Off To Bay Area Maker Faire 2014

"There is no significant difference between scrap and stock."

~Jim Stewart, inventor & YMY mentor

sewing machine pedal

wheelchair motors, lawnmower wheels

scrap metal

Bodywork, part 2

All photos by Sabrina Granados

Progress on the Race Car

Every meeting we get a couple hours farther along with the project.

The frame and basic power system are in place. Now it's a matter of many small tasks:

removing unnecessary plastic 

drilling mounting holes

stripping rust

replacing a temporary hose clamp...

...with a stronger steel band

considering a sewing machine foot pedal

Getting closer!

Power Racing Series Resources

Some miscellaneous websites, collected while poking around looking for information:

Power Racing Series main site 

Power Racing Series wiki 

Power Racing Series google group 

Power Racing Series on Vimeo 

Make Magazine series on putting a car together 

Maker Faire Power Wheels Pacing Race 1

Other Power Wheels modification sites:

http://www.modifiedpowerwheels.com/ 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/NIMBY-Power-Wheels-Racing/568621709817475 

http://www.saltydog.com/powerwheels/

Parts resources:

Power Wheels replacement parts

Freecycle

Craigslist

Harbor Freight Tools 

and don't forget your local recycling center. 

Team Radlamp

We are evolving from a Young Makers group into the Radlamp Race Team.

Radlamp generously offered to sponsor our Power Racer build, which even with the $500 budget cap is a costly project to split between only a few families.

This has coincided with the natural progression of the group into something more like a garage workshop. Instead of focusing solely on the teen projects, we all now work together in a more cooperative way. It's a looser, more social organization, and everyone seems happy with the way it's going.

Here is the Power Racer in progress:

testing batteries

removing the body

removing rusted brake

learning to use the Sawzall...

...to take off unnecessary bracing

motors from an old tape drive will power the wheels

lawnmower wheels on the frame

testing the body fit

our driver trying for size

And the first test drive? Pretty good, despite the silly sound effects.

)

Recycling Center

Yesterday was our trip to the recycling center to brainstorm Power Wheels modifications and see if we could find any useful parts.

The recycling center, which sells scrap by the pound, is like a maker's toy store.

We walked along dirt paths to find...

bicycles...

 old farm machinery...

and other fun things.

 There was even a table with items like brass candlesticks and copper cookware.

We briefly considered a mobility cart, but it was too heavy to be economical at a per pound pricing.

Then in one of the dumpsters that we spotted this, a go-kart frame with a bent steering column:

 A short while later, Leo found his dream Power Wheels, a red Ford Mustang:

The cost for both of them was $28. One man's trash...

Two Discarded Power Wheels

At the Maker Faire we'd talked about perhaps trying to put together something to enter in the Power Racing Series held there each year. As luck would have it, a Power Wheels pickup had been dumped in a ditch near our meeting spot. A call out on Freecycle yielded a Power Wheels quad.

We'll be going to the local recycling center soon to look for motors, wheels and other parts. Updates to follow—