Pinewood Derby day

cincycat13

quickr1

thats awesome. i remember doing the pinewood derby when i was a kid.

cincycat13

This may stir some memories. First time ever for me and my son. We built our pinewood derby car this week for the race today. It was fun teaching how tools work and what they are for. Nothing like watching him spray paint his brother. The little brother "highjacked" my open car that I was building as the trainer car which we could mess up on so we ended up building two. He second car also made it easier for me to keep from being tempted to tweak the official one. Can't wait for speed weeks of Daytona but at least I get a race Sunday. Wish us luck

quickr1

Yeah good luck. If memory serves me correct i came in second place at our packs cub scout meeting. Then went to a regional that was kind of a joke, and didn't get too far. My son is seven and its fun to do projects like models and such with him.

drselect

Great job. And yes it stirs some great memories. Melted lead shot does wonders.;)

jflail2

Nice man. I'll never forget working with my dad on my pinewood derby cars; you're building memories that will last a lifetime. My last one was a rather dapper navy blue with some white racing stripes on it.

gudnoyez

Great thing to do for you and your son. I remember it as if it was yesterday split shot was what we used a little in the front and back to level out the weight distribution. Way cool of you to post this hope you guys tear it up and take the trophy. Keep us up to date on the results.

[Deleted User]

I can remember when they used to have races at Polk a few years ago sponsored by the engineering department and organized by CP's NAP. That and "engineering week" were always a favorite of mine.

cincycat13

Went pretty quick for the event. The boy won second in his pack and third overall for the den. The other car won first place in the open class beating 2 denmasters in a field of 18. Wahoo for the engineer dad. Boy was running in the 2.37 time range and the other in the 2.33 range.

Dennis Gardner

I found the key to a fast car is to match up wheels to axles. You have to be able to spin the wheels as hard as you can with your finger and attain no wobble just a clean spin. I used to go through 2-3 kits to come up with 4 axle/wheel combos. Polish the axle to smooth it out. Times have changed though, when I was a kid the wheels were thinner and we had some Dads put the wheels on a lathe to attain a razors edge for decreased track contact.

My son is 34 now, but I still remember getting 3rd at the state level and still have the car around here somewhere. Fun times.