The I-CarJoe had this concept last year at the conclusion of the Pinewood Derby. "Wouldn't it be great if there was a car that looked like an I-Pod. Wouldn't it be great if the picture on the video part of the I-Pod was me playing a guitar!" Joe always has a person on his car. The first year he had an X-car with a Lego-man named Wolverine doing the driving duty. Last year he had a car called the Red Pony with a little people guy driving. With Joe it is always about the guy. I like this aspect of Joe and I think it says something about what he values.
On Wednesday I reweighed the car and realized we were over weight. We had to drill out a penny from the bottom. All of this drilling kind of unbalanced the car. I think we got some wood chips in the axles too.
We had to keep readjusting the wheels during the night because they would get out of kilter, making the car wobble, slowing us down...
Joe's car was doing pretty well but I wasn't paying attention because I was running the free concession stand. Hot Dogs, chili, nachos, lemonade, Kolaide and icecream bars. With this menu we can feed about 100 people for less than $70. At one point Joe was ready to go home and I asked him why. "Because I am on a loosing streak." I had him get his car and we adjusted the wheels. He was back on track again.
This is the display of all of the cars before the race. A few Webelos had had enough through the years and didn't show up. Al Jensen and the Webelo's den make all of our car displays every year and they do a great job.
Joe came in second over all and first in the Webelos den. Would he have come in first if he weren't unbalanced and making a bunch of adjustments? My guess is probably not, but it really doesn't matter. He was happy. I was thrilled that the Pinewood Derby process is over for me. This is not one of those things I am going to say, "Remember when the kids were little an I used to build the pinewood derby car every year. Wasn't that fun." It is a lot of work. So much can and does go wrong. Bob is less adept at this than I am, if you can believe it. The one car he worked on ended up with Jeff in tears after he superglued a lead man on the car after we had spent hours trying to get the weight right, and Bob was so frustrated that Jeff got in trouble. It is really frustrating when the eight year old wrecks the car, but it is his car. You know, I think I would rather get a tooth pulled than work on another Pinewood Derby car! At least the pain would be my own and I wouldn't hold the responsibility of an 8 year-old's happiness in case our car came in last place. I remember building Jeff's first Pinewood derby car. I didn't know you had to put weight on the car or work on the wheels and axles, or put graphite on the axles. Jeff came in last place that year. Jeff had 4 Pinewood Derby cars because of the way his birthday fell in the year. John had 3 and Joe had 3. That is a total of 10. I have learned a few lessons through the years:
1. Put the weight on top of the car preferably over the rear axle.
2. Spend time on the wheels and axles. Take off the nicks. Try to embed graphite into the wheels and axles. Trim the inside of the wheel just a little bit, to a V shape. Reshape the wheels so that they are more rounded. Use graphite liberally. Make sure the wheels spin freely and evenly.
3. Use lead weight especially if you are embedding the weight. It is hard to drill out a penny.
4. Make sure the car has over all balance. If the car pulls to one side during the race you are going to lose now matter how well you have done on your paint, weight, or wheels.
5. Use a 5 minute epoxy to reinforce the axle grooves. Coat your axles with vaseline or grease and stick them in the epoxied axle grooves and let them dry for 5 to 10 minutes. Use some pliers to gently remove the axles. After you finish working on the axles they can slide right back in.
I am officially passing the torch. The answer is no, I will not work on my future grandson's pinewood derby cars. That would be almost as painful as giving birth. Oh, sorry, Megan and other young adult women reading this blog who have not had a child yet. Childbirth really isn't very painful. Honestly. Good luck to future generations because I am out!
Joe comes in first after we tweeked his wheels a little to end his loosing streak.
3 comments:
Wow you deserve to be done with Pine Wood Derby after all the cars you've made! I only had one son and his Dad loved doing all that with him so I was off the hook. In Dallas while we were there they had them for the girls also so Annie got to take part in 2 of them. She still has her cars displayed on her dresser. Tell Joe congratulations on his win his car looks awesome!
Congratulations Joe for coming in 2nd place-and Bonnie for being done! I liked the idea of putting a guy in your car. We haven't seen too many guys in cars at the Pine Wood Derby's in Utah.
To Quote John the Beloved, "You don't win second place. You lose second place."
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