A Breath of Fresh AIr

The spraying and sanding process on the plug is nearing completion. On Friday, Byron and Doc began the applying the final coat of primer to the plug. Several other team members were also present to assist the process. The next day, the team returned to begin sanding the surface in order to eliminate any imperfections. This began with the application of a light coating of spray paint. As the team sands the surface, the paint will be sanded of the high points while remaining in any pits or rough areas. This technique gave the team a bit of motivation as well. It was very easy to follow the progress of the sanding by simply looking at the color of the plug. On Wednesday night, the sanding was completed.

In addition to the completion of the sanding, several other important tasks were completed. Abe took several team members down to the Projects Lab to begin moving many of our materials out of storage. Several rolls of fiberglass and other materials were brought back to the Plastics lab with the hopes that lay-ups can begin early next week. We were also visited by Scott who gave us lots of advice about the work we we're about to begin. He will also be supplying us with some of the chemicals we will need when we begin the mold. The electrical team continued work on the battery modules. We are hopeful that the batteries from the 2008 car are still in good enough condition to use for the 2010 car.

Today our great friends at Entergy paid a visit to the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences here at Western Michigan University. We look forward to working with them again in the future!


Bronco Pride,
Joshua

Planning Ahead

The past week has seen the usual sanding on the plug. The job has been long and hard, but it is almost done! Many thanks to the team members who were able to contribute to the task.

At tonight's meeting, Abe and Nick shifted the teams attention to the months ahead. The fact that we are behind schedule was made clear, but there is still plenty of hope for the team. Spring Break will be the team's chance to catch back up and ensure our entry into the 2010 ASC. We also began the process of choosing drivers. Height and shoulder width measurements were taken to the final adjustments to the roll cage design could be made. Brian and Gary spent more time working on the design for the rear suspension arm.

The electrical team began testing the battery cells from the 2008 car. The cells were determined to be in acceptable condition and the process of assembling them into modules will soon begin. Meanwhile, more sanding was done to the plug. Once the sanding was finished on a section of the plug, Tim gave a quick demonstration on how to apply Bondo to the surface to fill in any pinholes and gouges. To finish the night off, the lab was given a thorough cleaning.

Bronco Pride,
Joshua

A Dirty Job

The past week has been filled with dust! The team has logged countless hours sanding the plug by hand. It is a long, tedious process, but in the end it should all pay off. The better a job we do now, the smoother the body piece will be (and that means better aerodynamics!) At the Wednesday night meeting, the team finished cutting the plywood supports for the female mold, continued sanding the plug, and began setting up the spray booth.

The work continued today when Nick came into the shop early in this morning and attempted to finish off the sanding. He was eventually joined by Tim, Megan, Doc, and myself. Once the sanding was done, we began to apply icing, a compound that will fill any imperfections in the surface. Now that the icing is on the plug, we can sand it down lightly and then prepare to apply another coating of primer.

Bronco Pride,
Joshua

Prime Condition

Over the past week a major step has been taken in the production of the body for the 2010 Sunseeker. The foam plug had its first coats of primer applied to it. On Thursday, Dr. Engelmann and several team members began the morning by spraying layer after layer of the primer paint onto the sealed plug. On Friday, we had the chance to see how those first few coats turned out. After some inspection and testing with more primer applied by hand, we determined the course of action for the next few days. Byron, Tim, and myself finished the day by hand sanding the entire surface of the plug.

The work resumed today at the regular meeting. Tim took charge of the task of spreading spackling compound over the primer in order to seal the tiny pits on the surface due to the very nature of the polystyrene plug. Once the compound was used to fill the holes, the team went back through and did touch-up work so that the plug will be ready for tomorrow. The rest of the team worked on various projects around the lab. Some began to prepare the spray tent for tomorrow, while others began building sawhorses. Nathan, Megan, and myself began working on sheets of plywood for braces that will support the negative mold once it is completed.

Bronco Pride,
Joshua