Extra Time for Prep

[Skid Mark]

First off, I want to thank everyone on here for their "open door" policy and professionalism. I've spent the last month of what free time I could find scouring through roughly 90% of the posts with notebook in hand along the way. Needless to say the information is no less than staggering. One thing I did take note of was no one gets into disagreements and trash talk begins to fly. What a breath of fresh air! Kudos not just John for running a professional forum, but you all are a class act.

So here's my question: My son finally got his kit this week and we have roughly a month to build his hot rod, so time isn't necessarily an issue. Should we begin to prep the wheels and axles now and give them time to cure or should we wait until closer to race day to begin this process? I have the means to keep the axles from corroding (sealed ammo can with desiccant) so that's not an issue either. However, I don't want to get too overzealous and and have him start too early. Any thoughts??

 

[GravityX]

Welcome aboard Skid Mark...

As far as prepping axles and wheels. Do you know if you are using graphite or oil? What type of axles are you using? (Dynasty 92X recommended) A graphite prep does not typically take as long as an oil prep. There are various cure times, varies with each builder and could range from 24 - 96+ hours, depending on who you speak to. Axle prep, all told, should typically not take you more than an hour, that too varies with ones skill set.

You can never start too early, even then you may run out of time. You'll end up changing your build several times throughout the process. Gather up all the hints and tips you can, write them down, sort them out, start building and stick to it. Most of all HAVE FUN!

 

[Rocket car]

I usually prep about a week before the race. Do all building, painting, etc.in the weeks before so your not rushed. Follow the prep process to the T and you will have the fastest car there for sure.

 

[Kinser Racing]

Yep! Start now, you'll be glad you did.

 

[Chief]

Most definitely start sooner than later. My son and I always started as soon as we could because sometimes he only had an hour or two to spend, as he had other things to do and sometimes he just wouldn't stay interested. Starting sooner also gave us an opportunity if anything ever went wrong, like once he was polishing the bores of a wheel and broke the Qtip stick off inside the bore and we had to run 4 wheels. Talk about an "AW CRAP" moment.

 

[HMH Racing]

Agree, start now. We started my nephews and 2 best friends (HMH) cars last week. They have a short attention span. I also always review what we are doing and why each time we work on cars. After 2 years they are beginning to "really" understand. They were excited last week, in their science class the topic was friction, they knew just about every question and concept their teacher brought up. For 1 day they were Einsteins /images/boards/smilies/smile.gif

 

[Crash Enburn]

Loved that story, HMH! /images/boards/smilies/thumb.gif

 

[Skid Mark]

Appreciate the feedback guys. Looks like we have a project for the weekend. Now it's time to put all these notes I've swiped from everyone here. Let ya know how it all turns out...

 

[MOFAST]

Fastest graphite car I ever had, I prepped in May and ran for the first time the following January. I used John's bore polish and Rocket. I used Pledge on the axles too. Car took Pack and then rank at Districts.