6 Steps for Helping My Kids Build a Pinewood Derby Car

Building Pinewood derby cars is one of my families favorite scout projects. We have built them for years. We love creating new ideas and trying to turn our favorite things, movies, or toys into a car that is not just cool looking, but fast.

Red Rat Rod, Tan Horse, Black Dragon, Caterpillar, #80 Green Racer, #49 Angry Pig

We have to start way in advance. I have 3 boys in scouting. 1 American Heritage Girl, and my wife and I are both involved in leadership. That is correct, six (6) cars. It takes a while.

The kids are eager to get started and this is the BEGINNING of the process to get it all done. This is just a starting point for those who don't know where to begin.

First, Dream drawing 

Draw several cars on paper.We encourage then to try to turn what they love into a car. One son has an Angry Birds theme going on. My daughter made a caterpillar one year and a butterfly the next.  My oldest son is which ever movie he likes at the time. He has make Speed Racer, Star Wars Forest speeder bike, dragon, and an arrow. I have one son who likes old Hot Rods Race cars and so that is what he makes. I like old junk rat rods, so that is what I make, except one year I made a tractor.
Have fun with them. Encourage crazy ideas.

Second, the design on template.

The design must fit on a template of the block of wood's top and side. This is interesting, because they learn to think 3 dimensional. Sometimes we use toy cars so they can get the idea. Make sure the wheels closest to the end of the block of wood is in the back. Putting the weight back there is important for speed.

If you are looking for templates, here are some printable ones. Free Templates

The template I use for the kids is in the back of this Derby Design book, which is a great resource for adults helping a scout. I have learned so much from it. All of the books in this group are good.

Third, redesign

After they draw it the first time it's usually big and bulky. We talk about aerodynamics. How can we make it thinner. Where will we hide the weights so that it still looks cool? What will attach to it so that it looks the way you want it? This is where I may draw a few lines to make it smaller, clean things up a little. After all it has to be able to be cut, by a 9 year old. And you want it to be fast. Remember, we don't do it for them, we do it with them.

The Hoot painting in his fire flames, because they make any car faster. 

Forth, weights and accessories in design

Yeah, we try to have a good idea of the finished product before we cut out the car. Not because I am super smart or annul about those things, but I've made so many mistakes and had to redo so many times, I finally figured a few things out. It also helps builders stay focused on ONE design and not change it all over the place.

The Angry Birds cars have "Rocket Boosters" on the back of them. We found cheap wrench sockets to use as Boosters, and as weight. We also glued weights inside of the socket and the character so the car looks good, clean, and finished. The Red Rat Rod had a "Spare Tire" on the back that was full of washers for weight.
The Forest speeder below used large fishing washers for bags and tanks.
Lots of those things are thought about, collected and put in baggies.
Boy's Life  and Dremel have some great tips for you to think about.

The Pup test fitting  & checking his work. 

Fifth, Make copies and get baggies.

With everything on paper I make a few photocopies. (With 6 cars it's easy to loose and misplace things.) Everything goes in their own Gallon sized Ziplock bag. You can also use a shoe box, small tool box, old sock without a hole in it. (Again, I'm not organized, just lost it enough times that I finally figured it out.)

For building and speed I'm going to defer to other experts. It is covered in books, articles, blogs, and the other guys at the scout meeting. I think these first 5 steps get over looked a lot. This is to help you get started and a plan to follow.

Pink Tornado polishing her axles for speed.

Sixth, FINALLY, go over safety and start cutting.

The kids, eight years old and up, cut their own cars out on a scroll saw. I stay right with them, thus the reason I have no pictures of this step. They also have to use coping saws or chisels, depending on the design. We will do a little a time if we have to due to being tired or frustrated. (This is also why it takes so long.)
Don't worry about missing the lines, anything can be shaped or cleaned up with a power sander. Just make sure they wear a mask and it is well marked. Red Sharpies are great for this.

Here are some tips to keep your kid working.

• Sand the really rough stuff for them to start with or give them a small power sander.

The Head using a power sander to get started with.

• Have them sand on it while watching a movie. Lay out newspaper or old towels you can shake outside.

The Pup sanding his Angry Pig Car.
The Pig was full of 2 ounces of lead and sat right over the rear wheels.

• I always tell my kids, the difference between "THAT's AWESOME!!!" and "yeah, nice car", is SANDING (and polyurethane). 
• Sand on your car while they are sanding on their car. 
• Build your own car along side of them.6 reasons to build your own car.
• Refer back to their design and plan. 
• Check out your Local LOWE's Hardware Store. They should be doing Pinewood Derby Dremel build days with test tracks.

This is a competitive event. 

But it is also a FUN event, 

a LEARNING event, 

a FAMILY event. 

When they do most of the work themselves, they are that much More proud of themselves and take better care of their cars.

The Head with his WeBeLoS car.
It wasn't fast, the design was off balance, but it did the job and looked cool.

"The Head"s version of a Star War's Forest Speeder Bike.