Baja NOW Weekly Update: Week of March 25, 2018
Since our last BajaNOW at MTU Blizzard Baja, the team has been hard at work preparing the upcoming SAE Baja Nationals in Pittsburg, Kansas. We have been busy completing the itemized cost report required for the car which we finally submitted March 1st.
Fabrication of the car also has progressed. One of our younger members, Sam Berry, TIG welded our frame together. He went through weld tests in order to get certified to weld by one of our more experienced team members Mitch Evens.
Sam Berry welding together the frame for the nationals car.
Another part of the SAE Nationals is the Design report and Presentation. The Design Presentation is very important to doing well overall at nationals. Teams are given 20 minutes to explain the design process as well as how testing was conducted to validate the design. There are then 10 minutes left at the end for the judges to ask questions.
Usually, poster boards are used to display the data collected from testing for all the parts of the vehicle. This Sunday Kayla and Abby Denson were working hard on these aspects of the nationals competition.
Abby Denson on the left, Kayla on the right working on the design report.
As for the fabrication side of things, there was a lot going on in the shop this Sunday.
Rob Pohren was altering the frame to readjust the seat for a more ergonomic fit of the crotch seat belt. Spencer Van Dorn placed the seat mounts on the frame.
Spencer, Sam, Jake, Rob, and Mitch working on attaching various parts to the new frame for nationals.
Brandon Hawley redesigned a new governor cover that was significantly lighter in weight than what was provided with the Briggs and Straton motor. The new cover was made with polycarbonate versus steel.
Brandon Hawley and Rob Pohren designing new governor cover.
Kyle Scharm started work on cutting out the body panels for the nationals car. The team has an exciting paint job planned for the nationals car that we will do a special unveiling to show off. For now, we are using black HDPE plastic.
Kyle Scharm cutting the body panels.
Jacob Koke and Peter Laubenthal learned how to build new A-arms for the nationals vehicle. The A-arms were redesigned this year due to the change in width on the front of the nationals to allow for a more ergonomoic fit (ie: more leg room).
Jacob Koke (left) and Peter Laubenthal (right) fabricating the new A-arms.