Well, we had to make changes to the car.

One of the other dads in the Pack had a mini-workshop at his house for the guys to test out cars and put on the finishing touches. Long story short, the Flash car didn’t cut the mustard. The weights that THE BOY and I mounted under the car were a fraction too low at some points on the track. It produced a drag that kept the car from making it all the way down the track. A total disaster in the world of Pinewood Derby racing.

Thankfully the dad that was holding the workshop had a shed full of woodworking tools. He loaned me his rotary tool and router bit to hollow out the bottom of the car and recess the weights. This let the car move down the track but it screwed up the weight and balance of the car.

Each car is allowed to weigh no more than 5 ounces. Our car was 4.903 ounces. After I cut out the bottom of the car the weight fell to 4.1 ounces. Far to light to develop any real speed in the downhill portion of the track. I compensated by adding more weights to the car bringing it back to 4.9 ounces. The pictures are after the jump.

Of course drilling out the bottom required me to remove the wheels and axles. Now I’ve got the task of re-setting them and adding more graphite to the shafts.

We also started a second car, but it may not be finished by Friday night.

Not the best way to add weight, but THE BOY is really happy with the way the car looks so I didn’t want to drill holes in the sides. He’s proud of the work he’s done, which is the real point behind the entire project. I just hope he wins at least a couple of heats this weekend.