Metal Art students are learning to weld. Some information they might find useful is
HERE on brazing and welding.
Metal Art students are learning to weld. Some information they might find useful is
HERE on brazing and welding.
Technology 10 students have finished the unit on Structural Engineering, and we terminally loaded the finished wire frame bridges. Now we are working on Drag Boats, where the students design and build a Drag Boat Hull, which is then raced in a 10' trough powered by a 30V electric motor. I have found some software for hull design HERE. An article on Buoyancy can be found HERE.
If you are involved in various on-line chats or eGroups, do check out Smilies World for a plethora of goofy smilies you can use.
Power Mechanics
students are finishing the four-stroke engine labs, and should soon be starting the two stroke
labs. I am pleased so far with my new labs - they are flowing smoothly and quickly. Students
may further understand the Wankel Rotary with this picture.
I have also been asked to join the Ford Pinto Street Machines Yahoo! Group. I don't know if I should be flattered or frightened. I'm a recovering Pintoholic.
The Sinister Sentra Project 
March 17th I ran my first race of the season with the Sinister Sentra. From last year's season conclusion in H/Stock, I am now in F/Super Stock. This setup is going to take some getting used to.
The car is considerably more loose than the Heinous Honda was. I can use a lot less Left Foot Braking with this car as it tends to rotate quite well on it's own without my help. On my first run, I could feel the car get more and more loose through the first four gates. By the fifth one I had lost it. The back came right around on me. I tried to account for the looseness by laying on the gas (this tries to keep the front ahead of the back), but ended up doing nearly a 270° spin with the back tires sliding and the front tires smoking. By the end of the day I had it better sorted out.
Unsure what tire pressures to run, I started at my usual 40psi, but by the end of the day was down to 30 and could possibly have gone to 28psi front and rear. Much different than running 45/33psi front/rear in H/Stock. I would attribute this to the increased roll resistance due to the stiffer springs and fatter sway bars and less compliant bushings, as well as the -2.3° camber on the front wheels.
I'm thinking I could probably run another degree more negative camber, but I'll worry about that next year.
The new Pete Paulsen racing wheels and new
Toyo Proxes RA1 205/60R13 tires are wonderful. The
wheels are a little weird at first - one, it seemed, had been assembled incorrectly.
Paulsen's warrantied the wheel quickly and professionally and I was back in business within two
weeks.
With the 5" backspacing and 7" width, the car is a bit odd to steer. Lots more effort
required, despite power-assist, but the grip is addictively fun.
I find I am still baby-ing the car. With the Civic, I truly abused the car. I was not afraid to really beat on it. With the Sentra I still view it as my new toy and I don't want to break it. "This too, shall pass." I have my next race April 07....