At 11:19 AM 4/25/01, you wrote:
>See, that's what I mean. So many people say it
>won't work, then there's you and a couple of
>other guys that are doing it. I gotta think on
>this some more. What I've got is the rolling
>frame with a '49 Ford truck beam axle bolted to
>the rails, and the rear end bolted to the rails
>with U bolts. I can't see where it's going to be
>any worse than a hard tail drag bike, or a go
>kart. Power is only going to be 150-200 HP.
Howdy, yup, I would say go for it with what you got, like you say, a
sprung suspension can be put on and you can do always it at a later date,
make sure!!!the frame is square! way I did it, I built a flat table, I
used a pair of 6 inch channels, 2x2x3/8 angles and welded together with 1/4
plate on the top , and 3/4 inch threaded rod adjusters at the corners for
making the table flat and level, use four clear tubes of 1 inch plexi each
with a mounted clear plexi ruler and connect them all together with tygon
tubing, fill with water and food coloring and place on the four corners,
adjust the adjusters until all tubes have the same amount of water in them,
you are flat and straight! now build the frame on it....I also built into
it a frame rotating gizmo so I could weld the frame with all "correct"
welding, no welding from the bottom, all top down welding.... also, make
the body panels removable, ALL of them.... or as many as you can, you want
to be able to get the salt out of every nook and cranny....when building
the drivers compartment and roll cage, MAKE SURE the driver and car is
measured and built with his driver suit and helmet on, its' embarrassing
when you get in the car at tech and you don't fit. (no I didn't have this
problem but I did see somebody else have to take a mallet to the seat to
allow for room for the drivers helmet)......if you use only pop rivets to
hold panels or sheet metal to your car, they are alum or steel and only
.004 thick and will rust/go away after a few years, use silicone glue in
addition to the rivets......critical items such as ball joint mounts, draw
it out full size first, you'll catch the errors there, and its easier to
fix (big grin here) try to get around 12-15 degree rake on the front end
((its' not called rake on a car but is on a motorcycle, now what the hell
is that called???) caster, that's it 12-15 degrees caster, that'll help
steer straight, rules say not more than 20 I wouldn't go more than 15...
Also, and here is a big problem, if you don't have suspension, how
are you moving the car when getting from the end of the track to the pits,
(or the pits to the track, same thing) the driver of the race car will be
beat up pretty bad!!!!! if towed/pushed at over 8 MPH, remember, no
suspension to soak up the bumps, and it'll be rough, TRUST ME ON THIS ONE!
I built my car to be trailered when not under power on the track, I had
only ONE tow ride at 25-30 mph ((seems like I was driving over 50,000
railroad tracks the whole time I was being towed to the pits that first
time....)) fighting the steering wheel while I tried desperately to snap
together my seat belt.., all the time bouncing to the roof (((Not that far
away either, no helmet too))) and trying to signal to the tow vehicle to
SLOW THE &#@X% DOWN ahhh what a great time I had that first year, the
stories, the memories ....
I would also recommend a journal , write down and take pictures of
what you did, measurements, stuff that needs to be done and keep it in one
place and religiously write in it every time you work on the car, it'll
help you remember what needs to be done, what was done, and will trigger
ideas too, and then when you are done is a neat record of all the trials
you went through, also, it'll help you on the Salt, you need to write down
all kinds of things so the next year you can set the car up the same
way....air pressure, air temp, fuel type, jets, gearing, tyre pressure,
timing, plug types, the list is long and you will forget from one year to
the next....
whew, this is a long one aint it? good luck and drive careful
John Robinson, Mechanician
Mechanical Engineering University of Wisconsin
1513 University Ave.
Madison, Wi. 53706
608-262-3606
FAX 608-265-2316
Current World Land Speed Record Holder
Bonneville Salt Flats
H/GCC 92 cu.in. 1980 Dodge Colt
131.333 MPH set 1995
136.666 MPH set 1996
140.292 MPH set 2000
144.396 MPH set 2000
///
/// land-speed@autox.team.net mailing list
/// To unsubscribe send a plain text message to majordomo@autox.team.net
/// with nothing in it but
///
/// unsubscribe land-speed
///
///
|