JDowns Limitless Build

[BashingBrian]

Mario was fired yesterday..

Poor guy, back to plumbing I suppose..??

 

[JDowns]

Plan B. Wasn't really digging the design and was a challenge to get things looking right built around the stock body. So.. time to start from scratch and build a Lemans car. Need to print the entire front end and take measurements before I can finish some things up on the design. The front end is (4) pieces to print at about 34 hours per piece. This will take awhile and be a lengthy project for sure.

 

[LibertyMKiii]

Wow did you design that car yourself in CAD?
That is very impressive!

 

[jondilly1974]

How much of that body is off the shelf and how much is printed? How large of a build plate do you have? What filament do you plan on using?

 

[JDowns]

Wow did you design that car yourself in CAD?
That is very impressive!

The design is based off of Brett Turnage's design on GrabCad. I've just scaled it and modifying it to fit the Limitless chassis . It will need to be further modified for the drivers pod. But for the most part it will be largely his design. There are parts of the Mazda 787 I don't care for, so those will be changed also. But its a great start. Brett did an awesome job with the design.

How much of that body is off the shelf and how much is printed? How large of a build plate do you have? What filament do you plan on using?

The entire thing will be printed in CPE+. I use an Ultimaker 3, so the build volume is 7.8 x 8.5 x 7.9 inches.

 

[BitcoinGTR]

Can't wait to see what the POV cam footage come out like! Amazing work on the 3d Printed parts!

 

[JDowns]

9 more hours and I'll have a front end....Man this is going to be a lengthy project.

I do need to at one point decide if this will be one single body or two pieces. If I go two pieces then the entire outside can be attached to the splitters and just have a center drop in piece. Either way I've provisioned mounting for either option. It will all come down to how the drivers pod ends up looking.

If I go two pieces then this is the hole that is available to access batteries.

 

[SrC]

@JDowns , outstanding work!

 

[JDowns]

Front end is dry assembled.

 

[LibertyMKiii]

Wowza! That is very nice!
How is the weight on something like this?

I have to get a 3d printer now!!!! I can see myself making a mold out of something like this to make the final body out of Carbon fiber.

 

[jondilly1974]

Wowza! That is very nice!
How is the weight on something like this?

I have to get a 3d printer now!!!! I can see myself making a mold out of something like this to make the final body out of Carbon fiber.

The infill percentage is going to have a huge impact on weight, and inversely, strength. Super easy to tweak it. I would think something like this you would want to stay under 25%, and a minimum of at least 5%. You could give it a try for a very small entry fee. A decent 3D printer is under $500 for sure, but as little as $200.

 

[JDowns]

The weight is going to be up there for sure. Probably close to 1000 grams with 15% infill. For the prototype I'll definitely have to modify the shocks like I did with the Infraction with TPU boots that limit the shocks but still provide movement.

The end game would be to reprint a mold. Some tweaks will need to be made for vacuum forming, but it's achievable.
Around midnight the other side will be done. Getting the other side in place will let me fine tune where the front mount is located.

 

[JDowns]

Getting to this point I can start to see that a two piece is going to work out well. Plenty of room to access batteries. A drop in top would be nice, a plus would be to make it magnetic and not have any exposed posts for mounting.

 

[jondilly1974]

Getting to this point I can start to see that a two piece is going to work out well. Plenty of room to access batteries. A drop in top would be nice, a plus would be to make it magnetic and not have any exposed posts for mounting.

Now you have me thinking about doing a magnetic mount for my new Jag body. How wise would that be for a speed runner? Wondering how much speed it would take to rip it off... ?

 

[LibertyMKiii]

I believe you can use magnets relatively safely in the rear. Phillip has done it before (I believe on a Slash)
The front should remain more "standard methods"

I have some Neodymium magnets that you cannot separate by hand if you tried lol.

 

[jondilly1974]

I believe you can use magnets relatively safely in the rear. Phillip has done it before (I believe on a Slash)
The front should remain more "standard methods"

I have some Neodymium magnets that you cannot separate by hand if you tried lol.

Yes I have some bar magnets that you need pliers or channel locks to separate

 

[JDowns]

24 more hours and the next two side pieces will be done. Then I can adjust the rake with a small insert at the bottom where the body hits the side skirts.

You can see the sag from this view.

 

[jondilly1974]

Are those pieces sanded? The finish is really dulled.

 

[JDowns]

Are those pieces sanded? The finish is really dulled.

Yes all the pieces are pre sanded with 220. Figured I’d get a head start while other pieces are printing. Once everything is dry assembled then I can start epoxying them together. Then the fun process of bondo and primer phase. But a lot of printing to go yet.

 

[LibertyMKiii]

Is the plan to retain the plate on the bottom to give the car a true flat undertray?