firstly, i want to thank all the racers who share information so selflessly. there's a lot of reading to do here and it's a goldmine for anyone interested in the subject of making these cars fast. secondly, to say i have the bug is an understatement. 6 months ago i didnt even know what a pwd was, now i think ive contracted pinewood ebola. my scout got his kit in november and the race was in february. we managed to build a car with the limited info from youtube videos and take first by a lot. (.030) 3/4's of the way through our build i discovered this site and realized almost everything we did was wrong for top speed. we completed the build as was anyway fully expecting to get our behinds handed to us, but apparently the rest of the builders (26) did little to no research at all. next year will be different though, because we were asked by many scouts and parents how we made the car so fast and i told them about this forum.
anyway, about me, i'm a machinist from ohio with a lot more time for my wife and three children than money on my hands. im working on a build without using tungsten that my boy's will be able to do almost all of the work on themselves untill it comes time to handle the lead. using 2 wheel weight molds and a mold for 1/4'' thick rectangles ive managed a 5/8's com, and im able to keep more weight on the rdw with different thickness wheel weights. without econocote im sitting at 138 grams. i'm working on building a goatboy type drill fixture that will allow us to run a straight dfw axle and still have 6* cant and built in steer, but that's becoming a challenge to get right.
my questions are 1. has anyone ever tried using window tint instead of econocote? i was thinking it would be a little harder and scratch resistant. 2. has anyone ever used a vibratory tumbler with walnut shell media and polish on the axles after about a 1k grit spin on the drill press? i apologize for the long first post, and another big thank you to all.
anyway, about me, i'm a machinist from ohio with a lot more time for my wife and three children than money on my hands. im working on a build without using tungsten that my boy's will be able to do almost all of the work on themselves untill it comes time to handle the lead. using 2 wheel weight molds and a mold for 1/4'' thick rectangles ive managed a 5/8's com, and im able to keep more weight on the rdw with different thickness wheel weights. without econocote im sitting at 138 grams. i'm working on building a goatboy type drill fixture that will allow us to run a straight dfw axle and still have 6* cant and built in steer, but that's becoming a challenge to get right.
my questions are 1. has anyone ever tried using window tint instead of econocote? i was thinking it would be a little harder and scratch resistant. 2. has anyone ever used a vibratory tumbler with walnut shell media and polish on the axles after about a 1k grit spin on the drill press? i apologize for the long first post, and another big thank you to all.
