Project Lightning

[Cris B]

Not updated here for a while. At some point over the Christmas holidays a child sat on the bonnet and snapped off one of the light mounts, which was the kind of product testing the cars has needed. The broken bits sat on my desk until today when the old mount was drilled off and some alloy replacements made up.

After that it was time to get outside for a test run as the weather was great in Manchester today. I've still not bothered to hook up any electric power. For now it's grins all round just being pushed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42ngej1JIeU

 

[Dev]

Could you post some pics of how the 'motor' works? Is there a pedal cable or what?

 

[andy m]

Looks like you need to build another...

 

[Spot the welders dog]

I wish you were my dad....

Couldn't resist

 

[the snooper]

bet they cant wait to get the battery power going

 

[RBDIVE]

Realy like the look of this cart Cris B, well done mate

 

[Spot the welders dog]

**Exclusive**

Top Gear producer gets it in the neck from Hamster Jr after he and May jr return from filming the Manchester special edition driving the new 3000bhp Au.Ikea.di

 

[pidgeon chit welder]

I'll bet he didn't do toe in /out on turns or caster and camber angles either to obtain a better rolling motion .

 

[rustyoldford]

Think the driver specified 3.5 degrees castor 1.5 mm negative camber and an ackerman of 79% lol

 

[Julian_P]

and an ackerman of 79% lol

You don't need Ackerman, when the lad's drifting it around a corner with opposite lock on you want both front wheels pointing in the same direction!

Julian

 

[Cris B]

Ha ha ha

Some amusing additions to this thread since I last checked it.

Had this out again on Saturday. Marc has developed driving skills now, so I may need to revisit the project and give him a motor and power so he can let rip! My current thinking is possibly a chain drive off the drill with a tensioner to give some options for gearing. I have some steering adjustments in mind too.

On Sunday we found this at the Footman James Classic Car Show in Manchester it puts my effort into context

It really made his day.

 

[DrNik]

And a big dent in someone's pocket

 

[Cris B]

Car was in storage or unaccessible for the best part of over 12 months, since then it's been reassembled and used a few times. The two lads still love it. Last weekend I stripped it down and gave it a shot of satin black which it has needed since it was built, but other priorities just got in the way.

As I was painting it up I kind of paused over whether or not to zap the rear mudguards. I don't really like them, but then I don't really like the whole rear track being narrower than the front. It's like that because of the original design powered by an electric drill running against one of the rear tyres.

So after some contemplation and exploration of options again, I pulled the trigger on these:

I am liking the change from this:

To this

Camera angle distorts it a bit, but the track is roughly equal in this mockup, I am waiting for a few more bits to get both front and rear axles operational.

 

[Cris B]

Oh and I will be doing the Ackermann angle properly this time.

 

[Kent]

This is so cool I am thinking of speaking to the Mrs about the possibility of another baby Chance is about as high as hell freezing over though The look on your kids face is just wicked in the above post

 

[Cris B]

So bought a second hand powered golf trolley and stripped it for bits: battery, high torque motor and gearbox. Eventually I might wire in a potentiometer so a foot pedal can be used, but this isn't going to be a speed wagon so for now a simple on/off toggle switch will do:

I will need to work out a way to drive the live rear axle from this, current thinking is sprockets and chain drive. First things first need to get the chassis rolling on the new wheels.

So bought some bits off the 'Bay.

When I received the rear hubs, they weren't a matched pair and the nuts were rusted stuck on the threaded studs. Oh and they were filthy. Then the stub axles turned up, also filthy, with six washers only two of which match, four f***ed bearings which won't press out even on my mammoth record vice and they're bent... Not too impressed with some eBay sellers so far. Still the rear axle bearings are mint and I bought tube for the axle direct from a steel supplier for 10% of what a go kart one costs...

Anyway, these should give some camber I'm not sure this chassis will flex enough to allow that much camber to work so I'll find a way to dial that out when I build the new front subframe. Bent bits not really a problem, but may try and straighten them out.

New bearings ready to fit:

Modded the chassis to fit the rear axle. The tapered body shape makes mounting the bearings a challenge. If the pillow block carriers were cheaper they might have been a better option mounted to the floor, as it happens the kart bearings I picked up were cheaper and have super smooth bearings.

Have a semi rolling chassis now, but based on the original wooden front subframe the steering arms don't clear the chassis so when I make the new steel chassis I'll address that. The steering column is going to get re-worked too. Haven't checked the Ackermann angles yet, but I'll consider the whole geometry thing when I do the front subframe.

Because I moved the rear axle forward about 3 inches over the original design, the motor and gearbox will sit out back 911 style Rough mock up to check it all fits, I'll need to cut the floor to take the gearbox and mount the whole setup securely. Battery will either go in the nose cone or under the seat. Not decided yet.

 

[Rrunnach]

Quality project and end product.

 

[Cris B]

So after having no luck with my bench vise I took the stub axles down to the local garage to get some tonnage behind trying to shift them. No joy either, but some battle scars from trying. Glad I did this rather than buy a hydraulic press...

So back home and time to get busy with the Dremel and some Tungsten Carbide bits... This generated some destruction.

Bearing removal revealed the reason the bearings won't press out...

Still after cutting out one bearing at the least the other side could be tapped out from the back. New ones in:

 

[Cris B]

So having picked up some more argon mix last weekend, I needed to make some C-shaped brackets for the ends of the front sub frame to support the kingpins and mount the stub axles. I pass a scrap bin daily on the walk to work and did a bit of a skip raid one evening. This secured an 18" length of this channel, which is just the right size (I can even fit a couple of washers in too.

I didn't have much time to knock this up and it's the first welding I've done in 18 months. If I did it again it'd be better, but it works. I added in two legs to reduce rotational twisting which it does need so I will drill the floor and bolt these in too.

The dog leg on the steering column needs re-doing. With proper geometry (yes I did get the Ackermann angle right) the steering rods weren't working in terms of wheel alignment when turning in with the original two bolt configuration, but was spot on once running both off a single bolt. I should probably get some more threaded rod too as I've cut these ones down a bit too much, there's not much thread in the rose jointed rod ends.

Road tests followed:

Still running a bit on camber. Needs more weight over the front wheels so I will definitely mount the battery up front and may extend the nose cone in future too.

Boys love it and yes the inevitable car vs tractor head on did happen, but no casualties. Next step battery power and a rear sub frame.