A few weeks back, I posted a thread asking about building a Pinewood Derby car with my 7 year old son. Well, the race is tomorrow. We built it following my son's vision of what he wanted. I'd say he did about 75% of the work on the car...I only helped in spots where he could get hurt, such as getting a cut started with the coping saw.
The car is Richard Petty's Superbird, sponsored by Pokemon. The rear wing is actually made of a cut out styrofoam cup. The paint is how he wanted it. I asked him if he wanted to paint it more or wax it, and he said no. So the first picture is how it looked then. Problem was that it only weighed 4oz like that. I gave him all kinds of options on how to add the last ounce (filling stuff in the bottom, etc...). But this is his car and he came up with this idea. So I was more than happy to go with it. He is pretending the batteries are "turbochargers". I asked him if he wanted to paint them to make them look like a turbo jet engine, and he said no. This is what he wanted. He's very proud of the car, and I had a great time building it with him.
That's awesome. Very cool car.
I love pinewood derby! And thanks for helping him on HIS car - that's the way it should be. Now go build your own and post pics.
I hate to bring it up, but ... is it within spec? I think the limit is 7" overall. #43 looks a little long to me. Oh, and better check the weight with the batteries. 5 ounces or less, by their scale. It's good to be close, so have some small things you can add or take off quickly to pass tech if necessary.
Good luck to him at the races!
I've been helping my nephew on his derby car. I provide the tools, supervision, and a place to make sawdust. He provided the design and labor. Just before final paint, we checked the dimensions, and he had to rearrange some things to come in under 7". First tech is Saturday.
I'll double check it, but I'm pretty sure it's within spec. We have a scale at home we use to weigh food. It reads up to 1lb, so it's pretty sensitive. It came in right at 5oz. I'm bringing my small battery powered drill so that if we come in at 5.10oz, I can drill some holes underneath and shave some weight off.