Honeycomb prep & Motor disasembaly

On Thursday we held a brief meeting discussing some of the tasks still to be done and a time line to finish them. David also talked some logistics with members of the Honors College. After the meeting we proceeded to cut and fit the layer of honeycomb to the mold to prepare it for the next lay-up. On Saturday we continued to fit and prep the honeycomb. We also precut the next layer of carbon fiber so that it would be ready for us when we came in on Sunday. To strengthen the body we are laying this layer of fiber on a 45 degree angle. Finally, Abe came in to to help us take apart one of the motors from the previous car, so we could figure out the spacings for the motor housings However, we soon realized that we did not have all of the parts necessary to take it apart, so we will have to do it sometime next week.

Unveiling the First Layer

Yesterday was our first chance to take a look at the cured carbon fiber. After displaying the old car for some local high schools we were able to take the vacuum bag off the car and peel away the batting and peel-ply to get a glimpse of the CF. Despite some minor defects, we were very pleased with the result.

Prep & Lay-up

On Thursday we finished the final preparations before starting the layups. We sanded the primer for the final time and waxed the mold to help the carbon fiber release from it. Over the weekend we finally got to put on the first layer of carbon fiber. After cutting the pieces to shape we mixed the epoxy and brushed it into the CF. We then formed it on the mold, covered it with peel-ply and batting, and sealed it all in a vacuum bag. Now it just has to cure.

Round 2

On Saturday, we came in and sanded down the bondo, that we had applied on Thursday, back to the shape of the body and prepped it for another round of primer. 3 more layers of primer were added to insure we could sand it back to a perfectly smooth surface for lay-ups. As for Tuesday, well we completed the final round of sanding before lay-ups.

Prime, Sand, & Bondo

Yesterday, Ian came in layed down the first four layers of primer (grey) for us so that the body would be ready for yet another roung of sanding today after the meeting. After the meeting was done, David and Ian started slaving over the poster sized list of step that still needed to be completed to finish the car on tie for the race. While they were doing that the rest of us began sanding down the primer. First we hit it with a round of 150 grit to get rid of the paint spackling, then with 220 to really smooth it out. Once that was done we cleaned it off and wiped it down to prep it for bondo. Once ready we filled any and all low spots with bondo to fill them in and make sure we were ready for the last few layers of primer.