The mighty 8 horse motor(left), and the 2001 vehilce being primed and painted in the Minneapolis fabrication shop (below).

   It is of  fairly difficult to describe the process I go through to conceive and build each generation of the next mutant vehicle. Mostly, this process involves lot of thinking and planning. When I begin building, I have a general design in mind. I focus on what I have to work with firstly, then I begin to expand on what the components I have are capable of. In this circumstance, I know that the motor generates eight horse power. From this base, I have to consider the torque of the motor and the gear reduction necessary to propel the vehicle at a safe speed without taxing the motor. There are weight issues, there are load stresses on the frame. The wheels have to support the loads of several people during nominal operation. The alignment of the gears (cogs, actually) are critical to the sustained performance of the vehicle. Precision is everything. If the alignment is of by a few degrees, we could have a catastrophic failure. This year, I have spent a lot (A LOT) of time tweaking the drive train asembly to ensure a smooth mechanical alignment. This may seem all to tedious for the people that I will be transporting on the Playa, but it is everything to me as the fabricator.

  Human safety is the number one goal. I will be ultimately be responsible for the sucess of this endeavoir.

  This new vehicle has axel brake drums (not unlike most automobiles) which will stop the MV on a dime. I am using direct mechanical linkage from the brakes to the foot pedal in the drivers seat. The throttle is a shethed cable going from the motor to the accelaters foot pedal.

   Since I am using a steering column from a Geo Metro which operates the rack and pinion gear, I have all the wiring built in to start and stop the motor at will. (starting circut, lights, accesories etc...) My biggest concern now is the overall weight of the vehicle. It may turn out that I might have to obtain a ten horse motor.

   The tricky parts are all about the details. We should have an adequate power to weight ratio to smoothly operate safely.

   The testing will be rigorous. I will have to push this vehicle to it's limits. Probably costly. So far, this machine is approaching the three thousand dollar amount in materials alone. (Don't even get me started with the labor costs) We are talking steel, welding, electrical custom fabrication of each and every part. If you do not love doing this kind of work, you can not do it. Pictures soon to follow. Fork on. JB 6-14-07

 

 Just testing the placement of the steering assembly.

  The "Naughtylis" mutant vehicle is beginning to take shape. Now that the drive train and alternater mounts are finished, The driver's seat is being mocked up and primary welding is in full force. The early design provided for the driver to sit up on the upper level in a single seat, weight distrubition calls for the driver to be in the front of the vehicle on the lower level. The image above is showing the design process involving the temporary placement of the steering column over the seat mock up.

   I was hoping to use the front seats of an old Colt, but weight limitations have moved me in the direction of using the back seat instead. The rear seat is basically a foam form with cloth atached. On the donor car, a piece of the formed sheet steel (unibody) cradles the seat cushion is its place holding it's shape. So naturally I used various metal cutting tools to dissect the very piece of sheet metal from the car and trimm it to recieve new reinforcement steel tubing as a way to attach the rear seats to the existing frame of the Naughtylis.

   

   The next phase of the process involves erecting the structural steel base for the upper level. This framework aslo supports the front drivers area.