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Getting parts together |
Building the Chassis |
Installing the Drivetrain |
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Electronics |
Armor |
Weapon |
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Step one, Lay in a proper supply of Builder Fuel. |
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After smoking all those EV's, it became pretty obvious that they were totally inadequate for the job. Fortunately, at this time the S-28 MagMotor became available. With 4.5 times the horsepower, and the same RPM, it was a perfect near-drop in solution to both my drivetrain and spinup woes. At $1200 for the three of them, they made up the bulk of my improvement budget. |
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One nice thing about Strike Terror's design is that the Electronics were easy to remove with virtually no connections needing to be removed - other than a couple of the PWM lines. Later on it went back in just as easily. |
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First thing to do was remove the old fork. It was a total loss. As it was welded together, I had to take a cutting torch to it in two places to remove it and recover the bearings. |
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Likewise, I needed to torch off the old pods. My cutting torch technique needs a little work. Okay, a lot of work. |
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It still amazes me what a deformed mess it is. Note I had to cut the motor mount in half. |
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Then it's time to get out Mr. Grinder and clean up the cut edges to make it nice for a new pod. This was going on for both sides, by the way, and it was a heck of a lot of grinding. I saved a little time by starting off with a cut-off wheel. |
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Important Safety Tip, just like those little Dremel wheels, big cut-off wheels can break and fly apart too. Wear a face shield, not just glasses when using them! |
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I ain't kidding. Here's the rest of the wheel embedded in the ceiling of the Garage, where it remains as a safety reminder. |
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One part of the plan was to increase the distance between the front and rear bearings. That meant saying goodbye to the back half of the column. Although I needed to save the portion the lid locked into. |
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I did need to recover the bearing support ring from the rear column though. No need to throw it out. |
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That big dent on the right rear had to be pounded out. But a mere sledgehammer wouldn't do it. I had to get out the torch and heat it up bright red and pound it out against an anvil. It's not perfect, but it clears. Messed up the handle of the sledgehammer hitting that rear lip. |
Jumping ahead to the 28th and 29th, (The motor mounts were happening then, but this makes a better sequence)
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We tried cleaning up the chassis the old fashioned way. With a wire brush in the grinder where it would reach, and with a wire brush in the Dremel where it wouldn't. Cara (Pteryxx) graciously slaved away in darkness and obscurity in what was eventually deemed a fruitless effort. |
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The next day, it was time to break out the acid. Now you can see why I'm such a believer in it. You can also see the beginnings of a truly heinous sunburn. Feel free to say Wow! |
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The IMPORTANT thing when using muriatic acid to clean off rust is that you MUST neutralize it. Merely rinsing it won't cut it. After a dose of acid, the metal would be ready to rust instantly. You have to move fast with a strong baking soda solution, and it helps to mechanically remove the acid as well with a paper towel or sponge soaked with the solution. Because of runoff, we had to do this twice, the second time when we figured out how to control were it all flowed. Cara was a really big help in this task. Still, it looks MUCH better. Wish I could say the same for myself. God what a gut! |
