derby fits right in with golf.

[Winterborn]

[quote="SuperHornet"]
Overall, I was VERY impressed with the quality of cars that showed up at the race. We have some very creative boys and adults (not to mention sisters, moms, and friends) in our district. We even had a Lego exhibition division that drew 66 cars. I'm already dreaming about next year's Adam-12 car (which I think might be more competitive than a NASCAR in the race...ASSUMING I shave the wheels and polish the axle screws like I SHOULD have done THIS year. I'm also thinking about sacrificing the 2020 race to enter Squad 51 in the show judging. You see, it's not just football in which SH is old-school.
quote]

Do they have any rules on lube? One of the derby's I entered as a kid did not and after much experimentation (we set up a track in our basement) I found that very fine graphite worked the best, if you made a couple of passes down the track first to work it in better. I also super glued and then polished the ends of the axel to decrease the friction between the axle and the wheel.

[andy7171]

Overall, I was VERY impressed with the quality of cars that showed up at the race. We have some very creative boys and adults (not to mention sisters, moms, and friends) in our district. We even had a Lego exhibition division that drew 66 cars. I'm already dreaming about next year's Adam-12 car (which I think might be more competitive than a NASCAR in the race...ASSUMING I shave the wheels and polish the axle screws like I SHOULD have done THIS year. I'm also thinking about sacrificing the 2020 race to enter Squad 51 in the show judging. You see, it's not just football in which SH is old-school.
quote]

Do they have any rules on lube? One of the derby's I entered as a kid did not and after much experimentation (we set up a track in our basement) I found that very fine graphite worked the best, if you made a couple of passes down the track first to work it in better. I also super glued and then polished the ends of the axel to decrease the friction between the axle and the wheel.

SuperHornet has his own rules on lube.

I love the Pinewood Derby during my years in Cubs Scouts. I wanted to make the General Lee, but my parents didn't let me put the Confederate flag on, so I put an america flag on is stead. Come race time, both the sons of the Scout master had the Confederate flag. I guilted my parents for weeks.

Also my dad when out of town the week before, so my mom hammered the wheel nails in, and chipped the front part off. In the championship heat, the wheel came off, but so did my oponant. I won sliding in just before the other guy.

Winner winner chicken dinner!

[93henfan]

Fucking amateurs. Jeezis.

[andy7171]

Fucking amateurs. Jeezis.

I made my own. Not my father, like some, ahem, other CS'ers.

[Winterborn]

Fucking amateurs. Jeezis.

I still have my old cars and have been tempted to put some type of bottle rocket in the back to give it a bit extra kick.

[SuperHornet]

93: I'm no fan of Joey Logano, but that derby car is SWEET. Your son does good work, and that likely means his brothers do so, as well. You must be a proud dad.

BDK: Funny...(not)....

Winterborn: Many of our Rangers use a dry graphite mix. I'm told that liquid lube tends to react with the plastic wheels, causing them to break down.

[Winterborn]

Winterborn: Many of our Rangers use a dry graphite mix. I'm told that liquid lube tends to react with the plastic wheels, causing them to break down.

It very well could be, some of that lube interacts funny with plastic. And when you are trying to shave off 1/10's of a second it doesn't take much to gum up the wheels (been there, done that ) If memory serves me correct the tires we had were solid hard plastic, with maybe a 3/8" cross section. Nothing like the tires on 93's car.

Rangers?

[93henfan]

Winterborn: Many of our Rangers use a dry graphite mix. I'm told that liquid lube tends to react with the plastic wheels, causing them to break down.

It very well could be, some of that lube interacts funny with plastic. And when you are trying to shave off 1/10's of a second it doesn't take much to gum up the wheels (been there, done that ) If memory serves me correct the tires we had were solid hard plastic, with maybe a 3/8" cross section. Nothing like the tires on 93's car.

Rangers?

The tires are regulation size Pinewood Derby wheels.

Also, dry graphite is the only way to fly. Put that shit everywhere. Outer axle hole of tire, inner axle hole, inner rim of the tires.

Also, also, honing of the axles and the tire surfaces and a little shaving of mass from the inside of the wheel where nobody can see it helps a car go faster. Less rotational mass = less energy lost.

Also, also, also angling one front axel up slightly so that only three wheels are touching the ground make a car faster. We (rightfully) failed inspection on this... the second year. The other three axles need to be perfectly level and driven in to give each wheel 1/8” of standoff from the car when pushed out. This gives the wheel just enough freedom to spin free but not so much that it wobbles side to side.

We found the first two years that a very low wedge shaped car with the weights kept low and to the rear makes for a faster car too. This makes the weight high on the initial drop so the car starts faster.

The Logano car was our last (third) year and we said screw the wedge; let’s make a pretty car. We still won.

[Rob Iola]

Winterborn: Many of our Rangers use a dry graphite mix. I'm told that liquid lube tends to react with the plastic wheels, causing them to break down.

It very well could be, some of that lube interacts funny with plastic. And when you are trying to shave off 1/10's of a second it doesn't take much to gum up the wheels (been there, done that ) If memory serves me correct the tires we had were solid hard plastic, with maybe a 3/8" cross section. Nothing like the tires on 93's car.

Rangers?

Kinda like the Sunflower Girls from the Brady Bunch...

[Winterborn]

The tires are regulation size Pinewood Derby wheels.

Also, dry graphite is the only way to fly. Put that shit everywhere. Outer axle hole of tire, inner axle hole, inner rim of the tires.

Also, also, honing of the axles and the tire surfaces and a little shaving of mass from the inside of the wheel where nobody can see it helps a car go faster. Less rotational mass = less energy lost.

Also, also, also angling one front axel up slightly so that only three wheels are touching the ground make a car faster. We (rightfully) failed inspection on this... the second year. The other three axles need to be perfectly level and driven in to give each wheel 1/8” of standoff from the car when pushed out. This gives the wheel just enough freedom to spin free but not so much that it wobbles side to side.

We found the first two years that a very low wedge shaped car with the weights kept low and to the rear makes for a faster car too. This makes the weight high on the initial drop so the car starts faster.

The Logano car was our last (third) year and we said screw the wedge; let’s make a pretty car. We still won.

They must of changed the tire styles since I last built one. Granted it was 20 years ago so that is not surprising. Here is a picture of what the tires we used back then looked like.



Yup, the shape of the car didn't matter much as long as the weight was in towards the back. Melted down a lot of lead fishing or tire weights to get the right sized weights for those cars.

[andy7171]

93: I'm no fan of Joey Logano, but that derby car is SWEET. Your son does good work, and that likely means his brothers do so, as well. You must be a proud dad.

As if his boy got any work in on that car other than sanding it, and maybe applying the primer base coat.

[93henfan]

Let’s play a game: guess which jealous poster only fires girl sperms!

[SuperHornet]

93: I'm no fan of Joey Logano, but that derby car is SWEET. Your son does good work, and that likely means his brothers do so, as well. You must be a proud dad.

As if his boy got any work in on that car other than sanding it, and maybe applying the primer base coat.

That's pretty much the case with us, too....

[andy7171]

Let’s play a game: guess which jealous poster only fires girl sperms!

SCBH


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