As this team has learned, if you expect something to go
smoothly and work the first time, add about two weeks to the timeline. Nothing
was different when working on the getting the front drivetrain up and running.
One of the biggest issues we had was everyone having an open schedule
(apparently professors think we need to complete these things called exams and
homework?!?! How lame!) So after we were able to work out everyone’s schedules
to be able to work, it still didn’t go well.
Via CAD, several of the students designed a spacer to put in
between the engine and transmission to help fit everything together. The design
and fabrication of the piece went very smoothly. Once we installed the spacer,
we began to have issues. We tried to attach the engine to the transmission, but
that did not work. After a few hours of looking and trying to identify the
problem, we discovered that the spacer was too long. We then received access to
a HAAS machine through one of the departments to grind everything down (there were
several iterations of the grinding, attempting to install again, grinding
again, etc. over several days). At 12 AM one morning, we attempted to bolt
everything back together to discover it was still too long. At that point, we
did not want to give up and decided that we would attempt to grind it down. To
make a long story short, Haley ground down a little too far and sheared off the
center shaft that lined everything up. But this ended up fixing all the
problems.
As always, we learned how important team work is and how
important getting enough sleep is. Thankfully, with a great amount of hard
work, we got the car together and off to inspection with EcoCAR 2 at Ohio State
University!
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