So what are you working on that’s NOT your DSM?

[Ludachris]

Finished up the paint on my kids pinewood cars this weekend. My son is going for the Lightning McQueen aesthetic and daughter wanted sparkly gold. Decals and weights are in so only a little bit more to do before race day on Sunday

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Nice.

My daughter never won any races, but she did win a best in show award one year (with the Converse).

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[Stapl3]

That brings me back to a time that I completely forgot about. We used to build C02 racers. Those little canisters that you used to load BB guns with. We would carve and shape a little car body from pine, then drill out the rear side to insert the canister. We had to attach an eyelet to the top of the body which rode on a stiff string, and rig them all up together, with a contraption that would puncture every canister at once. The idea was to design the most aerodynamic body to win the race. Since there were occasional inconsistencies with the canister pressure or launch, we would rotate positions and race each one three times. The best of three went to the final round to run three more times. It was typically obvious who had the best design but occasionally we had nail biting races.

Ah, the good days of betting 20 bucks on a race. Drag racing is a whole different animal if you're serious about it.

Still got mine, it collects dust on the shelf.

Of course there was the one kid who was ahead of everyone that realized it was about weight, not aero, and made his the minimum size allowed with it basically looking like a toothpick frame and a wood sleeve around the co2 canister. Absolutely blew everyone's car away. 30 years later I still think of that.

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[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Love the effort, thought and LOVE put into each and every one! (and NICE TIP @pauleyman )

 

[pauleyman]

Still got mine, it collects dust on the shelf.

Of course there was the one kid who was ahead of everyone that realized it was about weight, not aero, and made his the minimum size allowed with it basically looking like a toothpick frame and a wood sleeve around the co2 canister. Absolutely blew everyone's car away. 30 years later I still think of that.

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They shouldve standardized weight like they did with pinewood. Minimum weight like they did with maximum weight in pinewood.

 

[Capt Obvious]

What is an estimated cost to charge it per month? I always wondered. If you run out of charge, how far will the little motor get you? Curious minds want to know

I have an Audi e-tron for a daily/kid hauler that's fully electric. By EV standards it's a bit of a gas guzzler because it's an SUV and weighs 6000 pounds. Power in my area is super cheap ($.08 per kilowatt hour), so it only costs me around $65 a month in electricity to drive ~2000 miles.

 

[Capt Obvious]

Sand the axles smooth and dry graphite after install.

Also, give the wheels just a tiny bit of negative camber to reduce the contact patch of the wheel and put as much of the weight over the rear axle as possible.

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

I'm pretty sure they use straight axles (or did when I was a kid in the 70s) so you wouldn't be able to put any camber on them. Nice idea tho

 

[steve]

The axles were (are?) just nails, you don't have to insert them straight.

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Well, that makes a whole lot of difference. Back in "my" day, they gave us axles and wheels and we had to do the rest. Now the camber comment can be put to use, if that's the case.

 

[pauleyman]

We went a lot further than that. The nails aren't smooth so we put them in a drill and polished them. No burrs anywhere especially under the nail head. Polished the wheels too. We also ground the area under the nail head so its not flat but very slightly conical. Friction and weight placement are everything. Maximum potential energy. Skinny cars that are fat in the back do pretty well so long as it doesn't wheelie and go off track. I always wanted to participate in the parents unlimited classes. I envisioned a movable weight. Id adjust it until it wheelies then move it forward half an inch.
We were such cheaters.

 

[steve]

Well, that makes a whole lot of difference. Back in "my" day, they gave us axles and wheels and we had to do the rest. Now the camber comment can be put to use, if that's the case.

Maybe a regional thing but what I remember from both really back in the day when it was me and again when it was my kids was being supplied a kit like these except I believe my wheels where narrower hard plastic like bakelite.

If they didn't give you nails for axles how did you keep the wheels on?

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[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Ours were press fit hard plastic wheels that pushed onto the cute little shafts that we got. 4 wheels and 2 straight, tiny hard axles. We had to drill all the way thru the body and make sure it.was straight too.

 

[pauleyman]

This brings back memories. Somebody mentioned bending a nail. I only heard of this but it sounds feasible. Get your weight low in the chassis and if you play with it you can bend the nail where one of the front and the opposite rear don't touch the track at all. Low chassis weight also helps keep the car planted. We had a set of forstner bits si we could make large shallow holes for weight. Had our own lead pot also.

 

[Stapl3]

Last stretch of my theater room, hoping to finally finish this weekend and order carpet. It has been an insane amount of work.

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[Bigbeanbird]

Well, that makes a whole lot of difference. Back in "my" day, they gave us axles and wheels and we had to do the rest. Now the camber comment can be put to use, if that's the case.

Man, never got into pinewood.. i saw the word ‘my ‘ day and flashed on just how dangerous ‘our’ toys were.. what came to mind real quick was the red skateboards with the metal wheels.. anyone remember those..?? Hit a grain of sand and it’s face down on the sidewalk,oh yeah, those were the days

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

I'm doing some Domestic Chevy stuff besides building another 4g63. I really don't like doing 2 things at the same time because FOCUS is important (and I'm gettin old).BUT, here is my 16 year old built and balanced OG 1970 LT1 350, blubbering away. Its hard to believe that I built it that long ago.
Tomorrow I will be putting on its higher ratio rocker arms (1.5) and will take another sound bite video.
I'm still busy guys! Just showing the other stuff that goes on here. Stay Tuned.
Marty

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[prubingst]

Cool hearing all your guys pinewood derby stories and tips, thanks! Today was race day and the kids had a blast. They ran it as each kid did 4 heats, lowest cumulative time wins. Probably 50 or so kids ran cars, and there was a ton of creativity on display. My girl came in 4th for her division and her brother got to run his at the end. Hopefully they’ll be up for it again next year! Here’s our finished derby cars and one of the races she won. We’re in lane one.

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[92AWDHX40]

My house lots of repairs

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Yep, maintenance. It creeps up.

 

[Bigbeanbird]

My house lots of repairs

I feel ya.. always something to do.. just finished our chicken coop, no birds yet. We are soon to get 6 pullets, we don’t wanna mess around with raising chicks for 3 months

 

[Stapl3]

Previous owner of my $500 Beetle snapped the axle and it smacked the housing putting a hole in the case about the size of a quarter. Here's my free.99 patch.

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[Ludachris]

Previous owner of my $500 Beetle snapped the axle and it smacked the housing putting a hole in the case about the size of a quarter. Here's my free.99 patch.

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That’s awesome. The next owner is going to be thrown for a loop on that one.

 

[Stapl3]

That’s awesome. The next owner is going to be thrown for a loop on that one.

Next owner is either the dumpster or whoever decides to steal it in Detroit.

 

[SixBolt_16G]

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Its been a cold winter, but things are warming up earlier. Wife's Prelude hasnt been running well for a few months before putting it up for the winter. P1399+misfire in all cylinders codes. Just barely passed emissions because the check engine light was coming on right after the emission monitors come online. Changing the dizzy seemed to delay the check engine light long enough for me to get the emissions test done. So I changed the igniter. It SOUNDS a lot better at idle. Doesn't sound like its misfiring anymore. Guess ill find out next month when she can drive it. Was hoping to give it the same treatment i gave my car by rebuilding the fuel system, suspension, etc, but this years winter was way colder in Chicago.

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[BLACK'98DSM]

Made my fingers a little sore doing seals and drive belt on this 2008 Kawasaki Teryx 750. In total I undercharged for 6 hours labor. And the damn belt cost him $135. I gave him the option of using the $50 belt from Amazon, but after reading reviews about early catastrophic failure I talked him into the dealership belt. If the cheap belt broke soon I'd have to charge him another 6 hours to swap it out.

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