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Legos... Pinewood Derby Cars... Why Not Both?

Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 12:09 am
by rcmoeur
Yesterday (Tuesday), we had our final tune-up and practice session in preparation for the District Pinewood Derby this coming Saturday. But in between testing & races, the kids were all over the boxes of Legos, and even tried building a brick-based car or two that would fit on the track and roll smoothly thru the finish.

That didn't work so well.

But, being minimally observant, I noted that the Legos most certainly kept the Cubs fully occupied for an long period of time - perfect for those extended events like a District Derby.

But the brilliant flash of insight didn't come to me until the middle of the night. Either that, or it was the cats fighting.

So, awake before first light, I got out a chunk of spare furring strip, some 5/16" dowel, some assorted colored wheels, wood glue, and a bunch of axles that needed filing & polishing anyway, and set to work. Once my son was awake, I completed the negotiations ("yes, if you let me cut this base plate apart I promise I'll buy you a nicer new one"), and after some work with the glue gun, a drill press, and a few other tools, we have...

"The Lego-mobile"

... ready & waiting for an additional 1.6 ounces of bricks and minifigures to be added many times over & over again. :D
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Re: Legos... Pinewood Derby Cars... Why Not Both?

Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 10:13 am
by Topspin.D
That does work. Or you could buy the blocks from Derby Magic - Minibrick Racing

http://derbymagic.com/minibrickderby.html" target="_blank

I think I've also seen another kind of lego derby car set, but it only works on tracks that don't have the center guide rails.

Re: Legos... Pinewood Derby Cars... Why Not Both?

Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 2:48 pm
by pgosselin
Looks like fun.

Paul

Re: Legos... Pinewood Derby Cars... Why Not Both?

Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 5:15 pm
by whodathunkit
Lego cars why not.
Heres one a kid in my area did up to look like lego blocks.
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Re: Legos... Pinewood Derby Cars... Why Not Both?

Posted: Fri Mar 22, 2013 1:11 am
by rcmoeur
Re http://derbymagic.com/minibrickderby.html : I was not aware of those. They look cool, but would've been a budget-buster in bulk. Might still buy a pair to check them out later.

Lego Car posted by whoda: that looks great. :thumbup:

Less than 36 hours until the District Derby... :wacko:

Re: Legos... Pinewood Derby Cars... Why Not Both?

Posted: Mon Mar 25, 2013 11:23 pm
by Darin McGrew
We had two sisters enter similar Lego cars in this year's derby. They attached a Lego base plate to the block from the kit, and then built on top of that. One built a room with windows, a door, furniture, and people. The other built a band with pianist, drummer, and vocalist.

And one boy built an oversized Lego car very similar to the one shown in whodathunkit's photo, only with a different color scheme.

Re: Legos... Pinewood Derby Cars... Why Not Both?

Posted: Tue Mar 26, 2013 7:14 pm
by rcmoeur
Apologies for not replying earlier - still recovering from this past weekend's Four Peaks District Pinewood Derby.

The Lego cars were a success.

Let me rephrase that - a complete, utter, total, and amazing success. A mob of happy kids all day at the build table & practice track, and many compliments from the parents.

It seemed like there was a fully-bedecked Lego car zooming down the practice track every 20-30 seconds or so for 8 hours straight racing against (& usually losing to) the "official" cars, or against each other.

Only drawbacks: some of the 5/16" dowels did not hold up to the constant racing (and occasional crashing). But I can drill them out & replace. And somehow one of the blue wheels ended up with a twisted hub bore. But that can be replaced too.

We are DEFINITELY doing this again next year. I just now have to explain to my son that the rules don't allow him to "adopt" one of them as his car for next year...

Re: Legos... Pinewood Derby Cars... Why Not Both?

Posted: Tue Mar 26, 2013 8:29 pm
by Noskills
Legos and PWD are like cookies and milk. Legos offer mini steering wheels, coole extras, tons to perfect sized drivers. We made a star wars lego car 2 years ago...fun (but slow).

Seth

Re: Legos... Pinewood Derby Cars... Why Not Both?

Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2016 3:44 pm
by JoePro
I ran into this post and it compelled me to chime in...

I too found great enthusiasm for LEGO Derby Car racing while displaying my "Pinewood Derby Museum" artifacts at our recent ConnJam event. To attract attention, I setup a track and dumped a box of LEGO parts on a table so kids could build and race. It was like a "kid magnet" where scouts (and girls) of all ages built and raced LEGO cars for the duration of the event.

I quickly learned the kids were more interested in building LEGO cars than hearing about the history of pinewood derby racing!

From this event, I designed a LEGO Zinc Brick and LEGO Derby Wheel Assembly to make the cars fast so you could race LEGO cars down a pinewood derby track. I have run LEGO Derby races for scout Packs on recruitment night and also as a full blown LEGO Derby race complete with trophies. Kids love it.
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Re: Legos... Pinewood Derby Cars... Why Not Both?

Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2016 6:34 am
by whodathunkit
JoePro wrote:I ran into this post and it compelled me to chime in...

I too found great enthusiasm for LEGO Derby Car racing while displaying my "Pinewood Derby Museum" artifacts at our recent ConnJam event. To attract attention, I setup a track and dumped a box of LEGO parts on a table so kids could build and race. It was like a "kid magnet" where scouts (and girls) of all ages built and raced LEGO cars for the duration of the event.

I quickly learned the kids were more interested in building LEGO cars than hearing about the history of pinewood derby racing!]

Thanks Joepro.