Fast times on a long wooden track

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bikencycle
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Fast times on a long wooden track

Post by bikencycle »

My son, daughter and I have all had a car race on a homemade six lane wooden track that is 57' long. The program uses the best five times and we had 22.15, 21.0222 and 21.1581 five race cumulative times. My son had the fastest time of the three with a 3/4" cog. My daughter had a 1/2" cog with 2 oz behind the rear axle and 22.1581 time for five races. I'm guessing her car was slower because of the long 57' track. What I had read online indicated that this should be a quick setup, however this is likely on a shorter aluminum track.

Our wheels were hand selected to roll without wobble from the best that we had and they were sanded a little bit to make them smooth. The axles were filed to remove burs and sanded up to 1500 grit. The cars all tracked straight.

My sons car took first in his den and third overall. Will his car be more competitive at regionals on a on a 35' best track with the 3/4" cog and 3.66 oz of tungsten weights?

What can we do achieve quicker times on a wooden 57' track next year?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

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Speedster
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Re: Fast times on a long wooden track

Post by Speedster »

Howdy bikencycle, Welcome to Derbytalk.
I would have liked to have seen that race. Was the start about the normal 4' high or was it much higher?
I'm very familiar with the 35' Best track where the car travels 29'10" from pin to timer. The winning car in our District consistently ran 2.54XX on a 35' track with Champ timer.
The car was 1/4" high, wheels less then .003 out of round, 3/4" cog,, stock wheelbase, and rail riding.

What are your rules?
Might we see pictures of your cars?
bikencycle
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Re: Fast times on a long wooden track

Post by bikencycle »

Must use stock axle slots, factory axles and wheels, 5oz limit, wheels must sit flat and you can lightly remove imperfections from the wheels.
Track sits about 4 1/2' high.ImageImageImageImage

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Speedster
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Re: Fast times on a long wooden track

Post by Speedster »

Good Looking cars. Definitely built for speed.
OK, I have a better understanding of the track. Do you know the distance between the start pin and the timer?

Are you running on 3 wheels?
Are you restricted to graphite?
Did you check the wheels on a Concentricity gauge?
There are preferred wheels available for purchase (Maximum Velocity-Super fast shipping) which I think are numbered 2, 8, 15. They are usually .003 or less out of round. You're in a good position. Buy 3 sets and you have an extra set if you're running on 3 wheels.
Definitely rail ride. If you accurately bend 3 nails at 1 1/2 degrees your wheels will still set nearly flat. The bend will allow you to set the rear wheels parallel to the body. The wheels will migrate to the axle heads and stay there rolling the car both forward and backward. The dominant front wheel gets Positive camber and toe-in. The rear wheel following the dominant front wheel will take a bit more clearance since the body of the car behind the dominant front wheel has not been narrowed a 1/16". I use the thickness of 2 credit cards. That should keep the rear wheel off the rail.
You might want to check the "Search" function and check how to polish wheel bores.
If the magazine you have is by Troy Thorne, "Build a Winning pinewood Derby Car", it will show you how to set up a car to rail ride.
Best Wishes
bikencycle
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Re: Fast times on a long wooden track

Post by bikencycle »

We cannot use 3 wheels.
Only graphite can be used.
Do not have any gauges to measure the wheels. Our pack theme was glow in the dark. We purchased the colored wheels online from the scout shop. Sanded the wheels using a mandrel in a drill press with my son using 200, 400 and 600 grit sandpaper then used a damp paper towel with graphite to apply graphite to the wheel flat. Used pipe cleaner and graphite in the wheel bore.

Not sure how long the track is pin to finish. I ran the derby this year and used 57' as the value for the track distance for the race software. The track was built in 1999 and is built very well.

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whodathunkit
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Re: Fast times on a long wooden track

Post by whodathunkit »

Did you run the pink car with the cut outs
In the front un covered in the race?

That could be one cause to slowing from drag
On the longer tracks!

Good looking cars by the way!
Like the looks of the glow in the dark wheels
first time I’ve seen them used.



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What type of automobile can be spelled the same forwards & backwards?
bikencycle
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Re: Fast times on a long wooden track

Post by bikencycle »

The cutouts were covered with masking tape. My daughter has since played with the car and removed the tape. it is also broken by one of the rear axles around where the weight pocket is.

Our theme was glow in the dark. I didn't get a chance to take any pictures because I was running the pinewood derby software. There were black lights setup all around the room to make the cars glow as they were going down the track. The boys and girls all seemed to like it, which is all that matters anyways.



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