Awanna vs std pinewood derby prep

Feb 22, 2014
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My boss overheard me talking about how much fun I had and how well my sons pwd deby car did.. and he went to his desk and handed me this daughters awanna car bobt , wheels and axles and said just work on it and get it back to him on Wednesday. Lol... he said he has been building them for 7 years and they have never really had any success. I know the basic principles of pinewood derby... but the axle slots are a little differnt and I was wondering specifically about weighting and wheel prep. Any direction would be appreciated.
 
Ask him about the rules. For our AGP (AWANA Grand Prix), they had no rules at all. (I know) But the rules will dictate what you can do.

Assuming you can move the wheels/slots, you'll want to set up the body exactly the same way as for the PWD. Rear wheels at 5/8" from the back, and get the CoM close to 3/4" in front of rear axle.

AGP wheels are very soft. The inside hub is very squared off and sharp. The wheels also come with gigantic mold sprues on the inside edge — those will have to be removed and the inside edge cleaned up.

We had our best success when we futzed the least with the wheels. Rounded inner hub, sanded/polished tread and inside edge of wheel.

You'll need a #43 drill bit for the AWANA axles. The axles are very smooth from the get-go when compared to PWD axles.
 
Can't move axles slots... have to use axles and wheels supplied..I assume the bore prep would be much the same as the graphite process described. that being said do I slide my weigh as far behind the axle as possible with a little jut in front (3/4 com)?
 
Ew. The AGP axle slots are pretty much awfully located. You *sure* you can't move them back but just have to keep the (rather short) wheelbase?

I would recommend locating all the weight right up against the rear axle (fore and aft) to keep the mass consolidated. This should theoretically reduce the amount of energy required by the polar moment to go through the transition, leaving more energy for speed through the flat.
 
Crash Enburn said:
Ew. The AGP axle slots are pretty much awfully located. You *sure* you can't move them back but just have to keep the (rather short) wheelbase?

I would recommend locating all the weight right up against the rear axle (fore and aft) to keep the mass consolidated. This should theoretically reduce the amount of energy required by the polar moment to go through the transition, leaving more energy for speed through the flat.
My boss said he checked and the rules say std wheels axles and slots.... I have routed the thinned body so as to add more consolidated weight just in front and behind the axle...
 
Can you cut and reglue the body, so that the slots are in a different position?
 
Vitamin K said:
Can you cut and reglue the body, so that the slots are in a different position?
I am not sure... there is no mention that you can or can't.. I will check with the boss and ask if he can get clarification