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.

New Batteries

The new spec batteries arrived today which means the winter mods can really start to get underway. They are much smaller in size than their predecessors, letting us reduce the size of the battery compartment and making room for growing drivers feet. In the picture below the lighter coloured bulkhead will be installed and the current solid bulkhead will be cut out the match the hollow ones. The whole front axle/steering assembly can then also be moved forward.

Winter Modifications

     With the car back on the rack after being exhibited at a trade show, we really got a chance to see what we will do to the car to improve it for the coming season. Jobs which need to be done include:

• New electrical system to replace the field repair from the final.
• The new spec batteries are smaller than the last ones so battery bulkhead can be moved forward, giving us more leg room for our drivers.
• The way the nose cone attaches needs some attention, The elastic approach didn't really cut it in the end.
• We would also like to get some data logging/telemetry on the car. We have sourced some great kit but we will need some additional sponsorship if we want to get this going.

     With the new season seeing a new battery spec, cars of all standings are going to be in an experimental mode this coming year. With some extensive testing and practice hopefully this will be our season to really show what the car can do.

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.

This Week's Progress

The floorpan and all the bulkheads are now cut, a little sanding and they will be complete. Work has also started on the cedar fillets which will reinforce all the joints. The three way mitres are proving complicated, but after plenty of practice with scrap wood the boys are ready to cut the real ones tomorrow.

First cuts

The first plywood panels were cut today, we are now well under way on the construction of the floor pan, the side pannels and the internal bulkheads, that's all the panel components except the bonnet all out of two sheets of ply.
The picture is the panels held in place to get a feel for size, all the internal panels will be cut to match the hoop shaped one and the whole lot will then be glued together using biodegradable glue and then laminated.
Massive thanks to Woodstock in Penryn who have very generously provided us with all of our wood absolutely free of charge, this would be a much more difficult build without their help and support.