I'm going to the track when it opens (April 2nd I believe), and I will post the new slip. You ran a 12.9 or someting right?

The baby's name is Benjamin A. Bolton, sorry.

end of thread jack:)

12.8 !!!!!! @117 haha. most people with that trap are in the low 12's or 11's. I blame the driver.

roll cage is looking just like your CAD models. Very impressive work!!

hopfully run into you tonight, I did a bunch of work to the buss last night, hope it makes it that far.

cheers

Thanks. I made a design change on the door bars. I will be use FEA to decide where the optimal placement for stiffeners is.

Nice!

well?? No pics of the custom steering system?

your probally busy with class, I have been trying to get ubong to answer a few questions before the final exam, no response to his email. he better be in his office tomorrow!

just did a little alum welding with my wp20 and gas lense, you are going to love the 20. after you go 20 you cannot go back to a 17. You will see!

I love this project log, I was inspired enough to strip my FC down to this point as well. I just need to weld so I can keep up!

Quick question though, are you going to do any seam-welding on the unibody?

You know, I'm torn on this. I hear the cost-benefit ratio is pretty low. Lots of work with little payoff, especially if the roll cage has really good mounting points.

UPdated Steering Column
 

This semester's work load has been killing me, but I managed to slap this together this weekend. There's still quite a bit of work to do on this before its usable.

http://i916.photobucket.com/albums/a...4/IMG_1311.jpg

http://i916.photobucket.com/albums/a...4/IMG_1312.jpg

http://i916.photobucket.com/albums/a...4/IMG_1313.jpg

O_O ... that's neat! Looks like the ultimate setup in adjustable steering position. I never would have thought of rigging it up like that. Also, putting 2 sets of bearings on the shaft is an interesting idea. One connected to the cage and the other mounted to the firewall? That should lend to the best feel possible from the chassis! Where did you find those mondo-bearings? They look like overkill but the more I look at em the more I wanna know what they'd feel like. I was just holding the stock steering column in my hands a minute ago... and now I don't want it anymore :p (except the telescoping feature might save my life on the street when i'm not wearing a harness)

The only thing I would suggest is doing away with the set-screw setup on the upper bearing. With the amount of vibration the steering column see's (not to mention the constant torque of you trying your best to twist that bar when your driving) that will not sit tight forever. If it loosens that set screw will add vibration to the shaft in a negative way.

Besides, why do you wanna but scratches and divots in your steering column? If possible, I would just weld that bushing to the bar directly. That would eliminate some adjust-ability to where that bearing sits on the shaft though... if you are set on the set-screw idea, then perhaps you could drill a few more in there? The More solid contact that bearing has to the shaft the better right?

I'm pretty sure you've already thought about that though... you said this is just an early mock-up after all.

nice to see some progress!!

defintally the most intresting steering system i have ever seen.

cheers

shm21284, your very skilled at what you do. I like the fact that your reworking every variable to your personal liking.

For building a car from beginning to end by yourself as a side project, your coming along quite quickly.

Thanks for the comments, guys! Hopefully this summer I'll be able to move along a little quicker, but that's racing season, so probably not (I'll be helping at the track).



I am not sure about the set screw feature. One one hand, it provides the ability to collapse if i get in a severe accident and possibly not break my wrists. If I loctite the set screws, there's less of a chance of them backing out. @ $65 apeice for the bearings, I'm not going to weld them. I thought about using a locking collar against it or turnign the shaft and fitting a c-clip but I'm not sure. I will take the car to a couple open track days to dial it in, then I will see if there's any problems with the stearing system.

The bearings look overkill, but they are quite light. They have a polymer housing and are sealed (I got them for this reason so they were both lightweight and washable with a powerwasher if I decided to do so). I got them on McMaster.com, its the best place ever. They are also ABEC 1 (American Bearing Engineering Counsel) rated, which means they are essentially slop free and quite smooth.

The Set Screw Dilemma cont.
 

I'm not sure I understand this can you explain? :scratch: Is this what you were going for?
http://www.define-spec.com/forum/pic...0&pictureid=41

Also, this is the type of steering hub I used on my SP-RX3 Pro Rally Car. You attach it by welding the steel hexagonal tip over the end of the steering shaft. The aluminum hub (which is screwed to your steering wheel hub) slides over that. A simple spring-loaded rod serves as a retainer and quick-release mechanism.
http://www.define-spec.com/forum/pic...0&pictureid=42

i think i'm going to leave it set screwed right now.

This was a horrible explanation.

I want to use the set screws because, in the event of a crash, they will allow the steering column to push forward (if you take the set screws away, there's nothing pushing back because of the universal joints connecting the column to the shaft).

I'm not sure about whether or not this is good, though, because its possible that even with loctite, that the steering shaft will be able to move. I suppose the open track day s will bring out any flaws in the system. If it can move axially, then I will either machine a groove and add a snap ring, or I will machine a collar, and weld it in place (but this removes any axial adjustibility it may have had).

So wtf did you run? Its been three weeks since the track has opened.

I ran a 1:38.3

Where's the *like* button?

thread jacks are gay
 

I went a few weekends ago, I could not run worth a shit.

The good news is I technical won every race, first a late 90's V8 mustang, then a WRX STI with a FMIC, then a V8 S10 (only because he red lighted). The bad news is I was slow as hell best ET 13.6927 best MPH 106.9. The V8 S10 ran 107 mph, but ran a 12.56 ET :(. I got to work on my 60ft times.

Funny thing is I was only at 107 at about 9000 rpm, my tires are way too small. I should be able to brake 12's with 235 and full boost.

The track guys told me I had to have an exterior battery kill before I come back. So I've been looking into that.

I wasn't building boost like normal at the track so I adjusted my boost controller map which fix think for a while. I heard a squeak from my turbo today and checked my shaft play. It was more than I like so I might be down for a while, unless baby's come with a turbo.

I could run NA but that's gay. Maybe run a huge shot of nitrous.

Most likely a quick rebuild, or an upgrade and I'll be back.

You know the first time I saw your setup I thought those tie-bars were designed so the steering column could move for ease of entry. After I looked at the angles I decided they were intended to adjust steering position based on X-Y-Z geometry.

I assumed that once set, those tie-bars would actually hold the steering column rigid and not allow it to move. Based on that assumption you can understand my confusion about the set screw when you said you designed your column to collapse somehow. If those tie bars hold that bracket rigid, and the bearing is bolted to the bracket... set screw or not that column isn't going to move because I thought you said you wanted it to be one piece.

I thought about it and the next assumption I made is that you wanted the set-screw to allow the steering wheel to break loose of the steering column in a sudden-impact situation. If the tires hit something hard enough the steering wheel might turn sharply and unexpectedly. (Thats why we don't hook our thumbs around the steering wheel) That's what I thought you were talking about when you said an impact might break your wrists.

Of course, that still didn't make sense because if you mounted the steering wheel to that bearing collar and not the shaft itself... then literally that little set screw would be the only thing holding your wheel on straight! lol. Thinking of all this made my brain hurt and that's why I drew that diagram. I still can't visualize how that bracket can move but that may just be the view of the camera angle in your photo.

So in the grand scheme of things its:

farberio > NOPR > SFC.

Even though it took me a minute and a half I had turns to contend with. :nod:

Can you re-post the diagram? I never got it.

Diagram
 

^post fail. No diagram posted.

I dunno why it isn't working? I embedded the [IMG] into the post... but I also added it as an attachment to this post.

sorry :\