last minute decision

[birddog]

I'm helping my son build a car for the mid america race as that race allows more liberal rules than our pack/district allows.

We have a chance to enter a special race this weekend at a basketball game where they expect over 400 scouts to bring cars to race. We are planning to enter the car we are building for mid america in the race this coming Saturday.

One of the things kids in the open scouts division at mid america can do is run oil. we've never done that before, so I went out out bought the secrets to oil DVD.

Unfortunately, I wasn't planninng well enough and my order for the "red rocket" stuff won't be here in time.

So, I need to make a last minute decision for this Saturday's race.

Do I use the oil process and just skip the red rocket step (or some other deviation anybody recommends), or do I just use graphite for this Saturday and switch back to oil for the mid america race when I can "do it right" after the red rocket stuff arrives?

thanks for any advice,

birddog

ps- this is the "special event": http://www.denverboyscouts.org/event/1244489

 

[5KidsRacing]

Find some Liquid Glass at a local auto parts store and use that for this race and then re-prep with Red Rocket for the Mid-American.

 

[birddog]

Excellent. I wasn't sure exactly what was in "red rocket", so I guess it must be some type of fancy super fast wax.

This solution is perfect. Thanks so much 5kids!

birddog

 

[5KidsRacing]

Don't get me wrong, I don't know what is in Red Rocket either... Liquid Glass is slower, but will work in a pinch.

 

[birddog]

Well, I tried the oil process and I'm not sure if it is making me slower or faster. This is the only car I have with lightened wheels and an extended wheel base and an agressive center of mass (~ 5/8"), so I have nothing to compare it to.

The good news is, it is running faster than any other car we have. It is also very stable down the track, no wobble.

The strange thing is that when I do a "spin test" on the wheels, they don't spin very well. When I spin wheels on cars with graphite on them, they spin for a good 30 seconds or so. When I spin these wheels, they only spin for 5-10 seconds and then stop. They almost look "sticky".

I'm thinking I may tear it apart, re-prep the wheel bores and axles for graphite and try again. I've got until tomorrow to figure this out and since this is my first time with oil, I may just go with the graphite instead for this one race tomorrow.

The only thing stopping me from changing over to graphite is the lack of knowledge about how the wheels should spin when using oil.

Should they spin about or close to the same, or do oil lubed wheels not spin very well on a spin test for some reason? My spin test is to just spin the wheel with my finger and watch to see how long it spins.

Thanks for any advice.

birddig

 

[Spirit Racing]

Birddog,, that is normal for a shorter spin on oil cars. .....and they spin with very little noise as while......You should be good if car is set up and tuned good......SPIRIT.......

 

[Skidogg Racing]

Ya the lighter wheels will not spin as long as the heavy ones do so keep that in mind too.

*Skidogg*

 

[Kinser Racing]

I wouldn't change my fastest car. Spin test on oil is about 5+ seconds, so you're good.

 

[Quicktimederby]

Oil will not spin any where close to graphite. Like Spirit said. hold the axle spin the wheel with the wheel spinning on the axle head and it should be very quite and smooth.

 

[birddog]

Thanks for all the quick responses guys, I'm glad I asked! I had no idea that oil wouldn't spin as fast, but I couldn't complain about the results, so I was at a loss. I never thought about the lighter wheels not spinning as fast either.

Thanks for help. We'll keep it as is and maybe fool with the tuning a bit more to see if we can get it faster.

thanks,

birddog

 

[txchemist]

In earlier times, there were some cars running graphite and some with oil in the same race. From the videos, it seamed to me , you can see the good oil cars get out in front in the first few inches of run. Long before they have come up to speed, simply a function of the lower friction when the wheel is under full weight.
Any racers in person notice the same thing?

If that is true, some simple tests can be used to tell if your oil is OK even if you do not have a track.
I really think you can tell in a few feet at slow motion on a tuning board if your oil car is faster than your graphite.

Then again- I might just make really slow graphite cars.

What do others notice?

 

[birddog]

Just wanted to thank everyone who replied and helped with my questions on this thread.

I left the car alone and ran with the oil. It turned out, that about 50 cars showed up for the race and my son took 1st place! It wasn't really close. The next fastest car was 0.04 seconds slower.

My son got to get is picture taken at half court of the basketball game with about 20 cheerleaders. It was very cool and he had a smile from ear to ear. Hopefully, I'll have a picture I can post at some point in time.

thanks again!

birddog

 

[Kinser Racing]

Congrats!

 

[SoGone]

Congrats Birddog clan. You have definitely took it to another level. Wait until you start whoopin at scouts that bad! Be prepared to be swarmed by all the dads after the pack race!

 

[birddog]

We already won the pack race with a different car (a car that needed to be built to more restricted rules). Our district race with that car is on April 6th.

As promised, here is the grainy pic that was taken on a cell phone from last night's center court recognition at the Denver University basketball game.

birddog

 

[khouse]

He will never forget this moment in time when 10 girls were cheering for him! For that moment he probably forgot about the race!

 

[Spirit Racing]

That is way too cool !!!!! That is a great memory he will never forget. Congrats BIRDDOG........SPIRIT.......

 

[aircooled]

That is great super, way to go!!!!!

 

[Resophonic Racing]

Chicks dig a man in uniform!

 

[zeebzob]

That's awesome! Standing in front of those hotties showing off his 7 inches of wood!