I want to see how much interest in a S-B Pinewood Derby Race (pretty much by Boy Scout Rules, plus maybe an Unlimited division).

We would need a hall (no doubt with a bar) and I can likely arrange use of a 4 lane 40' track / Electronic timer (with some proceeds being donated to said entity providing use of said track).

So I am trying to gauge interest at this point for something around March (after TFCTFN).

If there is enough interest (I know I've talked to a few already that are interested) we can discuss this some more.

So you could build a new car or maybe dust off Old Glory from when you were a kid (no Ebay / Professional premade racers).

So looking for interest with "I'm In" or a Maybe.

Early thoughts: Cost would probably be something like $15-20 entry for 1st car, $10 for additional car if we have separate classes. Half of the proceeds will be split amongst the winners. Half would go towards said entity providing track usage and S-B. If we get a lot of participants, those fees could come down a little bit.

Initial interest list:

In:
JohnR
Slipknot
Hookedagain
striperman36
The Dad Fisherman
Sea Dangles
Canalman
blondterror
Slips'son


Maybe:


tattoobob
Slingah
chefchris401
gf2020
johnny ducketts
Swimmer
Ryan560



(just commented, not sure if particpating or interested )

Karl F
#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&
Raven
bigwavedave
justplugit
Striperknight

I'm in

I'm in

Maybe...

I'll be there, I bought the book

A40 with wheels and 5 ounces of lead in the nose....


it must be wintah

Depending on Date I'm in

lol...I'd love to do this....so maybe, depends on day/date

I'm interested for sure.

One class should be plug shaped cars.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

frig pinewood derby GO ROCKET DERBY that is WAY more fun.

cars aren't turned....

plugs and rockets ARE

:devil:

Rocket Derby is Lame.....:hihi:

Why don't we just put on a skirt and do the Rain-Gutter Regatta...

Real Men are made on the 40' Hardwood Highway

lock and load

Will Scott/Saltys be makin up kits for these???? l.o.l { :-}

Gee, this could be fun :buds:


Rocket Derby is Lame.....:hihi:

Why don't we just put on a skirt and do the Rain-Gutter Regatta...

Real Men are made on the 40' Hardwood Highway

:btu:

Will Scott/Saltys be makin up kits for these???? l.o.l { :-}

:wall::rotf2:

I'm in.

Well I can sure cut the bodies now. Is it possible to get replacement hardware kits? I'd donate the cut shapes if so. It would save people alot of money.

tdf we did rocket derby once. i made a mandrel for the tail and turned the thing down to .2" thick. We won til the other kid overwound the rubber bands and snapped them. I would challenge anyone to rockets if they wanted. 2 divisions

Well I can sure cut the bodies now. Is it possible to get replacement hardware kits? I'd donate the cut shapes if so. It would save people alot of money.

Scott - BSA kits. Block of wood, 4 nails, 4 wheels. They are about 4 bucks.

Now if you want people to come over to your shop so you can cut them ;)

That rocket derby looks interesting and my kid's pack has discussed this and almost pulled the trigger to do it. Same as the rain gutter regatta. Maybe this year they'll do it.

Is this a buggy ride on contest, if so would there be any room for an antique class featuring
2X4 consruction and carriage wheels or would that get
blown off the track? :huh:

If we are going to strictly follow the BSA rules, keep me posted.

My woodworking skills can't compete in some type of free-for-all derby.

Official Pinewood Derby® Car Kit (http://www.scoutstuff.org/BSASupply/ItemDetail.aspx?ctlg=05NDC&ctgy=PRODUCTS&c2=CRAFTS&C3=DERBIES&C4=&LV=3&item=17006)

CAR SPECIFICATIONS:
Maximum width - 2-3/4"
Maximum Length - 7"
Maximum Weight - Not over 5 Ounces
Minimum width between wheels - 1-3/4
Minimum bottom clearance underneath the body (so it does not rub on the track guide) - 3/8"

RULES
Wheel bearings, washers, and bushings are prohibited. The car shall not ride on springs. Only official Cub Scout Grand Prix Pinewood Derby wheels and axles are permitted. Only dry lubricant is permitted. Details, such as steering wheel and driver are permissible as long as these details do not exceed the maximum length, width and weight specifications. The car must be free-wheeling, with no starting devices. Each car must pass inspection by the official inspection committee before it may compete. If, at registration., a car does not pass inspection, the owner will be informed of the reason for failure, and will be given time within the official weigh-in time period to make the adjustment. After final approval, cars will not be re-inspected unless the car is damaged in handling or in a race.

BUILDING INSTRUCTIONS
Check the grooves to ensure that each is at a perfect 90-degree angle to the car body. A car with untrue axles tends to steer to one side or the other, causing it to rub up against the side of the lane strip, slowing it down. You can check the groove angles by using a square, a protractor, or even a piece of paper.
Lay square on block to check for squareness and alignment of slot.
Use two hacksaw blades side by side to redress the slots. Use the edge of the square as a guide.

Choose your favorite design, then mark the block accordingly. Lay car body on the side, then gently drive the axles into the grooves within 1/4" of the axle head. Axles should fit tight. With a pair of pliers, remove axles by pulling and turning gradually. Repeat on the other side of block. Most of the cutting can be done with a hand saw, then finished with sandpaper. Details such as fins and scoops should be added now. Any additional weight needed to achieve a total of 5 ounces should be built into the car.
NOTE: If the car design you chose has a narrow body, make sure the area where the axles are inserted into the body remains 1-3/4" wide, or wheels will not fit over the guide strips of the track.

PAINTING AND WHEEL ASSEMBLY
Apply several coats of sanding sealer; then sand entire car with a fine-grade sandpaper. Give model at least two coats of fast drying paint, in your choice of color. When paint is completely dry sand with a fine sandpaper, apply a final coat of paint and allow to dry thoroughly. To finish, rub entire car with a rubbing compound. Details such as windshield, driver, racing numbers, etc., should be added now. For a super finish apply a coat of auto wax and rub to a high gloss. Pre-lubricate axles and wheels using, dry powdered lubricant. Do not use regular oil or silicone spray, since it may soften the plastic. Slide wheels over axles, then gently tap them into the car body grooves with a 1/4" dowel or similar object to within 1/32" of car body. Make sure wheels turn freely.

Jpi- small cars about 7 inches long- so if you can fit ;)

GF- BSA rulles or very close too- maybe separate class for tricked out cars
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

sounds kinda fun, all we did was rain gutter regatta, I built my ship in the parking lot about 10 mins before, and actually finished top 3.

Again, sounds like fun depending on date.

maybe

I will bring 2 cars I helped my son build about 10 yrs ago. He had 4 yrs of PD and made some great cars.

The Silver Streak won every race it ran and the gator car was very fast too. Its all about the axels, wheels, wt location, total wt, and running on 3 wheels

I will bring 2 cars I helped my son build about 10 yrs ago. He had 4 yrs of PD and made some great cars.

The Silver Streak won every race it ran and the gator car was very fast too. Its all about the axels, wheels, wt location, total wt, and running on 3 wheels

BE QUIET!!! SHHHH.

You all are F #^&#^&#^&#^&#^& nuts or getting old real f #^&#^&#^&#^&#^& quick ..............................I think it would alot more fun to have a blindfold / tittie testing contest ><><><><><:jump1::jump1::drool:

You all are F #^&#^&#^&#^&#^& nuts or getting old real f #^&#^&#^&#^&#^& quick ..............................I think it would alot more fun to have a blindfold / tittie testing contest ><><><><><:jump1::jump1::drool:

It would cost more than a 10 buck entry fee.

It would be well worth it ><<:bounce::bounce::claps:

Yes it would be, but we couldn't post the pictures.

I will bring 2 cars I helped my son build about 10 yrs ago. He had 4 yrs of PD and made some great cars.

The Silver Streak won every race it ran and the gator car was very fast too. Its all about the axels, wheels, wt location, total wt, and running on 3 wheels

We'll work on the rules for clarification (plenty of time) but stock class will probably be common BSA rules - all 4 wheels touching, no grooved axles, no lightened wheels (some sanding is fine), but unlimited would allow significant tweaks, and maybe a class for those old racers ;) - Nice cars.

It would cost more than a 10 buck entry fee.

:buds:

My son's from last year (no, he did most of the work).

http://striped-bass.com/images/pwd/bumblebee2010.jpg
(http://striped-bass.com/images/pwd/bumblebee2010.jpg)

Unlimited Class? Like no rules except be built from the BSA kit?

Unlimited Class? Like no rules except be built from the BSA kit?

Yep. You could use razor wheels, run on three wheels - ride on one and glue the other three to the roof :tooth: , rail ride, groove axels, etc...

No motor or power though. :devil2:

Could be interesting. But we can't run those against cars running stock, so different divisions. I figure I'll do one stock and one unlimited.

Yep. You could use razor wheels, run on three wheels - ride on one and glue the other three to the roof :tooth: , rail ride, groove axels, etc...

No motor or power though. :devil2:

Could be interesting. But we can't run those against cars running stock, so different divisions. I figure I'll do one stock and one unlimited.

Weight limit the same, no attached propulsion, unfortunately, the bullet car failed the test. No mini-belt sanders, that worked pretty good though. The balloon car didn't have enough acceleration, the aka-seltzer soda car was too messy

I will bring 2 cars I helped my son build about 10 yrs ago. He had 4 yrs of PD and made some great cars.

The Silver Streak won every race it ran and the gator car was very fast too. Its all about the axels, wheels, wt location, total wt, and running on 3 wheels

Those cars would not pass down here. All 4 wheels must touch and
you can extend the wheels more than the measurements in the kit.
There was a big fight so we have 3 pages of rules.

One of my son's cars before the wheels
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v649/Bigred20/car.jpg

Our troop allowed use of axel locations extended out on the body. The wheels were trued & polished on a mandrel and the axels polished on a drill press. Std graphite lubrication. Those slots in the body are often not true and many kids cars self destruct over several runs with axels falling out of the slots.

Axel holes made with drill press so they were dead on. Some weight is far back in the car... car still has to track straight to be fast... more stored kinetic energy since the start is on an incline... cars with more weight in the rear 1/2 of the car accelerate past other cars as they hit the flat part of the track.

The unlimited class will be a kick... I've still got plenty of other unmentioned tricks in my tank.

Some plug shops will turn into speed shops the 2 wks before the "Derby"


BT

Our troop allowed use of axel locations extended out on the body. The wheels were trued & polished on a mandrel and the axels polished on a drill press. Std graphite lubrication. Those slots in the body are often not true and many kids cars self destruct over several runs with axels falling out of the slots.

Axel holes made with drill press so they were dead on. Some weight is far back in the car... car still has to track straight to be fast... more stored kinetic energy since the start is on an incline... cars with more weight in the rear 1/2 of the car accelerate past other cars as they hit the flat part of the track.

The unlimited class will be a kick... I've still got plenty of other unmentioned tricks in my tank.

Some plug shops will turn into speed shops the 2 wks before the "Derby"


BT

Might need to have a kids class too.

"Some plug shops will turn into speed shops the 2 wks before the "Derby"" :rotf2:

I still may have 3 of my cars around from the 70's. One of them won the grand championship in my area. Then went onto the regionals and lost.

I remember my dad lubricating the wheels with sperm whale oil whick I still have a bottle of. Apparently this oil never sticks to avoid that initial start. Watch makers use to use it. Don't know if it helped but those were some fun days......

I think if you want to race a car....you need to build a car, fresh this season.....not re-use em. Thats part of the fun.

I'll go topless if you are wearing a blindfold.
I still have the car that Hab painted for me,this car went 16-0 on race day no matter which lane they put it on it won.
I'll be happy to go into details about shimming the axles with wax paper so it tracks straight.
What type of track are you looking at John?

I still may have 3 of my cars around from the 70's. One of them won the grand championship in my area. Then went onto the regionals and lost.

I remember my dad lubricating the wheels with sperm whale oil whick I still have a bottle of. Apparently this oil never sticks to avoid that initial start. Watch makers use to use it. Don't know if it helped but those were some fun days......

He said Sperm Whale , eh he eh he he eh he... (Insert Beavis & Butthead)

Interesting. Bet that smells great 40 years later. I remember my dad using graphite but I also remembering him pour in molten lead too :devil2:

I think if you want to race a car....you need to build a car, fresh this season.....not re-use em. Thats part of the fun.

Absolutely, main race and outlaw should be new builds. But a classics race for older cars could be cool. Point is, we have options on figuring this stuff out. If there is enough interest, we'll hammer out the rules.

I'll go topless if you are wearing a blindfold.
I still have the car that Hab painted for me,this car went 16-0 on race day no matter which lane they put it on it won.
I'll be happy to go into details about shimming the axles with wax paper so it tracks straight.
What type of track are you looking at John?

I'm looking at using a 40 foot, 4 lane good quality PVC track. It is a pretty fast track, we have an electric timer and may have automated scoring software by then.

Attached is a pic...

THIS THREAD SHOULD BE MOVED TO SCUPPERS OR PLAY TIME ><><><><:gh:

You all are F #^&#^&#^&#^&#^& nuts or getting old real f #^&#^&#^&#^&#^& quick ..............................I think it would alot more fun to have a blindfold / tittie testing contest ><><><><><:jump1::jump1::drool:


I'm in if you are supplying the talent:devil2::lurk:

LOL .....:point: ORIGINAL i must say

days of OLD

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c66/ravenob1/BOMBCAR.png

SLIP THAT,S NOT A PROBLEM ;;

THE PROBLEM IS THAT YOUR F #^&#^&#^&#^&#^& MASSIVE HANDS WOULD SWEEZE THEM LIKE GRAPES :gh:

If I could enter 5 cars I would, phenomenal idea!!

If I could enter 5 cars I would, phenomenal idea!!

Well, if we have 4 divisions and you a spawn a child between now and then, sure :devil2: .

SLIP THAT,S NOT A PROBLEM ;;

THE PROBLEM IS THAT YOUR F #^&#^&#^&#^&#^& MASSIVE HANDS WOULD SWEEZE THEM LIKE GRAPES :gh:

So? If you can supply the talent, we'll be there.

Well, if we have 4 divisions and you a spawn a child between now and then, sure :devil2: .

Don't scare me like that! If I had a child between now and then, he would certainly not be using the band saw!

-Dave

So 4 divisions, we gonna get the boobalator boot too?


So what are the division rules?

So 4 divisions, we gonna get the boobalator boot too?


So what are the division rules?


We need some more people saying "I'm in" before we get some deeper planning going. Then we'll have some people with experience running a race get rules established early (like me, TDF, maybe some other with previous pack / district level experience) on so we can minimize the questions and interpretation (err, cheating - We are lying fishermen after all merging with the next highest lying sport - racing). :love:

I'm *thinking* and have been thinking about it a bit.

All classes:

Powered by gravity - no motors, magnets, rockets, yada, yada
Dry lubes only, zero oils - this is a rule for the track we'll likely use.
No buying premade cars period. You must build the car - or HAVE BUILT the car for some historical race.

Stock Class: BSA Kit, official block, wheels, and nails only. Basically no grooved axles, no cut / lightened wheels, no canting, all 4 wheels must roll, unmodified axle slots or filled / repaired same wheelbase / location, 5 ounces. The same as most BSA events and what most people here will have experience with. Car must be built from BSA parts. No buying modified parts or modified from BSA parts.

For example, you could buy extra BSA stock axles to find straighter ones but you can't buy speed axles, you can buy extra wheels if needed, but not modified ones.

Modified Class: BSA Kit, must be user built official block.

OK to modify examples: grooved axles, cut / lightened wheels, canting axles, rail riding, axle slots or filled / repaired, any wheelbase / location as long wheels do not extend beyond front or back of car, 5 ounces.

For example, you can buy speed axles, you can buy speed wheels if wanted. But you must build from stock BSA block kit. NO online kits.

Retro class: Some kind of retro class or old racer that you or your kid raced in the past - no new builds. Must conform to or real close to stock BSA rules.

Kids Class: Stock BSA rules listed above, built by your kid or you and your kid - CAN be kid's BSA car for current year.

I'm in

I saw this post and had to dust off my old cars, some good memories building these with my pops. I'd love to build another but can't find the kits anywhere around here, The hobby store next town over has the rockets but no cars..I'd be interested in this

Damn , Ryan

let me sell them ><><><><:jump1:

Didn't know there was a market for these things clammer,
they would probably just get x-rayed for there secret weight placement:devil2:

Didn't know there was a market for these things clammer,
they would probably just get x-rayed for there secret weight placement:devil2:

Beep, Beep!!

I saw this post and had to dust off my old cars, some good memories building these with my pops. I'd love to build another but can't find the kits anywhere around here, The hobby store next town over has the rockets but no cars..I'd be interested in this


Nice cars. Real nice cars. How long ago?

You can get the kits at any Boy Scout shop or online from Scoutstuff.org (shipping is more $ than the kit)

Newer kits (last year or two) are faster out of the box than older kits though older kits with lots of tweaks can be as fast as newer kits with same tweaks. We made sure our scouts ran the newer kits.

Thanks John, these where from 1987-90'

Is this somethinhg we would bring our kids to or just adults?

I'm in... Modified Class

You all are F #^&#^&#^&#^&#^& nuts or getting old real f #^&#^&#^&#^&#^& quick ..............................I think it would alot more fun to have a blindfold / tittie testing contest ><><><><><:jump1::jump1::drool:

We could have hot chicks at the finish line ala NASCAR

Is this somethinhg we would bring our kids to or just adults?

Yep. I think we should have a kids race too.

I'm in... Modified Class

:btu:

We could have hot chicks at the finish line ala NASCAR

If someone could find them, it would be you.

Well?

Still need more "I'm In" before I go and rent a hall and kick off the next level of discussion / planning.

i'm in too. i hope to have fun.

Bump for more love - If we are going to do this, we'll need more people signing up.

What do people think of doing this earlier on the same day as TFCTFN?

Bump for more love - If we are going to do this, we'll need more people signing up.

What do people think of doing this earlier on the same day as TFCTFN?

I'm in

You could also do it as the Entertainment for TFCTFN too as an option.....Start it a little earlier in the evening....maybe a 5 PM start.

You could also do it as the Entertainment for TFCTFN too as an option.....Start it a little earlier in the evening....maybe a 5 PM start.

Too Painful to Contemplate.

That's a good name!! A combined event, that way we could have some 'entertainment' as flagpeople

That's a good name!! A combined event, that way we could have some 'entertainment' as flagpeople


Not combined, no way (the horror ;) ). That would be bad. Same day, possibility due to hall combining but that would just be an advantage, not a decision point.

Not combined, no way (the horror ;) ). That would be bad. Same day, possibility due to hall combining but that would just be an advantage, not a decision point.

Maybe horror for you, good for attendance. No drinks within 5 feet of the track though.

One last bump to determine if this is a go or not. I'll stick this thread up through the weekend and if we get some more response we'll work out the details.

It is a lot of fun doing a derby. Many of you may have done it with your kids or when you were kids.

Interested:

In:
JohnR
Slipknot
Hookedagain
striperman36
The Dad Fisherman
Sea Dangles
Canalman
blondterror
Slips'son


Maybe:
tattoobob
Slingah
chefchris401
gf2020
johnny ducketts
Swimmer
Ryan560

(just commented, not sure if participating or interested )
Karl F
#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&
Raven
bigwavedave
justplugit
Striperknight

This would be a Blast,. come guys!!!

My son wants to enter his car from this years derby. If its the same day as TCTFN we're out, my niece is getting married.