Thread: Electrathon - A Different Kind of "Hotrod"

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9 car race is pretty good group for the times.

The T-shirt came from inkpixi.com. They have a bunch of standard designs to choose from for all kinds of of events, places, businesses, etc. Just pick out a design, shirt style, hat, beer mug, whatever and fill your name in on the order blank. Pay the total and a week or two later your personalized stuff arrives. The shirts I got are good quality material and the prices were reasonable.

Hi Bat! Yes, nine cars isn't bad under the circumstances (Covid crap), but if you look real close we actually had eleven cars in that race. A couple of them are hard to see. Of the eleven cars in the field, I built seven of them... (Yes, I'm bragging.)

Always good too toot your own horn,no one is likely to do it for ya!
Funny old expression!. But fits! That is a super group of zappy cars !
Not much happenning in Miami,been slowly making a fan shoud for my old hot rod. Taking me way too long,getting lazyer slow at 78yo now.

I'm not far behind, Bat; I just turned 73. I should have had my Deuce 3-window done a year ago, but I've probably got almost a year left to go before it's finished. I keep getting slower and slower...

Originally Posted by J. Robinson

I'm not far behind, Bat; I just turned 73. I should have had my Deuce 3-window done a year ago, but I've probably got almost a year left to go before it's finished. I keep getting slower and slower...

I know the feeling. In my prime I arose at 4:30am started work at 5:00am and worked until it got too dark to see. (Apart from meal breaks. Although after a bad motorcycle accident She dictated that I had to be home by 6:00pm) The tanker arrived at 7:00 am and we had to be finished milking.

Now at 74 I start at 8:30am and knock off anywhere between 3:30 and 4:30pm.

What I used to do all day now takes me all day to do.

Great update Jim. Nice to see your still racing and building electric cars! I'm still working on the 48Ford F1. I just mostly start it and run the engine to make sure the carb doesn't clog. I've been stewing for years whether to keep front suspension stock and get new leafsprings about 1K by time you get new connecting parts or if I try and find some smart fellow who works at a wage I can afford to get a mustang 2 setup front, which opens a big can of worms for steering ect! Or I could just do what a friend suggested and put the inner and outer fenders back on the front and put rest of body back together, finish wiring and lights and just use it! I have, all the parts to do the last part! So just time.

Originally Posted by stovens

I'm still working on the 48Ford F1. I just mostly start it and run the engine to make sure the carb doesn't clog. I've been stewing for years whether to keep front suspension stock Or I could just do what a friend suggested and put the inner and outer fenders back on the front and put rest of body back together, finish wiring and lights and just use it! I have, all the parts to do the last part! So just time.

I consider us friends, even tho' we've never even met!

I'll echo your other friend, don't get bogged down in the details and deny yourself any time in that truck. Bolt it together and do the things in life that can make you smile! Paint what you can / while you can and enjoy it for what it is. Life is to short and very imperfect.. We all cannot be MP&C... We don't have Cosmo to back us up.. I can only offer you some advice. That and 2 bucks will maybe get you a coffee.. You are still in California right?

Bolt it back together and drive it! Now you've got 2 friends tellin' you that!

Sorry to derail the thread!

HijackedThread.gif

Originally Posted by 34_40

I consider us friends, even tho' we've never even met!

I'll echo your other friend, don't get bogged down in the details and deny yourself any time in that truck. Bolt it together and do the things in life that can make you smile! Paint what you can / while you can and enjoy it for what it is. Life is to short and very imperfect.. We all cannot be MP&C... We don't have Cosmo to back us up.. I can only offer you some advice. That and 2 bucks will maybe get you a coffee.. You are still in California right?

Bolt it back together and drive it! Now you've got 2 friends tellin' you that!

Sorry to derail the thread!

Another echo! Make that three! Bolt it together, and if you really want to do more to it pick up parts as you can. QA1 offers a sweet F100 IFS, and IRS too, but only back to '65 I expect that once you start driving it and using it like a truck it'll be "done".

And now, back to our regular scheduled Electrathon Hot Rod Updates!

Thanks, and I'm pretty much decided to get her back together. Will at least need her for the front yard Cider Busness sign once that gets going in the next 7-9 years, depending when I retire. And yup, still in California Officially the Fire State area of Northern California!

Hijacked thread?? Nah! We're all friends here and we all like to hear what ya have to say.

Well, we had our annual "Dash Races" last Saturday (4/10/21) at Brandon High School. Originally the race was supposed to be run on March 6th, but rain forced a postponement to April 10th. That worked well for me because I was in the process of converting an old go-kart into an Electrathon racer. I had barely started the conversion in March and actually was planning on running it at next year's Dash. When the Dash was postponed, however, everything changed. I shifted into "banzai mode" and the rush was on.

This go-kart was partially modified by a pair of Engineering students a couple of years ago. They had a plausible idea, but their execution was lacking. My good friend and racing cohort, Rodney Schreck, obtained the kart from them and brought it to me. I cut their roll bar and a few other cobbled pieces off and basically started over. The kart was originally made to turn left on oval tracks. The front spindles were offset at different lengths and the rear axle was also off center. I replaced the front spindles and hubs with an equal length pair, replaced the rear axle with a new one 3 inches longer and centered it. I built a new roll cage and modified the old motor mount to hold the motor in the correct location and position. I replaced the seat with a new one, but I had to make significant modifications to it, too.

For power I chose a Motenergy ME-909 motor and an Alltrax SR-48300 controller. A couple of pics below show it in progress after I painted the frame and one finished shot ready to race. I finally buttoned it up about 4:00 PM Friday and loaded it in my truck for Saturday's race. The first race Saturday was not good. The battery management system in the Lithium battery pack kept shutting off the power unexpectedly. Between races we plugged in the laptop and Rodney reprogrammed the Alltrax controller. The second race was much better. Rodney had the acceleration parameters set too low and the car was really slow leaving the starting line, but once it was wound up it flew. I don't have a speedometer in it yet, but lap times indicate I was running approximately 40 mph.

The leading car had tire problems in both races, so he logged a DNF and was awarded 3rd Place. Because of his misfortune I got second place (3 cars in the Advanced Battery class). The important part is I was pleased with the car's performance in the second race. We will tweak the programming in the controller to help with acceleration and I may need to try different gearing, but I think this configuration has some real potential.

Sweet design. More room for yah! probably a cooler ride too

Interesting design. Does it end up with the weight majority over the rear wheels.?

I also wondered what the weight difference is from your original design vehicles and if the wide tires require more battery power?

OK, I really don't know what the weight difference is compared to my "Silver Bullet" cars. I haven't been able to weigh this one yet. I was busy building it right up to the last minute before it was time to load it up. Just guessing, I believe it's heavier than my purple car by at least 15 or 20 pounds. I think it's probably pretty close to 50 - 50 weight distribution with me in it, but I haven't had it on scales yet. Without me in it the rear is heavier. Also, like almost all modern go-karts, the motor is on the right side and the driver is offset to the left. I really want to scale this thing and find out what the percentages are.

The good news is it stuck to the track like it was on rails. In the second race I was running wide open the whole way without slowing for the corners. That's what leads me to think I can change up the gear ratio next time for a higher terminal speed. I do think the wider tires and "live axle" rear end use more power, but in a 20 minute race it wasn't an issue. Our next race, the season ender, is also on an oval, but it will be the usual full hour-long races. That will be the real test of the practicality of this machine. I suspect this vehicle is strictly an oval-track car and the locked rear end will make it impractical for the tight parking lot road courses we run most of the time. Whatever happens I'll report it here.

Just ideas;;As long as your running those wide fat tires,I would think making one of your drive wheels a free floater=then it would be one wheeldrive>that would save power{it not a standing start dragrace}. Also depending on the turns on a track,tire PSI could be added to lower rolling res..
Looks like fun. Love red!!! Not so much the number.