newbie

[ragin_cajuns]

this is my son's first year participating in the pinewood derby race and i have a few questions.

when poliching the axles with 400 and 600 grit sandpaper should it be wet or dry? also, if putting graphite powder on the axles is good to reduce friction would it also be good to put it on the wheel surface (the part that touches the track)?

 

[Resophonic Racing]

Do not put any graphite on the rear wheels. If you are rail riding, you can put some Graphite on the FDW wheel surface.

 

[comersj]

Hi All,
Newby II here. Why not graphite the rear wheels? I don't rail ride.

 

[Quicktimederby]

What axle's are you running. If you are using the stock BSA and file off the markings 400 is still pretty aggressive. I would start at 800 and work you to around 1500 for graphite.

 

[Resophonic Racing]

Hi All,
Newby II here. Why not graphite the rear wheels? I don't rail ride.

If you graphite the rear wheel surface it may cause your rear end to sway or slide.

 

[CDB Racing]

Graphite the hub, but not the tread on the rear wheels.

 

[5KidsRacing]

Welcome Ragin and Comersj! Good news you guys, you found the right place! With 5 years left of building cars buy a good axle prep kit that will last you his entire cub scout pwd builds. Buy DD4H's Zero Friction axle polishing kit here and you will have all the prep products you will need for his entire Cub scouts. If you post some more about your rules we can help you guys with the entire build and reccomend the RIGHT products.

I have some bad news for you too Ragin... be careful about the information you are getting over at DerbyTalk, the majority will not be good information.

 

[ragin_cajuns]

cool thanks for the advice. too late for that polishing kit for this year - our race is this weekend but next year i will go with that.

on another note. my son realy wanted a mustang shaped car. i looked all over the net for a site that had free plans / templates for real production cars but couldn't find anything. we ended up drawing one by hand on the block and cutting it out. are there sites that have templates for produciton cars?

 

[5KidsRacing]

There are some out there, like here, but I don't think you are going to find a template for a production car. A car like a Mustang is probably out of the scope for the average scout/helper.

 

[E.T.Racing]

this is my son's first year participating in the pinewood derby race and i have a few questions.

when poliching the axles with 400 and 600 grit sandpaper should it be wet or dry? also, if putting graphite powder on the axles is good to reduce friction would it also be good to put it on the wheel surface (the part that touches the track)?

Wet sanding is the way to go on the axles!

 

[OTO Racing]

A wise man once told me if i can put two oz. of weight vs one oz. in the location it should be i am putting two oz.'s there ! I have always kept that in mind during my build !