Springfield Flyer.

[tauruck]

After four months of fighting I now have a working steering system.
I still need to fabricate a few parts but it works.

I tried a steering box, that never worked. Then I narrowed a rack, that definitely didn't work.
I tried to buy material for the system but as usual there's a strike on. Metal Workers Union!!!!.
People just hate having jobs here. Nobody wants to graft but they all want money.

Pics on the weekend.

[tauruck]

Over in the tech area we were discussing fibreglass body work.

I had a problem here with a composites problem but in truth the trouble saved me from an even bigger disaster.

I've been putting off making the nose for the car for one reason or another over the last month.
It's going to take yards and yards of Carbon along with honeycomb, glass fabric and Epoxy.
Huge cost involved.

My buddy Patrick is an RC plane guy and needed a few holes plugged on a plane he modified.
I owed him a favour so it was no problem to rebuild the cowling for him.
I did the 10 minute job and set the part down to cure.
It never did.

Four days later, still not cured and I was really worried.

The short story is that my 10 year old electronic scale went out of calibration and the Epoxy mix was all wrong!!!!.

The $2 repair that didn't cure saved me from a $2000 heart breaker.
What do you use to remove uncured Epoxy from a Styrene buck???

The great news is that Gerard Pye from Richter Scales is supplying a classy scale in return for exposure on the car.

It's all good and the miracles just keep on coming!!!!

[Graham in Aus]

Dodged an expensive bullet there Mike!  

Can you elaborate on the steering solution? Rods, Bell cranks? levers? Sounds intriguing

Richter Scales! Great name for a company!!  

[tauruck]

Thanks Graham, yes someone was watching over me on that one.

I should take a trip to the horse track. .

I used bell cranks, shafts, some bearing blocks and rod ends to get where I am.

I used a vice grip as a steering wheel. I can't get the 1" tubing I need due to the strike.
The system works fine it seems and hopefully I'll have pics for you by weekend.

[Stainless1]

I used a vice grip as a steering wheel. I can't get the 1" tubing I need due to the strike.
The system works fine it seems and hopefully I'll have pics for you by weekend.

Mike, you should use 2 vice grips, it is safer to have both hands on the steering 

[JoshH]

"What do you use to remove uncured Epoxy from a Styrene buck"

Isopropyl alcohol has worked for me. Don't ask me why I know... Bad memories

As always test a small section first.

[tauruck]

I used a vice grip as a steering wheel. I can't get the 1" tubing I need due to the strike.
The system works fine it seems and hopefully I'll have pics for you by weekend.

Mike, you should use 2 vice grips, it is safer to have both hands on the steering 

That has happened here before. Cops saw this mini bus taxi weaving on the road so they pulled him over. Vice grip on the steering shaft.

[tauruck]

Josh, the Polystyrene I use isn't the high density type.

I would have had to start over I think.

Hopefully that won't be happening now.

Richter Scale handed over the new scale today.

It's way better than the old one, has a splash cover over it and a larger weigh plate.

It can handle 30Kg which is overkill.
A scale is the key to what I do and I'm grateful for it.

Time to play catch up on all things composite.

[manta22]

Mike;

"Richter Scale"....isn't that used to measure earthquakes?   

Regards, Neil  Tucson, AZ

[Seldom Seen Slim]

Well, Neil -- yes and no.  While Gustav Richter (of maybe it was Luigi Richter or Ban Ky Richter) came up with the idea of a logarithmic scale for describing the intensity of earthquake - so the scale was named after him (maybe it was Abdul Richter or perhaps Svatiaslov Richter (no, he was a music conductor, I think).  But in the past few decades the word "Ricther" has been dropped from the scale.  Nowadays when you hear the announcer talking about an earthquake he/she'll say the earthquake was measured with and intensity of so-and-such.  The numbers are the same -- just the name has been changed (to protect the innocent, no doubt ).

Maybe it was Leslie Richter or maybe Portia Richter.  I don't know for sure.   But it's no longer the Richter scale -- I do know that.

[manta22]

Jon;

The word "degrees" has also been dropped from "degrees Celsius" but I still say "degrees Celsius". Whether it's Celsius, Fahrenheit, Kelvin, or Rankine, it is still a scale of degrees. Whoever decides these things can call it whatever they want but as far as I'm concerned it's still Richter Scale and degrees Celsius.

When you get to be a geezer like me you get to grouse about things like this! 

Regards, Neil  Tucson, AZ

[Peter Jack]

HEAR, HEAR!!! 

Pete

[Buickguy3]

  That's it, Neal, Give him the "third degree".
    Doug 

[Freud]

PETER JACK........respect Neal's knowledge as well as his age.

G'Pa FREUD

[tauruck]

Richter is a pretty common surname here and maybe it's just a play on words but there are going to be quakes when I start mixing "Da Juice".