being a kid again racing

2377 Views 27 Replies 9 Participants Last post by cook, Oct 3, 2005

JERMSQUIRM

Discussion Starter · Sep 22, 2005

well i have been seeing the signs around the area. our fall festival is next saturday. ya know small towns flee markets, kid games food, and stuff. good excuse to have a beer,lol. well the thing that had me thinking was a sign.

SOAP BOX DERBY!

well i just so happened to have some experience in building these. they don't call waynesville "the ville on the hill" for nothing. we have 3 roads going out of town that are steep hills going down out of town.

when i was in my younger teens we used to build em day after day. sure some of ya did too. well in all the experiments we did with wheels was exausting. they would bend axles bolts come out of the wood. the wood would split at the axle. finally the ultimate in speed and reliability came to mind. 4 sets of skate board wheels. all ya got to do is screw each set on the underside of the 2x4 and its mobil and fast.

so anyhow i found out that several others in town were building them and i decided last week to build my 6 year old son one. well today we almost got her done. i had a gallon of paint left over form our bedroom and its very close to the gray of a catfish lmao. so i built it to look loke a top fuel dragster and were painting it tomorrow. even gonna paint a catfish on the top. hope the staff dont mind i thought of putting B.O.C. dragster on it. no harm no foul im sure cause its just for the kids. any hoot ill post some pics tomorrow. the thind looks pretty cool. with some graphite lube in the bearrings it should fly.

1 - 20 of 28 Posts

vacatfish

· #2 · Sep 22, 2005

I well remember building them also it is fun to do and it's something kids can learn from and remember also.

JERMSQUIRM

Discussion Starter · #3 · Sep 26, 2005

the test run did not go well. i was beat. the skate board wheels don't do well on the rough road thier racing on. all the rest is great. got orange lights in the fake exaust pipes and even a fake functioning parachute attached to the brake lever. i went nuts with detail. there is a key ignition. for looks of course and 6 rca plugs that connect to the helmet like a radio and a 3 point harness. this thing is starting to look like it should actually start up. lol.

Dano

· #4 · Sep 26, 2005

SOAP BOX DERBY. That sounds like fun. A little town bout 15 miles from me has
started doing that. Kids and parents have a good time. Wish my kids was little again, well maybe not , LOL
We did the derby race with the scouts. Small hand held cars. Man we really got into that. It was a lot of fun.

I bet your having fun building your Son's car. I would like to see race day. Can't wait to see your pic's of car.

JERMSQUIRM

Discussion Starter · #5 · Sep 26, 2005

ya i had a ton of fun building it. ain't done yet. i will get a pic up of it with the lights going. its to much. lol.

JERMSQUIRM

Discussion Starter · #6 · Sep 28, 2005

ok. here are some pics. this thing also requires batteries. it has orange flashing lights in the exaust. (made from x-mas lights) it has parachutes that auto pop out when brake is pulled, lmao. it has fake guages and wiring and rca jacks that go from the helmet to an old board from a dvd player. (looks like radio plugs) roflmao. im in the works to make a confetti cannon that will shoot off when brake is applied.

just got the flames on it today. oh! it has a 3 point safety belt and fake fire ext, and a empty 1# colman tank for a fuel cell, lmao.

JERMSQUIRM

Discussion Starter · #7 · Sep 28, 2005

here are a couple more.

Dano

· #8 · Sep 28, 2005

That is cool.

You went all out on that car. Have you given it a trail run yet?
I can tell Dad is having fun. LOL.

JERMSQUIRM

Discussion Starter · #9 · Sep 28, 2005

trial run. heck ya. we took em up to the race hill sat night and ran mine and another guys. he smoked my skateboard wheels so ive been through about 4 stes of wheels since. i found the ones he had. $7 each from farm and fleet. i put threaded rod axles under mine with lock nuts. its reel fast now.

we are adding 2 motorcycle yellow turn signal 2" lights to back now. we just wired the switch to turn on the blinking flame lights in the pipes and added 2 clear ones to the chrome motor. that thing is bright in the dark. were gonna pull it in the parade. dang thing now has a 12volt and 6 volt batteries in it. definatly saving it for next year. lol. i got to get a pic of the lights tonight. its unreal.

FS Driver

· #10 · Sep 28, 2005

nice car jeremy.
bet you wish you could fit behind the wheel~~~~~~~~~LOL!
good job man hope your son takes the checkered flag with her.

Dano

· #11 · Sep 29, 2005

Man I think in that pic, the speedometer looked pegged out around 130. How much faster can you make it go. LOL. Be truthful. You can fit in that car can't ya. LOL.

Seeing you do this makes me want to build one.
How old ya got a be to race. LOL
It looks good. Take some pic's of the big race if you aint too busy working the pit crew. LOL.

JERMSQUIRM

Discussion Starter · #12 · Sep 29, 2005

its an open class. if ya are under 18 ya got to have mom's signature and a helmet. thats the only rules. no i won't fit it i tried twice dieefernt positions. as far as the helmet goes that for me is like sticking plactic over steel.lol. ill be sure to get some pics and a race update sunday.

Dreadnaught

· #13 · Sep 29, 2005

Even if you don't win, you should get a good prize for enthusiasm, That thing is awesom.

Catbird

· #14 · Sep 29, 2005

Nice job, Jeremy. Tell your son not to go too fast over the railroad tracks...lol

Dreadnaught

· #15 · Sep 29, 2005

Just remember, it is like drag racing, One pound in the wrong place and it will slow you down. I honestly think you are having more fun with this than your son will racing it,LOL!!!

cook

· #16 · Sep 29, 2005

Good job man.How about a pic with your son sitting in it?
I remember as a kid trying to build one with my Dads tools.He had a broken hammer,about 7 bent nails,and 20# tool box full of a mass of rust.Never got more than five feet before something broke.
Then I had to get the wheels back on the mower before sat. morning came around.

JERMSQUIRM

Discussion Starter · #17 · Sep 29, 2005

ya ill have some pics this weekend of him buckled in. well to win we had to buy the wheels. the ones we had were just to slow. other than that it was all junk from the garages.

JERMSQUIRM

Discussion Starter · #18 · Sep 30, 2005

here are the night pic's. me and another guy went the extra 1000 miles lmao and did a bunch of lights. were gonna race em sat night and take em up to the street dance. the pics are the rear (yellow) the headlights and the blue are on the motor and the red (flashing) are in the exaust. there is even a red led on the dash.

heck someone mentioned weight. i have 76 led ingots that weigh 2# each. im considering weighting the front to get a good start off the ramp.

cook

· #19 · Sep 30, 2005

cats4uandme said:
heck someone mentioned weight. i have 76 led ingots that weigh 2# each. im considering weighting the front to get a good start off the ramp.

2x76=152

anyone say nose grind!!

abilene

· #20 · Sep 30, 2005

jeremy, that's great! You the soap box king, and daddy of the year, hehe.

1 - 20 of 28 Posts

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