My son got second in the Pine wood derby

[thefuzz]

You play to win the game>>>>>111..1..1.

[panthers55]

I never lost a race at the local or district.

P.S. your wheels are too close together. It's fine to use the back wheel placement, but you need to drill two holes just smaller than the nails really close to the front of the car.

When you are drilling one of them make it a fraction higher than the other so that one of the front wheels is not touching the racetrack. It will cut down on some friction, and will give you the extra little bit to beat the other guys.

File down the nails provided with a dremel tool, then use fine sandpaper to completely remove all burrs from the inside of the nail head.

Take the wheels off of the car as well as the axels and leave them in a ziplock filled with graphite until you go to districts....this will prevent moisture from getting even a little bit of rust on the nails between races.

Thanks for the advice. Regarding the changes, the wheel base distance can't be altered or changed from what I have or you are disqualified. Regarding using three wheels and making it a rail rider, the rules state that all four wheels must be touching the ground. You can't alter the thickness or round out the wheels into an A or H shaped wheel. You can't alter the axles by grooving them but you can as you suggest sand and polish them, and use a dremel tool to get rid of the burrs and slightly cantilever the nail heads so they don't rub except at the very bottom. Which we did. I will take your suggestion about the wheels and axles in a graphite bag.

Where did you put the weight? That canopy is tungsten steel and weighs about 3.5 ounces so almost all the weight is about an inch in front of the back wheel.

[Skew]

Put the weight as close to the front as possible so it pulls the car down the track. Weight in the back tends to push the car down the track, which is less efficient.

[TheSaint]

I remember PWD. My car is still somewhere around. My Dad had/has no woodworking or shop skilz. My car sucked bad...lol.

Probably was very frustrating for my dad knowing he was gonna have to do that....but we did it.

[TheSaint]

It's a pinewood derby, not a space shuttle launch.

:Chevy_anim:

[thefuzz]

Thanks for the advice. Regarding the changes, the wheel base distance can't be altered or changed from what I have or you are disqualified. Regarding using three wheels and making it a rail rider, the rules state that all four wheels must be touching the ground. You can't alter the thickness or round out the wheels into an A or H shaped wheel. You can't alter the axles by grooving them but you can as you suggest sand and polish them, and use a dremel tool to get rid of the burrs and slightly cantilever the nail heads so they don't rub except at the very bottom. Which we did. I will take your suggestion about the wheels and axles in a graphite bag.

Where did you put the weight? That canopy is tungsten steel and weighs about 3.5 ounces so almost all the weight is about an inch in front of the back wheel.

Unless they have changed the rules, and they may have, you can change the wheel base....but that has been 17 years ago, so maybe they have.

The wheel that we had not touching the track, you could not see the gap, almost impossible unless it was sitting on something like a granite countertop. Certainly couldn't see it while holding it up, like most of the guys do to inspect it.

As for the weight, drill tons of holes in the car and pour melted lead in them...try to keep most of the lead toward the front of the car...like 65/35.