Newbie here. Tips appreciated.

Feb 8, 2013
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Hello there. I have just recently started lurking on this forum and this is my first post. My son is in his first year as a Tiger cub and this is our first season building pinewood derby cars. I have been on DerbyTalk.com for the last month and built my car and helped my son with his car using tips from those guys and supplies purchased from MaxV and hodges. We had our first Pack Derby this last weekend and did well. My sons car was first across the line every time and is the Pack Champion. I built an "outlaw"/ parent car and my car also did well finishing first place every heat. Both our cars were the quickest by a large margin. Next is the district race, then we plan on entering the Mid America Derby.

Here are our cars.

IMAG0154_zps19dc590a.jpg

IMAG0173-1_zpsde6ac671.jpg


We understand the basics pretty well now and were able to apply them decently. 3 wheeled, extended wheelbase, rail riders, with aggresive COM. But as the competition gets tougher I know that we will need to keep impoving our skills and methods. My son spent hours on his car and is tickled that it did so well. He looks forward to the district race and mid america. I myself would like to start league racing. I do plan to run my car above in the "Pro Modified" class via proxy at mid america. I know I will get my butt handed to me. I will be running graphite since it will only be my second race.

I want to build at least one more car for mid america and enter it in the adult class, and maybee another in the pro stock class. I was thinking about trying to use some of the advanced techniques you guys use. Like hollowing out the body then using monokote or birtch plywood, building fenders, getting as much ballast as I can in the right spot, maybee trying oil, etc.

Ted.
 
My first plan is to buy a couple sets of wheels and axles from DD4H, John. I am still waiting to hear what the rules will be for the district race, But I know I want the Dynasty Nitro wheels and 92 axles for mid america scout and open adult class.
 
Welcome TedBull!

We have to now put you through an intense de-derbytalkification process... First, drilling axle holes with any other method other than the block or the Silver Bullet doesn't work. Second, polishing wheel bores with sticky backed paper and little rods is a complete waste of time. Third, there is more misinformation on that site than good information. Fourth, polishing axles to the sub-sub-sub micron is craaaazy and a waste of time. I wish we could just ban the word "sub-micron". Lastly, with the exception of 5J's, there is not one guy at that site that could compete with any of the guys over here.... My name is Scott and I am a professional pwd racer, I mean I am an expert pwd racer, I don't know what I mean...

I am just kidding TedBull.... welcome to the NPWDRL. You think you are fast now, stick around awhile.
 
Thanks Scott,I believe I used your method for creating weight cavities (using a 1/4" 4 flute end mill bit) and it worked great.

I am over here now to take our Derby Car Building to the next level. And I do plan to build and race some cars in your League in a few months when I am ready. I know we were only fast at our pack derby becuase the other racers did not put in as much time as we did on our cars.

So any specific info on Axle prep, wheel prep, body frame building, etc, would be appreciated. I will be searching thru the many threads here but if anyone has a specific method or a link to a helpfull post feel free to PM me the link. Thanks.

Ted.
 
Hey! Welcome to the forum and to the fastest PWD racers on the planet! I like your banana peel on the Mario car thats fantastic!!!
 
Thanks. The mario car was completely my sons idea. He did most of the acutal work and I only helped where needed. (Its pretty cool to hear a six year old explain to another adult how the car is a three wheeled rail rider, with the ballast weight in the rear, how the axles and bores are polished, etc, and the physics behind it all.)

So I have a question about Bodies. I have some standard pine blocks that I have already cut and drilled. I would like to remove as much weight as possible. Should I cutt out lare pockets and fill them with Balsa, foam, or something else? Or should I leave the pockets open and cover the car with monokote or think Birch? I will be searching, but if someone could point me towards a link that would be great.
 
I leave my pockets hollow, cover the top with 1/64 th birch, and MonoK on the bottom w/o a wood covering. However, even though I have a hard top, I still cover it with Monok, simply because it is faster and less of a mess.

TedBull said:
Thanks. The mario car was completely my sons idea. He did most of the acutal work and I only helped where needed. (Its pretty cool to hear a six year old explain to another adult how the car is a three wheeled rail rider, with the ballast weight in the rear, how the axles and bores are polished, etc, and the physics behind it all.)

So I have a question about Bodies. I have some standard pine blocks that I have already cut and drilled. I would like to remove as much weight as possible. Should I cutt out lare pockets and fill them with Balsa, foam, or something else? Or should I leave the pockets open and cover the car with monokote or think Birch? I will be searching, but if someone could point me towards a link that would be great.
 
Hello Ted .. Your car and your sons cars are AWESOME !!! Yes that is cool that your little guy was explaining his car... Make sure to keep us in the loop how you do at Districts...

These guys are Great and DD4H is well respected.. He knows his stuff and proves it daily...

Welcome to NPWDRL ....

V