Dawes Family Cars for 2014... Pack Races... on to Districts

[xanthrum]

there are so many steps to a good process....

[Topspin.D]

Greg, Thank you for a peek behind the curtain at how the magic works. That is a serious PWD car production process you've got set up there. I'm finding that I need to be more organized given the number of cars we're doing this year. Seems like you've got it down.

I'm guessing you're doing the pledge axel trick on your graphite cars based on the supplies in the photos. I'm going to try that this year.

One other question... do you have a router jig to cut weight pockets, or are you using a milling machine?

David

[DerbyAddicted]

Greg, do you groove the axles yourself or do you buy them that way? Care to share the Vendor?? Do you do your own axle polishing or are they already polished?

[xanthrum]

Those are axles that I recieved from Steve at Derby Evolution... they are excellent - Axles!!! They are a much improved Axles compared to what you start with, in regards to many other options... but we polish our axles... it is a very lenghty process... and if you look at the photos I posted... We polish to 12,0000 grit and then polish several steps beyond that. If you look closely - Mirror finish - even under magnification. I would guess that each axle takes approx 1 hour to finish.

Truly
Greg

[xanthrum]

Topspin.... I do not have a Jig for a router... or a Milling Machine... I use a router bit in my Craftsman Drill Press, and essentially by hand router out the weight pockets... the boys help me by bringing down the drill press... - it is important to drill out as much of the material as possible as most drill presses are not meant for side loads.... the router bit helps clean out and straighten edges.

[Vitamin K]

One hour per axle, times how many cars? My goodness, that's dedication.

Care to share any thoughts on your bore polishing technique? I see you have both pipe cleaners and q-tips there.

Those are axles that I recieved from Steve at Derby Evolution... they are excellent - Axles!!! They are a much improved Axles compared to what you start with, in regards to many other options... but we polish our axles... it is a very lenghty process... and if you look at the photos I posted... We polish to 12,0000 grit and then polish several steps beyond that. If you look closely - Mirror finish - even under magnification. I would guess that each axle takes approx 1 hour to finish.

[pgosselin]

Very nice, Gregg. Looks like you have a real dynasty started. Good luck with the Mid-America Derby, we had a blast participating last years.

Paul

[Scrollsawer]

Wow, nice pics. Greg.

I have an observation or two, and some questions:

Observations:

1. Nice set up, and interesting to see you keeping your wheels in the woodworking area. I am pretty leery of getting wheels near wood shavings and sawdust for fear of messing with the bores accidentally.

2. I see you use a forstner bit to get weight out of the bodies. I also do that, but the 'point' on the bit can sometimes go through the car body before the rest of the bit removes enough material for my liking. I have since chucked a router bit into my drill press for this job, and now I don't have the problem with accidentally pushing the forstner bit point through the car body.

3. That's a lot of tungsten. I'm jealous.

4. Those axles are amazing looking.

Questions:

1. What's the glass cleaner for?

2. Not seeing any waxes in your pics. Is there a preferred wax in your rotation?

3. One poster mentioned "the Pledge trick". Is there one?

4. I only wet sand through 10,000 grit (our Pack is not too competitive, so it's not necessary). I see you go through 12,000, then there are some pads in your pics. Are those micro mesh pads?

Overall, you got a nice set up there. Obviously works!

Regards,

Scrollsawer

[Topspin.D]

If you look closely there's a bottle of McGuire 's tech wax in one photo.

Pledge or Jig-a-loo contain silicone which helps with more speed. Axels are sprayed and allowed to dry then put in lubricated waxed wheels.

[Topspin.D]

If you look closely there's a bottle of McGuire 's tech wax in one photo. Also see red rocket and spacewalk (legends).

Pledge or Jig-a-loo contain silicone which helps with more speed. Axels are sprayed and allowed to dry then put in lubricated waxed wheels.

[whodathunkit]

You can alway tell what a person passions are just by looking at there work bench.

With all the different lubes types I see in the photos..

Greg .. I just have to ask you out of all the cars you've seen raced over the years.

Have you ever seen one or had one running with musical instrument oils for an oil lube?

Have you any good inspection tips or ideas
on how to tell if musical instrument oils were being used for oil lubes instead..
So far we know the oil types probably most used are nyoil & krytox.
How would you rule it.. if rules state oil type lubes can be used.

Mark

[xanthrum]

Lots of questions - I will try and answer any that I haven't... Bore Prep - We have a process for that... using q tips - novus 2 & 1... along with lots of compressed air, fluffy pipe cleaners and wax... The Glass Cleaner is not for anything specific other than cleaning tuning board, and keeping things nice and clean. We have expieremented with several types of wax... Liquid Glass Legend, Red Rocket, and [no advertising for this vendor]'s reprep wax... we have had success with all of them.. I haven't used the tech wax but if you guys recall, murph used to make statements that he had found some speed with it, the properties of the wax would lend itself to a fast wax. We do pledge the axles it has worked for us as well, I do have the micro mesh pads, I have not used them but have them none the less. In regards to the musical instrument oil, it would be allowed in an oil race, as would krytox, nyoil, if you are looking as a fail safe way to prevent it ina graphite race cut a piece of paper and push it inbetween the bore and the car body if there is an oil mark then the car is running oil. I would not recommend doing this unless it is a race where oil would not be legal. You can also tell from the sound of the wheel if you give it a spin.

Truly
Greg

[Topspin.D]

Greg, so far in my limited experience Legends and Red Rocket are better than Tech Wax 2.0. We ran our best car last year with Legends and were seeing times as low as 2.95X but could only get times in the 2.969 range with the same car/wheels/axels re-preped using Tech Wax. Without any wax (graphite only) the car runs in the 2.98-2.99 range.