Another case of nothing to write but a compulsion to write something

The tl;dr version of this post is I feel the need to write, but I don’t have a topic springing to mind at the moment. I think I wanna write about the Sprint-T, but I don’t have anything to say about it, except for how frustrating it is to not have a budget for building this thing.

I have been thinking about also the dedicated A-Mod racer with the aluminum block LS engine sitting next to the driver for the lowest possible polar moment of inertia, because if you can’t do anything with the main project distract yourself with a different project that has even less likelihood of completion than your main project. The idea driving the LS A-Mod is offsetting the engine and transmission to one side and putting the driver next to it but offset the other direction so that the two moments balance out. The exhaust will run over the driver’s legs, and the driver’s butt will be right about even with the rear face of the block. This will mean the engine will be offset about 10″ away from the driver because of having to clear the physical parts of the engine specifically that bellhousing, but the driver could be offset more than the engine. Like I already know how far to move the engine when the driver sits completely behind the engine and there is some left-to-right overlap, it’s just basic algebra to use when they’re side by side. Basically the engine has a moment relative to the driver, the driver has a moment relative to the engine, and the two moments have to add up to 0 when the car is built. This kind of stuff is what I do for fun and relaxation, and I’ll say it first: NEERRRRRD! I’m literally doing a word problem, for fun. Sioux Geonz teaches remedial math to college freshmen and I’m told sometimes links to my blog posts as examples of real-world applications for what she teaches. If it helps, I’m happy with it.

Anyway part of the reason the engine is beside the driver is another moment problem. If the driver is in front of the engine like most formula race cars, it stretches the car out and results in a larger moment than if they are side by side, and for this particular style of racing this makes the car with the larger moment slower than the car with the smaller moment because the smaller moment lets the car change directions quicker. And if your car can change direction quicker then you can cover the distance the direction change has to take place in faster. And as in everything about cars this results in a tradeoff, the driver is exposed to more heat sitting beside the engine than if they are in front of the engine and not under the exhaust. There’s also the location of the cooling system to consider in the heat loading situation, in that there is a greater likelihood of the radiator blowing on the driver with the side-by-side driver-engine configuration because the cooling system is literally hung off the front of the engine and is easier to plumb if the radiator is in front.

And I’m writing right now because I’m trying to not think about the Ukraine, and dinner is ready, so I’m going to put this post to bed now.

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Random thoughts on Wreck-Free Sunday

Well this has been a busy day. Morning service came way too early for me as my ride got here while I was still in the shower, then I was not quite done with e-mail and comics before I had to leave again for the Church Board meeting. While I was waiting for the board meeting to get started I got a text that some of the D&D group were breaking up and would not be coming back to play. So lots of drama today but not much work getting done. I still need to get the slot done for the extended stem and then braze the assembly together do make it solid, and I haven’t had a chance to touch it since I posted the pictures two or three weeks ago. I really need to get that done.

I’m still thinking about the Sprint-T. Thinking as in figuring out what I’m going to do with it to get it together and drivable. The biggest obstacle is Mrs. the Poet’s ban on donor vehicles unless I build it someplace away from the house. Since there is no way I’m going to have that kind of budget I have to do the crate engine and transmission route that costs a lot more than buying a low-mileage wreck and robbing it of all the drivetrain and brakes and incidentals… So I have found some really cheap crate engines but there is a reason they are cheap. Horsepower costs money, how fast do you want to spend? The range I’m looking at runs from 180 HP at about $1.5k, to 430 HP at $4k. The $1.5K engine will cost about $2200 to complete and weigh 50 pounds more than the $4k engine which will cost about the same to complete. So looking at $3700 for 180 HP compared to $6200 for 430 HP. And neither of those includes the transmission or support equipment that doesn’t mount to the engine. Well nobody ever said building cars was cheap, just cheaper than buying new. And more fun than signing a bighuge check and driving away in something you just bought, signing a few big checks, or a bunch of little checks, and driving away a few months later in something you just built.

Seriously though this is the big question to solve on this build. If I can’t get this one solved, I don’t get a Sprint-T, as simple as that. I want to buy a late model wreck and strip it but Mrs. the Poet won’t let me. I can buy a totalled wreck for about $7500-12k, and that’s cheaper because I get a complete engine and transmission with all the electronics and brakes and engine accessories and everything, plus I get to sell the shell for body parts or as scrap.

Seriously, I need to get a bigger budget for this thing.

PSA, Opus the Poet