Has anybody done the valve cover race's? Was thinking of building one. Does anybody know the guide lines or should i say rules.

Rick
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awsum34

Rick I did 2 valve cover racers and i'll never do one again! I spent a month on this thing with paint and brightwork as well as the old fashioned roller skate 2 x 4 wheels (2 rollers on each of the 4 sides) and even did up a chute and wing on the back, well I spent a month to go out like gangbusters, I made it to the finals and lost to a severly overpriced and overworked machine shop built racer with ball bearing aluminum disk wheels Independent suspension all the way around with screws to tighten over the wheel assembly if you need downforce and tons of other go fast parts. This thing beat me so bad I had just rolled off the line and this other guys ride was 3 cars down from where the finish line was and I mean real street rod distance not cars as in other valve cover cars. These valve cover races need classes, I was 16 at the time (3yrs ago) and the guy I raced...well we'll just say that he's been here for a while and apparently he knew the track because his went straighter than a arrow and mine was anything but straight...we'll leave it at that. I would think twice on building a home made job unless you want to go all out like most adults do and still for some reason have to race kids with homemade junk parts.

I think I had $25 in mine and I asked the guy that beat me what he had in his...he said that it was a pretty hefty 3 digit #....close to the higher end of 3 digit #'s.

Grant
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Hold your ears folks...ITS SHOWTIME!!!

Okay...so you have me bewildered. I know that I live in the sticks, but I've never heard of valve cover racing. Fill me in. Just curious...I'm dumping all my money into the '41.
Phil
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One man's treasure is another man's trash.

I think it has something to do with model rocket engines?

It is gravity powered racing using a modified valve cover as the body. Similar in principle to pinewood derby racing in he cub scouts. The rocket motors only come into play in the outlaw classes.
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Anyone can restore an old car, it takes a man to cut one up.

Hmm, valve cover races have been around for a decade. I believe the first BIG event to hold them was Goodguys. It has been pretty high tech since the beginning. Fun way to spend an afternoon.
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Something's Gotta Happen

Slammin, I've seen some hi tec valve covers. I also seen a guy pull his valve cover in a inclosed small trailer. (he did it just for fun). His car is never trailered. Plus he never made it thru the second round.
I just thought about doing one just for the fun of it. I'll probably crash and burn with it and make a fool about of myself. But it will be just for fun.
What is the weight limit? any valve cover will do? Thought of using a valve cover from a small engine, a 4 banger,V6 or like a lawn mower.

Yeoman, Valve cover racing is like what the boy scouts do with there pine wood derby cars. It's the same kind of track. except the valve covers cars don't come in a kit.

Tman, Your right it's been around for some time. It's a fun way to spend a couple hours.

I just thought of making one while this winter while waiting on my parts for the 34.

Rick
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awsum34

Gravity powerd only...10 lbs max...American valve covers only...any # wheels. From there It's your amagination. Mine has 2 roller blade whls in back, 1 centered under in front. Scale 392 blown hemi from Parma, TF wing & chutes. Are we too old for this???
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nomobux

Been to a few of them and thought they were just for the jr rodders.You guys are blow'n me away. If you want to try something really fast try racing beltsanders.I've seen a few of them also, those guys go pretty quick. RP peggys other half
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Peggy Diegan

Check this page out: http://www.beltsander-races.com/

George,Checked out the webpage in referance to the beltsander races,It is unimaginable what people will do to entertain themselves and it amazes me every day the vastness of the cyber world!What's next,perhaps electric toothbrush races,or maybe there's already a site devoted to it!!Any other strange forms of entertainment anyone wants to share???? See Ya!!
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DARYLE

George I was ecstatic when I made it to the finals till I saw what I was up against, my biggest gripe with the show promoters was lets have a class for the young'ns like myself and those low buck jobs and let the big boys do battle on their own....I guess it just left a bad taste in my mouth and I just decided to hang it up after losing to a billet this that and the other ride equipped with traction control air ride to compensate for downforce and a full blown roll cage for I dont know what, well ok it didnt have trac. control or air ride but it did have a handmade wing and super soft springs thus the fact it whooped my tail. These show promo. guys need to separate classes from say 0 to 18 yrs. old and 19 and older or somewhere inbetween. Have fun and cruise safe!
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Hold your ears folks...ITS SHOWTIME!!!

SATURDAY, AT THE RAT FINK PARTY, I was in charge of the Pinewood Derby races.
I made, and have a two lane, no lights or other fancy stuf,f plywood track. Me and a bunch of other kids had fun racing a few cars that some of them brung, but also some fast and dirty cars built on the spot from official BSA kits I had available. In fact, the top eliminator was a car that a guy who looked about 13, put together in about 45 minutes. I have digital scales to keep everything somewhat fair.
The ONLY way to have this kind of race and run it fairly is to have divisions, and have materials restrictions in the divisions, not necessarily age.
My races require cars to be within the BSA size and weight rules and must run either early or late BSA wheels and axles, with no lathe time allowed on either. (hand polishing of axles and sanding "nubs" off wheels is allowed.
The winning car was rough cut into a wedge and had about $1.50 in quarters taped to it.
I usually have two trophy's available for races, one for fastest car and one for best looking car. (I usually nab a passing stranger to be the "impartial judge" of that one)
IMO In order for the valve cover races to be "fair" they need an "unlimited" class with just a top weight restriction. and a "Stock" class that uses an "Official" wheel and axle setup and solid suspension.

We were supposed to build wooden sail cars in 8th grade shop class, with a paper sail to catch wind from a fan at one end of the lane. I had all the materials but thought we had another build week the day races began, so in 10 minutes I slapped some quality wheels and axles on my block of wood, stapled a mast and 8x11 sheet of paper to it and beat every car... hahahaha :p

Tried the belt sander thing just once....You leave the switch on...add an extension cord...then stand back and plug it in...It used up the extension cord in about a half second and left me feeling if I was really as old as I felt!! lol Talk about major traction......use 36 grit..
Fred P
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Fred P.

Build it and have fun. Win or lose, its the fun of spending time with others and checking out what kind of creations everyone comes up with.

Slammin, if you made it to the finals and lost I sure wouldn't let that give me an attitude and never build another. What do you think all the guys you beat were thinking. Hopefully they weren't mad. I sounds like you put a lot of work and creativity into yours. I'll bet there were people in awe of your work. Winning isn't the whole purpose here. There's only one winner, but the rest certainly aren't losers. There's always going to be someone that is so focused on winning that he will do anything to win. That's sad if that's his only purpose. Anyone that concerned with winning has lost touch with how to have just good old fashioned fun. It sounds like the guy that beat you just had a better engineered valve cover. I'm a bit of a perfectionist and would probably consider suspension, rolling resistance, and such if I built one but if someone beat me, so be it. I've never seen a valve cover race, but it seems like seeing the diversity of creations would be interesting and fun....rat covers to billet.

Keep us posted on your "project" Rick.