NASTE Gravity Racer Program (Page 7 of 13)

Yesterday I took a little time to get some work done on the Hawksbill Flyer. The Flyer has a seat back from an old office chair that fits nicely into the car. However there is absolutely no cushioning for the driver's butt! My plan has been to install a pice of foam in the bottom of the cockpit for at least a little comfort. The office chair seat cushion was way too thick to use so i had squirreled away a suitable piece of foam from the Mark II project. The plan was to cut away or contour the piece of foam to obtain a hollowed out piece of foam that the driver's but would sit into. But yesterday the idea hit me to remove the foam and fabric cover from the office chair base and use that. It is already contoured for improved butt fit, and the contour of the foam allows the driver to sit lower in the car which is also a priority. So, using my newly acquired upholsterring skills, learned and developed at the Scuderia Kouba Works, I attacked the project!

Taa-daa.....gravity racer seat cushion!

That was one of the small rolls plus half of another one.

For the Team Scuderia Kouba cars we use white and red duct tape!...There are specific Suderia Koba guidelines that must be adhered to!!!

I'm happy to announce we have secured our second sponsor, Parkrose Hardware!

I got a chance to put in a couple hours of work on the Flyer in the last two days.

Here is a good reason for some updates. This is what the brake looked like after 3 test runs. There is supposed to be a rubber brake pad bolted to that plate....

I will be mounting a second brake just ahead of the rear axle. When Dennis originally built the car he allowed room for the additional brake set up. Excellent forethought in planning ahead!

I am rebuilding the steering assembly and installing a more conventional round go-kart type steering wheel. I'll be replacing the two pulleys pictured, and adding an additional pair of pulleys in the steering cable set up.

The 1/4 inch bolts holding these steering pulleys in place were seriously bent. I'm replacing the bolts with 3/8 inch grade 8 bolts. Both pulleys are being replaced with slightly larger pulleys with 3/8 inch inside diameters to fit on the larger bolts.

Nice work Bill. I will see you next Saturday at registration and maybe we can get some work done on the Flyer too.

I mounted a second brake mount in the rear of the car just ahead of the rear axle, again securing it with 3/8 inch grade 8 bolts. Thankfully Dennis thought of this before he completed the car and left provisions for it to be mounted in this location.

I completed the modification of the midship mounted brake foot pedal. I moved the cable eye off to the side of the pedal so I could get my entire fat foot on the brake pedal.

Looks like you're giving up the tiller for a steering wheel.  I think that's a good idea.

With help from Beau and Rico we successfully completed the registration process of all 3 gravity cars this morning. Our 500 A.M. arrival time put us in the number 9, 10, and 11 spots in line. The car/team numbers are drawn randomly and for a three car team we did very well. The Scuderia Kouba MKI will be car # 2, the MKII will be # 21, and the Hawsbill Flyer will be car # 12. Pretty cool draws huh?!

After registration we went out to The Stagecoach for breakfast and some bench racing. Then we came out to my place to do some work on the Flyer. Again with Beau and Rico's help we were able to get the installation of the rear brake completed and relocate the battery to the rear of the car just ahead of the rear axle.

I'd like to thank Beau and Rico for all the help today!!!

This is the completed installation of the battery in its new rear location: