Wheel Identification?

[exoray]

I was at the local Girl Scout store today and they had unmarked derby car kits in bags, it struck my interest instantly as Girl Scouts USA doesn't officially do a derby, but I do run our local service unit Girl Scout derby... That said sometimes the store does sell just random stuff...

Anyway I grabbed a bag to take a look, the block appears to be BSA-sized and grooved (but with a rougher finish) the axles were pin hinge style with no point, they also didn't appear plated at all, dull gray steel finish... Then on to the wheels, they were to be blunt ugly, they had a factory raised center profile to ride on and the overall molding was just ugly, like real ugly... Looking at the wheel, it was obvious the mold itself was never buffed and polished smooth so machining marks are clearly evident, but even the injection itself is ugly as you can see big flow marks and imperfections...

My question is, does anyone know if this is a commercial derby kit being offered by someone? It's honestly disappointing to see a kit of this quality being offered by anyone and I can't imagine a sanctioned race using these wheels...

[Vitamin K]

That is an old-style "Shape-and-Race" kit, used by Christian Service Brigade for their cars.

The newer wheels are lighter, but the kits use the same axles.

Gotta be honest, I am not super-impressed by the quality of the newer wheels, either...

[exoray]

Thanks for the reply, with all the 'nicer' wheels out there and even BSA stepping up their wheels, it was a shock to see these in this day and age...

Now I have to wonder if someone donated them to the Girl Scouts and they are just trying to make a few bucks off of the donation...

[FatSebastian]

My question is, does anyone know if this is a commercial derby kit being offered by someone?

For future reference, Maximum Velocity has a "Pinewood Derby Kit Help" page that, although perhaps not exhaustive, shows various organizational kits.

the overall molding was just ugly, like real ugly...

[whodathunkit]

Here is a wheel type that needs to be added as well.

Had a kid show up with a car with this wheel type on it.
Anyone care to guess it's kit type?
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Peachtree Woodshop Racers

[whodathunkit]

exoray,

The newer style CSB Stockar wheel.

[whodathunkit]

exoray,

Here's some images of the current Christion Service Brigade Stockar kit.
How you get the Stockar kit contents from them:


Axle type:


Bottom view of there car body block:


Wheels front and back views:


Side view of the wheel treads:

[Vitamin K]

exoray,

Here's some images of the current Christion Service Brigade Stockar kit.
How you get the Stockar kit contents from them:


Axle type:


Bottom view of there car body block:


Wheels front and back views:


Side view of the wheel treads:

My kids do CSB as one of their activities and we had a Stockar race this year (we've actually got a region race in two weeks). I gotta say, I am not thrilled with the kit quality. The block has these funky "ears" or "wings" on it, and it's actually slightly narrower than 1.75" at the axles. The wheelbase is this dinky 3.75", and our rules require you to use the slots for axle placement, blech.

Also the quality and runout of the wheels is...not great. Very narrow hubs, too.

The axle quality is pretty good at least.

[exoray]

Wheels front and back views:


Side view of the wheel treads:

Let me state for the record, that I'm not some injection mold master, I'm just a guy that is familiar with the process and tech... And in my world LEGO building blocks set the standard of what quality injection molded parts should look like many decades ago and although many parts are not LEGO great most nowadays are at least very decent unless it's some party favor junk trinket... And although I know full well that there is a decent upcharge to produce clean molds that produce great injection molded parts with clean lines and a smooth finish vs good enough injection molded parts it's a pet peeve of mine when I see such ugly molds and molded parts in the year 2024... RANT off...

[whodathunkit]

VK,
I hope you're kids do well with the cars and the race.

I just picked this kit up to add to my collection of Pinewood derby memorabilia for different kit types to share with the kids.

Yeah the wings on the block are odd alright plus the wheels are not the best like you say .
Seems like I've seen some videos of there cars racing and some of them had small washers at axle heads as well ( have no idea of what that's about ) the kit's did not come with them!

Internet images of the new StockKar semi truck shows them.

And even on one with the older wheel style using them
(I really like this car design of Marvin the Martian and his space modulator)