FireHead Posted March 2, 2007 Report Share Posted March 2, 2007 Going through some decisions. Im 99% sure im gonna join mini baja. They have a tubing bender and contacts with a CNC bender, so then I woulndt not need to use plate and would have wasted some hours. Not really wasted, just not used. I finally got around to taking the required tests to use one of the school's machine shops. That place sucks. I couldnt hold .010 at all. I can hold .002 at work all day, so its not me. But should be fine for boring some tube to press in a bushing. I did for a brief instant think of running 2 sealed ball bearings at the pivot locations. That would be smooth. Or use unsealed bearings with something similar to the factory dustcaps, but waaaaay tighter fit. Then run an oil bath actually in the pivot tube. WHo knows what Im gonna do. More importantly here comes spring break! My work doesn't hire an engineer or a green shop guy unless they have participated in Mini Baja or FSAE. :thumbsup: I would just use spherical bearings or heim joints at the pivots. :shrug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racer Posted March 2, 2007 Report Share Posted March 2, 2007 My work doesn't hire an engineer or a green shop guy unless they have participated in Mini Baja or FSAE. :thumbsup: I would just use spherical bearings or heim joints at the pivots. :shrug: Thats more than likely what I will do, the other though was a brief passing instant. Thats good to hear about the baja team, but what is FSAE? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireHead Posted March 3, 2007 Report Share Posted March 3, 2007 Thats more than likely what I will do, the other though was a brief passing instant. Thats good to hear about the baja team, but what is FSAE? http://students.sae.org/competitions/formulaseries/ FSAE = Formula SAE If y'all get on the Baja team and I can be of any service to your team, let me know. I help out my the team from the school I got my BS from quite a bit. Several of the guys I work with like lending a hand with that stuff as well. Quite a few of the folks at my work including myself participate as judges at the competitions and speak at some of the SAE motorsport conferences. Like I said before, it's great opportunity to learn the practical and hands on side of engineering. Based on that my company won't even talk to a job applicant unless they have been involves in Mini Baja or FSAE. When it comes time you to graduate, give me a shout and let me know what sort of job you are looking for. From talking to you on here, I have a pretty good feeling about you, and i am pretty sure I could place you somewhere in my industry. :thumbsup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racer Posted March 3, 2007 Report Share Posted March 3, 2007 http://students.sae.org/competitions/formulaseries/FSAE = Formula SAE If y'all get on the Baja team and I can be of any service to your team, let me know. I help out my the team from the school I got my BS from quite a bit. Several of the guys I work with like lending a hand with that stuff as well. Quite a few of the folks at my work including myself participate as judges at the competitions and speak at some of the SAE motorsport conferences. Like I said before, it's great opportunity to learn the practical and hands on side of engineering. Based on that my company won't even talk to a job applicant unless they have been involves in Mini Baja or FSAE. When it comes time you to graduate, give me a shout and let me know what sort of job you are looking for. From talking to you on here, I have a pretty good feeling about you, and i am pretty sure I could place you somewhere in my industry. :thumbsup: Ahhh, the formula car parked in the next bay over, haha. I have talked to both teams. I have more interest in mini baja, but if I got to do more work on the car I'd go there just as fast. IT doesnt really matter to me, just a great way to build a resume. The car is an interesting piece of machinery for sure, the baja resembles a Pilot somewhat, so who knows what I'll do. Thank you for the kind words, they are greatly appreciated. Graduation time, ahhh. In 2 years I'm hoping to be at that point, I got lost you could say last spring and slipped from the 4 year tracks, and onto the 5 year plan. Just gotta hammer down now and finish out. I do like the prospects of automotive. Probably a lil more interesting that oil industry path I was looking into....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireHead Posted March 3, 2007 Report Share Posted March 3, 2007 Ahhh, the formula car parked in the next bay over, haha. I have talked to both teams. I have more interest in mini baja, but if I got to do more work on the car I'd go there just as fast. IT doesnt really matter to me, just a great way to build a resume. The car is an interesting piece of machinery for sure, the baja resembles a Pilot somewhat, so who knows what I'll do. Thank you for the kind words, they are greatly appreciated. Graduation time, ahhh. In 2 years I'm hoping to be at that point, I got lost you could say last spring and slipped from the 4 year tracks, and onto the 5 year plan. Just gotta hammer down now and finish out. I do like the prospects of automotive. Probably a lil more interesting that oil industry path I was looking into....... The important thing about the SAE Student Competions is to do as much work as you can and docuement it as much as possible. Even if the work has a crappy result it is still a good thing to have in a portfolio. Make sure you take time to take alof of pictures as well. :thumbsup: If you are interested in an out of state (or country)internship in the near future, I might be able to hook something up as well. I was on the 5 year plan for my BS degree as well. It didn't help that I was working as a program assistant, running the vehicle lab, either, but that did help may for my MS degree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racer Posted March 3, 2007 Report Share Posted March 3, 2007 Here is the website to OSU's mini baja team. Pretty good lookin car if you ask me. http://baja.okstate.edu/ So thats something I need to get on this week I suppose. An out of state summer internship would be a lot of fun. But since Id have to pay my way its a little unfeasible right now. Care to indulge me in what you had in mind? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireHead Posted March 3, 2007 Report Share Posted March 3, 2007 Here is the website to OSU's mini baja team. Pretty good lookin car if you ask me. http://baja.okstate.edu/ So thats something I need to get on this week I suppose. An out of state summer internship would be a lot of fun. But since Id have to pay my way its a little unfeasible right now. Care to indulge me in what you had in mind? There are several internships available at my current place of employment (granted i might not be there by the summer time) as well as in Germany and Japan. I also know some folks in some other organizations in North Carolina and California that are looking for some summer interns. I think many of these internships are paid, or stleast they cover housing and transportation. :thumbsup: In regards to the OSU baja car on the website: What does it weigh? Why were those particular wheels chosen? Do you know where the CG of the car is? Do you know how well it did in the rock crawl at Washougal? I have actually seen a few of OSU's past cars in person. How many of the folks in the team picture are still on the team? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racer Posted March 4, 2007 Report Share Posted March 4, 2007 In regards to the OSU baja car on the website: What does it weigh? Why were those particular wheels chosen? Do you know where the CG of the car is? Do you know how well it did in the rock crawl at Washougal? I have actually seen a few of OSU's past cars in person. How many of the folks in the team picture are still on the team? I have answers to none of those questions. Like I said I just started looking into the otherday, last monday actually. I met two of the members in the machine lab, as one is an instructor there. From the speaking with those two I doubt they know the CG, nothing a model couldnt solve right? THe wheels were probably a donation from one o the sponsor's I'm not sure what events they have entered in the past, I do know that the next one will be in Florida later this month I believe. They were prepping the car for that race when I saw it Monday. Youve got me all excited over this thing now. Some of the things they have on their look a little amateur to me, IE the shitty welds. So hopefully I can go in there and clean some things up. Although since I'm dealing with another bunch of engineers I'm they have thought of everything and are just lacking in time to TIG everything pay extreme attention to detail. Im at home right now, when I get back to school Ill email to follow up on the other topic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireHead Posted March 4, 2007 Report Share Posted March 4, 2007 I have answers to none of those questions. Like I said I just started looking into the otherday, last monday actually. I met two of the members in the machine lab, as one is an instructor there. From the speaking with those two I doubt they know the CG, nothing a model couldnt solve right? THe wheels were probably a donation from one o the sponsor's I'm not sure what events they have entered in the past, I do know that the next one will be in Florida later this month I believe. They were prepping the car for that race when I saw it Monday. Youve got me all excited over this thing now. Some of the things they have on their look a little amateur to me, IE the shitty welds. So hopefully I can go in there and clean some things up. Although since I'm dealing with another bunch of engineers I'm they have thought of everything and are just lacking in time to TIG everything pay extreme attention to detail. Im at home right now, when I get back to school Ill email to follow up on the other topic. I forgot that you said you were just starting on the team. I get sort of excited over the SAE student competitions for some reason. You're right a good assembly model of the car should be able to tell you where the CG is. I saw that car at Washougal (I was a judge) and they have pictures of the rock crawl course at Washougal on their website. I never participated in any of the Mini Baja East competitions as you have to make the car maneuver in on the water. It was a little too Monster Garage like for me. I wouldn't assume that the other guys on the team have thought of everything. Just be prepared to deal with some hacks with big egos. All of the SAE teams that I have met have them (I was one of them). They seem to be a bit more prevalent with the FSAE kids. Generally the teams lack skilled folks in the areas of welding, fabrication, machining, and composites. CAD jockey are a dime a dozen, but finding one that understands how parts are actually made and tolerances that need to be followed is rare. The biggest key to succes is getting the car done early and testing it. You have to finish every competition at the event you go to inorder to place well. You can do shitty on all the competions at the event and still place well. I would estimate that at the end of the race weekend there will be less than 20 cars still functioning out of over 100 entrants. Also, the static events (presentations) are just as important as any of the dynamic events. Like I said, if you need to bounce ideas off of some one or just need advice or ideas give me a shout. I competed in the west and midwest races on several occaisions and towards the end of reign as team captain we actually place very highly and won several parts of the events. What does the car use for gear reduction and a transmission? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racer Posted March 4, 2007 Report Share Posted March 4, 2007 What does the car use for gear reduction and a transmission? Its a neat looking rearend unit from dana spicer. It has a centrifugal clutch linking it to the motor, and then F-N-R in the box. From the box to the wheels are small CV's with some custom shafts. Its a pretty neat setup, but im a lil puzzled by the design of the rear arms, they dont really make sense to me. They say they have aired it out pretty well, and it has Elka piggy's al the way around so I guess it has the parts to accomodate flight. Ya, in the Florida competition they said that a portion of the course was submerged, and planned to float the car with an amount of styrofoam. That doesnt sound like too good of an idea to me, but whatever. Seems a little fragile though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireHead Posted March 5, 2007 Report Share Posted March 5, 2007 Its a neat looking rearend unit from dana spicer. It has a centrifugal clutch linking it to the motor, and then F-N-R in the box. From the box to the wheels are small CV's with some custom shafts. Its a pretty neat setup, but im a lil puzzled by the design of the rear arms, they dont really make sense to me. They say they have aired it out pretty well, and it has Elka piggy's al the way around so I guess it has the parts to accomodate flight. Ya, in the Florida competition they said that a portion of the course was submerged, and planned to float the car with an amount of styrofoam. That doesnt sound like too good of an idea to me, but whatever. Seems a little fragile though. The teams that do well in the East competition tend not to do well at any other competition. Floating the car and propelling it in the water is a required portion of the East copetition. If the car doesn't give the tech inspectors a good feeling about how well it will perform in the water they will DQ the car. The best teams in the East race use air chambers to float and have spent alot of time making sure the bottom of the car is hydrodynamically sound. Some even have a suspension system that allows them to pull the wheels above the water line. The top speed of the best cars on the water is typically 5-7mph. Engine overheating is a problem for some teams during that part of the competition as well. :thumbsup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racer Posted March 5, 2007 Report Share Posted March 5, 2007 I can see where those cars would not to well in the other arenas. I dont really see why the team is going all the way to Florida to compete anyways. Are there national point standings teams must keep up? This car didnt have any trick features to excel in water-borne racing, so I dont see it doing very well. The first meeting I'll be attending is tomorrow night. We'll see how it goes. Hopefully Ill just get a well rounded job on the team, that would be a great way to build a portfolio like the one you mentioned. Im sure though Ill get menial jobs until they have faith in my competence with the TIG torch or mill/lathe. I sent you an email BTW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireHead Posted March 7, 2007 Report Share Posted March 7, 2007 I can see where those cars would not to well in the other arenas. I dont really see why the team is going all the way to Florida to compete anyways. Are there national point standings teams must keep up? This car didnt have any trick features to excel in water-borne racing, so I dont see it doing very well. The first meeting I'll be attending is tomorrow night. We'll see how it goes. Hopefully Ill just get a well rounded job on the team, that would be a great way to build a portfolio like the one you mentioned. Im sure though Ill get menial jobs until they have faith in my competence with the TIG torch or mill/lathe. I sent you an email BTW. The competitions are run separately from each other. There is not a cumulative points competition that accounts for your finish from all the events. Most schools cannot afford to go to all of the events. However there are several forums that cater to this race series and people on there unofficially keep track of teams rankings across all of the events. I think that you have the right idea about how to go about proving your worth to your Baja team. Just start picking up any jobs that you can on the car. You can score extra points with the team if you tackle work that they have been putting off or have had trouble with. You ought also make an effort to work with others on the team so that you can learn what they are doing even if you don't have to do any work to help them. Like I said before, the water portion of the competion is why I never took my team to that race. The cars that compete in that race generally only compete in that race as there cars would perform terribly atthe West or Midwest races. The funny thing about the East event is that many cars will show up in a state of preparedness like your teams for the water competitions. They usually have a few cars sink in the endurance race or water crossing race every year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squish Posted March 8, 2007 Report Share Posted March 8, 2007 call shane-good guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireHead Posted March 9, 2007 Report Share Posted March 9, 2007 I saw this and thought of this thread. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/YAMAHA-YFZ4...sspagenameZWDVW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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