Derby Talk

Speedster,

You may be right on both points. CMI Wheels were late 70's? The ridge was slightly off center on the V cut set I had from Hodges however it was not as close to the inside edge as the CMI wheels in the photos above. Not sure when Hodges started his supply business but I am thinking the CMI Wheels could have been an earlier version of Hodges V cut style and over the years he modified the design by moving the ridge closer to center? Just a thought.

Humv

Speedster wrote:It would be interesting if we could get the owner to join us. Maybe he's reading these Posts. I'm sure he has some interesting stories.

He only has a Yahoo email address, so he is not able to join the forum. I had to change the site's signup process to clamp down on free email addresses, as I would get several spam membership requests per day.

He just sent me another email this morning.

Just read up on the posts. Lots of good input. Wheels are from the 80's (maybe late 70's don't remember now) when I was a scout. I recently talked to my dad about it and basically he answered an ad from Boy's Life. I found a Boy's Life magazine from the 80's on eBay and asked the seller if there was an ad about buying modified wheels as well as a booklet on how to build a winning car. He sent me a picture back of a Hodges Hobby ad.

Jerry

gpraceman wrote:

Speedster wrote:It would be interesting if we could get the owner to join us. Maybe he's reading these Posts. I'm sure he has some interesting stories.

He only has a Yahoo email address, so he is not able to join the forum. I had to change the site's signup process to clamp down on free email addresses, as I would get several spam membership requests per day.

No way to manually create an account for him?

Vitamin K wrote:No way to manually create an account for him?

Nope

CMI wheels were definitely in the Cub Scout kits in 1985-6 Scout year. The pic I posted is from early 1986.

Hey guys. This is Jerry. Because I never use it I completely spaced I have a paid email address with my ISP. Glad I am able to register. 1st I want to say thank you Randy for helping me post this.

Have any questions about the mysterious wheels, ask away.

Did you have them machined or did you buy them?

Hi Jerry! &

Hugh T. Hodges, Was the frist owner of Hodges Hobby House.. as far I know.
He also had a few books on pwd as well.. see link:
https://hthodges.files.wordpress.com/20 ... .jpg?w=640

Some of the older win pinewood derby ads seen in Boy's Life.
Link:
http://dinosaurdracula.com/wp-content/u ... newood.jpg


You say your car is from the 1980's.

Heres a few photos of what the extra stock CMI wheel set and kits looked like in packaging.

Some CMI kits from the 80's:



The CMI wheels were used up intell 1988 when the new kit changes happend..
the CMI lettering was removed from the wheel sidewalls & lettering was seen on inside the wheels.


Whoda.

Speedster wrote:It would be interesting if we could get the owner to join us. Maybe he's reading these Posts. I'm sure he has some interesting stories.

Here's the story. I may edit it from time to time as I remember more details but this has been an interesting journey to say the least that has lasted a couple weeks now. Call me sentimental I guess but I have a hard time putting new wheels on my old car so I would like to find another one just like it if I can. It'll probably take being at the right place/right time with something like someone posting their old car on eBay. I am certain someone or someone's father has some stashed away and long forgotten.

So here's the story. I was helping my sons build their cars and I felt nastolgic and got mine out to show the kids (my dad was suprised I still had it. I still have my regatta boat too when they looked like a real boat). My car rolled off the counter and broke the hub. So I wondered if CMI was still in existence so I searched the Internet. Sure enough they are so I emailed them. I was suprised when I got a response it was the company president Steve Jr. From checking out their website they've kept it in the family all these years. Steve Jr. said he was going to check with his dad to see if they have a stash. I got a response that they didn't have any. He suggested contacting their other company Beta Craft ran by his Uncle Art. I found their website and they still make some pinewood items but I never contacted him because I found out later my wheels seem to be bought from Hodges Hobby.

After I seem to be running out of leads I thought why not just ask my dad where he got them. He said he responded to an ad in Boy's Life on buying modified wheels and for a booklet on how to build a winning car. I got the idea to see if there were any Boys' Life magazines on eBay and sure enough there were. I emailed a seller with the description of the ad and asked if such an ad was in the magazine. He sent me a picture of an ad from Hodges Hobby. I sent it to my dad to see if he remembered if that was the ad. He didn't remember. I did an Internet search using the address from the ad to see if it still existed. I found their website but it gave a NY address instead of a CA address that was from the ad. I emailed them anyway to see if it was them and they told me the original owner from CA sold it and the current owners moved it to NY. The current owners did not have any of the CMI wheels like I had but they do have one just like it except the groove is on the middle and they say BSA instead of CMI.

I though next to find some forums to see if any members may have any which is when I ran across this one.

Well that's pretty much the whole story.

Jerry

Here are more pics of my cars, my kids car and my regatta boat (which didn't fair as well over the years). I did win the den PWD but that's as far as it went. Guessing the rules were different back then than they are now. I believe my son would have done really well this year but a couple nights before the race he shows me one of the axles was bent so I replaced it. When they had a night a few days before the race you could come in and weigh your car and see if it fit inside the box for length. They suggested to use glue on the axle to hold it in place and I completely spaced it because I was also working on the other cars. During the race because of the loose axle it kept coming more and more loose with every race so it kept getting slower with each round. He got a 1st, 2nd and 2-3rd's. I don't have his timing for each round. He did win best military and he was very happy.

In case you are wondering the pictures are before I had to modify his car because it was over 7" with the barrel sticking over the front of the car.

The picture angle is deceiving as the barrel does not stick past the front of the car. I even had to take a chop saw to the back end of the car so it would be within the 7" The turret is removable so when we did the pre weight/measure a couple nights before the race, I took it off and it still didn't fit inside the box so I knew the body had to be shortened.

That's quite a story.
I found a wheel that has no damage. You can have it. All you have to do is find someone to machine it to match your other ones.
email me.

Speedster. You have a CMI wheel?

Yes. I'm member 2285. You can have it free. I'll pay the postage. I started the Pinewood derby in 1985 with my son, Jeff. Today he works as a nurse in Texas. I know what memories these special cars have. email me.