I don’t know which one is better. I just know what worked for me. I had Lead in the nose of the car and on bottom front. My suggestion would be make 2 identical cars. 1 with weight in the back and 1 with weight in the front. Then you can test them yourself. The fun part is making the cars how you want them. We made a total of 4 cars and tested them and took the fastest one to race day.
good luck
Ranger 520vx Yamaha 225 ox66.
I always put my weights in the middle. Regular bullet worm weights about 2 on each side. We couldn't alter the wheels and axles other than sand them and graphite. Use powder graphite. Liquid doesn't work so good. I kind of wonder what Rocket Fuel Yellow would do today? I won local 2 years and got 2nd in the state jamboree.
You said "back".Originally Posted by basscat21
How am I supposed to know if you were standing behind the finish line, or out in front of the finish line?
Nice participation trophies, though.
My pack in FT Leveanworth was the largest in the world in 70. It was a 2 day event. The FT. Was loaded with military back from Vietnam going to school, had plenty of time on their hands, they built the cars in the base craft shop, some were works of art!Great tips above, but c'mon, now... everyone knows it's a "Dad-built" car competition.
...and I was just as guilty as the rest.
Years ago, I got a good laugh from a couple of over-zealous dads.
They were good friends and kept trying to one-up the other in the weeks leading up to the race.
Wee hours of the night before race, one of the Dads melted lead to pour in a drilled-cavity in bottom of car. He was a car-detailer, so he had lots of paint supplies. The hot-lead caught the paint on fire. At 2:00 in the morning, he could not salvage burnt car. He had to go to a back-up car for his son. I still give both of them grief for getting too carried away and not letting sons do more of the work.
I built mine, but with some durection.....the arrow point to a scar I got carving the middle car in the above picture!
You tube has some videos. If you want a forum to check out try Pinewood derby online. If you wanna throw money at it go to Derby Dad For hire.
I bought every thing needed to build from the scout office. The Derby Dad graphite is the best I could find.
The big key to speed is alignment then weight placement. You want your balance point as close to 5/8" in front of rear axle as you can get with out loosing control of the car.
The car below is one I helped my Grandson build. Won pack and district plus fastest heat 2.4165 seconds. Pic on scale is at weigh in and I wanted to add that last .05 to get to 5 OZ.
Weight to the rear of the car means more potential energy. Hold a rock two feet above your foot and let her go. Now hold the same rock three feet above the other foot and let her go. Which foot hurts worse. However, the slight advantage means nothing if the car drags along the side of the track. A straight running car is more important. So wherever you put the weight make sure it's centered and test.
nothing personal but screw this event.. My son at 10 worked on this,, With ZERO help from me cause it should be just him,, carving a bit off wheels a bit off, who cares. Shows up to meeting and obvious not one of those scouts built those cars,,, All Dads and then some,, yeh if u touched your sons derby car you are an asshat
LOL reminds me of a Pumpkin chukin competition I was judge at and promptly disqualified the troop, that all the kids were sitting on arse while dads built everything.
It's a bonding thing. Dad and I built one together, now I get to do it as the Dad. Win or lose, the lesson learned will be that we worked together and did the best we could.
That's all well and good, but some men simply cannot afford to have the family honor solely in the hands of a 10 year old.
When I get the chance at a Pinewood Derby, that kid's getting locked in the shop every day after school until he gets it right.
Are those neodymium (N42) magnets? Did you just put tacks in the body to stick magnets to as needed to hit weight? Very clean setup! Looks good and balanced too.You tube has some videos. If you want a forum to check out try Pinewood derby online. If you wanna throw money at it go to Derby Dad For hire.
I bought every thing needed to build from the scout office. The Derby Dad graphite is the best I could find.
The big key to speed is alignment then weight placement. You want your balance point as close to 5/8" in front of rear axle as you can get with out loosing control of the car.
The car below is one I helped my Grandson build. Won pack and district plus fastest heat 2.4165 seconds. Pic on scale is at weigh in and I wanted to add that last .05 to get to 5 OZ.
The weight is optimally centered just in front of the rear axle. If your packrules allow, move the axles to the point furthest on the front and rear of the car. If they don’t allow, just shorten the block. No one ever thinks to make a rule not allowing the car to be shorter. If you’re handy, add the length cut off back to the front of the car with a looped coat hanger square that rests against the starter peg. This pushes the weight further up the hill for more potential energy. Go to Hodges Hobby house and order the 3/8 inch lead weights. Drill press holes over and just in front of the rear axle. If the weight is too far back the car will be unstable and wheelie when it goes down the track.so which is it?? weight in the front or back?
so far cat is the only one with pics of trophies
Raise one front wheel up 1/8 inch. Reduce axle nail head size down to reduce friction on wheel. Polish wood surface where wheel hub can contact the car with graphite until the graphite is literally part of the wood. Most packs do not allow reduction in the diameter or width of the tire for obvious reasons. Weigh car at home to 5.5 ounces with one area of exposed lead on the bottom. Bring a drill with you to the race and weigh on their scale. Take off incremental lead until exactly 5 oz on the official scale.
We proved all of this in a science fair project using an electronically timed track that we purchased and set up in our attic. Built them for years for people that needed help and rarely had one get beat using these tips and a few others that will be in my will :).
Every dad says this the first year until they leave with a crying 10 year old. The next year that 11 year old has miraculously earned a mechanical engineering degree. It’s been going on for generations and is part of the tradition.
See my cars.......note. they fit many is the principles described.......we knew that in 1972. Car is actually backwards, to get the axel farther back. The 30-60 shell was used to pull out and drill to get to exact weight.
Polish the nails that are the axels for the wheels and weight forward.
Tungsten straight from the boyscout store. Scout store also has speed axles. The nails don't have the little indentations at the head are a little larger diameter and their straighter. Amazing how much money you can spend making a wood block go fast.
We also built one to race in the NPWDRL. If you think you can build a fast piece of wood. Those guys will humble you quick.
Thanks for mentioning NPWDRL. It led me to a site with a wealth of parts where I can get a body already cut and axle holes drilled for $15: https://derbyevolution.com/Car-Bodies_c23.htmTungsten straight from the boyscout store. Scout store also has speed axles. The nails don't have the little indentations at the head are a little larger diameter and their straighter. Amazing how much money you can spend making a wood block go fast.
We also built one to race in the NPWDRL. If you think you can build a fast piece of wood. Those guys will humble you quick.
I think just buying a body for $15 and then modifying to our specs might be the way to go. I don't have the tools to do much on the cutting side of things or a drill press for the axle holes, but should be able to make mods easily to make the car our own.
Thanks!
I helped my sons build dozens of them back in the day, never thought of the fine tuning aspect of it just went for the look they wanted. Last year I helped my grandson build his first car and went on YouTube and learned how to get the max speed out of the car, the little tricks mentioned like polished axles and the proper weight placement made a huge difference. We also went with the flying wedge design for aerodynamics.You tube has some videos. If you want a forum to check out try Pinewood derby online. If you wanna throw money at it go to Derby Dad For hire.
I bought every thing needed to build from the scout office. The Derby Dad graphite is the best I could find.
The big key to speed is alignment then weight placement. You want your balance point as close to 5/8" in front of rear axle as you can get with out loosing control of the car.
The car below is one I helped my Grandson build. Won pack and district plus fastest heat 2.4165 seconds. Pic on scale is at weigh in and I wanted to add that last .05 to get to 5 OZ.
1987 Ranger 373V 150 Yamaha proV still going strong.
I have/had 3 boys in Cub scouts... they won 1st or 2nd almost every yr
get your info and stuff from www.maximumvelocity.com
Last edited by W.O.T; 08-21-2018 at 02:54 PM.
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