Springfield Flyer.

[tauruck]

Bob, lately I've been damaging myself daily but its my fault.

Too much clutter in the shop but this will change over the weekend.

I've sold the truck project so the lack of space problem should be a thing of the past.

That peg (concrete nail) was supposed to be for hanging a steel ruler.

When I do the wrong thing here I get told "you think you're smart?, you'll have to sleep sometime pal!"

This is the same woman who poured 40 Volume Peroxide into the wound when the dog ate my arm.

[tauruck]

Guys, the Speed Demon has this wheel system they use to move the car.
Their's mounts aft of the wheels.
Anything wrong with a system running ahead of the wheels?.

I don't have space out back but have a great bulk head to weld the collars to in front.

Any advice will be appreciated.

[Stainless1]

Mikey, my guess is it is easier with the tow wheels outside the wheelbase when it is time to put it on the ground, not much room under there

[tauruck]

Thanks Bob.

I picked up my radiator box pipes from Duncan who did a great job welding them.

I cut the pipes to length and turned the collars as well as belling one end of the 38mm tube to fit the 45mm in a stepless, seamless fashion.

The radiator has equal size inlets but the outlet on the water pump is 45mmOD.

Duncan did one pass and incorporated the collar and the two tubes for a super neat finish.
I did grind a radius into the collar so that the joint was all neat and level with the surface.

Small parts but like everything else on  LSR projects they take time.

Next step is to finish the box and bond in the tubes.

[tauruck]

I did do a little more work on the radiator box this past weekend and it was a real peaks and valleys deal.

Normally resin is delivered pre accelerated but the high temp one I use is not. The accelerator needs to be added to the user's preference.

It's a good thing because if one used the pack supplied in full the resin cures before you're done laminating.

I opened the can and the resin looked purple (accelerator is that color) so I thought maybe the manufacturer had already added the accelerator and supplied a separate container by mistake.

I went ahead and used a bunch of Carbon and honeycomb to make two panels.

The resin never cured. The missus calls me a color blind idiot when we checked the material in GOOD light. It wasn't purple.

Twice in 15 years ain't so bad and this was the lesser of the two.

The other one was a Trans Am Mustang front end. After hours of work the hardener was still sitting on the table.

Used the hole saw to punch two holes through the radiator box for the tubes.

Laid some masking tape around the openings and roughed the area to get a good mechanical bond.

[tauruck]

Next was mixing the adhesive and clamping the two pipes in place.

The masking tape will come off once everything is cured.

[tauruck]

The side panel (#2) fully cured was trimmed Sunday night and bonded in.

The lid nets cutting to shape and there are more mountings yet to go in so there is still a lot to do on what I thought was a quickie project.

[Graham in Aus]

Ha! Had to look twice at that second pic with the clamps there Mike!

Thought the clamps were hanging there doing not much, then realised you have tubes over the internal outlets!

Nice job, I like your composite alternative construction methods!

Keep it going! 

[Speed Limit 1000]

Cobalt napthanate is often used to accelerate the curing of polyester and vinyl ester resins.

[tauruck]

The cobalt is the bit that was missing and the resin won't do a thing without it.


I'm having a good time doing this part.

I appreciate all the input and motivation.


Mike.

[tauruck]

This radiator box project is way bigger than I previously thought.

It needs to be done right and look good at the same time.

In my F2 days I never had a budget even close to the opposition so my time was spent cleaning, polishing and making sure everything stayed attached.
I was up against teams with 6 crew members.

Before I started doing my own prep work my volunteer buddies had lots of finger trouble and we went 11 races without a finish.
Mine are the only hands that have touched the liner aside from putting it on the floor for photos.
No conflicts here, I know where stuff fits and how.

Old habits die hard and I even sanded and polished the brackets that fit inside the radiator box. No one will ever see them.
All eight were fitted and refitted over and over to make sure not one part was stressed in any way.
The rest of the guys I know spent the weekend watching sport on TV.
I still have the mounting bungs to install and a few other pieces but she's looking like I imagined.

Delta Rubber, a local gasket and seal company is making me a seal for the lid.
I was going to do a complicated rubber 'O' ring deal where the 6mm rubber was going to be recessed into both the box and lid.
Too much work. A simple system will do fine.

Pics from the weekend. I have to remount the radiator pipes. The Gorilla snot I used never cured for a lack of Cobalt.

[tauruck]

One more for the artsy members.

[Speed Limit 1000]

Very nice work

[manta22]

Great craftsmanship, Mike. No more DNFs!.

Regards, Neil  Tucson, AZ

[tauruck]

Gentlemen, I thank you.

If she's not as fast as we hope we still would like to win a car show or ten!.

I've had many loves in my life but this girl is the ONE.