Soap Box Build - Team Ecurious Ecosse

[Dominic]

Prob too late now (unless you can find an art shop near you) - this stuff would be good for the bodywork; https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cathedral-A3-F ... =foam+core can get it in different colours and up to A0 size sheets IIRC.

[Ferg]

Good idea Dom. I might find out if there are some old posters kicking about at work. I suspect they are usually binned though.

[Ferg]

Big update tonight....two parts...

First brakes...
The mega cheap levers weren't cutting it as they wouldn't hold the cable. so small upgrade off eBay for a few quid that came with the bolt I needed to fit the Brake calliper, nice. Below shows the cheap lever is sitting in a pile looking sorry for itself relative to the new ones that actually work. I accidentally broke one of the new levers clamp when fitting but nothing a few screws won't fix.



And now fitted with the long cables needed to get from the wheel to the caliper. I liked how Team FMC had secured their cables so did the same.



But this steering wheel isn't connected to anything I hear you say....... Part 2 coming shortly

[Ferg]

Finally time to show the steering.. It's been a bit of an adventure.

First we removed material from the control arms so we can get a better lock on the steering.



And in place showing they have made a significant improvement.



But what we really want to see is the column.This has been a bit of a labour of love. Weve broken bits, snapped taps, and generally cocked up a few times getting this right. Despite turning the air blue a few times (OK a lot)and after a Stirling effort from the old man to overcome some challenges faced along the way, we're out the woods and the original design has seen the light of day. I had originally said that I wanted to do a split column, intended for safety (not spearing my son with a home made steering column was high on the agenda) but also it shallows out the steering column angle and feels more car like. I also liked the excuse to fit a universal joint.

We were losing light and having fitted the bottom column we then accidentally twisted the head off one of the bolts holding the universal joint to the top column. it had to get drilled out.



And finally we were able to put the column onto the cart. Have to say we're mega relieved its operational, chuffed the design works and ultimately I think it looks pretty sweet, so happy smiles all round.



Small vid of it being operated. The main steering bolts are still loose so it rattles a bit but the action is smooth. Looking at it the speed of the rack is far to high so that's something to address in the shakedown tomorrow night.

Watch on YouTube

Suddenly the team is less stressed, it looks like we'll have an operational cart. How much time we get for adding batman styling I'm not sure. Hopefully more on a final bolted up steering rack tomorrow and reports from a test run!

[campbell]

A thing of beauty, Ferg.

Really impressed. I had hoped to progress to a steering arm setup like that, after ensuring we had a running solution of a more basic steering axle as a fall-back. But predictably, we're out of time. Steering axle it is, then! Albeit with aero-styling...

[Ferg]

What about brakes ?

Ive got a lotus badge if you want it

David

I think the concept of adding lightness has escaped this project so I'm not sure its fit to wear a Lotus badge. I had wanted to use some sort of Lotus part from the pile of used stuff in the garage but never really found the ideal way to do it.

Brake test tonight all going well.

[graeme]

Fantastic, Ferg!

[Shug]

Absolutely brilliant Ferg.

I'm sure you're aware if you had more time and materials, running the column a bit longer and supporting underneath with another bearing would deliver a stiffer structure, but that looks more than able to handle what's required of it - great engineering.

Wish I could get up to watch the race now... Lots of video people, please!

[Ferg]

Its one of those things, putting the column on top meant I could easily get to it and it kept it simple. I did think about drilling through the structure but lining the bearings up would have taken much more time and be prone to more error. I'm not sure I had the tools to do it and we're only 2 days away from the race. Its more than strong enough I reckon. Anyway, I quite like the Pompidou Centre approach and put the engineering on the outside where its visible.

If I had more time and materials this would have been a glassfibre monocoque with suspension....

[campbell]

I have a replacement Elise steering wheel which we hoped to incorporate into our design. However we have developed a steering-wheel-free approach (in the spirit of adding lightness, you understand) so likewise, no Lotus tech on ours either

However, the rear uprights are Elise-inspired (and just about as soft...), and our wheel bearings are probably just as disposable, so we have paid homage in some ways.

Have you weight the cart yet, Ferg? I keep forgetting but will try to tonight!

[Ferg]

Weight will be interesting. Going to see if we can find a way to weigh it tonight once it's all together (without any bodywork) for the first time. I can lift it on my own just, it's awkward to lift of course but we must be pushing the limits a little.

[campbell]

Crikey. We have a suitcase hand-held scale I was going to use. I'll bring it along, but you might break it!!

I wasn't thinking of limits as such. Just the sheer practicality of moving it around, as you point out

PS - in prev post, I mean "weighed" not "weight"

[kerryxeg]

Weight is good, add some water tanks, just make sure they are full!

[campbell]

[drums fingers] Come on then, team, what's happening...?

[Ferg]

As the plastic toy car is clutchless at the minute it's very difficult to get it in and out of the garage. So weather hampered anything last night as we've done everything so far outside. Extreme measures today and the garage is going to get requisitioned as we can't risk getting too wet if it rains.

Updates as they happen later....