The New Bulkhead Is In

The team got to grips with the new battery bulkhead today, having glued on the cedar fillets last week they fitted it to the car this evening. We used the animal glue again, just as we did with the original bulkheads, which has been a great oppertunity to introduce the new members of the team to the 'unique' smell of molten hooves!

We are hoping to get the front axle in place by Thursday evening so that the car looks roughly car shaped for the Year 9 options evening, an ambitious task, but I'm pretty sure the guys are up for it. At this rate we should get all the mods done by half term, leaving us shedloads of time to catch up with our friends over at our test spot at RAF Portreath.

Epic Update

Well, so much has happened since the last post that I am not sure where to start! First of all we have a new sponsor to thank, Teagle Machinery of Blackwater have very kindly agreed to machine our drive shafts for us and have also volunteered to sort out the bearings for them too for which we are very grateful.

We also had several deliveries over the past couple of weeks, we are now the proud owners of a new motor and race batteries. At the same time the Nu Vinci gearbox arrived, a purchase made possible by the generous funding provided by Ladds of Redruth, a big thank you to them.

 
And finally perhaps the most dramatic piece of news; a major leap taken just before the half term, with the bulkheads finally complete the chassis could be glued together with the bone glue. It was all hands on deck for this with everyone pitching in to get the bone glue on before it cooled and then clamped into the jig.

 

  

 

It's Official

We have now recieved our entry confermation with the date of our heat, it will be on the 24th June 2010. That should give us plenty of time to build and fully test the car before the season starts. The venue is Newquay Airport this year, a new track to us so we will definatly have our work cut out for us! To qualify for Goodwood we have to procure a podium finish which last year was a drive of about 60 miles in 4 hours, a tough task but one that I am sure that we will be more than capable of. On a construction note, the fillets which reinforce the bulkheads are ready to be glued into place using the bone glue which will happen in the next few days so we are still on track for the Christmas deadline for the box chassis.

Laminate Flooring

The floor pan was laminated using the bone glue yesterday, using almost every clamp in the DT department! The honeycomb section was sandwiched between the two solid layers to create a solid base without all the associated weight. After releasing it this lunchtime I think we can be very proud of the result. The lift in the back section came out brilliantly; the curves at the front and back just need to be cut and the excess glue fully removed and we will have a complete panel. At this rate we should have the box chassis ready by Christmas.