Springfield Flyer.

[tauruck]

A while back I built a one piece front end, floor tray and rear wing for Kyle's Mazda3
drag car. They were out testing last week and the news I got is that it's the fastest FWD
car in the country. 8sec@6000ft altitude. He's over the moon. It tracked straight as opposed to before we did the mods.
Great kid. Also my motor machinist with a Serdi machine..

[fordboy628]

A while back I built a one piece front end, floor tray and rear wing for Kyle's Mazda3
drag car. They were out testing last week and the news I got is that it's the fastest FWD
car in the country. 8sec@6000ft altitude. He's over the moon. It tracked straight as opposed to before we did the mods.
Great kid. Also my motor machinist with a Serdi machine..

Front end looks great all "tarted up"!

If he is any good as a machinist, keep the relationship "cultivated", expert tradesmen are a dying breed . . . . .

 
Fordboy

[tauruck]

Thanks Mark, the business is 45 years old. Kyle's late father founded the company
and the youngster is top notch like his dad.
He knows the trade and I trust him 100%.
He's also one half of my turbo crew.

I know what you mean about the expert tradesmen disappearing.
Sad state.

[tauruck]

You must all be tired of me not posting build pics and reporting on progress
but things are at a standstill here right now.
Waiting for parts and replacement equipment so I'm kind of on vacation.
This situation is crazy. New sponsors are flocking to the project.

UVEX came in with safety eye wear. I won't be needing safety glasses or goggles
ever again. I asked for grey tint lenses but I got six pairs of clear and 2 googles.
Jarryd Swanepoel said no problem and he'd swing by in a few days with the right
color. I asked him to take back the clear variety but he said I should keep them.
I also got 5 pairs of work gloves and when he comes back he's bringing ear plugs.
Thanks UVEX, Clyde Beattie and Jarryd.

One email to World of Workwear and now I'm getting safety footwear.
2 pairs of boots and 2 pairs of safety shoes made by Bell.
Thanks Tim Atkins.
 I've been lucky around the shop foot and toe wise
but the chances of getting hurt keep growing and now i'm covered.

Now there are three extinguishers, goggles and boots to keep me safe.

My other special sponsor is Air Liquide and one of their divisions is Weld-Cut.
They supply mig torches, tig electrodes and all the other accessories.
Looks like I'm getting a new mig torch and tungsten electrodes next week.

Without all the awesome people behind me this build would be nowhere.
This car consumes everything from cutting discs to welding wire and gas
and if you see my shelves in the back of the workshop it looks like a store.

Next sponsor should be one of the banks here!!!!!!.
I'd love a big box of their product.  

[Freud]

Good things come to good people that wait.

FREUD

[tauruck]

Thanks Glenn.

[tauruck]

I've been working on my gauge panel.
I want to install the gauges and do the wiring to the first mil spec connector.

Since I've gone from Autometer over to the VDO product the original holes
I cut were too big but VDO supplied outer rings that can make up for the larger
openings. Those were too small. The ring OD and the opening ID were almost
identical so I had to make a plan. The second solution was to clad the panel
with more Carbon but I wasn't into that.

I found an off cut of SSteel tubing that fitted inside the ring with a tiny clearance.
One layer of masking tape made up for the gap.
I gave the set up a good coat of PVA release agent and once it had dried I pressed
it into place on the panel. That got covered with masking tape.
I put the panel face down and poured in resin with filler. I put a little more in than I needed
so I could sand it flush later.

[tauruck]

As soon as the resin got to the green stage I used my
Olfa knife to cut around the circumference as close to level as I could
going through the tape to metal. I mixed in extra catalyst and accelerator
so the fill around the ring only took about 40 minutes to cure.

After cure all I had to do was twist the steel tube and it came out leaving
the tape on the part. The release agent worked great and the tape came away
easily.

Second pic is of the top side of the panel.

[tauruck]

I repeated the process 5 times before I found I was a ring short.
I'll contact my connection at VDO Monday to get another outer ring.

It's a little frustrating because I could have installed the 6 gauges tomorrow
but I've experienced way bigger problems on this build and this is a minor
hurdle.

The job turned out good so I'm happy.

[wheelrdealer]

Mike:

You always do amazing work...even when adjusting from decision to another.

BR

[tauruck]

Thanks Bill.
We haven't chatted in a while. My bad. I'll mail you.

[tauruck]

Monday morning in sunny South Africa.
I'm determined to have my compressor working by Wednesday and a new Mig torch before the weekend.
There were a lot of things wrong on the compressor but luckily I have a spare motor (the original that stopped working in December).
It needs bearings. The sales guy that I spoke to about a new capacitor put me on the right track. On the buying list is 2 new bearings, a 45A circuit breaker for the mains and new capacitor. I still don't know how the current motor fried itself without tripping the 25A breaker. It was so bad it even melted the plastic fan and capacitor housing. There isn't one part worth saving.
I'm no electrician but I'm learning.

These tools are so important to me and although I whine they've given excellent service. 10 years on the torch and 8 on the motor.
These are used all day every day and getting the new parts involves a serious tour around the city. 

[tauruck]

I received my tandem steer uprights from Arma Gear today.
They turned out great as per requirement.

Next step is to manufacture the spindles which when machined will be pressed
in from the rear. The big question is how to keep the spindles in place?.
Do I drill and tap, weld or both?. The question is premature but I've been doing
research on tig welding these components. The uprights are 28mm thick (ROC or Mild steel) and the
step going onto the EN8 spindles will be the same. Also to use 309 SSteel filler when welding.
The advice varies. Some say preheat not using oxy/acetylene due to the sulphur content
but rather an oven. I only have a gas oven. Others say Mig weld.

I know I'll get the right advice here so fire away. Thanks guys.

[tauruck]

One more pic.
I'm super pleased with the quality.

[Rex Schimmer]

Mike,
I would suggest that you make the spindle at least a .005 in (.12-.15mm) over size then chill the spindle and heat the upright slide them together. Be sure that the open end of the upright has a nice champfer or radius. Then do a tig weld on the back side just as a feel good precaution. Do not weld where the spindle goes into the upright. I like the 309 filler for the TIG and remember "TIG welding is for building race cars, MIG is for building trailors!" If you have not made the spindles I would suggest drill/bore them leaving at least 6-7 mm wall thickness and do not bore the hole completely through leave at least a 6-10 mm thick piece at the back of the spindle. If you shrink the spindle into the upright then this will make the back of the spindle the tightest fit when every thing comes to a common temp plus it will give a nice surface to weld to.

Rex