My youngest son, Darion, is in Cub Scouts and has to build a Pinewood Derby car every year. This year, he decided he wanted a Fiero for his car, so we went about tracing and cutting, until you see what we ended up with. He did the paint, except for the Formula side logos, which I had a steadier hand for. He loves it, and even said that it can grace my Fiero shrine cabinet here at the house after the derby is done. What do you think?

Awesome! I like everything about this except you say he "has" to build one every year....has to?!? Gets to! I cant wait to have a son some day so i can build pinewood derby cars again.

Tell him he did a great job, i hope it was fun making it.

(I should see if i can find some pictures of my old ones...no fieros but i had a wiener mobile, a roll of lifesavers, and a skateboard car)

It looks like the very rare widetrack model. As a father, you are an inspiration to all.

Those widetracks didn't get the good '88 suspension, did they? And my memory also says that none of them were stick-shift.

That's great !!

Man - I have to go build one now!

Hope he smokes all the competition! Take some pics or video and post it up!

Pat

quote Originally posted by Isolde: And my memory also says that none of them were stick-shift.

Powerglide!

Wider is better.

Owwww....a choptop!!!

NICE!

Awesome!!! A new iteration of the Fiero, with all wood interior!

YOUR DOING IT WRONG... tell him he needsto build a fastback... you need at leas one in our driveway .
I see someone put a wrap around wing on it..

Hum I remember being in Cub Scouts about 50 years ago and we had the same race. I didn't do so good but the winner added weight to his. I'm wandering if there is a weight limit to keep things fair. The Formula looks really nice, you should be proud.

My daughters' (yes thats plural) Brownie troop has done the derby the last two years so I've had to build two cars each year. The first year I got some 1/4" or 5/16" thick balsa from Hobby Lobby and glued that to each side of the car so they actually had wheel wells. One was a NASCAR truck and the other was like a 40's era sedan. The sedan got 3rd that year.

Last year, just did a couple wedge designs. Got 2nd and 3rd.

There is a whole set of rules on how heavy, how long and how wide that the car can be. I think its 5 oz max weight and the car basically has to fit the box it came in as far as width and length. I don't think there is a height restriction.

Yours is already done so you can't do much in the way of getting all the wheels parallel. Just be sure to lube the axles with powdered graphite and work that stuff in good.

Good luck
Gary

eta: If the car is under weight and you're going to add some, you want it as far back on the car as possible.

[This message has been edited by G-Man (edited 01-05-2011).]

put some graphite on the "axles" lol

Way Cool! Keep us updated on how he does.

Doug

Our scouts typically have a rules car, and an anything-goes car. And it's not just the boys. It's also ALL the men under age 60 or so. Not really anything goes, we have size limits, and no fire power, like rockets. But carbon dioxide cartridges stacked on top and in the back are "de rigeur"
Likewise using lead instead of wood.
I'll try to get some pics, if anyone is willing.

First off, it's not a T-Top car, that's gonna be a serious reduction in points!

Looks good! Hope he wipes the competition!

This brightened up my morning!

Thats excellent, just brought back memories of building these 30 some years ago when I was in Cub's

Proof yer raisin' him right!

Looks GREAT!

Making a pinewood car is a nice way for a father and son to spend some quality time together.

thats awesome! i was in scouts and made one of my dads white fiero. im going to go find it after school

Sweet! I remember back when me and my dad made those things for scouts. Good times

That looks AWESOME!!!!!

Good job!!! & Good luck in the race!

Chris

Thanks for the compliments everyone. The races are on Sunday, and I will post videos in this thread of his races. We weighed it tonight and have to add almost 2 oz. to it.

Looks good!

Sweet! I see it's chopped, he just needs to lower it a little more.

Jim

quote Originally posted by Hulki U. My-BFF: Thanks for the compliments everyone. The races are on Sunday, and I will post videos in this thread of his races. We weighed it tonight and have to add almost 2 oz. to it.

To get it to the exact weight, my dad and I drilled holes in the back, then used those lead anchor-thingies (Things that you stick in the wall to screw screws into) You could probably reach yer weight using a quarter or something taped on the bottom...

Are you allowed to use lubricants? Either teflon or powdered graphite inside the axles! (the area of the nail where the wheel rests on)

[This message has been edited by FieroRumor (edited 01-07-2011).]

quote Originally posted by FieroRumor: To get it to the exact weight, my dad and I drilled holes in the back, then used those lead anchor-thingies (Things that you stick in the wall to screw screws into) You could probably reach yer weight using a quarter or something taped on the bottom... Are you allowed to use lubricants? Either teflon or powdered graphite inside the axles! (the area of the nail where the wheel rests on)

Thanks for the tip. Yes, I lubes the axles (nails) with graphite powder. I don't know how the car will do, but I know it will look good doing it, and Darion loves the car so he's a winner already.

I love it! Of coarse, I would probably have reversed the color scheme to create a mini-Petey.

Good luck with your races. I always enjoyed the Pinewood Derby with my son. I never could convince him to go Fiero body though. LOL.


Jeff

If you paint the center of crosslace wheels black, it will look even more like a Formula.

Can't wait to read all about the Pinewood Engine Swap.....we will need lots pf pictures.

What are the rules & the track layout etc?

They run by gravity I guess (the track is a downhill) ?

Wider is not always better--you want minimum cross section-IOW, minimum air resistance, skinny tires with least amt of contact patch would be most desirable, with a very sleek (pointed) front end--(nose looks too blunt too) but I realize it is a derby entry, and a fun thing for the Scouts more than all else, and that's the only important thing.

I used to watch the videos of belt sander races. Still waiting for someone to disquise one as a little electric Fiero.

here is mine about 10 years ago. i think i was in second grade

Yes, the kids having fun and making good memories is most important. Ours will be on the 27th and 28th, so I still have time to whip something up for the unlimited class. Those of us old enough to have kids participating in the official rules class aren't doing rules cars. Fine by me.

Adults play this game too. Here's my car from a fundraiser event I was involved with



a few speed tips for you, raise one of the front wheels [not a rear] so the car balances and rolls on 3 wheels [reduces friction, your enemy], get the center of gravity as far rearward as possible, you want the weight to push the car down the hill as long as possible, tweak the axles so you have slight negative camber at all 4 corners [reduces friction], make sure car rolls straight and true, if you have a wheelbase and total length rule, get all the over hang at the front of the car, the car is rolling down the hill longer with the wheels as far back as possible.

good luck and have fun

link is broke, i'll fix it later

[This message has been edited by av8fiero (edited 01-10-2011).]

AV8 your link is broken.

So what kinds loser says the race is Sunday and makes us wait till Monday to let us know how the results came out.... Your screwing up Andy

Fixed the link, I finished fourth out of a 100+ cars, I took home best engineered as well. Another pinewood speed tip is to rub the graphite all over the wheels, sides especially, as they rub on the track lanes. The slicker you can get the car the faster it will go

[This message has been edited by av8fiero (edited 01-10-2011).]

Well, the results are, Darion came in third place in his den, and we are extremely proud of him! I did shoot some video, just have to get it off the camera. I'll do that tomorrow night and put them up here. He did win an award for most realistic car.