Friday, August 10, 2012

Mono Build Entry #3





With the gas tank cavity assembled and awaiting the tanks arrival, we have focused on the fire and brake bias systems (both options, selected for chassis 0007) plus the front shear plate area of the chassis.
The optional fire system has six blue nozzles, two in the drivers compartment, 4 in the engine bay. The following picture shows the two drivers compartment nozzles, peeking out from behind the front roll hoop. The black boots on either side of the brake pedal cover the bias bar's clevises. When we have more of the interior installed, we will install the cable from the bias bar to the cockpit, allowing on-the-fly adjustment.


All of the fire system lines are hand formed, then test fit, then sheathed with a fire resistant material. The bottle is attached to the sub floor, with one line running fore (then immediately T'ing for the two drivers nozzles) and one line running aft. The blue masking tape on the right is to temporarily hold the aft line in place until we install the fuel cell.


 Here you can see the back side of the gas tank cavity, and all four nozzles in the engine bay.  It is best to order this option initially, as adding it later is a challenge, especially once the cabin is fully built and trimmed.

Here we are up close and personal with 0007’s front shear plate. This shows the careful attention to detail and integration that went into the design of the Mono, with almost every bracket having multiple functions (are those BAC guys channeling Chapman?). The billet front shear plate, for example, is a structural member of the chassis that also holds the steering rack, wishbone mounts, and the front storage box bracket. The storage box bracket, in turn, also holds the reservoirs for the clutch and brake systems.  Clever and beautiful!


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