1 more day.

February 28, 2010

It's crunch time. Or rather it's been crunch time for the last few weeks but this weekend is insanely critical to Kimberly (the car) and our team. Back when we were wide eyed and naive about what we were all getting into when signed up for the Formula team we made a vow that we would our car running under its own power by  March 1st. Fast forward through the school until now. We have one day left until March 1st and things are looking good. There is still a lot to do but it is totally within the realm of possibility. If (or when) we succeed in our task it will be by far the earliest Cedarville University has ever had a running car! This will in turn allow us to drive the car more and solve any problems that arise early on.

- Wes

Dustin's Differential Mounts

So shiny you can see yourself

The beginning of the body

Ryan and Matt W. placing the rear shock to make sure things are lining up

The beginnings of the Jon's second iteration of the carbon fiber rim

Dustin's wheel centers for the rain tires

One of the A-Arms attached to the front upright

Suspension Update

Andrew Biehl, Matt Ware, and Matt Kauffmann have been working hard to get all of the suspension stuff finished and mounted before March 1st comes. Here are some pictures showcasing all of their hard work. Don't forget to check our twitter in order to keep more up-to-date!

- Wes

First A-Arm.

 

Andrew's set up.

Rear Lower A-Arm.

 

The washers to hold in the spherical bearing.

 Welding.

 Andrew and Tomas doing some milling.

 Attachment for push rod.

Matt W. and Matt K's bell cranks, push rods, and an anti-roll bar.

Impact Attenuator.

The journey has been long and rough, but we have prevailed. There were problems with the test setup, accelerometer, o-scope, attenuators, and to top it all off we were snowed in for 3 days. It seemed as though when we solved one problem another one popped up. I suppose that is what a lot of this Formula project is all about. Things taking longer than they should, Plans A, B, and C all falling through, and copious amounts of team effort. I will attempt to show our efforts throughout the past few weeks through a few pictures.

 

Our first nieve attempts at I.A. (note there are 8 samples not 4)

 

Setting up the barrel

The powerhouse that hoisted the 300kg beast

The setup from the top

The loaded barrel

The first I.A.

The aftermath. 300kg from 3 ft high.

 

A few days later...

  

...At the top...

  Mid-impact. (cool picture but alas an epic fail)

Another fail.

Aluminum box attempt.

The filler inside the box.

 

Experienced a peak of over 80g's. Fail.

 

Ben's pizza box attenuator. We were all pulling for this one

so we could have an excuse to buy more pizza.

The final one we tested (not shown) might work depending if we can filter out the data from the o-scope. We shall see later this weekend.

- Wes Muntz

MOR/ryde saves the day!

A gigantic thank you is in order for Jackets Racing sponsor MOR/ryde International.

MOR/ryde has sponsored Jackets Racing for a number of years and this year they were able to laser cut our suspension brackets, ARB levers, brake rotors, bell cranks, and a number of other pieces amounting to a grand total of 130 parts. Not only were they able to provide us with all these parts but they were able to send us our order a day early and entirely FREE!

Founded in 1966, MOR/ryde International has provided rubber suspension system for a variety of applications including recreational vehicles, specialty trailers, school buses, transit buses and specialty vehicles. Developed with performance and reliability in mind, the MOR/ryde suspension provides a smooth ride, excellent stability and requires minimum maintenance. These benefits are backed by a commitment to customer service and satisfaction.

Shown below are some pictures of all our parts.

Some of the parts before being handed out

Ben's rotor with his top hat

More of the parts

Close up of one of the bell cranks

We are one step closer to meeting our March 1st deadline thanks to MOR/ryde. We could not have done it without you.

23 Days and Counting...

23 days until our deadline to have the car assembled. Everyone on the team is kicking it into high gear to make it happen putting in lots of hours every day of the week. A quick update on recent activity Brian Blocher finished the rear uprights (knuckles) for wheel assembly this morning, Kyle Spivey is melting the wax out of the carbon fiber intake right now, Ryan Zeiset is working on getting the frame all welded, and Jon Pyles is working on the foam inserts (provided by Ohio Willow Wood) for the carbon fiber rims.

Brian's rear upright in the CNC

Finished side one. Now for the other side...

Almost finished with side 2

 

The final product

Kyle's intake before applying the resin

 

During layup

The current welded frame

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