2020 - The Pre-Runner

[Gene]

Richard,
Uh, nice. Really nice.

The cars sound intriguing. Darn it - you are too far away from your market. When are you going to change that?

[minibajaman]

Looks good K-fab, I had a feeling you would eventually take this route.

Those spindles/uprights look interesting. *How do they go together, as in how do you fit the misalignment spacers in place? *Do they fit in from the top and bottom and have a large washer outside to hold it together? *What program are you using to design them? *Keep up the good work.

[Bullnerd]

Good luck ,Richard.
I had a feeling you working on something,steppin up from the fiddy's.
Shop looks sweet ,what brand building by the way?
I"ll give some advice,take it or leave it.

I worked for a chassis shop part time for a while.
We had a large fixture that held all the tubes and rotated(similar to pic),makes it much faster to crank out frames.(and easier on your body)PIA working around a steel table.

We also made a gantry to hold the welder overhead(no pics)so you can walk 360deg. around the frame without dragging the cable.Another time saver.

Automated bandsaws(H&M) are handy,load it and forget it.(more than accurate enough for tubing work)

Run the CNC's as much as possible.Try to design as many parts as you can to be machined to save welding and fabbing time. Like the bandsaw ,the more tools that "run themselves" the better.

I'm sure you know the more efficient the better.

Good luck ,have fun.

P.S. Are you hiring? Oh-and your rod ends are the wrong way ,should be horizontal(hole).

[K-fab]

I'm working on the spindle design more tonight and will start ordering parts for the vehicles on Tuesday.

I'll be getting a couple of VTEC's from Neil along with the clutches and I'm borrowing his engine/tranny jig too.

I told him about my project and he was really cool about it - said he'd help me out getting stuff. *Certain companies require a buy-in - Fox, Team Tech, to mention a couple, and he said he'll treat me right.

Been doing some research and will probably run the Howe 2.5" widespread power rack - has the servo built into the rack and works really well with the high volume pump system.

[nutnbolt2002]

K-Fab to mount the clutch to the honda engine did you make a tapered adapter and bolt it to the fly wheel? And are the clutches pricey?

[K-fab]

It's a standard 10:1 taper on a custom made mount. *ATV Racing has them made for the VTEC setup.

[K-fab]

Originally Posted by minibajaman\";p=\&quot

Looks good K-fab, I had a feeling you would eventually take this route.

Those spindles/uprights look interesting. *How do they go together, as in how do you fit the misalignment spacers in place? *Do they fit in from the top and bottom and have a large washer outside to hold it together? *What program are you using to design them? *Keep up the good work.

Yes, the spacers slide in - inner spacer, spherical ball, outer spacer. *The outer spacer has a shoulder on it that acts as a washer/cap that captures everything in place. *There's a bolt that runs through all three pieces and then secures with a stover nut in a pocket that will be machined in the spindle body. *I didn't get that far on the drawings yet. *I still have to add the control arms on the body too.

The one aspect of putting together a captured spacer setup like this is that if it gets corroded or binds up, it's gonna be a real pain in the butt to get apart. *Lots of anti-seize shall be administered on assembly!!!

At the moment, I'm using a combination of ACAD 2000 and Bobcad 19. *I do most of the drawing work and design in ACAD and then do the 3-d rendering in Bobcad - I pull all my tool paths off the 3-d parts and produce my G-coding for the VMC in Bobcad.

I have Inventor and need to learn it... *Buddy of mine's gonna show me here soon. *Still, gotta do the G-coding in Bobcad, so at times it's almost pointless to do it in anything else. * Oh well...

[K-fab]

Been busy working out the front hubs today.

With my front spindles set at 12* KPI I get 1.39" of scrub with a 26" tall (short course) tire, .96 with a 30" tall tire and .75 with a 32" tall tire.

I backset the face of the hub (where the wheel attaches) a bit more than originally planned, but it actually helps make the hub lighter and still retains strength. *Loads the bearings more equally too.

I got one hub body shaped and the bearing and seal recesses done.

I still have to finish it in the VMC later - this includes cutting out the 5 individual arms to lighten it and drill and tap disc mounting and wheel stud holes. *I hope to get at least three more hubs made tomorrow. *I also have to make the cap that covers the outer bearing and the axle & nut. *It will be a bolt on cap that's sealed with an o-ring.

The Wide 5 bolt pattern makes for one large hub - sort of sucks, but it gives me such a broad range of wheels it makes it well worth it. *I'll probably use a Gear One hub assembly and a Fodrill spindle for the sand car. *No need for the 1.75" hollow axle setup on it - I'll reserve that for the stuff that gets the snot beaten out of it.

[Gene]

Outstanding. Are you going to make the initial components, then contract out for production?

[Bugpac]

kfab, are you making the hollow stub as well or buying, i may have missed that part...