Derby Talk

My son finished 2nd in the Webelos division and was the second fastest car in the building today at the District race. The kid that won has won his division by a big margin every year. We were .04 average behind. I did some tweaking on our track but I don't see how I could make up .04. Third was abo...

I built a car for myself this year. I drilled and reamed the axle holes and opened one hole a little too much. I put some water in the hole and the next day the hole was just the right fit.

Other than that I would drill a small cross hole and glue.

Michael's sells 1/64th thick plywood.

*5 J's* wrote:Painting is not my forte. I am good a wrinkling paint even using the same brand primer/paint/gloss coat - even using the recommended cure times.

I have a similar talent. Even using the same primer and paint on 2 different cars, the finish may crinkle on one of them!!!

Usually when I give technical advise people eyes roll back in their head!!! Some of them must have found this site, there where a few fast cars this year, including one who beat us by nearly .030.

pwrd by tungsten wrote:Best wishes on the race!!!!

Thanks man!! It's been a very stressful past 2-3 weeks with being very busy at work and staying up to midnight/1am to get stuff done. I can't wait to get onto other important things (income tax!!).

doct1010 wrote:Best of Luck!

Thanks!! At this point (and just about every year) I just can't wait for it to be over! I know we'll be either 1st or 2nd, there's one other Father who's got some inside info and builds a dang fast car.

what was the o.d. of the wheels used ? the same ? Were the wheels used, the same wheel mold # ? Pin check on the bore ? I knew I should have included more data on the wheels! The wheels were mold matched from MaxV. #15 & #3, don't remember which was which but I have that at home. All wheels ran...

The results are in. Tonight we set up my track for the first time in 4 years. We ran all the cars we've made for the past 6 years. Obviously the newest ones were faster with one exception. Our older son's car from his last year of Cub Scouts (2008) is faster than any car we've made with a standard w...

*5 J's* wrote:PD - never mind - I see you already posted the info above. 6' board elevated to 1.5" for slow speed, nearly 6" for high speed.

I use the lest section of my track (8ft) for the higher speed tests.

Stan always preaches about differential friction on the rears causing them to steer the car! Low speed test will look like the car is steering to the rail but if the rears are steering on the track one of the rears will be rubbing on the rail. I do low speed testing on a 6ft board elevated 1.5"...

Thanks, I'm glad I asked.

After the test runs do you spin in the graphite for a few seconds by hand between dabs? That's what I'm about to do after a few runs down the alignment board. I just need to dial in the drift, both low speed and medium speed (raise the board higher).

Try using extra fluffy pipe cleaner to burnish you're bores with graphite. Yes, after this You still should add lube into the wheel bore for race or for a few test runs / break in. This yields the best results for us. SPORTY!! I'm not sure you've mentioned adding graphite at assembly before! What i...

I tried to remove the step with the Outer Hub Shaver but had little success. Even after attempting to sharpen the tool, it still only took off powder like shavings, maybe .005 in 5 minutes of work. I'm not spending 20-30 minutes per wheel to remove the step when it's probably illegal by our rules.

I have a very understanding and patient wife. :thumbup: I finished building it Sunday - so it will be up for a week. If I had a full basement I would put it up there, but I don't, so the middle of the house it goes. Worse then having it set up is that I built it in place. The cutting was done on th...