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Pinewood Derby NSX ?

Joined
27 March 2003
Messages
1,441
Location
Winter Park, FL
Anyone on here ever built a Boy Scout Pinewood Derby Car?

My son decided to join Cub Scouts this year and in about 2 months we have the Derby. We were given a block of wood, 4 small tires and 4 nails (as axles :rolleyes:). I've researched online and I'm amazed at some of the cars that have been fabricated and the lengths some "Dads" go to for "their" [kid's] car to win.

I'm thinking of trying to make an NSX-like car with my son and wondering just how hard it will be with my trusty Dremel tool and too much time. Here's one body style I've found that's a little similar.

<img src=http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/8708/pinewoodderby.jpg>

Other interesting cars:
http://www.rahul.net/mcgrew/derby/photos/adult.html

<img src=http://david-boyer.com/files/ks3x1688.jpg>
 
I built... uhm, I mean my son built, two pinewood derby cars. The first year we went for pure looks, modelling it after a Gallardo type sports car which ran middle of the pack. Last year we made a Speed Racer Mach 6 / Batmobile shaped car that placed very high. Both times, we used a dremel to do the shaping. Right now, we're in the process of building the raingutter regatta sailboat. That's a lot easier.

For the pinewood derby car, you have to decide if you want it to look really good or to run really fast. It's pretty hard to have both. The fastest cars usually look like skateboards with a bunch of weight at the rear. The key is to have the maximum amount of weight allowed, and get your axles smooth and true so the car runs perfectly straight. Most of all, have fun and let your son do as much of the work as possible. Good luck!
 
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Don't forget to tweak one axle so that the wheel barely touches the track. Having only three wheels in contact means less rolling resistance. ;) There is also a teflon that you can put on the axle that lets the wheel spin faster.
 
Dad and I built a simple wedge shaped car and placed third out of about 100 or so. The key to doing well was placement of lead weights (totally legal) rounding the wheels (also legal) and using graphite to lubricate between the wheel, and the axles.

An NSX shaped PD car would be awesome, but from experience the showers weren't the goers...

P
 
Dad and I built a simple wedge shaped car and placed third out of about 100 or so. The key to doing well was placement of lead weights (totally legal) rounding the wheels (also legal) and using graphite to lubricate between the wheel, and the axles.

An NSX shaped PD car would be awesome, but from experience the showers weren't the goers...

P

+1 on the weight placement. Bring metal washers to the race weigh-in so you can get it exactly up to the limit. You can smooth out the "tread" of the wheels to remove burrs, but you cannot change the shape. Also, +1 on tweaking one wheel so it just skims the surface unweighted. Just make sure when it does touch, it runs straight. The side to side movement and rubbing against the track rails is what slows the car down the most. Smooth the burrs on the nails too. Graphite powder is the recommended lubricant, but what a mess it makes!
 
Here's one that my dad and I made 20 years ago. Pre-dremel period. Nothing but a coping saw and sandpaper. I don't remember how it performed, but we had fun making it. It used to be a really cool yellow color. (fan of rick mears then) It's kind of turned black from being bounced around in a box for years.
 

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Here's one that my dad and I made 20 years ago. Pre-dremel period. Nothing but a coping saw and sandpaper. I don't remember how it performed, but we had fun making it. It used to be a really cool yellow color. (fan of rick mears then) It's kind of turned black from being bounced around in a box for years.

Nice looking ride. I built a car, very wedge shaped and simple for my younger brother about 30 years ago for his cub scout meet. It won the city wide competition, one wheel coming out about every other run, no extra weights. I still have the car, in a box; somewhere.:biggrin:

My old man never dreamed of making any sporting event (or school) project. Some of my early (single digit age) project were dogs, but some pretty good. It would be cool to have an adult pinewood derby. But somebody would form a team with a bunch of engineers and ruin it for everybody.

Miner
 
For the pinewood derby car, you have to decide if you want it to look really good or to run really fast. It's pretty hard to have both. The fastest cars usually look like skateboards with a bunch of weight at the rear. The key is to have the maximum amount of weight allowed, and get your axles smooth and true so the car runs perfectly straight. Most of all, have fun and let your son do as much of the work as possible. Good luck!

A friend's cub scout pack changed the objective from speed to distance travelled on a straight line after starting on a ramp. Had I known that spec, I would have suggested filling the wheels with lead and as small a car as possible.

Miner
 
+1 on the weight placement. Bring metal washers to the race weigh-in so you can get it exactly up to the limit. You can smooth out the "tread" of the wheels to remove burrs, but you cannot change the shape. Also, +1 on tweaking one wheel so it just skims the surface unweighted. Just make sure when it does touch, it runs straight. The side to side movement and rubbing against the track rails is what slows the car down the most. Smooth the burrs on the nails too. Graphite powder is the recommended lubricant, but what a mess it makes!

My Dad and I never lost a Pinewood Derby race. We walways went for function over form... they weren't the prettiest, but they won the trophies. We used the same tricks... lead weights, lots of graphite powder... the big thing we focused on was weight placement/ balance. the cars always had perfect balance. One other thing we did was place the nails in the jaws of the drill press and use ultra fine grit sandpaper to polish the nails ultra smooth.

My dad and I didn't do a ton together as a kid, but the engineer in him brought out the best on the PD track!!
 
Keep us updated. I'm in for a group buy :biggrin:
 
It would be cool to have an adult pinewood derby. But somebody would form a team with a bunch of engineers and ruin it for everybody.

Miner

I actually know of a group of people here that do that. It's for anyone of any age. There is only one rule. It can't have an additional help( model jet engines, etc...) It's all for fun with no prizes really.
 
all you really need to do is 3-D scan a model and upsize it to fit the wheels. if you have a 3-d scanner and a CNC mill it wouldn't be a problem...
 
Last year my son and I carved/built a derby car. It wasn't the prettiest of things but it did the job.
I actually looked more like a door stop than anything. We painted it, tweaked it, weighted and raced it. We were both rookies and really had no idea what to expect out of it. Well, we made it all the way to the district finals before losing.
In our own pack, we raced the car eight times and never lost. Set the record for fastest speed, quickest time, highest average speed and most consecutive wins.
However, when we got to the districts, that was another story. We did alright but ran into other racers that were veterans of many races and knew all the tricks of the trade. Needless to say, we had a short day.
I would post up a picture of the car but my son was so excited about winning that he brought it outside to play with it one day and got distracted and left it on the ground and someone came by and stole it out of our driveway.:mad:
 
Pinewood derby was fun, but FSEA co2 cars were more fun ;)

Here is my FSEA car, basically a pinewood derby car with a hole in the base, for a full-length co2 cartridge. At the starting block a weight forces a nail to puncture the cartridges of the vehicles facing off against each other, they are then guided down a line of fishing string to the finish, and timed electronically. The kits are produced by a company 'PITSCO', which holds championships for all age groups.

co2.jpg


The objective here is to make the car as light as possible, while still maintaining about a dozen safety specifications (a certain amount of wood around the co2 cartridge, for instance), as well as overall dimensions (height, width, minimum weight, etc.); these are carefully checked with a caliper before each race.

This car was designed to create lift and come off of the track entirely, using its wheels as outriggers - it was undefeated for two years, until it cracked in half - beat about 80 other cars, and won 3 'championships' during that time.

When I did pinewood derby it was all about low and heavy, with a dremel tool construction should be way easier than it was with a coping saw and sandpaper.
 
This was a huge event for my family each year. I think my Father enjoyed this as much as his kids did! We won our district evey time. This is one of many trophys from my CS days. Father/Son cake bake was also a favorite. :smile:
 
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Just thought I'd give an update on how our build is going. This is harder than it looks and yes we've made a 4X4 Limo NSX. :biggrin: We have a trip to the body shop for paint and detailing this weekend.

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Haha...that Pinewood NSX looks like some I've seen here on Prime! Haha...big wheels...:tongue:

In all seriousness that's an awesome effort! Keep us posted on how it fares in racing.:smile:
 
Very nice effort. I'd make the nose of the car a little more angled to cut down on wind resistance. The side vents may also be a source of resistance too. Maybe you can make them a little more flush and use paint to make them look deeper. After it's all painted up put some go-fast stickers on it. :)
 
Car is looking great!!!!

My son will enter his 3rd pinewood derby this March. Its a blast on race day win or lose!

Awesome idea doing the NSX. You got all the bases covered and it looks fantastic with decent weight distribution. Like others have said weight and placement of that weight is key. Based on where you are you might consider the idea (just throwing this out there) of using the dremel to hollow out the underneath of the car behind the rear axle :) for use of weight. Like others have said, the farther back and the lower the weight the faster it will go.

Another suggestion I would offer would be to get some of that graphite put in a giant freezer ziplock with the 4 nails and wheels and grind it in and shake it up all over the wheels (esp where they touch the track and nails) and the nails themselves. I usually do that for a week or two before the race ;)

My last thought is I think one of the most important parts of the build is 'nailing the wheels' on. Let me know if you need a link to the coffee can cover trick and I'll dig it up.

Best of Luck,
Larry

Here's a pic of some of the cars from our Race Day :) Last year....

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