Hi,

I'm in a predicament: I helped a friend a few years ago with a
small detail on a pinewood derby car he was building with his
daughter, and he won the tournament with it! That was a fluke,
but now my kid wants to race, and you can guess what her
expectations are...

Any thoughts on how to build a fast car are welcome,
but I'm mostly interested in hearing ideas about how to prepare
the wheels and axles. The kit we have to use contains 2
steel axles of about 1/8" in diameter and four plastic wheels
whose hubs are a loose fit on the axles. Interference with
the body of the car prevents the wheel from moving axially toward
the car centerline. A plastic snap ring fitting in a groove at the
outboard end of the axle prevents the wheel from falling off
in the other direction.

Rules are nebulous. I think we're expected to use the
wheels and axles from the kit and the car can't weigh more than
8 oz. And that's it. This is a low key event, and I want this
to be a father-daughter project, so I don't want to go overboard.

What I have in mind is minimizing friction through judicious
alignment and smoothing and lubrication. Any suggestions
on how to accomplish this? What sort of lubricant should I
use?

Thanks for any and all ideas.

John Blinka