[toddshotrods]

Since the Team is rapidly knocking items off the to-do list, I figured I'd better get serious about finishing the plan for a basic set up for the front and rear suspensions. I did the easy part with the lower control arms, so we could fabricate and install those brackets. The real challenge is just making basic decisions to finish the design for the upper mounts.

Caveat: Schism is NOT a race car, it's a toy and this isn't a serious discussion about suspension theory or performance. The number one goal with this car is it's fun to drive and play with - period.

Schism's front suspension uses modified 4th gen Honda Accord parts mixed with custom designed and fabricated parts, and roughly based on Mustang II (MII) geometry. I chose MII as a base to work off because it fit the physical constraints of the car, and because it is the street rod standard. Most street rod owners with modern MII front suspension rant and rave about how much fun/how enjoyable their vehicles are to drive. More hardcore handling performance enthusiasts and racers - not so much - but again, that isn't the true intent of this car.

The modifications to the Accord parts were to cut the knuckles down, and drill and tap them for a rod end in place of the upper balljoint; replace the upper balljoint in the front upper control arms with a bushed tube for the rod end (also extending it to match the MII upper arm length); and replace the lower control arm strut rods with rod-ended, tubular, A-arm "halves". The result is MII-ish geometry, with drive hubs for the electric motor to pull through.

So far, I have an approximate 49.75" front track (about six inches narrower than the typical MII setup); 1.05" (static) front roll center height; geometry that should provide a decent amount of negative camber gain (I only have a static RC calculator - gotta get some good software to finish/tune), as well as a bit of "designed-in" static negative camber. It's nothing revolutionary, nothing to write home about, but on a 102" (wb) car that weighs about 1500lbs, with gobs of power - it should be "entertaining".

I am about to start modeling the front upper control arm mounts and posted this to see if any of the regulars had any comments or suggestions - in keeping with the aforementioned caveat? There is also a ton of adjustment available in my design, so I'm not locked into the initial setting, but would like to be in the ballpark of fun and enjoyable...

[toddshotrods]

That software I was using was kind of goofy to plot the locations in (everything was from the left track line, instead of from center), and I started to question the results when I plugged in some sample specs from one of the leading suspension design software products. The numbers didn't match and, given the choice of which I would believe, I chose the known commodity. So, I started searching for something better and found this. It matches the specs from Performance Trends for a C5 Corvette pretty closely, so I will use it instead; until I bite the bullet and buy one. It's actually a bit more conservative, if anything. It also has a (preset) dive/roll feature where it will let you see what happens over in a corner ("Dive and Roll: RF Shock 3.25 LF Shock 2.5 Travel").

My current front design has a 1.88" static roll center height (not 1.05). For what it's worth, I actually have less vertical roll center migration than the stock Vette geometry. I'm not saying my geometry is better than a Vette's, just that I think I am in the ballpark. I'm also planning to have less travel - about 2" of compression, max, so it will be easier to manage. So far, the rear, has a 3.42" static roll center height. I need to verify the numbers I'm using for the rear suspension though. I need to pull a knuckle and upper control arm off and check the measurement I have for the upper ball joint height and width. I know I am pretty close though, and have enough flexibility to correct it.

[toddshotrods]

I love this thing! The motor mount plates are coming along. A little more clean up, and a little fine-tuning on the fit, and these will be ready to tack together. Then, we start hammering that saddle, and twisting and curling the ends - I cannot wait to do that! The longitudinal cross brace needs more profile work, but we're waiting for the saddle to do that - it will be much easier to fine tune it to fit the saddle than re-hammer the saddle to fit it.

[toddshotrods]

Woody, this guy makes lightweight OCD chumps like us look like major slackers. Check out part two, too - the final product is amazing.

[Woodsmith]

That's a fantastic video. The end result is incredible, especially the tiger's stripes.


I shall be expecting stripy inclusions in your work now, Todd.

[toddshotrods]

Originally Posted by Woodsmith

That's a fantastic video. The end result is incredible, especially the tiger's stripes.


I shall be expecting stripy inclusions in your work now, Todd.

Haha! The Team Inhaler members already think I'm crazy, that would put the final nail in my coffin! It's sure to encourage me to do something crazy though.



We have a ton of hammerforming to do now, to transform all the cutting and grinding we've been doing into early 20th century style parts. I'm sure the other tenants in the complex love us - if we're not grinding and cutting we're pinging hammers off steel all day!

[toddshotrods]

Another busy day in the shop. Two of the interns worked on hammering out more steel parts - the front crossmember front plate, and the rear crossmember brace filler pieces. I will have pics of those later in the week. I did the lay-up of two seat shells, and started cutting some more foam plugs, and Kez started on the roll cage door bars.

Using the cheap Jeg's plastic seats as a basic form, we're going to create a very unique pair of composite bomber seats. With a PVA barrier, and a little heat from the sun, the different COE rates for the plastic and fiberglass basically split them apart as they cured. The only thing I forgot was to cut the excess off the back of the seat belt openings, with a razor blade before it fully cured, so they're still stuck on the seats until I remove that.


Kez working it out on the roll cage. I can't wait to see the cage on this car. It's going to be very unique, without worrying about following NHRA rules so much. I am using them as a basic guideline, but not worrying about meeting their specs.




This is my latest over-the-top great idea! We're going to attempt to build a carbon fiber/aluminum intake manifold that will hold up to 30lbs of boost, tons of vibration, (hopefully no serious backfires), etc. This isn't a completely accurate model of what the intake will look like, but it's close. It's really a model to develop the foam core for the carbon fiber plenum. The aluminum base will weld to cropped runners of the old Accord intake. The carbon fiber will actually come out to the edge of that base when it's laid-up over the foam, and there will be a lip on the aluminum to help it resist pulling (blowing) apart. The other end will support a modified throttle body flange, again with a lip. A lot of finish work on the foam core will be done by hand.

Yes, I know about galvanic reaction between the carbon fiber and aluminum - it will be accounted for!

As mentioned, I started to cut the core slices. With a .020 stepover rate, and .500" ball-end mill, the final surface of the foam is very nice (close-ups later).

[toddshotrods]

My crazy Team doesn't care that it's going to be ~100-degrees here today, with typical Ohio humidity - they're coming in to work on the hot rods! We have no A/C in the shop, just some little fans (need to get one of those big shop fans, at least). So, I'm on the way to the shop in a bit, and decided to add a bit of radius to the edges of the recess for the emblem on the plenum. I was going to do this all by hand but decided to get a little help from the machine.

It will still require a lot of hand finishing and blending, but this gets the ball rolling with perfect symmetry.

I think today I am going to get the guys started on the shifter. In contrast to my normal practice of at least thinking things through in CAD, we're going to hash the shifter out in metal straight from my head. Remember the good old days of bar/dinner napkin sketches? Well, this is the 21st century where we can begin the pursuit of dreams with iPhone sketches!

I use Autodesk's SketchBook Mobile to get ideas out of my head, anywhere, anytime. Normally, I would take this into Photoshop, clean it up, and translate it into CAD - but this time we're just going to start cutting and forming metal from this really raw idea. I think I know where I want to go... As for why the sketch is soooo rough, remember, I'm drawing on a tiny screen, zooming in and out, just to get something out of my head until I can get back to the idea. I'm also drawing with a relatively large silicone ball-tipped stylus - so it's like drawing with a baby's finger.

The whole thing will be on a big sculptured, tapered, crescent-shaped, "I-beam", that sweeps up out of the gap between the seats and drops down in front of them to hold the exposed, rocker arm, shifter mechanism. Imagine a skinny, metal, armrest with a shifter on the end of it! I usually go overboard with my shifters and steering wheels - time to push the limits a little.

[toddshotrods]

I don't know how to even express how awesome my little Team is. They showed up on an, officially, 100-degree day, with typical Ohio humidity, and downtown smog, and worked like it was just any other old day.

The rear crossmember brace welded up and ready to be ground into shape.



Here's the what seats look like - untrimmed. I wasn't supposed to start on the roll cage until I had the seats, so I could make them fit like this. Careful measuring and a little luck - perfect! They have a unique shape.




Also got the rest of the foam carved out, the plenum core glued together, and the intake manifold lopped off.





And, we started on my ridiculous shifter. The main plate is cut and ready for final grinding. Tomorrow, they'll cut the top and bottom plates, then we'll weld it together and blend the welds so it looks like a little I-beam. The shifter mounts in that little hook on the end. It drops it right in between, and in front of, the seats - as planned. Another intern also started carving the mounting plates out, but I forgot to take pics of them.

[madmike8]

Great progress! Keep the updates coming....