Suspension and Engine Progress

The team has made lots of progress since the last post. We have completed all of the suspension arms and are working on the frame mounts. Fabrication of the rear knuckles has also begun. They have been jigged and are in the process of finish welding. After the engine failure last week the team scrambled to find a new engine and in the process made contact with Bay Cycles in Bayonne. With help from them we have found a new R6 engine to put in our car. With this great news we are working on mocking up the engine mounts with our old engine, while awaiting the new one. We are at the point where all of the components we have designed are coming together and we are starting to see the fruits of our labor.

Suspension Arms

Rear Knuckles getting welded

Rear Engine Mounts

Action Deadline 1 Met

The team has successfully submitted the first round of Action Deadline material to the Formula SAE judges. This includes the Impact Attenuator Data, the Design Report, and the Design Spec Sheet. The major piece of this was the Impact Attenuator Report. For this the team had to design and build a device to limit the forces on the driver in the event of a front end collision. Our design was a box filled with aluminum honeycomb sheets. To test our design the team dropped a 417 kg weight from about 6 feet on the the attenuator. Data was collected and our design passed with flying colors, to see a video of the test click here.

New impact attenuator

Attenuator in position for test.

Crushed attenuator after the test.

Engine Failure

The team suffered a major setback last week with the failure of our Yamaha R6 engine. During a test run last Wednesday white smoke began pouring out of the exhaust and we knew something was wrong. Upon further inspection we found that one of the connecting rods had broken and seriously damaged a cylinder ans one of the valves. Unfortunately we will not be able to salvage this engine and are looking for another. The team will continue to build the car while we hunt down another engine. We are confident that we can still make it to competition and be competitive.

Some of the carnage

Engine Work

The engine team has been working hard to get the engine up an running. They have been searching through the wiring harness finding all the connections that are no longer needed and making alterations so the engine will work outside the bike it came from. The engine has been hooked up to the radiator and the fuel lines. The team hopes to have the engine running by early next week.

Some of the team looking over the wiring harness.

Engine hooked up to the fuel system.

Chassis Finish Welded

The team got the chassis back from finish welding on Monday night. Thanks again to Majka Railing in Paterson, NJ for the awesome work and great turn around. Below are a few pictures of the finished chassis. The team is continuing work on the suspension members and the mounting points for the engine.

Chad having some fun with the new chassis.

Control Arm Fabrication

With the chassis out for welding the team has begun working on the suspension components. Jigs for the upper and lower control arms for the front and rear have been built. The team is in the process of fitting all of the members together. Once the members are fit the team will send some of the components to George Wohlrab who runs the machine shop on campus to be drilled and tapped. The goal is to have the suspension components together by early next week.

A part of the control arm which will be tapped to accept a heim joint.

A front upper control arm fit into the jig.

2010 Chassis Together

View from the drivers compartment

View from the rear of the chassis

Side View

The 2010 chassis is fully tacked together and is ready for finish welding. The chassis will be sent to Majka Railing in Paterson, NJ for this final process. Hopefully we will have it back in about two weeks and can start assembling the rest of the components. With the chassis out for welding we will be working on the suspension components and the engine. The plan is to have these finished and ready to install when the chassis returns.