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Home » arts and craft » DIY Wooden Hot Wheels Car Racing Ramp

DIY Wooden Hot Wheels Car Racing Ramp

December 27, 2011 Brittany Bailey 8 Comments

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Do you have a little free time over the Christmas break? How about taking some time to make a wooden racing track with your kiddos!

If you have boys, I’m sure you have Hot Wheels cars in your home. They go hand-in-hand. My boys play with their race cars for hours!

They have several of the plastic tracks. And even a curly-Q racing ramp. But, honestly they seem to play with my scrap pieces of wood more than the plastic tracks. Chances are, if you or your spouse build things, you will have all the scraps of wood on hand to make this racing ramp.

My 7 year old and I worked together on this project. (He was my design consultant and he also helped with some of the assembly.) But, imagine the surprise on a child’s face if you made this ramp as a holiday or birthday gift!

Materials:


  • 2 – 1 x 4 x 13″ boards (tower sides)
  • 1- 1 x 4 x 9″ board (tower roof)
  • 2 – 1 x 8 x 33″ boards (ramp sides)
  • 1 – 1 x 6 x 33″ board (ramp)
  • 1 – 3/4″ dowel rod (cut to 12″)
  • 1 – 1/8″ dowel rods
  • 1 – thin rectangular strip for a divider 33″ long
  • 1 5/8″ screws
  • 1″ finish nails
  • 2″  finish nails
  • Gorilla Glue
  • Sandpaper
  • Primer
  • Spray paint
  • ScotchBlue Painter’s Tape
  • X-acto knife
  • Clamps
  • Cordless drill
  • Handsaw or miter saw
  • 3/4″ spade bit
  • 1/8″ drill bit

Start by cutting all your boards to length. Grab the ramp board (1 x 6 x 33″) and cut one end of the ramp at a 30˚ angle.

Glue the narrow strip onto the center of your ramp using a small amount of Gorilla Glue.

Clamp the strip and add a few 1″ finish nails to secure the strip.

Set up your boards as shown. Tilt the ramp up at the back, the angled cut will rest on the floor (not shown.)

Drive a few screws through the side walls and into the ramp with your drill.

Line up the tower sides approximately 2″ from the back edge of the ramp walls. Then secure them in place with a few more screws.

Drill a hole into each tower side large enough for the 3/4″ dowel rod to fit through.

Slide the dowel rod through and center it on the ramp.

Mark the location of the center of the left and right tracks onto the dowel rod. Measure the distance between the dowel rod and the ramp. Use this measurement to cut 2 pieces of 1/8″ dowel rod 1/2″ longer than that measurement.

Remove the 3/4″ dowel rod. Drill holes 1/8″ wide halfway through the big dowel rod at the locations you marked for the centers of the tracks.) Wrap a piece of painter’s tape around the drill to indicate a depth 2/3 of the way through the 3/4″ dowel rod. Then don’t let the bit go further than the tape into the rod.

Mark the location where the dowel meets the outside of the tower wall.

Drill a hole all the way through the large dowel rod. Insert the 3/4″ dowel rod through the holes in the tower walls. Glue the 1/8″ cut dowels into the halfway holes. Then cut and glue two more 1/8″ dowels to go through the 3/4″ dowel on the ouside of the tower walls. These will anchor the large dowel rod and keep it from slipping out of alignment.

Nail finish nails through the tower roof and into the walls of the tower.


That completes the building portion of this tutorial. Hopefully your ramp resembles this one:


Now it is time to add some pizzazz! Ka-chow!

My design consultant demanded fiery red flames and black on his ramp. (And what he wants, he gets!)

I lightly sanded the wood race track. Added a coat of primer and some red and yellow spray paint.

Then I cut out a flame design using ScotchBlue painter’s tape (4 pieces overlapping) and an x-acto knife on a cutting board.

I gently lifted the tape and adhered it to the side walls.

After a coat of metallic hammered metal spray paint, I removed the tape to reveal:

What do you think? Do I have a shot at a job on Orange County Choppers??!! The “logo” on the top was made by pressing letter stickers over the primer, then I taped off around the words and sprayed some red and yellow spray paint. The lines are made with black graphic adhesive lines.

On your marks…get set…

and GO!


Nice two wheel stunt!

I hope you will make one of these for your little stunt driver.

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Comments

  1. Jeff says

    April 15, 2016 at 7:22 pm

    Thanks for the idea!

    Reply
  2. Owen says

    July 26, 2013 at 7:56 pm

    AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!

    Reply
  3. Guilherme says

    September 15, 2012 at 10:02 am

    This is awesome, my son has only 14 months but i’m making plans for this construction set 🙂

    Many Thanks for this idea and regards from Portugal

    Reply
  4. Anil says

    April 25, 2012 at 4:50 pm

    Great idea and nice documentation! I’m sure your kids are having a blast…!

    Reply
  5. Dee says

    January 9, 2012 at 9:30 pm

    Thanks for this fun tutorial. I can’t wait to give it to the little guy we made it for.

    Reply
  6. Tony says

    December 29, 2011 at 5:45 pm

    This is awesome – simple but elegant. I love the flames paint job!

    Reply
  7. Debbie @ Pink Texas Chick says

    December 28, 2011 at 10:44 am

    My son saw this and he oooed and awwwwed over it. Guess what we are going to try and tackle? It looks great and fun!

    Reply

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Hi, I'm Brittany aka Pretty Handy Girl. I like the smell of coffee and sawdust in the morning. I live to break stereotypes and empower you to take on your own DIY project.

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