Need to fix broken car for district

[brianj5600]

My son won at our pack competition, but cracked both sides in front. The nails are the only thing hanging in there. The trap for stopping the cars was more brutal than we thought. It was not noticed until it slowed down drastically. We pushed the axles back in, which corrected toe and was able to win the final. I was thinking of gluing and pinning it. Has anyone ever had to repair something like this? Any ideas on fixing this? What kind of glue?

[gpraceman]

We had that happen to my daughter's car one year, when she did the test runs our Awana club allowed the night before the race. Her front wheel struts were pretty narrow, so we glued a piece of popsicle stick to it as reinforcement and then wrapped it with fishing line. That was probably overkill, but it worked. The next day, she broke the track record and won 1st place in speed.

http://grandprix-race-central.com/modul ... ewsIndex=1

You might want to use some Gorilla glue, as there appears to be some slivers of wood missing. Just be conservative, as it can make a foamy mess.

[brianj5600]

Thanks for the reply. The only piece missing is a sliver in the bottom pic, all the way to the left. Pushing the axles back in closes the other gaps flush. I like the popsicle stick idea. I have until late April to get it fixed.

[whodathunkit]

brianj5600,

I've never really liked the stoping garages for this very reason..
What a beating the front wheels & axles take from stoping the car.

I like Randys idea for the fix.

For the sliver thats missing seen on the right bottom of the car.
If the silver is no more then 1/16" to 1/8" that is missing..
Instead of trying to fill that back in you could sand that flush and let that wheel ride the rail.

[psycaz]

I would talk to your district person to see if you can build another.

Our former district person was under the impression that they had no idea what the car looked like in the first place. They wouldn't know if a different car had been built. They wanted the boys to have fun and race to their best. It's not their fault if the car is damaged due to a track issue. It's not fair to the boy.

I would strongly consider doing another set of axles and wheels. That much damage, I'd almost be willing to bet you damaged the current stuff.

[Scrollsawer]

Hmm...

Yesterday while sanding, we accidentally snapped my daughter's PWD entry in two.

After a small amount of panicking, we grabbed the Carpenters wood glue (the yellow glue), and held the pieces together for 6 hours.

I was skeptical. However... I was impressed with the carpenter glue results. Really impressed.

Turns out the 'break point' was bonded, really strong, and I am very confident the car can be saved. And it's sandable and paintable. I would apply a small amount with your finger so you can control exactly where the glue is applied. If you're still concerned, you could also affix a thinned out section of a popcicle stick underneath, parallel to the axle line.

The key is to let the glue cure for at least 6-8 hours (per the instructions on the bottle).

Good luck!

Scrollsawer

[TXDerbyDad]

It's the curse of thing car parts, especially when narrowed like that. I've seen it happen too often, including a car that broke at the District races. Thankfully it was fixable and the car was actually faster after the break.

I would personally build another car because I'd worry too much has been damaged and good enough might not be good enough at District. Just make sure it's not against the rules.

[brianj5600]

I will get with the guy in charge of running the district race and see what my options are. The last thing want my kid to learn from this is that it is OK to go outside the rules. If we can build another car, we will. If not we will do the best we can with this one and carry our learning experience to next years car. Did baking the cars make it more brittle?

[psycaz]

When you talk to him, offer to show him the car if that helps show how much damage there is and that its real.

[The Iceman]

Not sure about the rules but here is what I did.

1. pull the nails
2. break any cracks completely
3. glue all back together
4. router out a 1/4 slot from side to side leaving 1/16 on the top.
5. if you have 1/4 cut block around, cut it to size and epoxy it back in!
6. Sand to match
7. good as new and this works great if you ever need new holes!

This is how I fixed my rear on Rail car the night before the race!

Ice

[Nitro Dan]

Yep, seen a number of these myself (but never on both sides). I'd have to go with Scrollsawer on this one. Use wood glue and put it in a clamp or a vice over night. Once set, you should open the axle holes back up with your #44 drill bit (in case any glue dried in there).

-Nitro Dan