Progress continues, albeit at what feels like a glacial pace. Mentally, the project’s at something of a tipping point. All the big hard stuff is done, and many of the little bits are done too, so larger sub-assemblies are starting to come together.
Today the right side rear suspension was completed and the axles were installed (they still fit!) What’s frustrating right now is whenever there’s a sense of progress, it gets humbled by seeing what’s still left to do. For example, the rear suspension’s in, but I noted that the oil pressure and temperature sensors have yet to be interfaced to the ECU… which hasn’t yet been interfaced to the dash either, and on and on. So while progress is happening, there’s still many things on the pile.
Found out today that the rear uprights are in a slightly different location from where I designed them to be. Not off by enough to warrant doing it all over again (good!) but it’s very annoying that it happens at all. I triple-check everything suspension-related and this sort of thing really bugs me. It’s not a big deal to the design, but it’s a real drag mentally – the feeling that something that was thought finished and correct might be wrong.
That aside, part of the reason for going with 275mm rear tires was to confirm they do indeed fit, so that when builders ask how large a tire will fit, well, now we know. There’s about 3/4″ clearance between the tire and chassis which is barely enough… though… hey… I just realized something… the brake rotors aren’t installed. They add about 1/4″ offset, which helps correct the above-mentioned unexplained goof… somewhat.
Speaking of the axles; with them in-place, it was possible to finally test the clutch effort and feel. It’s not as short a throw as expected, and pedal pressure’s pretty firm, but I’ll manage. Oh, and the picture with the tire in it, yes, it’s spinning, but no, the engine’s not turning it, I just gave it a whirl before snapping the shot 😉