Graphite or Alignment - who knows??

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AlabamaDan
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Graphite or Alignment - who knows??

Post by AlabamaDan »

My son's unmodified car came in 8th in the pack, shameful he said. :oops: I told him not to worry that he could tweak it for the district race. He changed out some of the wheels and messed with the alignment. Of course we have no way to know how it would do, but we hoped for the best.

The morning before checking he asked about applying graphite - I said that some people say that an overabundance of graphite is wasteful and just may just be getting the car dirty without making it faster. He said that looks weren't as important as speed and proceeded to cover the entire car with graphite. Changed the color alot and it still looked ok.

Came in 3rd place at district! Was it his alignment job, new wheels or the graphite rubdown? :scratching: Who knows but it worked!!! He's very excited.

We're both sad to see his Cub Scout PWD days come to an end. :cry: It's been his favorite event for the last 5 years! AND, he has a trophy shelf full of memories. :mrgreen:

He tells me he isn't finished with cub scouts until after the council race! 8)
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Stan Pope
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Re: Graphite or Alignment - who knows??

Post by Stan Pope »

AlabamaDan wrote:He tells me he isn't finished with cub scouts until after the council race! 8)
So, does the car get another graphite bath just before the council races? :)
Stan
"If it's not for the boys, it's for the birds!"
AlabamaDan
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Re: Graphite or Alignment - who knows??

Post by AlabamaDan »

Of course it will!
pgosselin
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Re: Graphite or Alignment - who knows??

Post by pgosselin »

Good job of letting your son make some decisions, Dan.

Glad things worked out and got better.

Paul
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derbyspeed
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Re: Graphite or Alignment - who knows??

Post by derbyspeed »

I know a lot of people talk about how re-graphiting (if that's a word :mrgreen: ) tends to slow the car down but in my experience, everytime we have re-applied graphite after racing, the car always gets faster, even on the first run.

Especially when we rub graphite on the inner edge of the rail-rider wheel.

Maybe it's our amount or procedure for application, but we really have no science to it.

We have only used Max V's graphite, nothing else.

Once again that is just our experience.

That's really cool that he did make the decision and was able to see positive results, always makes your day :dance:
Mike Webb

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cycrunner
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Re: Graphite or Alignment - who knows??

Post by cycrunner »

derbyspeed wrote:I know a lot of people talk about how re-graphiting (if that's a word :mrgreen: ) tends to slow the car down but in my experience, everytime we have re-applied graphite after racing, the car always gets faster, even on the first run.

Especially when we rub graphite on the inner edge of the rail-rider wheel.

Maybe it's our amount or procedure for application, but we really have no science to it.

We have only used Max V's graphite, nothing else.

Once again that is just our experience.

That's really cool that he did make the decision and was able to see positive results, always makes your day :dance:
When testing on my track I always find that when I add graphite (Max V) the speed gets better, especially the first run. Burnishing the inner edge of the DF wheel also helps, in my experience. The last thing I do before sending in a graphite car to proxy races is re-graphhite!
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5kidsracing
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Re: Graphite or Alignment - who knows??

Post by 5kidsracing »

cycrunner wrote:
derbyspeed wrote:I know a lot of people talk about how re-graphiting (if that's a word :mrgreen: ) tends to slow the car down but in my experience, everytime we have re-applied graphite after racing, the car always gets faster, even on the first run.

Especially when we rub graphite on the inner edge of the rail-rider wheel.

Maybe it's our amount or procedure for application, but we really have no science to it.

We have only used Max V's graphite, nothing else.

Once again that is just our experience.

That's really cool that he did make the decision and was able to see positive results, always makes your day :dance:
When testing on my track I always find that when I add graphite (Max V) the speed gets better, especially the first run. Burnishing the inner edge of the DF wheel also helps, in my experience. The last thing I do before sending in a graphite car to proxy races is re-graphhite!
I agree with Cycrunner.... I use Max V for burnishing and HobELube for running.
For my "Pinewood Story" go to: http://5kidsracing.webs.com/index.htm
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