TSR-4 Construction Diary
April 25, 2007
Over the Easter holiday, TSR have been so busy that we haven’t had any time to update the build diary! But here it is now, all the work we’ve done during the break...Mainly, we’ve been focusing on getting the drive to work. Several components have been built and welded up, not least the rear sub-frame which takes all the loading and forces of the rear wheels. Once bolted into the car we then focused on getting the outboard bearing supports welded with the correct negative camber angles - ready to be bolted onto the sub-frame. That completed the frame work at the back, meaning we could progress with getting the half-shafts and drive flanges sitting in the car.
This had now got us to a stage where by we were able to get the drive working, in the same style as TSR-2 but a lot more compact. We were now at a stage where we had a working car, all be it with no brakes or gear shifting...
No prizes for guessing what we next did! Whilst the Team Manager focused on getting the brake callipers fitting snugly around the discs, the Technical Director focused on getting the 14 gears ’selectable’ by the driver - both jobs that took a lot longer than they should have perhaps taken due to it all being a rather tight fit!
Other jobs that were completed were the nose and tail cone, the dash board, the brake light switch, all the low current wiring and most of the high current wiring, the side wall supports, the battery fixing system, the harness and seat fixing, as well as several other little jobs that all need doing!
With only four days to go now until the Season Opener we still need to get both brakes working and get the bodywork built (that will be a temporary bit of plastic!!!)
Time to burn a bit of ’evening oil’ ...!
JDE
March 25, 2007
Today five members of the team came into work on TSR-2 and 4.The work on TSR-2 consisted of fitting the 4 point harness and the side impact protection foam. This means that TSR-2 is now completly ready for the 2007 season, bar fitting in the motor.
The work on TSR-4 also consisted of fitting the harness and foam, although this took slightly longer due to the different design. This now leaves the roll bar, rear suspension, drive and electrics to complete before TSR-4 moves under its own power. With one month to go until the Season opener this is a tall order, but the team is confident that the car will be there.
187 hours have now been completed on TSR-4.
JDE
March 22, 2007
Work progressed last sunday, with four members of the team coming into the workshops to continue with the building of TSR-4. As the development of TSR-2 has now reached the stage whereby only a small number of features need fitting to the car, we are now able to focus the team’s efforts on the building of TSR-4.The team continued work on TSR-4, with most of the work on the steering column and supports being completed. The steering rods were also turned to length and tapped, meaning that the steering system only needs a little more work on it, before it is fully working. During the week, the seat and battery/driver bulkhead forward bracings and brackets were also built, ready for fitting when the driver harness fitting has been confirmed.
The race damage to TSR-1 was also repaired on sunday, providing us with a means of driver training for the coming season.
Sunday’s work brings the total man-hours spent on TSR-4 up to 163hours
JL
March 11, 2007
This week the TSR working party was a bit down on numbers due to several of the team having pre-made plans. However, four of the team made it in, one being a new member.The TSR data logger worked on fitting the nose and tail to TSR-2, fitting the aerial mounting socket on top of the roll bar and adding a few foam fairings here and there to (hopefully!) make the car more aerodynamic.
The work on TSR-4 powered on today as well, with two of the bulkheads being fitted using epoxy resin and pop-rivets. Also, forwards bracing honeycomb strips were cut out to help keep the batteries firmly in place should the worst happen. Finally, side seat supports were made and fitted to the chassis, ready for the seat to be mounted sometime in the coming week.
This brings the total man hours completed on TSR-4 up to 148.
JDE
March 4, 2007
The work on the TSR cars advanced further forward today, with five team members coming into the workshops to continue the work on the cars. Three of these team members worked on the battery-retention system and general modifications to TSR-2. Today’s work on TSR-2 means that only minor tasks remain before it can leave the workshops, ready for its 5th season of racing.Work also continued on TSR-4, with large amounts of aluminium being ’turned’ and tapped into ’top-hats’ for various fixing points on the new car. The motor and hub fixings were also determined in the car, with various componants being machined to the correct specification to accept our drive-train design.
Today’s work brings the number of man hours spent on TSR-4 up to 134 hours.
JL
February 21, 2007
Five members of the team came into the workshops today, along with a special guest worker from Tendring Technology College!The TSR-2 Team Manager and TSR data logger worked on building a new battery retention system for TSR-2, as our old system (using a seat belt) has now been deemed un-safe - fair enough when you consider that the batteries could weigh up to 10 times more during a crash due to ’G’ forces.
The front suspension was finished on TSR-4 today, with the Team Manager and Technical Director (along with the help of our guest worker) cutting, filing, turning, brazing and welding the upper king-pin supports, with the help of some very precise jigs to make sure everything was perfectly square and level.
A set of batteries were also finally lowered into the chassis and the hub held in place so we could get an idea for how everything was going to fit together.
During the lunch break we exchanged ideas and opinions with Luke Horsfall - Team Manager of the well known ’Phatman’ and ’Thin Lizzy’, and our guest worker for the day! This proved to be interesting as it’s always good to hear someone elses point of view.
So far 153 man hours have been completed on TSR-2 and 119 man hours on TSR-4.
JDE
February 10, 2007
Work continued on the TSR’s today, with six members of the team coming into the workshops to progress with the adaptations of TSR-2 and the building of TSR-4. While a number of the team worked on making new bodywork for TSR-2, others began their turning careers on the lathes, producing ’top-hats’ for both TSR-2 and TSR-4.At the same time, work continued on the building of TSR-4, with the production of bulkheads for the new car, and the continuation of work on the front suspension system. The new wheels for TSR-4 also had tyres and inner-tubes fitted. As a result of today’s work, all of the bulkheads for TSR-4 have now been produced, and are ready to be glued and riveted into place with aluminium angle, finishing the structural integracy of the chassis. The front suspension is also progressing well, with the front rollbar completed and the whole arrangement nearing completion.
Today’s work brings the total number of manhours spent on TSR-4 up to 101.
JL
February 4, 2007
Seven team members came into the workshops today working from 11 till 4 to continue work on TSR 2 and 4.The work on TSR-2 was entirely modification of the body-work; the team has now finished the front section of the car, as well as building a new tail cone. All that remains to-do now, is to build the mid-section of the body work and bolt in the motor (after running some tests on it to check it hasn’t been punished to much over the 2006 season...).
The work on TSR-4 has been much more general. The bottom half of the front suspension was glued and riveted onto the chassis, another bulk-head was made to seperate the hub from the batteries and several ’L’ plates were made to hold the hub in position.
87 man hours have now been completed on TSR-4 overall.
JDE
January 27, 2007
Work continued today on the TSR cars, with five members of the team coming into the workshops to continue with the on-going work. While some of the team worked on the bodywork modifications of TSR-2, the rest of the team built (literally!) on last week’s work with TSR-4. The chassis (having been uncramped on monday after the epoxy had set) today had its sides shaped to the correct profile, while both front and rear bulk-heads and their aluminium supports were prepared. These are now ready for gluing and riveting next week-end.Work also continued on the wheels for TSR-4 today, with the front wheels being covered and bearings being fitted into them.
The work carried out today brings the total time spent on building TSR-4 up to 77 man-hours
JL
January 21, 2007
Five members of the team came in today to continue the work on the TSR’s. Work continued on the bodywork and safety alterations to TSR-2, while the preparation work that was carried out last week on the chassis aluminium allowed the team to proceed rapidly with the folding of the chassis.With the inside of the aluminium honeycomb routed away, the team were able to drill, glue and rivet aluminium angle strips to the honeycomb, before folding it, before further drilling, glueing and riveting to secure the U-shape cross-section of the chassis. The chassis was then sash-cramped into place (with wooden ’bulkheads’ to ensure the accuracy of the bend), before being left cramped overnight to allow the glue to set correctly. Further brackets were also prepared for the construction of the internal bulkheads next weekend.
The work carried out today brings the total man-hours spent on TSR-4 up to 66 hours.
JL
January 14, 2007
Four members of the team came into the workshops today to continue with work on the TSR’s. With key players out of action due to revision for mocks the work was slow on TSR-4, whilst work powered on with TSR-2 - mainly bodywork development along with a few safety alterations.With the aluminium honeycomb now in stock, work started on the building of TSR-4’s chassis - however due to the router being misplaced we couldn’t bend up the sides to give it its ’U’ section shape. Instead all the prep work was done ready for the full team to help with the bending - which has been known to be hard work at times! The chassis should be folded by the end of next weekend, and then it’ll be ’frantic bolting things on’ to get the car ready for the 29th of april!
JDE
December 2, 2006
Six members of the team came into the workshop again today to continue with the work of TSR-2 and 4.The work on TSR-2 consisted of more bodywork upgrades (with some interesting ’chav-like’ ideas (involving ‘Burberry’ and ‘whale-tails’) coming from the younger, less experienced team members!)
TSR-4’s front suspension is now almost complete thanks to today’s work, following lots of brazing, filing and lathe-work. As we had a few younger boys in the Team manager and I took the opportunity to teach them a few high-precision metal work skills – passing on the skills in anticipation for our leaving the team in the future!
Also with the aluminium honeycomb finally ordered, work started on a chassis jig to help us make a perfectly square car - pictures to follow...
39 hours completed on TSR-4 now
JDE
November 25, 2006
The building of TSR-4 continued today, with six members of the team coming into the workshops and working on the cars. Due to the lack of aluminium honeycomb however, the team instead worked on componants for the front suspension of TSR-4, rather than the planned work on the chassis.The team have also finished their work on the MDF wheel spat mould over the past week, and have now arranged for a professional vacuum forming company to form the wheel-spat halves for them.
As well as the work carried out on componants for TSR-4, a number of team members also continued work on the adaptation of TSR-2, as well as working on the boxing of data-loggers.
Today’s work brings the total time spent by the team on the building of TSR-4 up to 19 hours, with wheel-spats and suspension having been worked on.
JL
November 19, 2006
The building of TSR-4 began on the 18th of november with six boys coming into school to get the project underway. However, due a lack of 12mm aluminium honeycomb the team decided to start building the wheel spats! So far the MDF vacuum forming mould has only been roughly finished but as soon as it’s ready it’ll be off to the nearest vacuum forming company as the school’s vacuum former isn’t big enough! If a vacuum forming company can’t be found the team will be building the spats from glass fibre, which would take a lot longer but end up being a lot stronger. Pictures detailing the building of the spats will be up as soon as they’re finished...JDE
