Hey Fellas,
I'm sure you've all been wondering if the listserv is still working,
and if we are still around, etc etc.
Basically, us returning members (mainly us 3 juniors) have had a busy
past couple of weeks with some tight homework/exam schedules. However,
we have managed to make some progress on some key things; mainly
securing some loose ends on the design.
In this edition:
+Design Progress:
-Gearbox:
+Timken
+Gears
+Fabrication
-Frame
-Polaris Parts
+Driving?
+Shop Times?
+Sponsorship
+Website
Gearbox:
The gear box design is very close to completion (I know this was said
a while back, but its undergone a few changes for the better and now
its pretty close.) I've been in contact with Timken (a good company
you should look up. They manufacture some very well designed/well
built bearings for a wide range of applications). They are going to be
our bearing supplier this year, and I should also note that they
sponsor SAE competitions and will be giving us the bearings for FREE.
Very cool.
I'll be getting a number from one of our AERO buddies for a company in
Williston that will most likely be the supplier of our gears. We'll
need 4 gears for the gear box and we should be looking to spend about
~$200 on them total. They will most likely need to be customized
(Mainly faced down a bit to get them smaller and also punch some speed
holes in them for weight saving purposes. This won't be happening
until winter rolls around most likely, but it'll give you younger guys
a good look at some cool machining processes (cooler than just
notching tubes and turning down delrin bushings - both of which things
we will be teaching/practicing)
We also received our free and sweet IBC CVT a few weeks ago.
Frame:
With the design near completion, I will be finalizing the frame design
and setting up a tubing order. This order will most likely go out
early next week (hopefully Tuesday at the latest). I am not sure of
the turn around date on the tubing as I don't remember it from
previous years, but when it comes in, it is important to index it all
- by diameter/wall thickness and get it cleaned up (it comes covered
in oil for improved shelf life) before it starts getting welded, etc
etc.
I want to organize a tube bending "seminar" in a couple of weeks for
everyone (including the returning guys) as it's a pretty essential
task and a cool process. It's not that difficult but it is important
to learn how and simply practice doing it. Keep your eyes open for an
update about this.
Polaris Parts:
As mentioned in the past, Polaris is a big sponsor of the event -
giving huge discounts on parts for the car. This weekend Ben
Greenfield (I'll talk to you about it later Ben) will hopefully have
some time to organize our preliminary parts order. A few of you
expressed interest in helping out with this and I urge you to email
Ben - [log in to unmask] - if you would like to help out with
this and work out a time/day between you all. It would probably be
about 2 hours of work this first time, just going over the old car to
get every little bearing/spacer/bolt that we get from Polaris and it'd
help Ben to have an extra set of hands to help out. Please let one of
us know if you want to help.
Driving:
As noted above, we have received the new CVT. We want to set it up on
last years car to do some testing/tuning with it and see what it is
capable of. I'm sure many of you are anxious to get out there and
drive. I emailed someone at Risk Management last week and haven't
heard back, so I'll be placing some phone calls Monday to have our
driving agreement updated. We will be taking the old car out in its
current configuration to get some benchmark numbers. We will then
change out the CVT for the new one to see if there are some
improvements.
Shop Times:
I had mentioned in the past about you guys introducing yourself to
Floyd and working out either a shop orientation or simply offering to
help him out with projects. If any of you have done so, please let me
know and I'll take note of it. If you haven't, I urge you to either do
so, or shoot me an email with some times you have free in the next
couple of weeks that I can meet with you and discuss some stuff.
Sponsorship:
A few of you have emailed me about potential sponsors you may have.
Please get back to me again with some names/addresses/contacts/any
info you have. Our sponsorship packets probably won't get sent out
until thanksgiving time, but we need to get a list going, and re-work
our sponsorship packet - (Also a good task for anyone interested - let
me know if you want in on that)
Website:
Mike Karepeles did a great job last year setting up our website
template and getting information on it. I've done some work on it this
year and have some things set up for info, schedules, etc. We have a
bio page set up. If you want to have your name with some info about
yourself, send me an email with the info you would like displayed and
a picture of yourself. Check out this link, I created my own profile
and you should try to follow the format. If there are other criteria
you would like, go ahead and add it. Not a problem.
http://www.uvm.edu/~minibaja/2007-2008/template_current/bios/murray/murray.htm
Note: there are some broken links/nonexistent pages still up. I just
haven't had a chance to update some of it.
Hope you enjoyed that long email. I think that is it for now. If there
is anything you wish to announce/discuss/mention feel free to send an
email to the listserv at any time. Just use [log in to unmask] as
the address and everyone will get it. Hopefully all classes are going
well and you folks are still interested in the club. I know it's tough
at first getting involved but when the build begins, you'll know that
the wait was worth it. Keep your eyes/ears open for mention of a
possible quick meeting next week to discuss some stuff.
Take care and enjoy the weekend.
Mike
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