Cedarville Jackets Racing

Skidpad Testing = Engine Failure.

May 6, 2010

Sponsors day was a great time (minus the rain) but even that turned out to be pretty sweet because it was a great day to test out the electronics. Nate Roy and Chris Byus from 2008 and Dave Bartlett from 2006 showed up to checkout our work and give us some feedback.

Tuesday we went to the freshman lot to do some skidpad practice and break the car. It seems somewhat counter intuitive to have a goal to break the car but better here at the shop the in the endurance race. It ended up that we damaged a rod in the engine so rather than trying to trouble shoot and repair we spent last night just replacing it with an older one.

- Wes

Painting the nose

Adding clear coat

Test driving on sposors day in the rain

Dustin driving

Ryan waiting to start the skidpad

Kimberly without her engine

Driving!

April 24, 2010

We were able to go out to Massy Park to run Kimberly for her first test drive! We have some engine issues at lower RPMs, and a few electrical issues with our battery. All in all we were able to drive for an hour without any significant mechanical issues.

- Wes

Jon ready in case the car catches on fire

Biehl driving at Massy Park

Where the rubber meets the road.

April 21, 2010

Things we've been doing: frying ECUs, grommeting metal around the seat and firewall, making a chain guard, finishing the gear indicator, attaching the brake light, making the body faring, attaching the impact attenuator, writing up our business presentation...

All that to say, its the little things that are killing us right now. The team is burning out from working so hard for so long and it seems like this car is never going to be complete. We need a good swift kick in the pants to finish this car and start driving!

- Wes

Female mold being sanded outside

Wes spraying DuraTec into Female for better surface

After finishing the DuraTec

Wet sanding up to 1000 grit

Now for the waxing process. Karate Kid anyone?

Firewall and grommet material

Ben with his new and improved top hats

Nearing the End

April 15, 2010

Recent update on the team: final senior design presentations were given on Monday, car is nearing competition ready, the female mold for the body is being sanded, and we are still having some trouble with the electronics.

We also want everyone to know that we are holding a Sponsor/Alumni Event on May 2nd from 4-7pm. We would like to show our appreciation for hte funding and services that our sponsors have provided, and the wealth of knowledge tha we have recieved from the alumni of our program. This is an opportunity to see the product of your generosity and our hard work! Dinner will be provided and the event will take place at Massie Park in Cedarville. If want to attend please contact Andrew Biehl at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

- Wes Muntz

Fitting the seat belt.

Male mold after sanding and before spraying with DuraTec.

Wes spraying the DuraTec.

Putting on the fiberglass for the female mold.

After the first two layers of glass.

Biehl practicing driving.

The new solar boat for the Frisian Solar Challenge.

Steve Fox. Body Work. Cost Report.

March 23, 2010

Steve Fox (Michigan competition chief design judge) came to Cedarville on March 13th to give a presentation on learning from the past. It was a great time for our team to get feedback on our design and change some things before it was too late. The team enjoyed showing off all of our hard work and learned a lot.

Body work is a labor of love. For anyone that has never made body panels before be prepared for a lot of sanding. Currently I'm in the process of making the male mold for the body and sidepod. We started out with a SolidWorks 3-D drawing of the car, then I took that and made cross section drawings of the car every 4.5 inches and cut out stations using MDF board. Once the stations were in place we covered it in foam insulation to connect the stations together. Last night I started filling the cracks and covering the foam in drywall paste. Today has been lots of sanding and more filling with drywall paste. We are still a long way from a completed painted body panel but I'm just going to keep sanding.

As part of our competition we are required to make up a cost report of every single thing that is on our car. This is an insanely tedious task but it must be done. The real problem is that is taking away time from putting our car together. It is also turning out that something that are saving us money like making a carbon fiber intake instead of a rapid prototype is actually costing a lot more in our report. This is because the report is costed out over 1,000 cars instead of just 1 and for us the labor is free.

- Wes

Steve Fox

Wooden stations

Dustin adding foam

Scott excited about the expandable foam and the complete mess we made

After I fixed the foam mess and it was all covered

After the first layer of drywall paste was applied

Still rough paste application

After I sanded off the rough edges

Painting Update.

March 17, 2010

Last week Dustin and I were able to get all of our painting done for the frame and the A-Arms. It took a lot of time to strip the frame and clean it but the car looks really good now. As a side note, personally if I were to do it again I would not paint the frame and A-Arms this early. It seems as soon as it was painted something needed to be moved, changed and re-welded or someone else scratched the paint off while putting the seat in or attaching a brake line. This means I'll eventually have to repaint the car or at least do a lot of touch up which could all have been avoided by waiting a few weeks. As a side note, something I learned while painting the frame is that you need to do it from the inside out. This will save you a lot of frustration and balancing acts.

-Wes

Painting the A-Arms

A-Arms hanging out to dry

Starting to paint the frame after finishing the primer on the frame

Painting the frame

Nearing completion

Inside the frame

Brian and Scott working on putting the car back together

Paint!

March 8, 2010

Performance Paint and Supply just sent me home with everything we needed to paint our frame, A-Arms, and body all FREE OF CHARGE! A huge thank you goes out to the guys out there and all the help they give us.

- Wes

All of the paint supplied by Performance Paint

The 2010 Jackets Racing Car Color

Running Car? Check.

March 8, 2010

This week has been a whirlwind for our team. We went from having a half welded frame on Friday afternoon (February 26th) to having a running car on Thursday (March 4th). To call it a miracle would not do our team justice. It took blood from Dustin, Andrew, Nick and a few other team members. It took sleep, from pretty much everyone. Finally it took the dedication and faith from our entire team to put Kimberly together. Even though we did miss our deadline by a few days it is the earliest a Cedarville team has ever had a running car and that is something we are all proud of. Now that it is all put together we are in the process of tearing it apart so we can have the frame painted and the car reassembled and driving by this coming Saturday. What is the rush you ask? Well, the longer we wait the less time we have to drive and test our car and as a special bonus Chief Design Judge of the FSAE Michigan competition will be coming here on Saturday.

- Wes

Pressing bearings into the front upright

Front uprights fully assembled for the first time

Scott's engines on the stretcher

Matt K. working on the front suspension

Andrew adjusting the rear A-Arms

The Engine team working on wiring

Almost rolling chassis

Ben working on the pedal assembly

Dustin and Jon heat treated our tulips

Wiring being put in the car

Andrew posing for his vanity picture

Setting up the car on the dynamometer

Car running for the first time on the chassis dyno!

5:43 A.M.

March 1, 2010

It's 5:43 A.M. and 12 people on the Formula team are still in the shop trying to get the car running under it's own power by midnight. It's been a long night and it is going to be a rough day. Check the twitter for more frequent updates until tomorrow.

- Wes

1 more day.

February 28, 2010

It's crunch time. Or rather it's been crunch time for the last few weeks but this weekend is insanely critical to Kimberly (the car) and our team. Back when we were wide eyed and naive about what we were all getting into when signed up for the Formula team we made a vow that we would our car running under its own power by March 1st. Fast forward through the school until now. We have one day left until March 1st and things are looking good. There is still a lot to do but it is totally within the realm of possibility. If (or when) we succeed in our task it will be by far the earliest Cedarville University has ever had a running car! This will in turn allow us to drive the car more and solve any problems that arise early on.

- Wes

Dustin's Differential Mounts

So shiny you can see yourself

The beginning of the body