Vintage Headlights and Taillights for Pinewoood Derby Car

I got a little carried away with my son's Pinewood Derby car this year. We decided to buy another car that he could build himself but I decided to finish the first car.  I based the design on the hot rod from Woodcarving Illustrated's Special pinewood derby edition.

I've also seen Pinewood Derby cars with LED headlights and taillights and thought this was a great idea, but I've never anything using the vintage headlight buckets that fit the 32 Ford Roadster.

Materials:
(2)  Yellow or white LEDs - Yellow for a more vintage look. Smaller LED's are easier to fit.
(2)  Red LEDs -  Mine had chrome rings already attached.
(2)  Sharpie Markers or another brand with the correct shape.
2 part epoxy cement or clear casting epoxy
Sandpaper - Assorted grit from 320 to 2000
Pinewood Derby Kit
Coin Battery holder (I used holder and 2032 battery from an old motherboard)
(4) lengths of 2 different color wires - I used red and blue.

Tools:
Side cutters
Small saw
Sandpaper
Drill
Mixing supplies
Hot glue gun
Soldering Iron and solder

Step 1 Create the Headlight Bucket

I don't have a wood lathe. I do have a box of dried Sharpie markers from the office.  Cut the marker in half and remove the felt. Save the back barrel.  Cut about 1/2" from the back of the pen, leaving about 1/16 more than the final intended length. An exacto saw and miter box works great for this.  Clean the stringers, especially from the inside of the cut.

Drill a hole through the back of the bucket just large enough for both leads of your LED to fit through. If the hole is too small it will bend the leads together and risk a short. The markers I used had some ribs inside that interfered with seating the LED. These needed to be opened up. Drilling didn't work; the drill grabbed the ribs and made it hard to hold and deformed the bucket. Running the dill backwards seemed to push the ribs out of the way enough that the LED would seat in the bucket. A dremel might work too.

Comments

[shmdesigns]

This is excellent!

[fgibbs]

The car is really cool, and the working lights make it look that much better. I'm sure the batteries helped add some weight as well.

[nicky23]

Like the idea!

[ChrysN]

Nice!