May 13 Team Meeting

Okay so we actually got a ton done today. Like, a surprising amount. Let’s get into it.

Rear Wheel Alignment

Penguin and Gino came through with a prototype rear wheel alignment system they designed and cut out themselves. The whole point is to get rid of the sketchy toe adjustments we’ve been dealing with — you know, the ones where you’re just kind of hoping the wheels are pointed the right direction. Camber is still a work in progress, but toe is basically solved at this point, which feels really good.

Adjustable Pedal System

This one is genuinely cool. Crouton and Rhiley built a full track-based adjustable pedal gantry, and they clearly put a lot of thought into it. Like, a lot. The gantry has the Seagull Solar logo and the car name Chawlee plasma cut right into it, which honestly looks sick. There’s a locking bolt so the whole thing stays put once you’ve set your position, and each driver is going to have their own pre-marked spot for fast swaps during competition. Oh, and everything is off-the-shelf automotive hardware, which was a deliberate choice — if something breaks in Texas, we’re not stranded waiting on a specialty part.

Front Alignment

We also started actually dialing in the front end today. The tie rods from a few sessions back were… not great. They were basically worst-case adjustable test pieces. We got those sorted out and the alignment is looking a lot more respectable now.

Brakes

All the brake parts showed up from Amazon today, which was exciting. New 5-point harness too. We also designed and plasma cut a front bracket that modifies the knuckle to accept two calipers — this is for our redundant braking system, which is a competition requirement and honestly just a good idea when you’re talking about a car doing real speeds. Having that bracket come out of our own shop, designed in-house and cut on our own equipment, is exactly the kind of thing we’ve been leaning into. We spent some time on the lathe machining the shaft for the brake pedal assembly too — not glamorous work but it needs to be right, so we took our time with it.

High-Voltage Enclosure

Penguin designed the HV enclosure and we kicked off the print on the new Bambu H2C. We specifically needed the H2C for this one because the enclosure is big enough that it has to print in a single piece — no seams, no assembly, just one clean part. We’ve been trying to be intentional about fit and finish throughout this whole build, and having access to McKee’s manufacturing equipment genuinely gives us an edge over other teams in that department. Not going to lie, it’s kind of a flex.

Battery and Enclosure Planning

We spent a good chunk of the evening deep in the weeds on the battery replacement plan, enclosure design, and tiedown strategy. It’s one of those conversations that kind of has to happen before you can move forward on anything else. Lots of whiteboarding. Good progress.

Coilover Sourcing

Some of the team worked on finding front and rear coilovers that actually meet the 50% loaded rule while being able to handle the real weight of the car. Spring rate selection is one of those things that sounds simple until you actually have to do it.

Most Importantly

Ivan hooked us up. Tacos and tortillas from Taqueria El Gallo Azteca on Staten Island. If you know, you know. The team was very well taken care of.

Long session, great energy, and we’re actually starting to see this thing come together. Texas is in July. We’re on it.