Return to Thunderdome, the Saga Continues

[Stainless1]

A little more work done on the SSNST, put a brace on the front wheel carrier just to make sure it was stiff enough

Cut some hitch pins down to pin it in place.  The pins had a 4.5 inch long reach, and needed to be shorter to get between the rails as well as have a clip pin hole for a 2.5 inch reach.  They will all have lanyards on the clip pins as soon as I visit The Yard tomorrow.

[Stainless1]

And a little work in the back of the SSNST for the rear tire carrier

It will be pinned like the front.  The holes in the tubes are just like the ones in the front, air surrounded by stainless.  The location of the holes in the wheel carrier are still TBD.

Ran out of argon... just got the brace tacked, so I'll be stopping at Airgas tomorrow also. 

And checking on Max's progress, I'll take the camera... 

[Stainless1]

Checked in on Max yesterday, caught him working on motor parts.  More on that in a few minutes. 
First we will take a look at the blower.  It is pretty much ready to go.  This is the Weiand 2 rotor model.  Every revolution it pumps 162 cubic inches if air into the motor.  Max has it over-driven 1.62 : 1 making about 25PSI.   

[Stainless1]

Now let's look at the motors a little... Max continued his massaging on the pistons trying to get more oil up on the thrust side. 
One thing already at work is a pressure feed from the block down the thrust side of the cylinder to the hole in the bottom, you can see the piston and a little of the groove work I showed previously on its outside.

NA3, how's that for product placement.... the work Max has done on the inside of the pistons.

And another view... yes there is some work above the pin area.  Max is planning to modify the cranks to help sling oil up to the cylinder and piston pin.  Those opened areas will make a little room to help get the oil up there.

[Stainless1]

OK, take a look at the crankshaft counterweights.... this is the plan for an oil slinger.  Max will drill the larger scoop hole on the flat face, the the smaller squirter hole on the outside.  The plan is the larger hole will impact and scoop up the oil, and it will sling out of the small hole as it goes around and hit the opened area on the piston.  No, Max is not concerned with a little oil windage HP loss.... he needs lube.

Max put a little spot of tape on one side to make it easier to see.  You can also notice 2 of the 5 bearings that will ultimately support this crank and the carillio rods.

This scroll gear is the drive for the 2 start oil pump.

[Stainless1]

Dropped in on Max again today, Max says this is the fastest most powerful shelf in Wichita (my guess is at least one of the most valuable)

You can see the vent caps on the center 2, but here is a little closer look at the modification.

And the crankshaft oil slinger modification has been started.

The reason I went by is in the next post....

[Stainless1]

I took the SSNST over to Max's to see if the scooter would fit...

But about half of the pictures I took were fuzzy, I'll bet I had it in macro when I took the front shots... dang technology...  So you get to see shots from the back. 

Yep, it fit... 

[Rocky R]

Max, are you planning on running the sidecar again, or 2-wheeled streamliner?

[Kansas Bad Man]

I took the SSNST over to Max's to see if the scooter would fit...

But about half of the pictures I took were fuzzy, I'll bet I had it in macro when I took the front shots... dang technology...  So you get to see shots from the back. 

Yep, it fit... 

I spent 22 and 1/2 years in the U.S. Navy, retiring as a CWO3, and was Chief Engineer on my last three ships.  When sailors performed in an exemplory manner, I wrote many letters of commendation.   As I had no part in Stainless' supervision, this has left me with a bit of a dilemma.  What can I say?


Outstanding workmanship, a good thought process in design, a tool that will certainly meet the need, and selfless dedication.

Thanks my friend.  You've earned yourself much respect from all of the team who wrestle with the liner everytime we take it to the line, and especially from me.

                                          Max

[Kansas Bad Man]

Max, are you planning on running the sidecar again, or 2-wheeled streamliner?

Rocky,

For '09 my plan is to not go for the FIM records, either side car or solo.  A tremendous amount of money has been spent over the last 4 years, and much gut churning has ensued in the process of getting the bike registered to make the FIM runs legal for the Bub Meet.   I'd rather not go through all that again.

The Vincent streamliner will be going for AMA records only.  It will be the same as last year.  We'll make the first runs with the side car attached.  If all goes well and time permits we'll then go for the solo AMA record.  We'll be running the 21" tall Goodyear front tire up to the 350 mph. safety speed.  Should we reach these kind of speeds this year we'll have an aluminum wheel and perhaps give a try for something more.   

                                  Max

[Stainless1]

OK kids, back to the work at hand, I've been on vacation..... OK not vacation (Linda says you have to work at a job to go on vacation) maybe just a travel distraction.... Freud's outstanding NW Reunion....
Anyway, I was gone but as expected Max kept working.

First we need to revisit the motor from last year.  You are looking at the HyVo chain that transmits power from the motors to the tranny via the clutch.  Notice the large shoe required to tighten the chain and the chain deflection... Max wanted to get a sprocket with 1 less tooth, 41.  All the sprockets available seem to be even numbers so Max has been living with the issue.  It has not failed him, but he still wanted to fix it. 

So WWMD (what would Max do) ?  He would try to order a new clutch drive sprocket... opps, bubba wants well over a grand  to make one.  So Max would just design and build one.  He picked up some gear material, had it EDM'd, center and teeth, then rounded the edges of the teeth and here it is next to the old one. 

Besides the chain length  issue, the old one is 3 piece with an aluminum center and pinned together.  The new is one piece, all gear material, a lot tougher to tap the holes but should be strong.  The other sides....  The welded piece retains the bearing, ya saw the snap ring on the other side.

The teeth are lined up on the back side.  With 1 less tooth, Max can shorten the chain 1 link (2 teeth worth) and that will require a smaller shoe and make the chain run straighter.

[Stainless1]

We discussed the oil slinger plan earlier, here is the result.  The camera focused on the area between to counterweights so that picture is too fuzzy but here are some other views.
The scoop hole packs oil in and it slowly slings out the little hole hopefully onto the piston, pin and cylinder walls.

After trying to get a squirt picture and not catching oil in the air, we decided to just pump a little through so you get the idea.

[Stainless1]

Everyone remember the gears connecting the cranks? (see the middle of page 6 if your memory is as short as your.....  )
I mentioned there was more to do, well Max has done a little more work in there.  First he checked the gears to find the best gear for each position, then the best mesh.  The reason... none of them seem to be made perfect, minor variations... a thou here, a thou there .... so he just switched and rotated until he ended up with the best compromise in every position for minimum backlash.

If you looked back, you saw the brass thrust bearings on the new cover.  Here's the bearings on the motor side.  Max has them set up for .006 total clearance for the gears when the cover is torqued.  The grooves help move oil to the roller bearings as well as retain oil for the thrust bearings.

[Stainless1]

Back to the slingers, here we see them on the crankshaft counterweights.   

Next issue... take a look at the motor cases, this is basically how the motor cases are positioned in the bike... the front motor rolled a little forward, the back rolled back.  Max wants to "carry" a little extra oil in the motor crankcases.  That means he probably needs to make some alterations in the supply and scavenge system.  The pump will suck out a lot more oil than it will put in.

So Max will gravity feed oil into the motors with these new fittings.  Basically oil will flow out of the tank and be metered into the engines by a valve or orifice, there will be a shut off to ensure he does not empty the tank into the motors when they are not running.  Yes there will be windage... the crank will impact more oil than normal, that's the idea, trying to sling oil up into the cylinders.

[Stainless1]

Here is the front motor... the partitioned area is where the pump sits and draws oil from the cases. 

If you look at the picture it looks like you need to lower the "dam" a little to keep the oil you are flowing into the area from filling past the crankshaft but still flow back to the scavenge pump.  Remember this motor is rolled forward from the stock position. 

The back motor was more of a challenge, the dam needed to be raised since the rear motor is rolled back.  So here is the modification, yep it used to look just like the front.