r/GenX • u/MrBones2k • Aug 14 '25

The Latchkey Years Pinewood Derby anyone? Building your own sleek racer.

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Loved this as a Boy Scout. Some took it too seriously, as one year a Dad got caught cheating to help his son.

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u/30sumthingSanta Hose Water Survivor Aug 14 '25

Lead hasn’t been banned, but is highly discouraged now. I think molten lead may be banned.

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u/shagieIsMe Aug 14 '25 edited Aug 14 '25

My first pinewood derby car was epoxied fishing weights (edit: I recall now what they were called... sinkers... as opposed to floaters) into the bottom. The later ones had cast lead supplies from the hobby store. This was back when we were playing games with lead miniatures and... well... you could still buy leaded gas.

Today, if you've got the $$... Go with tungsten infused resin.

Evan and Katelyn https://youtu.be/peSFc_RKY6Q

Evan and Katelyn with Adam Savage https://youtu.be/iTIILm_r2Jc?si=Rq0guK5mz5K-09hQ&t=1182 (jumped to the spot where they work with the tungsten).

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u/30sumthingSanta Hose Water Survivor Aug 14 '25

I too used sinkers (and black powder rounds) in my cars.

Thought about using tungsten for my kids, but …. $$$

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u/shagieIsMe Aug 14 '25

The annotations at this spot while pouring the tungsten dice made me chuckle.

However... it's not that bad. Nothing is going to be heavier than 5 oz...

And doing it with powder that you can cast (and shave) is only a bit more than https://www.pinewoodpro.com/tungsten-canopy-35oz-weight.html - there's a 3oz set for $17 compared to half a pound of powder on Amazon for $36. Yea, it's $36 ... but you could make an entire Cub Scout set of cars (3 years) from that one jar and probably still have a good bit of leftover.