More Lessons The Pinewood Derby

Things I did right:

1. Graphite soaking the axles and the wheels. Put graphite in a plastic sandwich bag. Put the wheels in the there, and shake. You should pull the whiles and axles out of this bag right before the race. (Unfortunately, I did this the night before, not the day of the race. But, I saw some dads doing it at the event.)

2. Adjustable alignment axles work. This was my dad's idea, and I think it is a great one. If you drill a hole in the (perfect center) of the axle and screw it back into the body, then you can tweak the front end alignment.

Things I did wrong:

1. Form over function: Forget it. My car this year was shaped like a Cameron. It looked pretty cool. But, looking cool doesn't win races. The car should be low, flat, and pointed.

2. Perfect alignment: The car has to be able to go for about for about 50 feet. Mine was only going straight for about 10 feet. Then it would hit the side. This can only really be perfected by testing at the track on the night before.

3. Paint: I let Gwen paint it (OK, that was cool). But, most of the winning cars had sheen. One guy told me that he used three layers of spray paint to get a good finish on it. That's the kind of finish we need. For next year, try hanging the car from a wire. Then hit it with a layer or two of spray primer, and then some think layers of glossy spray paint.

4. Buffing the axles: I did this pretty well, but it can be done better. Let's find the finest grit sandpaper known to man. Then you need to buy buffing compound or some kind of metal polish.

5. Buffing the wheels: Again, we did this pretty well, but we can do better. It may be best to come up with a point-creating sanding block. We're allowed to remove some material from the wheels. I'm not sure if this is the best idea. But, I do know that we need to figure out a way to spin and buff the parts of the wheels where they meet the axles and the cars.

6. The wheel inside: Let's use the pipe cleaner trick next year. Take a pipe cleaner, fold it in half, and then use polishing compound and spin the inside of the wheel. You don't want to remove any material, just buff it.

7. Optimal weight placement: Weight should be placed in front of the rear axle, and spread across the car. It should be as close to the bottom as possible.

8. Weights: I've been using lead. But, there are folks on the INTERNET who use tungsten instead. It has a higher density, but I don't know if it is as malleable.

Shopping List (for the day you buy the car)

1. Graphite powder

2. fine grit sandpaper

3. axle mounting screws

4. spray paint primer (automotive)

5. spray paint high gloss

6. buffing compound

7. polishing wax

8. tungsten weight

9. pipe cleaners

10. mandrel bolts and nuts

Here's the shopping link for the kit with fine grit sandpaper, graphite, and the axle spacer. http://www.maximum-velocity.com/speed_supplies.htm