Building the Fastest Pinewood Derby Car Book

Building the Fastest Pinewood Derby Car

Cross the finish line first using the techniques revealed in this 136 page book by established pinewood derby authority Scott Thorne. All you need to create a winning car is a great design and these tips for tricking your car out for maximum speed. Create the "ultimate car" that will allow you to shave those last tenths of a second off your time and go home with the trophy.

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1: Planning

The first step is familarizing yourself with the process. What tools do you need? Which science principles do you need to understand?

This chapter covers:

What to do before you start building your car
Safety procedures
Anatomy of a pinewood derby car
Official pinewood derby rules
The three principles of speed

Chapter 2: Designing

Decide on the design for your pinewood derby car. This involves more than just picking a good looking shape.

General guidelines for car design
Eight sample car designs with templates
Blank pattens for creating your own design

Chapter 3: Shaping

After progressing through this chapter, your project will actually start looking like a car.

Tool overview
Prepping the axle slots
Drilling extended axle holes
How to use the Pro-Body Tool
Attaching the pattern
How to use patterns on thin designs
Drilling axle glue holes
Weight trim holes
Coping saw skills
Using other tools to shape your car
Final sanding

Chapter 4: Adding Weights

Adding weights to your pinewood derby car

Properly adding weights to your car is one of the easiest things you can do to increase the speed of the car.

The different types of weights
- Lead wire weights
- Tungsten cylinders
- Tungsten disc
- Tungsten cubes
- Tungsten canopy
Attaching the weights to your car
How to use trim weights

Chapter 5: Finishing

This chapter will show you how to make your car look super cool. Your car will be the envy of all the other racers after this step!

Types of finish
Brush painting
Spray painting
Airbrush painting
Wrapping with paper
Permanent markers
Duct tape
Film covering
Final touches
Hardening the area around the axle hole
12 finishing templates

Chapter 6: Axle Preparation

You might think axles are boring but if you skip this step, your car won't go fast. Be sure to pay attention to this chapter! Correctly preparing your axles is the single most important thing you can do to increase the speed of your car.

Axle prep tools
How to find the best axles
Removing the burrs
Taper the axle head
How to use the Pro-Axle Press tool
Polishing the axles
Making grooved axles

Chapter 7: Wheel Preparation

The stock wheels that come straight out of the box leave a lot to be desired when it comes to building a winning car. Putting a little effort in here will have a big payoff on race day.

Wheel prep tools
How to select the best wheels
Using a gauge
How to use the Pro-Wheel Shaver
Polishing the inside rim
Polishing the wheel bore

Chapter 8: Assembly

Read the secrets of perfectly assembling your car. All the fine tuning and adjusting is done at this step to get your car running as fast as it can.

Assembly tools
Wheel lubrication
Attaching the wheels to the car
Setting up a test surface
Building your own test track
Bending axles
Rear wheel alignment
Front wheel alignment
Using the rail riding technique
Final wheel lubrication
Burnishing the wheels
Final weighting

Chapter 9: Race Day

Your car is ready to go. Now what? This chapter explains everything you need to know about race day.

Race day supplies
What to bring to the race
Race results log

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Build the fastest pinewood derby car. It's as easy as ABC!