Saturday, March 29, 2014

Kapunda - week 75

Up the street this morning.
260Z and a Merc from Victoria (Shepparton to be exact).
Brett's Charger on its way home from a successful trip to the Darwin mud races.
And another Chrysler from a far off land.


Thursday, March 27, 2014

Elgaram

Often referred to as Bolwell Mk3A.
Tony Shaw took these photos at last year's Winton Historics and they were later reproduced in the NSW Slipstream.
I think this was its coming out parade and Patrick who has owned it for decades was using Winton as a shakedown run prior to the Sandown Historics. Tony was looking forward to catching up with Patrick at Sandown. I have never heard whether he did or not or, even, if the car was there. However, it was at the later Geelong Speed Trials, driven by its FORMER owner, Iain, and flagged off by that retro-dressed young woman in the bright pink mini-dress and white stole.
Meanwhile, Colin, in Thailand, discovered a couple of pictures of it in mid-60s Graffiti Publications' "Hot Rod Heritage".
That's it in the background of a pic of John English's rear engined dragster taken at Riverside.
Here it is running off against Daryl Harvey's '34 roadster (which was considered to be the first hot rod in Australia fitted with an OHV engine in 1959).



Friday, March 21, 2014

So what IS brake by wire?

This article is from Racecar Engineering.

When the driver hits the brake it is not just the carbon brake discs and pads that slows the car down on a 2014 car, the energy recover system also does a significant amount too, rather like engine braking but a much stronger effect. This means that the drivers left pedal (F1 cars have no clutch pedal) is no longer linked directly to the rear brakes instead it is linked to a computer which then controls the rear brakes. The front brakes continue to operate in the same way as they always have done.
The main reason for this is that rules say that the car is only allowed to recover a certain amount of energy per lap from the rear brakes (it does not recover from the fronts), and there is only a finite amount of energy that can be stored in the battery. When either of these limits is reached the ERS stops recovering energy and the braking effect is lost and the traditional brakes take over. But for the driver it is important to retain the brake feeling otherwise when he hits the pedal he is never quite sure what will happen. If you imagine driving down a steep hill in a low gear using the engine braking alone to slow you down, then suddenly that braking effect stops it makes the car almost impossible to drive smoothly. The semi active Brake By Wire system should stop that from happening and automatically balance the conventional brakes with the ERS braking. But getting to work properly is a problem currently for a number of teams including Lotus “the biggest problems are how the chassis works with the power unit and how the energy recovery system works. So there are some inconsistencies there which are making it very difficult for the driver to predict what he is going to get when he arrives at the corner” Technical Director Nick Chester admitted. “So the system is not doing exactly the same thing every time and that is disturbing the driver and losing us a lot of time.”

Getting the feel right for drivers is a major headache for some teams as well as making the systems reliable. At Melbourne Brake By Wire issues directly lead to a few off track moments for some drivers.
“You just take the hydraulic inputs that the FIA specify and work with an electronically controlled hydraulic link to the caliper, at the same time you have some redundancy in there so if you have a failure it should revert to a manual brake circuit” Toro Rosso Technical Director James Key explains. “You have to account for any failure mode you can think of both mechanically and in software. Its bit like a differential or a clutch, but the tricky bit is mapping it well.”
Mapping the systems is an area where some teams, notably those Renault runners who lost track time at the Jerez and Bahrain 1 tests, will be struggling in terms of time. “Brake by wire is a massive for us in 2014, you have control system mapping, driver mapping to get him comfortable, you have state of charge control, making sure the battery topped up at the right time and temperature and vibration and that is just one system” Williams Chief Test Engineer Rod Nelson explains. “The driver needs to have a good feeling of retardation versus pressure that is not steppy or moves around, it has to stay the same. He can adjust the bias forwards or rearwards as in the past but we are also balancing how much energy he uses from the rears with how much we are trying to recover. Its key to the mapping and the brake setup that when you come off the brakes there is no residual force that may give a little bit of instability or a lock up. Some drivers are very very sensitive to this.
We can model the brakes on the simulator and that is what we have done, but they are not straightforward as there is a thermal effect, the amount of stopping power the brakes have depends on the temperature of the brake so that's an input we need to understand. We set a recovery target for each lap, so whatever a driver does not put in the MGU does. We have had issues with losing brake by wire and the driver ends up on his own. The pedal has a very different feel when that happens it is much softer than you expect it to be. More significantly the brake bias shifts substantially, so if you come into a corner with a Brake By Wire failure then you are going to get a wake up call, it gets them thinking.”
It also create a challenge for the caliper manufacturers like Alcon, AP, Brembo and Akebono who have to develop control systems to aid the braking effort at the rear, negating the need for the driver to constantly alter the brake bias, and also contributing in preventing rear lock-up.
The arrival of Brake By Wire in F1 means that now the only things the driver now controls mechanically are the steering angle of the front wheels and the pressure applied to the front brakes. Every other system on the car is now drive by wire.

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Another backbone chassis.

This time, a Triumph GT6.
This is what it looks like fully dressed.


Thursday, March 13, 2014

Maserati

Now you know why this is the Birdcage.

Where are they now? - Peter Mounsey

Remember Peter? He was one of that select band in Adelaide that successfully built a very nice Mark 7 in 1966. It was metallic blue and performed as well as it looked. Decades later, I discovered that he still operated the family mattress making business, "Sleephaven", when my youngest son went to work there in his first job after leaving highschool. Well, these days he is "Mr Christmas Parade" in Mt. Gambier, designing and constructing floats for their annual Christmas parade. Here's an article from the ABC from last year.


15 November, 2013 11:07AM ACDT

Mt Gambier's 'Mr Christmas Parade' gives a sneak peek of new addition

The man who delights children with his themed float creations each year at the Mt Gambier Christmas Parade, says he often gets his most creative ideas when the rest of us are fast asleep.
"They say the best ideas come to you in the middle of the night," said Peter Mounsey, who holds the title of Parade Development Advisor with Mt Gambier City Council.
A recent 4am brainstorm helped him puzzle out how to build the treads on his latest creation, a friendly character from popular children's television show, Mr Squiggle.
So Bill the Steam Shovel, famous for his corny jokes and ability to belch steam from his nostrils, now has milk bottles for treads.
"I spent a long time trying to figure out what to make them with," said Mr Mounsey.
"People say 'hang on, they're milk containers'.
Mr Mounsey got in contact with the family of the late Mr Squiggle creator Norman Hetherington to get the nod for the project and incorporated some interesting feats of engineering.
A tiny windscreen wiper motor powers Bill's head up and down and two small steam generators will blow 'smoke' from his nostrils in front of the crowds.
"I think the kids will love that," Mr Mounsey said.
The brand new addition will join 43 other floats this Saturday parading down Commercial St for the Mount Gambier Christmas Parade, with schools and community organisations all vying for the crowd's attention.
The weather forecast is clearing clouds with a top of 18 degrees, with just a slim chance of rain.
Mr Mounsey said he was possibly being a little self-indulgent with Bill featuring as his latest float creation, as he built it not only for the kids, but the adults too.
"People my age will remember it well."
"There's about 20,000 people who come to the parade each year and only half are kids, so you have to build interest for the rest of them too."
The man responsible for parade favourites like the Pirate Ship, Nutcracker and Hansel and Gretel said he works hard to catch parade goers attention each year and reckons he doesn't have long to do it.
"Seven seconds - that's how long each person spends looking at a float," he said.
"We try to improve the look of the parade every year, with at least one new float so every parade is completely different."
Team Leader of Community Events and lady behind the scenes Denise Richardson, said there were 44 floats entered in this year's parade and the popular event was beating out unlikely rivals.
"We just beat out the Tuna-Rama festival in Port Lincoln for the longest continuous running festival in the state for 55 years, they're one year behind us," she said proudly.
This will be the first year in many that the parade is not being fully televised by WIN, however Mrs Richardson said they will still be filming it to show in coming weeks.
Eleven brass bands will also be strutting their stuff, competing in the 2013 Mount Gambier Brass Band Festival , which begins after the parade at the Sir Robert Helpmann Theatre.
But Mrs Richardson said it's not time to go home afterwards, with the free community event Party in the Park following the parade.
When show time draws near on Saturday, Mr Mounsey says he'll be found up in the mayor's section in front of the Town Hall, watching it all calmly go by, his work done for the year.
Some years, he's driven his float and while he says he much prefers being in the audience, being inside a float does have its benefits.
"When you drive a float, you see nothing," he said.
"But on a float like the Nutcracker, you can see all of them as you go past, smiling and waving.
"It's very rewarding."

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Still winning races.

Last weekend saw the gopher race meeting held at Goolwa.
The F1 Gopher race was won by this Bolwell gopher.....
.....driven by Bruce Tonkin.

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Out of the darkness.

And guess what! This motor actually runs.


Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Supashock progress.

Supashock succeeding at the V8 level and looking to break into Formula One

Posted on 2/28/2014

(as featured on Adelaidenow.com.au) The Ford Performance Racing V8 Supercar Team will be staying on an even keel this weekend with help from Supashock technology developed in Magill.

Tim Possingham, Oscar Fiorinotto and Ford Performance Racing CEO Tim Edwards - Source: News Corp AustraliaThe company, founded in 2006, was set up to develop high performance suspension which could perform at the highest levels.

Supashock is this weekend being used by FPR and has also been supplied to Erebus and Lucas Dumbrell Racing as well as the entire V8 Racing Ute field.

Ford is also using Supashock in its European GT racing team and the company is working with a Formula One team which is testing its products.

Commercial director Tim Possingham said this could lead to new opportunities for the company.

“Through this program, doors have been opened into OEM (original equipment manufacturer) supply and Supashock is looking at an exciting 12 months ahead that include increased staff uptake and investment in more machinery,” Mr Possingham said.

Managing director Oscar Fiorinotto developed the technology in a partnership originally funded by Adelaide businessman and motorsport enthusiast Kevin Weeks.

Mr Possingham said Supashock was exactly the sort of advanced manufacturing which the state should be focusing on.

“Australia is well respected as a source for innovative technology and quality product in the global marketplace.

I have spent 10 years connecting good Australian manufacturers with the rest of the world and we have always had great success based on a product’s technical advantages.

Smart companies playing in this space are more insulated from the types of scenario’s we have seen make Holden manufacturing unviable.”

Author: Cameron England - The Advertiser / adelaidenow.com.au (original article)