2014 WSU FSAE Restomod

Well, the time has come. In the mean time while no info on the other build thread can be posted, work is being done on the older, non-running race car. Road Warrior 8, our 2013-2014 car, has not run in a long, long time. Parts were scavenged for newer cars, other parts simply never worked to begin with, and the newer team members need to get their hands dirty. This presents a great opportunity for them to see a car through to completion and allows them to have a more practical learning period compared to past years. All I know is that soon, we will have another track ready car, and I'm excited.

The first order of business was replacing rotors. Old ones were worn, and when the car was running had a bad habit of breaking, so we switched them out for an older design's spares. Out with the old. . .

When it all came apart, I realized the wheel bearings were in a bad way, so they had to get changed. Uprights came off the a-arms.

Many have fallen.

In with the new rotors, complete with safety wiring.

For those who asked about the hub assemblies, this should give a better idea of how they go together. Stub axle first,

Then Upright (still no bearings)

Finally hub with rotor, and it all gets sandwiched by the wheel and lug nut.

Steering feel/weight was always an issue because of the nylon bushings on the steering column, so the column had to come out.

Bushings got ground/cut/burned out of the supports.

Replacements will be aluminum sleeves with needle bearings pressed in, should help tremendously. Steering used to take nearly triple the effort that the new car takes, because of one undersized bushing. About to go turn the housings now, should be done soon.

Also working on packaging a differential that never belonged in this car. Harder than you would imagine. Requires new differential mounts, old axles may? be able to work. Fitment is funky fresh though, not sure how the sprocket is going to fit next to the left diff mount.

All in all, good progress. I'll keep updating.

Mods, could you change the title of this topic to "2014 WSU FSAE Restomod" please? It would be greatly appreciated.

Man...wish I had gotten involved in FSAE when I was in school...looks like a ton of fun!!!

In reply to whiskey_business:

Updated

In reply to 4cylndrfury:

Its a blast, most teams would probably love for a fabricator such as yourself to donate time and knowledge to their efforts.

In reply to EastCoastMojo:

Thanks Mojo.

Update took way too long, been so busy with schoolwork and the new car's design I've hardly been able to touch this one in weeks. But a lot has happened.

The steering bushings we burned out were replaced with turned brass ones, pressed into the collar on the frame. Lets not talk about it not going all the way in. . . Stripped out an M12 Grade 8.8 bolt trying to press it in.

Ground it down to be flush with the collar and reinstalled steering column and wheel.

Other than the leaky o-rings in the shocks, that pretty much rounded out the chassis side of the car. It was almost 4 in the morning on a week night when we got it on the ground, but needless to say we were all pretty stoked. Not in the photo because someone had to take the picture, right?

We finally located an engine for her. 2008 CBR600RR engine, fairly high miles but it will work for what we need it for. Completely stock at the time being.

Pulled the stock oil pan, replaced with fabricated sheet metal low-profile pan. Required some modification of oil pickup and crossover, nothing too crazy. We mounted the thing in the car, for some reason the frame was not designed for the engine to fit into place easily. Firewall had to be removed, took 5 people two hours to do.

This is the original differential mount. The spacing is for a TRE MKII differential. We do not have a TRE MKII differential. But we have several MKI diffs. So, we're gonna make it work. In the mean time, the engine's gotta stay cool. Radiator cleaned and reinstalled, fan wired up to connectors, and hoses cut and mocked up. It will eventually go together with clamps, still missing one tee fitting.

Looks like a mess. Might need to tidy up routing somewhat. These cars are always function over form.

Side note, Ford brought this bad boy by our school last week, got to ogle what real engineers do with large budgets. Pretty neat car.

That's it for now.

Hey, the #68 GT was at Georgia Tech a few weeks ago!

In reply to mck1117:

Did you get to see it? It's quite a fantastic machine. A surprising amount of jankiness for such an expensive car, but still quite amazing.

'Real' engineering doesn't change that much from what you're doing in FSAE (former FSAE member and current 'real' engineer).

Race cars are always on the janky side. You don't waste time fancying up stuff that doesn't need to be fancy. One of the Porsche le mans cars at the Porsche headquarters in Atlanta just has some factory headlight zip tied into the buckets as it's own headlights.

In reply to BA5:

Interesting, I was surprised to see a multi-billion dollar development led to front dampers that were inches from the clutch pedal, and airjack cylinders sharing the space where your calf should be.

Best engineering advice ever?

If it works, don't mess with it.

In reply to BA5:

I somewhat agree? I think that works in the short term, leads to stagnation and mediocrity later on. My approach is to develop both the tried and true and the experimental in tandem, so that you do not forget past successes but build off them.

Got some things done last night. Progress goes slowly when every piece has to be redesigned, and milled from billet. Anyhow, I figured out the janky CNC mill in the shop, and was able to crank this out.

So far so good, one down.

I tried to look back at the thread, but couldnt figure it out. What are we looking at?