BB - Hoping the Colorado fires are not impacting you or your area.
Valve cover racing?  Sorry, I'm out of touch as to what this is.  

Bullet, I had considered those as a possibility for annual Bash competition.  Do they require a dedicated track surface like Cub Scout Pinewood Derby cars?

Bullet Bob how 'bout...........WYAIT....give us a few pictures/different angles of the VC racers and how they work and ALL the details. I'm sure I saw them when we were all in your shop butt............I was so blown away at the steam engine running I didn;t focus on much else.
Lil 'hep here would be great!!!
6sal6

TKOPerformance wrote:

Post the rules so I can figure out how best to skirt them and win

Mike:  The "course" is a down hill slope around 18" wide and a rail or wall to keep the cars from going off the side or crossing into the other lane.  There is a device for each car that holds the car at the top of the incline until the "driver" releases it...then the car rolls to the bottom.  First car to cross the finish line wins.  Slow reflexes on the part of the driver or cars that don't roll straight will lose.
Cars can be constructed from any material, wheels, bearings etc.  you want but the body needs to be a real Valve Cover.  I think the weight limit is 10 lbs and I'm not sure of the dimensional limits.
I've seen everything from a piece of 1X4 with roller skate wheels nailed on to the stuff Ted built. 

Tom:  You can find the rules on line but doing a "Smoky" is about what Ted did.  And other that a fine tune interpretation of the rules...flat Model A or Model T "valve covers", he just built the best engineered cars.  Lowest friction wheels/bearings he could find, adjustable fixed steering so he could make the car run perfectly straight, weight set dead on the limit, and even independent front suspension so minor flaws in the track wouldn't tend to make the car veer off course.  I suppose the flat valve covers he used had less aerodynamic  drag but the improvement had to be minimal to a point of being hard to measure.  He just liked doing something different and also stirring the pot.  And...he had a lot of fun.

BB1
 

NBSRA............National Belt Sander Racing Assoc.
Now THAT'S sump'in I could get into!!

Mochaman...........could build the track
Only guys that drive their Mustang could compete (whose gonna bring a belt sander through  TSA security?!!)
Friendly wagers could be encouraged.......do belt sander shots?! wooo-nose??!........
Stock or modified or "custom" classes  (how about a 220 AC TOP FUEL class?!!)
End of the night the race track could be part of a huge bon-fire
(I'm digging out my old Porter Cable right now!!!)
6sal6

Bullet Bob wrote:

BobE wrote:

BB - Hoping the Colorado fires are not impacting you or your area.
Valve cover racing?  Sorry, I'm out of touch as to what this is.  

Bob, it's sort of like Pinewood Derby except for gearheads.  The following link will take you to a pic I posted when Ted died.   That was taken at our place on the occasion of  Bash 13, 2016 in Montrose, CO.  The original rules say they had to be built using a "valve cover" and I think everyone figured a V8 cover.  Ted used Model T and Model A valve covers then had to prove that they were called "valve covers" in the parts catalog.  Gamesmanship!

https://fyi.boardhost.com/viewtopic.php?id=11083
 

BB - OK, got it.  I ran the Pinewood derby for the local Cub Scout Pack even after my three boys were out of the pack.  Great fun.  We'd run it in the local school's cafeteria, the first year the powdered graphite got all over the floor and made quite the mess, and it took a very long time to clean it up.  The next year we set up a designated area for applying the graphite, with plastic sheets on the floor, made it a lot easier to clean up.
Now, belt sander racing sounds ... interesting.
 

Wish I'd met Ted, he seems like my kind of guy.

We could put plywood over the steps in the hotel at the next bash...

TKOPerformance wrote:

Wish I'd met Ted, he seems like my kind of guy.

We could put plywood over the steps in the hotel at the next bash...

Next Bash is in Texas, Tom.  Hope this means you are planning to be there.

BB1
 

Bullet Bob wrote:

TKOPerformance wrote:

Wish I'd met Ted, he seems like my kind of guy.

We could put plywood over the steps in the hotel at the next bash...

Next Bash is in Texas, Tom.  Hope this means you are planning to be there.

BB1
 

Oh for sure!