How to Make a Pinewood Derby Racing Car
Create a design for your car when you have the supplies Plan out, on paper, what you want your car to look like. This is where you will need the saw. You will need to wait a day for it to dry. You will want to spray it about five times. You can buy a measuring tool for this, or simply do it by hand (I do it by hand, and have won 1st in pack and 5th in district or better every year I've raced). Put the wheel on the nail axle and put it on your car. If it's under far enough, you can attach some more.
One of the fastest and simplest car shapes is a wedge (Think doorstop). Make it as thin as possible, and locate all add-on weight in the back end of the car. Make the wheelbase as long as possible. The idea is to make the car have the highest amount of potential energy (physics lesson.) by getting as much of the car's weight as high up on the track as possible. Very small gains in that area result in stronger acceleration and ultimately the difference between winning and losing. Also, friction is your enemy! Polish the nails used for axles, use graphite lubrication, and check out the special wheels offered for pinewood cars. The company that sells the kit makes wheels that have a groove cut out of the middle of the tread, and wheels that have a pointy ridge around the middle of the tread. Unfortunately physics tells us that friction is INDEPENDENT of surface area, so these won't give an advantage, but they may look better, AND they are rules-legal because they are made by the same company. However, ask your Scoutmaster before deciding on nonstandard wheels, you don't want to have a problem because he may have never seen them before.
If you buy oval shaped fishing weight, you can paint them to look like heads and nail one or two to the car as a driver and passenger. Then, if on race day, you find that the official scale reads differently than yours, and your car is over weight, simply take off a head (or bring extras to put on if your car is under weight).
Try creating a grid on the paper that's as big as your car. That way, you'll know exactly what you want.
For sanding, try getting sandpapers that get finer and finer until you are sanding with the finest one. This will give the car a nice finish
4 plastic wheels
4 nails for axles
These first three items are included with the BSA Pinewood Derby Racer kit. You don't have to use the included wood block, but check your Pack rules before using some other axles and/or wheels. Most rulebooks require that you use wheels and axles from an official BSA kit.
Hand saw(s). Adults must operate any power tools!
Sandpaper (several grades from 60 to 300 grit)
Sanding sealer (from an auto parts store)
Paintbrushes (for striping)
Paint (spray paints from a hobby supply store)
Balsa wood for fin(s), if you like.
Weights! The basic kit will weigh about half of the 5 oz. limit, and you want to build the heaviest car that the rules will allow! Lead-free fishing weights can be tucked into drilled holes,ティファニー, for instance, and puttied over so they don't spoil the appearance of you car.
The use of a good digital scale. If you smile sweetly and ask politely you local Post Office will weigh your car, so you can find out ahead of the race whether or not you've got the weight right.