2009 Parent/Sibling car AMX/3

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ah8tk
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2009 Parent/Sibling car AMX/3

Post by ah8tk »

The car I wanted to build this year was a 39 Chevy Street Rod, but as time wore on I realized that there was not enough time to Finish up the Batmobile and The Mach 5 and build a street rod pinewood car (carving out and finishing fenders can take a lot of time).

Late last year another member of DerbyTalk had built an AMX/2 derby car -- My AMX/2 derby car-- when I viewed the post, I had recently obtained a poster of an AMX/3 and found some additional pictures of AMX/3s and started some drawings of it, and that is where I left it. It seemed like the AMX/3 would be an easy build (but I had almost completed 2 convertible PWD cars, so just about anything seemed easy). I just needed to complete the top view of the car in the plans.

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I didn’t even start my car until 5 days before the derby. The first night I glued it up and cut it out with the band saw. The second I worked on carving it out, the third I had some time to sand and prime...

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When it came time for paint I needed to paint 2 colors in a couple of hours. I read the side of the Krylon paint I was using it said dry to the touch in 12 minutes. I had already painted the top red, so after 20 minutes after the last coat of red I masked the red and cut out the wheel wells and painted the bottom black. I waited the 12 to 15 minutes and pulled off the masking tape (expecting to see paint peeling off with the tape), and it was just fine.

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After adding the decals and clearing the car I put the wheels on. The first time down the test board the car the car turned hard to the left (it hadn’t done this when I tested it as a block), after 4 or 5 more times down the test board I figured out what was happening.

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I originally had drilled out some wood to get the car down to 4.8 oz. before painting. We have always run our cars “backward”, with the long overhang towards the back. This car is built with the long overhang in the front, there was apparently too much weight still in the front of the car and it was riding on the raised wheel. So I drilled out some more wood from the front and added some lead to the rear. It took two moves before it would not lean towards the front.

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The car finished 7th in a group of 20 racers.
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millettbbc
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Re: 2009 Parent/Sibling car AMX/3

Post by millettbbc »

You inspire me. Quick build with great results in looks and speed. What program do you use for making those amazing plans? Is that your profession? Each time you post them I save them incase some day I want to use them.

Thanks so much for sharing. Great Car.
PWD: The bug everyone catches and no one wants to let go.
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ohiofitter
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Re: 2009 Parent/Sibling car AMX/3

Post by ohiofitter »

Ah8tk...That car looks awesome....I know alot of people seem to go with a flat piece anymore but its great to see someone come up with a full body car to be different.............. :lol: ................PS are the templates done from your software or do you find them on the internet............would love to build a 56 ford p/u
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ah8tk
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Re: 2009 Parent/Sibling car AMX/3

Post by ah8tk »

millettbbc
I draw all of my plans in Visio, it is Microsoft’s drawing - CAD type program. The nice part of Visio is that I can print my plans to scale so I can go right to the block with the plan and start cutting. No it is not what I do for a profession you can see that here--What is your “real job”?-- if you would like I can send you any of my plans in a PDF if you PM me.
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Re: 2009 Parent/Sibling car AMX/3

Post by quadad »

Amazing, awesome car !! :clap:

I am inspired to try a Father-Son car like this.
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Re: 2009 Parent/Sibling car AMX/3

Post by bad_karma_2805a1 »

First I want to say that is a sweet car. I am really loving the lines. Also you have inspired me to try and make something like that...except bigger.

So I need to know what material did you use to bring the sides out? I need to do the same thing and don't really have a clue what to use. Also what did you use to carve the curves? I used my Dremel to carve out my Belly Tank Car and I am wondering if there is a better way. This new design doesn't have a lot of curves but I am learning.

Thanks for all the help.
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ah8tk
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Re: 2009 Parent/Sibling car AMX/3

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The sides are 1” X 3” (3/4” X 2 1/2") with the wheel wells cut out of them, glued to the block. Then I run them through the table saw to get to just under 2 3/4" width (about 1/32” shy). Or you could try to find 1/2” wood to glue onto the block. On this car I also had to add about 1/8” wood to the top of the block.

The tools we use in the rough carving process are a utility knife, ¼” and ½” wood chisels, small block plane and small and large Dremel drum sanders. From there we move to sanding blocks. We never use any power sanders (except the Dremel drum sanders), they can take a lot of wood with them very fast.
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Re: 2009 Parent/Sibling car AMX/3

Post by Javelin »

Hey ah8tk, Thats an awsome job!

I was the one who did the AMX/2 a couple years ago, sorry I didnt see this thread sooner. I originally wanted to do the AMX/3 but decided the 2 would be easier. You did the design proud!

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Re: 2009 Parent/Sibling car AMX/3

Post by rpcarpe »

Awesome build! Did it win a design award?
How did you involve the Scout?
My wife started a new support group... Widows of the Pinewood Derby.
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ah8tk
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Re: 2009 Parent/Sibling car AMX/3

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Javelin wrote:I was the one who did the AMX/2 a couple years ago, sorry I didnt see this thread sooner. I originally wanted to do the AMX/3 but decided the 2 would be easier. You did the design proud!
It was somewhat difficult to make with only pictures. We usually have a model of a car when we build a PWD car, but there aren’t any models (that I know of) for an AMX 3. A model (weather it is a 1/24th scale or simply a Hot Wheels car) can help to show how everything fits together.

This is the second AMC car we have built we also built our Marlin a couple years back.
rpcarpe wrote:Awesome build! Did it win a design award?
How did you involve the Scout?
No design awards, as the title reads “2009 Parent/Sibling car AMX/3” this was built as a parent car, my son built the Barris Batmobile as his car. And we built my wife the Mach 5 for her parent car.
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