Chevy Truck replica pinewood derby build

[Andy Seibel]

Totally off-topic here, but maybe some of you or your children may enjoy this. Here goes:

 

I never had the privilege or honor to participate in a pinewood derby as a kid. I just wasn't in scouts. Fast forward to adulthood, I work for an engineering company with a bunch of other nerds. Someone had the idea of holding our own derby and there was a lot of interest. So I built a car the last two years, learning about all the little tricks on youtube to make a fast car. I came in 3rd of 20 entries this past year.

 

Now this year, instead of (in addition to) speed, I want to focus on my car design. so I decided to make a replica of my 1998 K1500. (I plan to even make a detachable plow):

 

Step 1 was to get some dimensions of the truck, scale it down to the wood block and make a sketch:

 

 

Then I took a standard pinewood derby block and some 1/4" basswood to add some extra body to the sides and top for a cab. I also cut out the bed, a tailgate and some wheel wells. Now I have the rough shape assembled, here's what it looks like so far:

 

The next steps would be to do some additional shaping to get the curvature of the sides and cab. I need to decide if i want to cut the bumpers out of the wood block, or glue something else on.

If anyone has any bright ideas of how to get a realistic looking grill, decals, bumpers, etc, I'd love to hear it. I will update with more photos once I make more progress. This is kind of a side project that I started early this year, so I can enjoy working in the garage in the summer instead of February when our race is held.

Also if any of you have any cool pinewood derby cars you or your kids made, feel free to share! I love getting ideas anywhere i can. Have a good day.

[Andy Seibel]

Some more photos:

[RyanbabZ71]

Cool, my son did one back in February. Got 2nd place in his pack. Got best overall sports theme, we did a cubs car.

[sk]

They are a lot of fun. I was in Scouts when I was young and did a few Derbies but forgot about them. Then my 2 boys both got involved so we were in a bunch.

 

The older son was all about looks. He built 3 cars and they all sucked for speed but looked pretty cool (one was even a General Lee that he hand-painted all the graphics on!).

The younger son was all about speed. He researched all the speed tips online. Each year his cars got faster and the 3rd one he built won his Pack, then Troop, then came in 5th at the regional level (not high enough to advance). That was 8 or 9 years ago but he still has the car and trophy displayed in his room.

 

If you want a good laugh watch the movie "Down and Derby": http://www.downandderby.com/ . It's a family-friendly movie that seems a little cheesy but if you ever experienced the actual Pinewood Derby they actually got a lot of it spot-on!

[barry G]

I was in scouts, back when men were men.

meant a lot to me, dad was gone all the time.

 

I remember a guru stepped up to help me, did very good in the derby.

 

anyway

I'd find the real models of plastic in some hobby store for little pieces.

 

I forget the rules for that stuff, there is weight etc.

[Pacfanweb]

Just now saw this. Never thought to look for PWD stuff here, but was searching on google and found this thread.

 

We love the Derby. Son is out of Cubs now, and Boy Scouts don't do it, but he went out with a bang: Won the World Championship in Times Square in 2016 for the Webelos 2 division. That was a fun day. Won Pack every year, went to District. Won District last 3 years, but as far as we knew that was all our area had....then I found out about the World Championship and we decided to go...glad we did.

 

Daughter is in Girl Scouts and they do the same thing but call it Powder Puff Derby. I help out with that every year, and it's fun.

 

I highly recommend encouraging your kid to participate in this if available. Very fun Dad/Son or Daughter project.

[Spurshot]

Well...an engineering company... you could CNC parts. Or do additive metal (3D laser metal print) parts. I think an over the top effort should get recognition in your company. Vapor dep the chrome.

[aseibel]

Well...an engineering company... you could CNC parts. Or do additive metal (3D laser metal print) parts. I think an over the top effort should get recognition in your company. Vapor dep the chrome.

lol, those are some interesting ideas.... unfortunately we aren't in that kind of industry. I deal more with structural steel. I can't really build a car out of HSS tubing, it would be way too heavy.

[aseibel]

Here's an update on the progress. I have shaped and sanded the body to have the curves I want. Several coats of black paint with sanding in between. Its pretty smooth, but not perfect. I will finish with clear coat later.

 

I also fabricated the plow out of a piece of 3/4" copper pipe and some 10 ga wire. Soldering that was an adventure. I designed the plow to attach to the bottom of the truck with some drilled holes. It will be mounted on the truck for display, but removed for racing.

 

The next step planned is to create rub-on stickers with images of real trucks to make the grille, lights & windows.

 

The wheels are still off, I just mocked this up for photos:

 

more photos:

[aseibel]

Stickers were a challenge, but i'm happy with how they turned out. I tries to find google images from the front and rear to get the grille and tailgate. but i wasn't happy with any of them. so i had to look around town to find the right truck. I took my own photos and scaled them. I had them printed on sticker paper at the fedex store. I first attempted to make rub-onz with my laser printer but the images looked like crap.

 

For the windows, I googles some images of winter landscapes, and them greyed them out to look like reflections on glass. then i just cut the shape I wanted for the windows. I'm pretty happy with the results. I should win the prize for best design if nothing else.

 

Here is the finished truck with stickers and clear coat:

 

[aseibel]

with plow removed for racing:

[99silveradoz71]

Wow. Very cool

[muddkatt]

That turned out awesome!

[Donstar]

You have created a piece of art that will probably outlast the truck it represents.  Make sure it stays in the right hands.  I am looking at a wooden boat my grand father carved in 1961.  It's a little rough from years of play, but is  now a priceless addition to our living room!

[Grumpy Bear]

Very nice result. Thanks for sharing.