Building a CO2 Car

The Boy Scouts Of America "Blastcar" Kit

So the men at my church are getting together to do a "Pinewood Derby" for the adults. After trying to hold back and let the car be built by and for your boy, it is nice to have an opportunity to make a car all for your adult self. So we decided to make CO2 cars, "Blastcars" for the BSA literate, instead of pinewood derby cars. A little faster, a little more fun. But of course we are going to disregard all the regular scout rules like the minimum weight limit.

Kit Contents

 
I figured this would be a great excuse to get my CNC router working again and cut out a "Cool" car. My CNC router had been out of commission for several months due to a major upgrade that hadn't been completed. More on that upgrade in another post.

You can see the standard kit contents in the two photos here. I have to admit I was a bit disappointed in the kit. It isn't much different than a pinewood derby kit except that the parts are larger and there is a pre-drilled hole in the wood block.  I expected to see some kind of bearing, but no. I'll have to work on upgrading that later.

So, this project isn't so much about winning the race for me as it is a chance to use the engineering and manufactures tools I have developed through the years. Also, Don't be surprised if after all the time I spend on this project I don't end up winning the race.