Author: Earl White

More detailed design work has been done towards vehicle certifications and manufacturing plans. Most of this work is done by project Engineer, Bruce Armstrong. We hope that by having everything planned in detailed from the start, we will save money by cutting down on labour costs due to uncertainty and mistakes. But a lot of precious time is taken up by the need for all this documentation; we must find ways to spend less time describing things and more time actually building them.

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With clearance from the licensing authorities, work on chassis modification is now under way. Detailed design work in the AutoCad model is now being turned into detailed manufacturing drawings, and these are being distributed to a growing cadre of volunteer mechanics, engineers and materials specialists for realisation into metal and plastic. To better visualize the body shape, a 1/12 scale physical model was built (see photo). Meanwhile, there is plenty of work to do to get the refurbished 3L engine mounted into a steel carry frame and moved over to the Byfield’s factory.

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Work continues on the chassis modification, which is being strengthened as well as elongated. Before the 3L engine and gearbox is mounted to the chassis, the opportunity to recondition it is being taken (though the engine is in working order). This involves a good deal of hunting for spare parts – some from generic suppliers and some from Toyota dealers. The donor vehicle continues to be stripped of anything useful, including engine mounts, a vacuum reservoir, and electrical parts. The steel carry frame for moving the engine is now finished.

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Much work on the powerplant – a modified 3 litre, diesel engine with 4 x 4 transmission – took place slowly over the past few months. Many components, especially seals, gaskets, clamps and water pipes etc. of the engine were cleaned, inspected, painted and/or replaced. The oil pan was removed, cleaned and painted. A modified oil dump line was fitted and the speedometer cable was removed. The handbrake was dismantled, inspected for wear, tested and replaced. The speedometer cable was removed – it will be replaced with an electronic version.

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It’s taken a long time to get further with the project, since both of the main workers have been tied up with other duties (read: paid work). However, at last the steelwork plans were completed and the floor frame and vertical bulkheads are being assembled. Now that this work is in hand, the task for we MSA volunteers is to get busy with the support equipment for the powerplant: exhaust system, coolant plumbing, electrical and transmission.

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Construction is proceeding smoothly, with a number of basic components being fitted, including the new forward and rear propeller shafts, the primary fuel tank and shock absorbers. With the steel framework of the floor (almost) complete, we are ready to begin assembling the floor ‘sandwich’, which consists of an aluminum sheet panel (underside), thermal insulation layer (glass fibre bats and hardwood standoffs) and a plastic and aluminum upper layer. Vertical bulkhead frames can be fabricated as soon as a new order of RHS steel arrives.

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Further construction work is continuing, slowly. The engine mounting and steel framework is basically complete and work is now proceeding to propeller shafts, steering link and frame for the radiator. The gearshift and transfer box linkages are proving to be particularly challenging, since a set of two complex controls need to be brought forward over the cabin from the behind the engine. Mechanical engineer Andrew Cornejo has agreed to design these, based on conceptual sketches from Bruce Armstrong.

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The floor frame and two of the vertical bulkhead frames are now complete, but the floor sandwich and radiator frame has yet to be completed.

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A new home for the Starchaser rover has been built by Trinity College in East Perth. The new housing is a colourbond garage with large doors, designed especially for the vehicle. The vehicle will be moved there once steelwork construction has been completed. Work currently being undertaken includes the construction of the forward bumper and the forward control linkage. It is hoped that the excellent workshop and technical facilities at Trinity College will speed up construction.

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Much of the last two months has been spent on the task of obtaining competitive quotes for outsourcing some of the work remaining on the engine, bodywork and steel framing. This is not easy to manage, since it requires a lot of description and negotiation on work packets, prices and timing. There is a huge shortage of contractors in the Western Australia at present, and this is complicating the outsourcing task. However some progress has been made on the steelwork, and mechanical tasks surrounding the engine.

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