Lawerence William Badowski AKA Billy the not so dumb Red Neck needs your help AND feels he owes the Forum an apology. It's about Friday's replies in regard to the Thread "Billy's Red Neck Wheel Gap Tool" under the Pinewood Derby Tools section. Billy, being the caring person he is, felt badly about the somewhat spirited replies of himself defending his position and apologizes to those of whom he may have offended. Billy used the credit card routine as a quick get by when building his first AWANA car and just never went away from it. Five cars a year is a minuscule number vs many on the forum but he built cars for his kids during their AWANA years, himself in the open division plus helping others and using the card ,but that was 15 years ago or more and my how things have changed. Billy had me open the Gap Tool thread with "Now this will open a Pandora's box of opinions" and felt he had me make clear the fact that you can sand the card to your preferred gap setting. Perhaps it wasn't clear enough. Billy still holds to his opinion the card is a good get by for the novice on a budget. Especially if they sand the card and have access to someone's Vernier Caliper or Micrometer. Billy's still also convinced some cars want more or less gap than others. Even though Billy had some success in the distance past using old faithful and is now building for his granddaughter that recently won 1st in speed while setting a new track record on a 42' Computer Timed Best Track in its 10th year of use using Billy's methods. Billy the not do dumb Red Neck has realized things are different than 15 years ago, needs to change some prep and build methods and is smart enough to know you're not competing against many Rocket Ships at an AWANA Event. He's heeding the advice from members and will be changing his gap to something more optimal. Having said that, Billys much older now and has some serious health issues. He woke up Saturday feeling poorly and we thought he was still upset about letting the Forum down. With the Coronovirus being the boogie man in the closet we took him to the ER. Being the comical guy he is, while in the ER cubicle awaiting test results he said "Maybe I have influenza, I slept with the window open the other night and In Flew Enza". Luckly it was just a sinus infection and he's ok. He's still wanting to build cars as long as he can for his Granddaughter PLUS he's trying to help his Niece and Nephew with 6 kids get started. He's arranged for the cutting of the templates, main weight holes, rear cants and raised NDFW. It being an extended family with so many AWANA aged kids Billy's compiled a get by budget shopping list on the inner web using some of the get by products suggested on this forum that can get them everything else they need to build a family fleet at a bargain price. The one thing he hasn't nailed down is an automotive product or another alternative for bore wax. The family will be building a ton of cars over the years and waxing a lot of bores. While raising 6 kids and possibly the Mom and Dad racing in the Open Class it's not feasible for them to buy a small vial of speciality Pinewood Bore Wax. To avoid controversy Billy had me compile a list of products listed in a poll above this post to get a feel of what the majority of the forum members like best. If your favorite product isn't on the list you can add yours in a reply but please no controversy. Billy says thanks in advanve and be sure to tip your waitress !! P.S. I've set up the poll correctly and you're vote will register but not you handle.....RRR
Last edited:
