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Matt Brown

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Racecar

Too Many Projects

I've been busy with my too many projects and it doesn't look like it is slowing down at all.

After a fruitless search for a simple, low cost data acquisition system for the land speed bike, I decided to make one myself.

I've got about $50 into it, which is roughly $450 cheaper than anything I could find to do what I needed.  I've got a GPS chip coming in the mail which pushes my total investment to just under $100.

It is basically an Aurduino with a datalogger shield and an 8gb SD card.  I'm pulling the 0-5v analog signals from the MAP, WEGO, and the fuel adjustment knob I have on the handlebars.  I've also got RPM off the hall effect sensor on the cam.

The land speed bike is getting a complete tear-down and rebuild.  I just started that, so here is the before picture for posterity's sake:

Before I brought it home, Mike busted out his $50 3D scanner and, with the help of the software from http://reconstructme.net/, we made a 3D model of the bike and I for future aero design.

S600 rear suspension is done, and front suspension is well into the random-lines-and-sketches-and-some-3d-stuff-in-CAD stage. 

It makes about as much sense to me as it does to you right now.

eeeeeeYYYOOOWWWwwwww....

ExTrEmE OiL ChAnGe!!!

How do you get all the oil to drain out when you've tilted the engine forward 15°?

You tilt the bike back 15°!

Rear Suspension

Plasma cutter: My new favorite tool of all time of the week.

Although it is important to remember to clean the slag off before you break out the TIG, or it will totally eff up your weld. But, after some cleaning, some lathing, and some bearing-pressing-in, I have rear bellcranks. Everything is in plane, so bushings and shoulder bolts should do the trick nicely.

I had to make some steel box section mounts, floating the pivot in space and mounted at least an inch from anything resembling a node, much to the disapproval of FSAE judges who opinion I could not possibly care less about.

ooohhh....

Great life decision, or greatest life decision?

Because you can never have too many toys.

Notice my sweet Gatorate brand fuel tank.

It's rolling!

I finally got around to getting the triple clamps waterjetted!

The bike progress has been at a standstill for a while now, but with the clamps done, I got motivated to get the axle modified and make the spacers and bam! It's a bike!

A really long, really low bike. The first event of the year at El Mirage is happening this weekend which I am prrrrobably not going to make. I have to do patrols at the next event but hopefully I'll be ready to go in July.