Hi Folks,
Now that I've taken a couple weeks to digest the last 7+ years of discussion, I'm finally ready to jump into the shark tank. Apologize for the long post, but maybe this will spur some discussion!
Looking for low-hanging fruit. 5kidsracing's guide was pretty helpful, I assume his methods are well-accepted for scouts?
I should preface that I'm just looking at scout-legal racing for now. My son is pretty clever and enjoys the process and designing his cars, but mostly he enjoys winning. I've figured out enough to put us into contention at the district, but we're consistently ~0.01-0.02+ behind the best. Track isn't consistent year-to-year, nor particularly well-maintained.
Our rules are graphite, wheels+axles from an official pwd box, only mold projections on wheels removed (no lathe turning to reduce running surface or reduce weight). That cuts down the number of dd4h's products I can use, but I think there's plenty of speed to be found there.
I think the basics are fairly clear. Slim body, rear-weighted, rail running, polishing axles and hubs. Anything to add?
The first 2 aren't a problem. I have tungsten and even cast bismuth-tin alloy into cavities. If you've seen my lava car, you'll know I have to work with weird car shapes.
Wheels are my weakest point. I hunt for the best-balanced wheels, and can usually get pretty good ones but it's a pain. I'm planning to order Dynasty BASX Tall. I think I still need to polish and burnish, so I've got novus2 (that stuff's amazing) and will grab Red Rocket and graphite.
But I'm bad at polishing hubs. I've tried HobELube and a regular q-tip in a slow drill, but I don't think that's helped. The novus2 should help, and I've seen enough videos to practice that. But I think I'm losing speed rubbing the car body, maybe at the nail head too, but dont' see how to polish those effectively. Maybe I'm overthinking it. Is there >0.01s to be won here?
I'm making my tuning board. I hope that tuning to ~6" drift /4' is the winning formula for us due to the shoddy tracks. Or, do we aim for 4"? Can't test beforehand. (and in the past I've used the infamous treadmill, but I've learned my lesson there) I have the basic axle jig, so I can at least drill straight holes, but don't have anything fancier so won't attempt to drill canted holes bc no way they'll be true+straight. I still think this will easily drop ~0.01+ s, and seems like the easiest low-hanging fruit. And it's something my son and I can work on together!
Axle polishing I feel ok on. I've got files, sandpaper, and leather. These already come out mirrored. I'm adding brasso because it won't hurt. I'll probably order DD4H's speed axles, since I don't think BSA elite axles would be allowed (axles must be from a kit). Maybe a couple 0.001's? Anyone found more speed than that?
Thoughts? And thanks in advance!
-karlaj
p.s. I can't access the dd4h site from my computer (all browsers: This site can't be reached), only my phone. Seems odd.
Now that I've taken a couple weeks to digest the last 7+ years of discussion, I'm finally ready to jump into the shark tank. Apologize for the long post, but maybe this will spur some discussion!
Looking for low-hanging fruit. 5kidsracing's guide was pretty helpful, I assume his methods are well-accepted for scouts?
I should preface that I'm just looking at scout-legal racing for now. My son is pretty clever and enjoys the process and designing his cars, but mostly he enjoys winning. I've figured out enough to put us into contention at the district, but we're consistently ~0.01-0.02+ behind the best. Track isn't consistent year-to-year, nor particularly well-maintained.
Our rules are graphite, wheels+axles from an official pwd box, only mold projections on wheels removed (no lathe turning to reduce running surface or reduce weight). That cuts down the number of dd4h's products I can use, but I think there's plenty of speed to be found there.
I think the basics are fairly clear. Slim body, rear-weighted, rail running, polishing axles and hubs. Anything to add?
The first 2 aren't a problem. I have tungsten and even cast bismuth-tin alloy into cavities. If you've seen my lava car, you'll know I have to work with weird car shapes.
Wheels are my weakest point. I hunt for the best-balanced wheels, and can usually get pretty good ones but it's a pain. I'm planning to order Dynasty BASX Tall. I think I still need to polish and burnish, so I've got novus2 (that stuff's amazing) and will grab Red Rocket and graphite.
But I'm bad at polishing hubs. I've tried HobELube and a regular q-tip in a slow drill, but I don't think that's helped. The novus2 should help, and I've seen enough videos to practice that. But I think I'm losing speed rubbing the car body, maybe at the nail head too, but dont' see how to polish those effectively. Maybe I'm overthinking it. Is there >0.01s to be won here?
I'm making my tuning board. I hope that tuning to ~6" drift /4' is the winning formula for us due to the shoddy tracks. Or, do we aim for 4"? Can't test beforehand. (and in the past I've used the infamous treadmill, but I've learned my lesson there) I have the basic axle jig, so I can at least drill straight holes, but don't have anything fancier so won't attempt to drill canted holes bc no way they'll be true+straight. I still think this will easily drop ~0.01+ s, and seems like the easiest low-hanging fruit. And it's something my son and I can work on together!
Axle polishing I feel ok on. I've got files, sandpaper, and leather. These already come out mirrored. I'm adding brasso because it won't hurt. I'll probably order DD4H's speed axles, since I don't think BSA elite axles would be allowed (axles must be from a kit). Maybe a couple 0.001's? Anyone found more speed than that?
Thoughts? And thanks in advance!
-karlaj
p.s. I can't access the dd4h site from my computer (all browsers: This site can't be reached), only my phone. Seems odd.
