Derby Talk

My daughters car is all done. Weight is in it, decorated, painted white with 3 coats of gloss on top of the paint job. How does one do the prepping of the car body where the wheel go. Should a sand the quarter size area with a 800 sand paper then brush on finger nail polish? Dont sand it? How many. Oats of finger nail polish. And everywhere in the quarter sized area? much detail is appreciated

Also. I know nothing about finger nail polish. Just a clear coat like polish? Is this really an improvement on the spray paint clear coat I have on there now?

Hi Sleestack,

Are you going to run the car with a graphite lube or an oil lube?

For a graphite lubed car some say it is best to go.. with bare wood and graphite rubbed in the area's where the wheel hub meets the car body.
Here's a topic that talks about it more.
http://www.derbytalk.com/viewtopic.php?t=3001

For the oil lubed cars some people like to putting on 2 coats of the hard clear finger nail polish on and sand it smooth.
Brands names like the Sally Hansen line and so on.

So I completed the finger nail polish on 3 wheel sized areas on the car body. I did not bother doing the area where the raised wheel does nothing. My 2 concerns are that are where the polish is isnt exactly perfectly flat like the other areas of the car and I tought this might make the wheel gap off my .009 drom other spot. Its like very small.hills and valleys if that explains it better and 2nd when I slide my finger over the side of the car my finger does slide over the polish area as slippert as the side of the car. Maybe a plastic edge is different from a fleshy finger. No it wasnt a gel polish. Just a clear finger nail polish. Should I be concerned and sand it off and repaint or should it look and feel tbis way?

Please correct me if I read this wrong. I think the finger nail polish goes around the opening where the wheel hub touches the car. You should be OK because if it's rail riding no rim will touch the car.

.

Im using oil. Zero graphite.

I have the finger nail.polish the size of the tire. About the size of a quarter.

Hope I didnt do it wrong. That was the poupose of this topic to know how to do it.

I did use Sally Hanson Mega strenth. Just feels sticky or more grippy that the other areas of the car. But that with a human finger. Dont think Im a fan of it at all.

Sleestak,

Most of the pinewood derby topics that i have read about finger nail polish around the axle car body area .
There using the Sally Hansen Teflon Tuff Clear or the Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme.

Check your email.

Speedster wrote: ↑Sat Feb 08, 2020 7:08 pm Check your email.

??? My regular email?

Yes. There are 3 emails. I was interrupted during the 1st two so you want the 3rd one. It has a picture of a car with a piece of blue tape covering the right front axle slot. That is where the fingernail polish would go. That is where the end of the inside bore of the Dfw will ride with the wheel set with Positive cant and toe-in. The rear wheels will ride on the axle heads set with Negative cant and adjusted to run parallel to the car. You can rub a little graphite on the body of the car in case the rear wheels should bounce and hit the car if it makes you feel better. The problem with putting fingernail polish on the area where the wheel hub will ride is exactly the reason you talked about. It's wavy and it needs to be very flat and smooth. The bare block is flat and smooth and that's why it's better to rub graphite on that small area.

Alright Im gonna sand this all off. I put it all over the quarter sized tire area. I hate it and it feel sticky ir more grippy to my finger top like a rubber nail polish even though it isnt.

Sleestak, we are all learning here.

Let me tell you about the time I built a very slim wedge car and weighted it with nothing but tungsten. There was nothing left to lower the weight to make it legal. Actually, that's the whole story. My wife insisted I display the car in a very prominent place which I did. I don't remember ever saying to her "I don't make mistakes". What's she always pointing to that thing for anyhow?