Today marked our final day with The Rock Bug prior to KOH and aside for the obvious general assembly, we managed to finish up the LS skid plate, battery panels, & video camera mounts (cameras don’t stream live for the driver, instead they’re just recording action for promo use). As of 4am the morning of January 17th, 2011 the all new Rock Bug 2.0 is heading back to Arizona where Tracy will continue the work still ahead, namely wiring & plumbing. Back at Spidertrax HQ, we still have a few odds & ends we’ll work on and ship out to Tracy before race day. On that list are body panels & new sway bar arms which we’ll be sure to cover in a later blog entry. Until that time, enjoy today’s progress below.
We’re one day away from finishing up the 1st stage of Rock Bug 2.0. Today we focused on wrapping up the LS throttle cable mount & new dual battery tray. We’re running dual batteries this time around for added “starting” security. With the flick of a switch, we’ll be able to run either battery of choice or both together in parallel. Tomorrow, which marks the last day The Rock Bug will be in our shop before KOH, we’ll fabricate the engine skid plate and finish up with the remainder of general assembly. Until then, enjoy the video & photos from today’s progress and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow.
Once again we’re burning thru the midnight oil working on Rock Bug 2.0, getting yet another step closer to V8 glory. Since our last update, we fabricated a new intermediate drive shaft to accommodate the length change of the Atlas. Aside from that, the rest of our energy has been absorbed in general assembly which, as you builders out there know, is a massive time suck. We’re looking forward to the weekend where we “should” have uninterrupted time with The Rock Bug, finishing up the balance of our checklist in time for delivery to Tracy this Monday. Up next, we’ll be fabricating an engine skid plate as well as a new set of sway bar arms to match the stiffer racing sway bar. Be sure to check in again this weekend as we wrap up this stage of the Rock Bug 2.0 project.
Many mounts & little room makes The Rock Bug a happy rig.
Another day, another step closer to having the Rock Bug race ready for the 2011 King of the Hammers. Since our last update, we’ve wrapped up new mounts for the orbital valve, oil filter, thermostat, power steering reservoirs, & electric water pump. In addition, the tranny cooler & radiator are now in place, settling perfectly into their new homes (the tranny cooler now lives up front with the radiator in back). There’s still plenty to wrap up before we deliver the Rock Bug to Tracy this coming Monday with the engine skid plate next on the list. We’ll be sure to post another update this weekend as we come to a close for this first stage of work in the Rock Bug 2.0 series.
Time sure flies when your working on The Rock Bug. Since our last post, we received the “Jet Coated” exhaust back from the platers with everything looking perfect. Tracy flew in to Spidertrax HQ this weekend to lend a hand with the installation of the plated exhaust as well as other odds & ends. The rest of our time has been occupied with the fabrication of a new radiator mount & guard which is now coming to a happy end. Next up we’ll be wrapping up with the electric water pump & orbital valve mounts which we’ll be sure to post updates of. Till then, enjoy the rest of your weekend & we’ll see you next time!
