'Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here.'

(3 days until the 2012 WHPSC)

'Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here.' - John Swigert, Jr.

Dad cut the windshield area out of the canopy. I hopped in to check the visibility. To our horror, I can't see the ground!

After some brainstorming, Dad grabbed a piece of aluminum and started snacking on a shot bag, wheeling it, and shrinking it.

Yup, we're raising the roof!

After cutting out the roof

Dad holding the roof augmentation in place while Pat texts his friends something to the effect of "You're not going to believe what these knuckle-heads just did!"

Preliminary bonding with high fiber

Preliminary bonding complete

Side shot of new profile

Head-on shot of new profile

No one remembered to get a picture of the fiberglass on the inside of the canopy, but Dad glassed in the aluminum dish with the same biaxial glass that we used on the rest of the body. Then he started applying and shaping Bondo

Head-on shot after first Bondo

Side shot after first Bondo

Final slick coat of Bondo

He makes this look easy

After some sanding

We estimate the roof is now about 1-1/4" taller now

The look on my face says is all

I can see the nose as well as down around the sides

Whew! What a relief!

The other thing I've been dreading was the fit check of the pedals. The cranks I'm using are a little wider than the track cranks I originally planned on using, so I was unsure whether my feet would clear the flanges and battens.

Pat posing for the photo that is going in the full-color, glossy brochure.

And I'm pleased to report...

... there's just enough room for my feet!

Dzus Fasteners and the Revised Fork

(4 days until the 2012 WHPSC)

Dad wasn't crazy about the idea of me strapping the body panels together from the inside with industrial hook-and-loop (A.K.A. "Velcro") because I wouldn't be able to unstrap the body if I was knocked out due to a crash. So Dad and Doug installed six Dzus fasteners (pronounced "zeus") to secure the top to the bottom from the *outside*.

Closeup of one of the Dzus fasteners.

Making chips at the mill again - this is the revised fork stanchion

Checking the fit of the revised fork stanchion

Pat made this sweet little dropout

Back to my industrial-strength fork fixture for some welding

Closeup of the crown end

Closeup of Pat's dropout

Yeah, Baby! No leg clearance problems here!

Out of the fixture

Angled shot

Here's the old stanchion placed against revised fork to show how much more clearance I gained. My knee hit right in the upper bent portion of the original tube.

Pat sneaked a picture of me welding the disc brake tab to the new stanchion

Revision One complete!

Pat shines his flashlight to help my dad stripe the body

Upper Half and a "Forking" Revision

(5 days until the 2012 WHPSC)

Done with the molds (for now ;-)

Time to join the upper body halves

In the interest of time, Dad wisely chose to make this cantilevered support rather than try to make an upper cradle. He estimated that this move saved him at least a day and a half.

To Align the upper portion of the body halves prior to bonding, he used screws with fender washers from the top with small blocks of wood on the bottom

The cantilevered support allows Dad to place some small glass patches underneath to join the body halves together

View from inside

Meanwhile, the disc brake adapter is FINALLY done!

I decided I couldn't live with the left fork stanchion protruding from the fork crown the way it did. There just wasn't enough room for my knee, so I chopped it. Sigh...

Getting a feel for how the narrowed stanchion might go (this is ***NOT*** the kind of thing you want to be designing/fabricating at the last minute!)

Streamliner Tub and Disk Brake Adapter

(6 days until the 2012 WHPSC)

Today we're going to make the lower streamliner "tub". Here's Doug and Dad glassing in a flange on the right body half. Notice the blue tape.

Flange before trimming. It will get trimmed at the blue tape, and the portion that's over the beige masking tape will be peeled up. This is another time-sensitive step. For the flange to be trimmed with a razor blade, it MUST be done when the resin is firm but still pliable.

Flange after trimming.

Catching some rays to fully cure the resin

I didn't get a picture of the excess flange actually being peeled up on the right body half, but here's Doug pulling tape on flange layup on left body half.

Where's the lower right half?!!

Here it is! (in the cradle)

Closeup showing flange

I didn't get a picture of the right half of the body being cut, but here's a picture of the left half being cut. Remember the horizontal black line in the body? Doug is holding the vacuum while my dad cuts through that line with a Dremel zip saw. They actually cut most of the black line yesterday, leaving thin spokes every few inches. Now that the flanges are laid up, they only have to trim the remaining spokes.

Closeup of one of the spokes being cut. This takes a light touch to avoid cutting too deep. We don't want to cut into the flange on the back side.

And now the other half is free to join its mate in the cradle

Now to join the lower halves. First, the halves are joined by a strip of biaxial glass

Doug places the last strip of biaxial glass

There are many ways to skin a cat, but we're running out of time - at the risk of extra weight, we're going with a plywood floorboard

Dad is spreading mishmash while Doug brings the floorboard over

Lowering the floorboard onto the bed of mishmash

And now, so weights...

... a LOT of weights!

After the mishmash cured, Doug and Dad lifted the lower body half out of the cradle for a picture

Floorboard before laying up with mat and cloth...

... floorboard after laying up with mat and glass

From the back

After trimming the flanges at the front...

... and the rear

After a hot coat with wax surfacing agent

Closeup

Meanwhile, the brake adapter

Six holes down, twelve to go

Oh, and this arrived today. Again, we're running out of time, and I still didn't have a 700c disc wheel for the back. But I got a smoking deal on this wheel, which I'll slap a couple of aluminum wheel covers on to fake it for this year.

Twelve holes down, six to go

Finished adapter with the countersunk holes run to their final depth

Locating the first hole on the wheel

Drilled...

... and tapped (thirteen holes down, five to go)

All holes are drilled and tapped or countersunk

Final surface prep with #80 grit on mating surfaces prior to masking, bonding with epoxy, and screwing together

Done-O-mundo!