Wheel Refurbishing

Solid Edge CAD Drawing

I managed to get the wheel centers I designed for the 2006 car a few months after the car (Thanks Roy and Dr Jones!). 

In preparation for the trip from Alabama to Houston I needed to get the car rolling for ease of transport. Here is some info from my search for the correct Weld Wheel Halves and Hardware to assemble the custom 3 piece wheels and a few images from the design process in 2006  

• History on the 2006 wheel center.....Amtec was a machining sponsor and they were knocking our door down to machine something after the summer of 05. We did not have anything designed to send them but i had been toying around with the idea of custom wheel centers (~1lb weight saving per corner....4lb total). We sent them slabs of 7075 billet and they machined the wheels after the design was finalized. I played with several designs but the one that showed the most promise was essentially a copy of the split spoke BBS design that is so popular. It turns out it is popular because it is really light and strong. If you give the spokes a high lateral MOI you can make it quite spindly and still have good lateral load resistance. The Solid edge drawing is parametric with easy adjustments for spoke angle and width. I just played with the parameters until i had a good blend of aesthetics, lateral (function of Spoke thickness into wheel for good MOI), vertical, (Spoke width), and torque resistance (Spoke angle).
• The Weld wheel half part numbers are P851-3214 (2.25") inner and P851-3318 (3.25") outer
• Its been like 7 years........but i believe my load case was a combined loading of 3g of rear lateral weight transfer and 3g bump with maximum 1st gear torque load. The Lateral and Bump loads were applied to the bottom 4 bolt holes and the torque load was applied to all bolt holes. The wheel was constrained through the lugs.
• Hindsight is always 20/20......On a 3 piece design i would alter the wheel center to have threaded wheel half holes. This would eliminate the need for the bolts to be inserted from the inside and nuts on the outside.....oops......

FEA Load Case:   3G lateral Accel; 3G Bump; Full 1st gear torque load

FEA of Final Design

Wheel Displacement at FEA Load Case

Machined Center

Machined Center in Action (California 2006)

Calculating backspacing to order correct Weld wheel halves

Wheel Center Test Fit

Wheel assembly in Alabama during Christmas 2012

Assembled Wheels

Weld Part Numbers

In The Beginning.....

Auburn 2006 FSAE Making the trip to my parents' house until i can trailer her to back to Houston

Starting point

Let the restoration begin!

California 2006 glory days

2006 Frame after Partial Dis-assembly to make frame repairs and bracket deletions

Parts Pile......

To Do List:

1. Find Suitable Replacement for Motec M800 ECU

*This ECU is about $6000 new so I need an affordable replacement that will still allow dual stage fuel injection with full sequential control of 8 injectors, traction control, launch control, data logging, gear change ignition cut, pwm fan control, etc etc.

2. Assess Motor Condition and refurbish as necessary

3. Repair and Rebuild Rear Differential (eliminate leaky seals around stub shafts)

4. Frame repairs (Diff clevis mount repairs and shifter bottle mount delete)

5. Refurbish 2006 wheels and buy wheel halves and hardware to make a complete set

6. Replace Wheel Bearings

7. Machine new Diff clevis

8. Rebuild Koni 2812 Dampers, Repair stripped Nitrogen fill port threads

9. Dry Sump Repackage and Redesign

10. Re Plumb Dry Sump

11. Fix Intake Manifold Leak, rebuild throttle body, replace restrictor Wiggins clamp o-rings

12. Test and Rebuild Fuel Injectors

13. Redesign shift system to incorporate paintball nitrogen cylinder instead of CO2

14. Inspect STM slipper clutch

15. Wheel Speed sensors

16. Many things not known yet

$120 Harbor Freight Lift (880lb) and spreader plate installed in garage for lifting car on and off stands