Ok, so the frame was done last weekend and I just forgot to write about it :/ lol. School work is killing me this semester! So right now I’ve found some free time in the shop and decided to write something and let you know what’s going on.

So like I said, the frame is done! So that’s like one part down…everything else to go! Actually though we’re doing good getting bits and pieces together while we wait on our parts to arrive. Alex has been working really hard to get at least the front suspension mocked up this weekend. He’s also been working on the rear suspension and doing a great job making sure everyone’s tasks are getting completed.

Aaron’s computer crashed today with all of our Baja’s drawings on it keep your fingers crossed that we have enough of it backed up and saved elsewhere! Or better yet that the computer people can try to recover it! He’s worked so hard on those drawings and that’s sort of a crucial part to have when building the Baja…..so yeah…having those would be nice :/

David and Father Time (the other David) are working on tabs as we speak and Father Time was attempting to learn how to draw in Solidworks so that we could get our seat frame modeled up. We went to an awning place where they agreed to do the fabric on our seat for free! Free is always great considering our wonderfuly limited budget….:)

Umm…what else to write….everyone is working around me right now so I keep getting distracted looking around the shop (ADD to blame) so on that note, I’m going to go see what’s going on. Here’s some pictures of our frame and such up until now. Enjoy!

Our Frame!

Front Suspension

From Left to Right: David, Alex, Stephen, Thomas, Eric

First off, apologies for not keeping this thing more updated! Here’s a little bit of what’s been going on since well…July

Designing, Designing, Designing! Our team has been meeting weekly to discuss ideas and plan out the building of our Baja. We were informed at the end of August that the flotiation part of the competition had been thrown out because of the drought that was going on and continuing in Alabama. So a little bit of redesigning was in order but now that we have all that out of the way, we have started buidling!

So let me give you an idea of our time line……competition is April 16-19. Today is January 19. That’s 10 weeks and 3 days until competition!!! Yes…it is major crunch time but we’re starting on the right foot…even if a bit later than planned. We have been working on the frame which is being delayed a little because of some tubing that is on back order. Once we get that tubing in, we should be able to finish the frame quickly and start having everything else fall into place.

This year, we have been using a lot more bends which is making our car look a whole lot better than last years already. We were discussing the other day how this is probably one of the most complex designs that UAB’s Baja team has taken on. It’s amazing how much a year of experience makes a difference in the designing, working in the shop and how the team is working together in general. Last year was definitely a learning year and it’s showing this year just how much of that was absorbed

Here are some pictures of our progress…I’ll get some more up later. Friday and Saturday were both hard days of working and by the end of it I realized that I needed to take some pictures so I can start posting them on here…pictures are better to look at anyway than all these words. So on that note, I will be signing off and promise to write more and soon!