On the weekend there was much time spent in the shed. Not a huge amount was achieved, there was much tugging of the forelock.... I shortened the cheek bars which will make in/egress easier....
After the Rev got in the car we realised that I had made the new steering column too short.....to accommodate his fat legs, yeah OK they're not fat, just very long........what we were trying to ascertain was where we could put the new 'chute release..... most people who are tied-up have more room to move and better use of their hands than someone who is suited up and strapped into our car so there are precious few places we could stick another button ,lever or switch.... we have decided that we will use a hood release style T behind the steering wheel( photo's later).
The real time-waster was an old favorite and that is the catch on the chute doors....it has absorbed weeks I would estimate over the last three years, and it has never been satisfactory. Now, before you leap in with helpful suggestions the answer is...nope, nah, probably not, uh-uh. They are curved barn style doors, so the mechanism needs to be like a bear claw and all the actuation needs to swing free.... we have used seat catches from scooters but they are prone to sieze and/or/release unexpectedly due to the high prssure from the drone spring.......I made another version with a sliding plate, worked until it was loaded......then the Rev bought a ball bearing drawer support with which we duplicated the sliding plate idea......I hooked the cable to it last night and it does work and it doesn't have the propensity to pop open when bumped......I'm sure everyone has a version of this story for some part of their car or bike for which there is no perfect solution and every option explored to date has been time consuming, frustrating and ultimately piss-poor.
Lat night I also extended the column.....I think I got that right....
I bought a spill kit for our support vehicle which we didn't have up until this point, I got the tow-truck title transferred to my name, the Colonel has wired in the UHF radio, we are planning on putting cup holders on the outside of the doors( this truck is so slow that we'll spend half the trip walking alongside it to stretch our legs), I bought a new chilly-bin, the fire extinguishers have been sent off for re-certification , a new helmet is on the way and a message has been sent to our favorite pin-striper to see what he can come up with for the new plain white helmet......
We will get there, we will be ready.............
Topic: Australian Belly Tank (Read 3193810 times)