This is my page where I am going to give all of my hints and secrets out about building a derby car.  First, you have to find an old car that doesn't have too much rust on it.  If your body and frame are too rusted out, then the body of the car will collapse after a couple of hits.  I would suggest getting a car with an 8 cylinder engine and runs.  If you have a mechanic or you know how to work on old car engines, then you will be alright if the car runs or not.  Next, you are going to need a bunch of tools to prepare the car properly for the derby.  All of the tools that you will need to build the car are hammers, sledge hammers, screw drivers, flat head screw drivers, a wrench set, a ratchet set, a glass cutter, duct tape, a metal grinder, a sawzaw, bolt cutters, knives, and a drill.  Materials that you will need for the car are gas line, positive cable, negative cable, boat tank,  padding, gasoline, spray paint, 12 gauge wire, a torch, a welding machine, a jack, spare tires, straps, mats, washers, nuts, metal spool, spark plugs, a helmet, safety glasses, and a trailer.  All of those materials can be hard to find sometimes, but if you ask the right people you can find them. 

    So, you have the car in your garage.  Now you strip down the whole outside part of the body first.  That means get rid of any glass or plastic that you see.  For example, strip out the entire front and rear panel where the lights are.  Take off the hubcaps, door handles, rearview mirrors, windshield wipers, and any aluminum metal strips on the sides of the car.  Strip out the entire inside of the car.  The only things that can be inside the car are the dash and the drivers seat.  If the front seat is a bench seat, then you can leave in the whole thing.  Now the hard part, which is take out the windows.  The front window will always be safety glass.  The others you can bust out or cut out.  You can kind of see how to strip the car from my pictures at the top of this page.    

    There are only a few things left to do.  You must remove the gas tank from the bottom of the car.  You have to put a 5 gallon boat tank, strap it down, and cover it inside the back of your car.  You have to buy fuel line and pull it up from the bottom of your car to put it inside the gas tank.  Now you must remove the battery from the engine and stick it on the passenger side floor.  You have to rewire it, strap it down, and cover it up.  Next, you have to secure all of the doors, the hood, and the trunk lids.  You can do this by drilling holes and placing 12 gauge wire into those holes.  Pull the wires tight and twist them together.  You have to add padding around the drivers door.  You can spray paint the car, but you don't have to.  You can weld the rear gears to make both of your back tires spin instead of one.  This isn't required though.  Now, after all of that hard work, your car will be ready to go.  If you have any further questions about demolition derbies, please contact me at weaverk@wabash.edu.   

          Here are some more fast-action demolition derby videos                                                                       

          1.  Derby video from Yorktown, Indiana  2.  Derby video St. Paul, Nebraska