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| behrmr:
My son did PWD every year as a cub scout. I made him work on the car. Every one of his cars looked like a car a kid his age built. The first year his car lost every race. Our track was bad and the car even jumped and broke twice. He was really disappointed. I watched some kids' cars just completely destroy everyone. And those cars were clearly built by their dads. That really pissed me off. So what I did the next years was the same approach as before with one exception. I polished the axles and wheels myself. And made sure the weight of his car was perfect. The next years his cars at least didn't get beaten in every race. In fact we had one scouts car was nothing but a wedge cut out of the block and it won a lot. So long story short.... Tip #1: Make him help you. It is supposed to be Father-Son time. That's the point. Tip #2: Polish the axles. Put them in your drill and use high grit sandpaper to take the mold marks off. When you are happy with them finish them off with steel wool and then polish them with Brasso. Tip #3: Make your weight exactly 5 oz. There are some at the hobby store that work very well. The round ones are nice because you can drill a hole in the car and put the weight in and putty it up. Take superglue and weights to the weigh in. Glue a penny right to the top of the car if you have to. Tip #4: Do a simple wedge car. He can add things to his. My son liked to glue lego star wars figures to his cars. Tip #5: Put most of the weight over the back axles. And just enough over the front to keep it stable If you have any influence in your cub pack convince them to set up the track and do a test weigh in so the kids can test their cars out. We used to do that the weekend before the PWD. And finally, if you have a pack with hard-core PWD dads suggest a separate set of heats after the kids are done racing for the parents to race their cars and give out a simple trophy. |
| lilshawn:
single mom with no tools except a butter knife and metal icecream scoop as a hammer. :-\ I carved a wedge slope into the front of that mofo like nobody's business... spraypainted it red. worst looking car EVER. last time I ever did a cub scout pinewood derby. ;D all good though, builds character...or something. |
| jammin0:
--- Quote from: lilshawn on April 20, 2015, 02:48:50 pm ---single mom with no tools except a butter knife and metal icecream scoop as a hammer. :-\ I carved a wedge slope into the front of that mofo like nobody's business... spraypainted it red. worst looking car EVER. last time I ever did a cub scout pinewood derby. ;D all good though, builds character...or something. --- End quote --- :laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2: |
| deadmoney5:
Just like in sports, parents ruin everything. You can't just be a kid and have fun in the participation.. you have to WIN WIN WIN at all costs. :soapbox: |
| JDFan:
--- Quote from: deadmoney5 on April 21, 2015, 10:04:21 am ---Just like in sports, parents ruin everything. You can't just be a kid and have fun in the participation.. you have to WIN WIN WIN at all costs. :soapbox: --- End quote --- Actually from what I see it seems these days in sports everyone just gets participation ribbons cause they don't want any losers -- it's almost like they shouldn't even bother to keep score ! :soapbox: |
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