Comments on: Steve Lodefink's pinewood racer bodies

By: steve lodefink

steve lodefink — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 21:31:00 +0000

Its just sort of an interpretive blend of Mclaren M1A, Lola T-70, Chaparral, Lotus 40, etc…

By: cmholm

cmholm — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 03:32:00 +0000

Just for the joy of modeling, I wish I’d thought of adding fenders. Wow.

Pinewood Derby speeds never get high enough for aerodynamics to become a factor. But, as a model hobbyist as a Cub and adult, I shellacked the heck out of the finish, anyway. For my son’s cars, I managed to go hands off (other than keeping his out of the saw blades) until it was time to mount the axles.

Every year, the Scoutmaster of the troop overseeing the Derby for my pack would race (and win with) a fresh, untouched block of wood to remind everyone that to be competitive, getting the wheels on straight was job 1.

By: steve lodefink

steve lodefink — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 20:59:00 +0000

Yeah, As far as “speed setup” is concerned, we are going to stick to our local rules, which prohibit modifying the wheels.

We will just clean up and graphite the axles, and make sure that our cars weigh the maximum allowable weight and roll straight.

By: Millo Lopez

Millo Lopez — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 20:50:00 +0000

Thanks for the clarification. I remember now that the “only parts in the approved kit” rule is from an episode of Southpark where Stan’s dad puts plutonium in his car and promptly achieves warp speed prompting first contact with aliens..

By the way, they are coming out great!I remember reading once about some tricks for making the car faster, among them drilling out the wheel centers, lubricating with graphite, modifying the wheels to make them as thin as possible and mounting one of the wheels higher so it doesn’t actually touch the track.

By: Bruce Miller

Bruce Miller — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 22:18:00 +0000

Now show me an article on University of Alberta’s hemp car body so i can give you a ‘like”

By: LightningRose

LightningRose — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 16:07:00 +0000

Wrong gender to have been a part of pinewood derby, but it does bring back fond memories of 1/24 scale commercial track slot car racing. If I ever become wealthy enough to own a hobby business, it’s going to be a slot car track.

By: Halloween_Jack

Halloween_Jack — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:37:00 +0000

Did every single person in this thread who's complaining about how their ridiculously overengineered hunk of wood lost to a crude-looking job somehow miss seeing Rocky? People, come on.

By: Wally Ballou

Wally Ballou — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 13:25:00 +0000

Is the Can Am car based on a specific prototype or freelanced? It looks like a Lotus 30.

By: C

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 07:44:00 +0000

Here is a hint for making fenders and other complicated close-together parts in the future: cut the block apart, shape sand and paint the fenders and other components separately, then glue the back together.

By: tylerkaraszewski

tylerkaraszewski — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 23:36:00 +0000

Lame. Come back when he can 3D print them.

(Actually, I think they are quite cool.)

By: EH

EH — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 22:16:00 +0000

enough with hula hooping and dodge ball, i want to start an adult pinewood derby league

By: nemomen

nemomen — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 21:58:00 +0000

A Dremel with some sanding wheels and a few carving bits makes this kind of thing quick and fairly easy, though I wouldn’t do recessed wheels if you actually wanted to enter a car in a race – too risky.

By: Henry Pootel

Henry Pootel — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 21:55:00 +0000

Oh – maybe he sands the course with the sandpaper to smooth it up a bit.

By: schadenfreudisch

schadenfreudisch — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 21:25:00 +0000

same exact experience. i beat everyone in my troop with my streamlined silver racer (a single asymmetrical black stripe). went to regionals or whatever they called it. i weighted it perfectly, lubrication just right, was beaten by a rough plank painted with an american flag.

By: kartwaffles

kartwaffles — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 21:13:00 +0000

Yep. My theory is that the people who put tons of time into making the car *look* good often screw up the wheels and alignment. A plain wood block with fresh-from-the-kit wheels probably outperforms a car that’s been “tuned” into a hot mess by some kid’s dad.

If you want to go even faster, turn down the plastic wheels to reduce rotating mass and make sure they’re balanced. Lube with molybdenum disulfide instead of graphite. Rig it so it rolls straight but only has 3 wheels on the track, to reduce rolling friction even further.

By: Dean Putney

Dean Putney — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 21:01:00 +0000

When I was a Tiger Scout (I think my first year even), I insisted on making my car without any help from my dad. My block had just a few grooves rasped out of it, and some clumsy paint splotches, but it cleaned up the competition and I won.

So yeah, nondescript blocks of wood do pretty well in pinewood derbies.

By: Joshua Ochs

Joshua Ochs — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 20:31:00 +0000

There’s no reason a fancy design like this couldn’t win. The secret is using proper graphite on the axles, sanding away any imperfections on the plastic wheels, and of course, getting it as close to the regulation weight maximum as possible.

I had fancy designs with spoilers and such that won back when I was a scout. Not THIS fancy, but there’s no reason you can’t have fun with the body and still compete well.

By: Crashproof

Crashproof — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 20:25:00 +0000

My dad and I made a nice-looking, though not as classy as these, Pinewood Derby car that had these lead fishing weights sticking out of the back in rocket engine fashion. It was amazing how many people thought that was cheating, though it came in just under the maximum weight. A little graphite powder on the wheels/axles, and I… came in second place, to the (of course) uncarved block of wood with duct tape on it.

By: Thom

Thom — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 20:17:00 +0000

My dad made me make beautiful, shaped ones not unlike this (I was a paint-mr-peanut-on-the-block kid) with little lead air scoops and spoilers and kooky Testors enamel paint jobs. And then Mike Machowshi won because he cheated, a point of (his) pride that came up often over the next few months.

By: lavardera

lavardera — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 20:07:00 +0000

Mclaren – red, orange? Chaperal – white. Lola – dark green?

By: Joe Maynard

Joe Maynard — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 20:07:00 +0000

My dad was an aerospace engineer and created the most aerodynamically perfect pinewood derby car possible – a perfect teardrop/airplane wing shape with recessed wheel wells and a sheet of steel glued to the bottom to bring it up to the maximum possible weight. Needless to say, the scoutmaster put it on the track backwards and I lost to a spray painted block of wood with washers scotch taped on it…

By: Vanwall Green

Vanwall Green — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:51:00 +0000

Lola…..

A Bugatti T57 Atalante would look marvelous in French Racing Blue.

By: steve lodefink

steve lodefink — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:40:00 +0000

BSA rules allow you to glue anything that you want (within reason I suppose) to your car, but the car must adhere to weight, and size regulations. 7 x 2.75 inches.

The official scout supply houses have actually started selling extra wood fender blocks, but we made our own.

I’ll have to check to make sure that these fit the track, thanks!

By: Stefan Jones

Stefan Jones — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:35:00 +0000

Four coats of wood filler, two coats of primer, four coats of wet-sanded and compounded lacquer . . . yeah, those would look sweet.

By: DeWynken

DeWynken — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:35:00 +0000

My mom was dating a machinist at the time of my pinewood derby days..we spent a week using a Bridgeport milling machine to create a perfect 1974 Chevy Corvette. Sanded and painted with many coats of blue paint, cut out stickers by hand. It was beautiful, better than a plastic model. It was also slow as shit, and I won absolutely NOTHING for it (since I obviously did not make it). It was a soul crushing experience to say the least.

By: steve lodefink

steve lodefink — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:35:00 +0000

Yeah, We’re going for show more than go. It’s always the plain block, with some crayon drawing on it that wins the race.

The 911 and the Talbot are my kids cars. Other than working “with” them to get the cars shaped to the designs of their choice, I am going to be hands off with fine shaping, sanding, and the paint jobs (other than leading by example :) .

The Can Am car is MY car, and I will certainly go all out on painting and detailing that one.

By: Millo Lopez

Millo Lopez — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:30:00 +0000

I thought you could only use the parts in the approved kit?

In order to have the wheel wells but still fit over the track guide these cars have to be somewhat wider than the blocks provided n the kit… This is probably for some other league and not the Cub Scouts.

By: Alexander Boxerbaum

Alexander Boxerbaum — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:21:00 +0000

Oh how it hurt when my mirror finish streamlined masterpiece pinewood derby car was beaten by an untouched block of wood painted to look like Mr. Peanut.

By: Henry Pootel

Henry Pootel — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:09:00 +0000

Coarse of course.