Baby template car for DARKO 2016

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Photobucket ate my homework! But I guess you saw it.

The insanity of it still makes me sad.

Great link to the Samba though, a few photos still in that thread worth viewing.

[aerohead]

Boat tail and stinger are both upside-down in dedicated areas.These both have belly foam double-doped with resin.
I started body filler to smooth areas.At 85-F the filler goes off before I can get it off the mixing board.I'll have to do this early,first thing in mornings.Looks like 10:15 AM is the limit for this activity.
The boat tail will get a layer of glass all around.The stinger will not.
I won't 'flip' the parts until their bellies are 'done.'
I flattened out the aluminum skins from all the control surfaces of Bob Parson's gyro-copter to recycle into skirt extensions and fairings for Spirit.
And I finally created the access panel for Baby's tail removal opening.
This morning I picked up some foam pipe insulation that I'll attempt airdam splitter/edge softening with.(in the DARKO video you can see how the airflow is radically deflected by the hard edge of the existing airdam.And you can see the air 'spill' under the airdam before it makes it around the corner of the airdam).
When it gets too hot for fiberglass work I'll switch over to metal work.
7:30-8:45 PM has been good for yard work.
Heat indexes have been running 102F-106F.There's a point where I kinda play out and must hide inside with the air conditioning to get wind back in my sail.
Much to do.

[Merlyn2220]

Yeah I've noticed the same thing with filler. When it's 95F here, I have to mix less hardener, and mix-and-apply at the vehicle. Just the time to get from the garage out to the car or "mixing while walking" takes an extra 20 seconds that I just don't have before it starts solidifying. It still works, it just means smaller batches and fast application time!

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by Merlyn2220

Yeah I've noticed the same thing with filler. When it's 95F here, I have to mix less hardener, and mix-and-apply at the vehicle. Just the time to get from the garage out to the car or "mixing while walking" takes an extra 20 seconds that I just don't have before it starts solidifying. It still works, it just means smaller batches and fast application time!

I've adopted the 'walking' trick as soon as the hardener hits the mixing board and I'm not doing more than about 2-tablespoons of filler at a time.
An interesting aside: doping the bondo with resin results in 'wet' conditions even a day later than application.I'll do another coat of resin and see if it will 'drive' a reaction in the first coat.It was 103F in the shop and it still wouldn't go off entirely.If it doesn't work I'll put a heat lamp on it.

[aerohead]

Gross fabrication of the stinger is complete.It's down to body filler and doping.There's no glass.The top,center section will get a recycled aluminum access panel to help with assembly and handling.If all this can survive the trip up to Ogden it will have accomplished it's mission.(there could be some black-ops missions for it.We'll see)
Boat tail bottom is complete and primer-ready.
I'll start skinning my way 'up' to the top,completing each panel,through glass before re-positioning the tail.It's heavy and isn't good on my back to wrestle it.
Soon I'll need to attach the tail and get it up to the barn (concrete slab) to work out attachment points and clearances for the support pogos.
Also,bring the center stinger section to capture the geometry for the fake,single-wheel/fairing,so I can begin the composite work on that,plus it's attachment scenario.
85-F is the upper limit for body filler,before it goes off on the mixing board before I can place it.
95F is the upper limit for polyester resin,before it just gels in the cup,ruining both resin and brush.
After that I just hose off,and call it quits outside.There is no cooling down now outside although a cool front is on the way.
Inside,I continue to data-mine aero articles,which will help me appraise progress if any once at Darko.
With respect to the data,I've been taking concept car drag data,adding mirrors to the ones which lacked them,and putting wider tires to replace the 'scooter' tires some were measured with,and inflating those Cds by 9.6% to reflect the peculiar numbers Darko generated with respect to Gary's Prius vs A2 and GM Warren,Michigan tunnel.It takes some of the 'luster' off some of these uber-low-drag cars of yesterday.And it's this kind of data that I'll need to assess the numbers Spirit-II generates.As a 'camera' car,Spirit might have measured Cd 0.219 if measured at the A2 wind tunnel or GM in 2014.I would have liked to verify that.
My bother is going to make the trip over from Carson City,Nevada and will be videographer and crew member for Gumby79 and me.Freebeard too if he makes it in.

[freebeard]

I made a 600-mile road trip to shake down the Dasher. There's a rear wheel bearing R&R between here and there.

Maybe we'll have a chance to talk about a geodesic pipe dome made with Cyclone fence top rail (1 1/4" mild steel). That and some white boat wrap and you'd have a walk-in air conditioner.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by freebeard

I made a 600-mile road trip to shake down the Dasher. There's a rear wheel bearing R&R between here and there.

Maybe we'll have a chance to talk about a geodesic pipe dome made with Cyclone fence top rail (1 1/4" mild steel). That and some white boat wrap and you'd have a walk-in air conditioner.

Sounds nice,but budget won't allow a penny,nor a minute for it.Maybe in 2018.

[freebeard]

Soon enough for me.

I touched the wheel bearings (boxes). I'm looking for a good price on cryogenic tempering, since that worked so well on brake parts. OTOH, I might wind up selling both cars to get the Arcimoto SRK.

They confirmed my reservation number. It should come up in the first half of next year.

[aerohead]

Got the two outboard stinger sections painted yesterday.White Rustoleum enamel over #400 wet-sanded primer-sealer,over #220-sanded double-doped BONDO,over doped cardboard,nailed to the cedar skeleton.
I got as far as I could with the center section until I ran out of material.
I think the air's gonna like it.
The boat tail is 75% skinned.It is getting fiberglass to help survive potential hail storms I may encounter on the road.
I can finally 'see' what it's gonna look like.My best effort yet.And I think the air's gonna approve also.
The community barn is 'clear',and this coming week I'll get the rig over there to recon the fake trailer wheel.
The composite work is devouring the calendar.There's only a brief window,temperature-wise for some operations,so I have to juggle things based upon pot-life of mixed chemicals.And I need to get cracking on the wheel/fairing to have a shot at completing for the trip.
Seems like hundreds of things ahead of me.
If it works out,I'll be able to get numbers for:
*EV,uni-body,'camera' pickup with,1-wheel,fully-gap-filled,range-extender trailer.
*EV,uni-body,'camera pickup,with boat-tail and stinger.
These should be the lowest drag configurations.
*then I'll start yanking things and adding mirrors until I run out the clock,trying to get as many configurations in as I can.
I think I've got a shot at some tasty numbers.DARKO will tell.Fun!

[freebeard]

EV,uni-body,'camera' pickup...

What page or permalink to the configuration of the minimum vehicle? TIA.

I'm curious about front wheel skirts and stuff.