Daily Driver, Go Where I Want To Build

mrblaine said:
The battery tray is pretty much crap. They don't understand bracing and movement under load. The little bent leg that goes down to the hole in the fender controls front to back movement reasonably well, it does nothing for side to side. The bent leg should have a gusset welded to it up to the bottom of the tray to tighten that up.

The two long legs down to the studs on the firewall are way too long with no bracing. They let the tray move fore and aft as well as pivoting around the little bent leg to the fender. We have repaired 2-3 firewalls where the Poison Spyder and similar trays have ripped out the studs after a lot of vibration. The fore and aft movement needs to be constrained very well. It is also very easy to figure out. Set the battery on it and shake it. You will see the directions it moves. Those need to be stopped.

We can't use the factory battery tray since it raises the battery up by another 1/2" or so and it is already too high.
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Good to know. I haven't done a full unpacking yet, but I noticed the battery tray looked a little skimpy. I'll do a preliminary assembly soon so I can start getting a better visualization of how things go together.
 
The first test of casting my own replacement selecter knobs is promising.
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I need to wait until this reaches full cure before I dare turn it.
 
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This is my super crude method!

An original knob.
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Fill some voids with wax.
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Coat with dish soap and let dry.
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Cover the knob with silicone caulk.
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Let the silicone dry over several days and cut out the knob.
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Coat the mold in soap and let dry. Fill the mold with resin.
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Let the casting cure.
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My immediate concern is that the (pent)agon socket that fits onto the hub nub won't be strong enough to turn without stripping. In which case, I need to figure out how to reenforce that area.
 
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jjvw said:
My immediate concern is that the hexagon socket that fits onto the hub nub won't be strong enough to turn without stripping. In which case, I need to figure out how to reenforce that area.
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Looks like a pentagon, but I see what you're saying. I hope it will be strong enough. Ingenious.
 
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jjvw said:
I need to wait until this reaches full cure before I dare turn it.
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Put it in a black trash bag in the sun on asphalt for a better cure. Or an oven at whatever the epoxy will handle. Raising the temp slowly to the target(200*?)

For more strength some chopped fiberglass or even cotton(flox) will help substantially. But will thicken up the epoxy quite a bit if you use too much.

A heat gun can temporarily thin it,but it will start to harden very quicky and you risk an exothermic reaction if there is too much mass too hot
 
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Rickyd said:
Put it in a black trash bag in the sun on asphalt for a better cure. Or an oven at whatever the epoxy will handle. Raising the temp slowly to the target(200*?)

For more strength some chopped fiberglass or even cotton(flox) will help substantially. But will thicken up the epoxy quite a bit if you use too much.

A heat gun can temporarily thin it,but it will start to harden very quicky and you risk an exothermic reaction if there is too much mass too hot
Click to expand...

I've done the fuzz thing in the past with the end cut off of a ratchet strap.
 
jjvw said:
That sounds an awful lot like a product too good to not be available! 😉
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I've played that game and I don't like it. Or, be careful what you wish for. Right now you have disposable hub knobs that break easily. If you make hub knobs that don't break, what is the next weak link in the chain? The part inside that the knob screws to, or the hub body??

If this were my issue to solve, I'd grab a T handle wrench with a permanently attached penta socket that fits the internal stem and use that to switch them on and off.
 
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mrblaine said:
I've played that game and I don't like it. Or, be careful what you wish for. Right now you have disposable hub knobs that break easily. If you make hub knobs that don't break, what is the next weak link in the chain? The part inside that the knob screws to, or the hub body??

If this were my issue to solve, I'd grab a T handle wrench with a permanently attached penta socket that fits the internal stem and use that to switch them on and off.
Click to expand...

That was already my thinking. The little plastic nub on the hub isn't any tougher than the knob I already broke on my second outing with these. I have no grasp on how common it is to break these knobs that are also not available. But I'll assume it is considerably less than my 50%. If I can make my own reasonably resilient replacements for next to nothing and keep a handful in the tool bag, I think I'll be happy with that. And maybe work on making a T-wrench.
 
jjvw said:
That was already my thinking. The little plastic nub on the hub isn't any tougher than the knob I already broke on my second outing with these. I have no grasp on how common it is to break these knobs that are also not available. But I'll assume it is considerably less than my 50%. If I can make my own reasonably resilient replacements for next to nothing and keep a handful in the tool bag, I think I'll be happy with that. And maybe work on making a T-wrench.
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You can solve all that bullshit with 2" backspaced rims.
 
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jjvw said:
That was already my thinking. The little plastic nub on the hub isn't any tougher than the knob I already broke on my second outing with these. I have no grasp on how common it is to break these knobs that are also not available. But I'll assume it is considerably less than my 50%. If I can make my own reasonably resilient replacements for next to nothing and keep a handful in the tool bag, I think I'll be happy with that. And maybe work on making a T-wrench.
Click to expand...

I’ve broken one knob in the 3 years I’ve had the kit. I just try to be aware of them and not mash them if at all possible
 
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Rickyd said:
Put it in a black trash bag in the sun on asphalt for a better cure. Or an oven at whatever the epoxy will handle. Raising the temp slowly to the target(200*?)

For more strength some chopped fiberglass or even cotton(flox) will help substantially. But will thicken up the epoxy quite a bit if you use too much.

A heat gun can temporarily thin it,but it will start to harden very quicky and you risk an exothermic reaction if there is too much mass too hot
Click to expand...

You sound like you have a STEMs background. Am I right? (same here)
 
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