Yes, this is quite true. My son built and raced his car in the local Pine
wood derby many years ago and even got a trophy for second place. He did
most of the work but I did help on two key points - the weight and the
wheels. I was a chemist in those days so I had access to an accurate scale
so my son was able to get the exact maximum allowed weight using lead. I
also verified he had the wheels true and I provided him some graphite to
lubricate the wheels. I don't recall his actual body design being too
sophisticated unlike many of the other competitors.
David Councill
67 BGT
72 B
At 01:36 PM 2/12/2004 -0600, Scott Regel wrote:
> >From my experience as an Assistant Cub master and Assistant Boy Scout
>leader it really doesn't have anything to do with shape. I have seen
>the craziest shaped cars win over the wedges and rounded racers. It all
>comes down to weight and wheels. Find a good scale and determine what
>weight that the car is suppose to be and then push the weight exactly to
>what it suppose to be. For the wheels, take the nails they use for the
>wheels and insert the sharp point of the nail in a drill. Leave just
>enough space between the drill and the end of the nail for where the
>wheel will travel. then take some fine sand paper and cut it to that
>width and loop it around the nail. Turn the drill on and basically
>polish the nail area where the wheel goes. Then very carefully mount
>the wheels and make sure they are true. Add graphite and collect your
>trophy. I have helped my son and others made dragsters, a 1940's model
>truck and several other cars. An MG TD would be really cool. Go for
>it!
>
>Scott and Spot
>76 B and several pine derby racers!
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