Baja NOW Weekly Update: Week of October 29, 2017
Today, the team is back in the Baja Laboratory, continuing projects on all of the cars. In the meeting room, President Kayla Denson & Vice President Rob Pohren continued to order more parts for each vehicle. These parts will mostly be used to build our upcoming test platform as well as some others in order to rebuild and repair some of our older vehicles.
Kayla Denson ordering parts for all of the vehicles
“We want to make sure all of our parts are here before Mid-December, so the car can continue to be built over winter break.”
Meanwhile, in the shop, Secretary Eric Jones and Treasurer Alex Dalziel continued to repair the gearbox mount on Car 48. The Gearbox Mount ensures the gearbox is secured to the frame while the car is in motion. After the gearbox mount was removed from the frame, they began to ensure the new gearbox mount would be compatible with the existing frame, as well as preparing the new mount for welding.
Eric Jones looking for bolts to help position the Gearbox Mount
“Our old gearbox mount was beginning to become distorted after over 30 hours stress from racing. It is past time for the mount to be replaced.”
On the other side of the shop, Sam Berry was busy working on milling the Steering Knuckles for the new test platform. These knuckles will be tested in the upcoming weeks to measure their durability, ensuring the design will not fail if chosen for the final national competition vehicle.
Sam Berry milling the new Steering Knuckles
“The Steering Knuckle Design Team were able to finish their designs early, and with my experience using the Mill, I offered to build their Knuckle. It will take a while, but I’ll get it done.”
These steering knuckles will be put to the test on our unnumbered testing platform. All designs will be installed to this frame, then heavily tested at our Baja Testing Site for any significant failure or deformation. Member Kyle Scharm began to prepare the test frame for the incoming designs.
Kyle Scharm removing an old Steering Knuckle from our testing platform
“Working on the test frame is very important. The test platform must be set up as close as possible to national specification so we can learn from any issues within our design. We want designs to fail here, not during a National competition.”
One of the pieces to be tested on the test frame was a new clutch cover design, fabricated by Alie Lozano.
Alie Lozano fabricating the rear panel of the clutch cover
“Building the clutch cover not only gives me hands-on experience but also reminds me how detailed I must be with my work since this is crucial for safety.”
