Blog 24: Last Presentation Reflection

(1) Positive Statement

What are you most proud of in your block presentation and/or your senior project? Why? I am most proud of the truck because I have literally blood sweat and tears into it. I have tons of hours and yeah I am most proud of the truck.


(2) Questions to Consider

a.     What assessment would you give yourself on your block presentation?  Use the component contract to defend that assessment.

Uhh i did everything on the contract, had props on every table, and built a truck.

AE       P          AP       CR       NC

b.     What assessment would you give yourself on your overall senior project? Use the component contract to defend that assessment.
Ive done everything asked and build a working vehicle.

AE       P          AP       CR       NC

(3) What worked for you in your senior project?

My mentorship worked well.

(4) (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your senior project?
I would've build a simpler vehicle.

(5) Finding Value

How has the senior project been helpful to you in your future endeavors?   Be specific and use examples.

It has taught me life skills and made me network with people I normally wouldn't have. Please keep the senior project around!

Blog 23: Exit Interview Prep

(1) What is your essential question, and what are your answers?  What is your best answer and why?

What are the best setups for a street/strip vehicle considering budget, performance, and drivability?

Answer 1: Unlimited Budget

Answer 2: Run What You Brung

Answer 3: $15,000 Max

My best answer is probably answer 3 because I have been living that answer for this year in building this truck.

(2) What process did you take to arrive at this answer?

I built the truck along with research and interviews outside of the project.

(3) What problems did you face?  How did you resolve them?

I faced money and time problems and I fixed them by getting sponsorships and a job. For the time I just managed my homework better and gave up some free time with friends.

(4) What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?

Mentorship and Interview 2 and 3 were my best sources because what I was doing allowed me to focus more on hands on research and so I went to races and talked to so many people and made friends and have truly had a blast with this project.

Blog 22: Independent Component 2

 “I, Austin Rode, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 104 hours of work.”

My 2 first sources for my research check, both books about the automobile from chevrolet helped me with this the most.

Through out this time I worked on the chassis getting it ready for the race truck. To list some of the stuff I did, we added a C section, I redid the drum brakes, I added new motor mounts, new rear suspension, new rear end mounts, put the rear end and front suspension together and made the chassis a full roller. I also plumbed the chassis and got it ready for the motor lined and breakline to go in.
   My IC 2 helped me solidify a peace of every one of my answers. I talk about the chassis in every answer to some extent. With experiencing the chassis hands on and doing research on how to improve it the most I have learned a great deal of knowledge that I plan to use in the future and pass on.

Independent Component 2 Hour Log

Blog 17: Interview 4 Reflection

1. What is the most important thing I learned from the interview?  
I didn't learn much about my topic but I learned a lot about the person and I made a connection with a person who can help me with building the truck.

2.  How will what I learned affect my final lesson?
It probably wont effect it much but it will give me another person's set up to refer to

Blog 20: Fourth Interview Questions

1.  Who do you plan to interview?  What is this person's area of expertise?
I plan to interview my Dad's friends because he owns a shop building race cars.

1. What drove your interest in cars?
2. How young were you when you started modifying on cars?
3. What was your favorite brand of car when you started?
4. What was your first fast street car?
5. What motor was in it?
6. Did you ever drag race it?
7. What was your fastest time slip
8. What was your top speed?
9. What was your first job that had to do with cars?
10. When did you start a real racing career or team?
11. What was your role in the team?
12. Did you ever win anything?
13. Why did you quit racing?
14. How did you learn you skills in fabrication?
15. What different types of cars have you built?
16. What do you currently do for a living?
17. What drove you to start that business?
18. How competitive are your cars?
19. What do you see for the future of BND Racing?
20. Do you still have a street car today?
21. What motor is in it?
22. Any plans for modifications?

Blog 19: Answer 3

1.  What is your EQ?

What are the best setups for a street/strip vehicle considering budget, performance, and drivability?

2.  What is your third answer? (In complete thesis statement format)
The street/strip setup I chose to go with was a budget cap of 15,000.

3.  List three reasons your answer is true with a real-world application for each.
This is a bare bones car. Primer for paint, one seat, no carpet but with a running motor trans and vehicle. It is a basic race car where is minimal to save weight and therefore increase performance. 

4.  What printed source best supports your answer?
My mentorship best supports my answer because I'm actually building it.

5.  What other source supports your answer?
My personal experience has taught me a lot more then RC. Getting out in the real world and networking with many company's and many other racers has helped me a lot. 

6.  Tie this together with a concluding thought.
My concluding thought is that through building this truck I'm learning tons and gaining a lot of real world experiences

Blog 19: Answer 2

1.  What is your EQ?

What are the best setups for a street/strip vehicle considering budget, performance, and drivability?

2.  What is your first answer? (In complete thesis statement format)
The ultimate setup for a street/strip vehicle considering budget, performance, and drivability is a tube chassis, all carbon fiber body vehicle with an LS9, T56 trans, a quick change rear end, and 18” all aluminum billet wheels.

3.  What is your second answer? (In complete thesis statement format)
The cheapest set up for a street/strip vehicle considering budget, performance, and drivability is a run what you brung.

4.  List three reasons your answer is true with a real-world application for each.
Run what you brung means race what you is basically stock on your car. This is the cheapest because all it requires is buying a running vehicle. Different cars are going to perform differently but if you get a good handler then it can be raced. My examples of why this is true is because there are people who will come out to autocross and they had a group of completely stock cars. Drag racing also has a stock drag class. Road racing is a little different but they will have track days where anything is allowed.

5.  What printed source best supports your answer?
If I had to choose one, (RC 2) (S#4b) Service Manual: 1973 Chevrolet Light Duty Truck. Detroit: GMC, 1973. Print. This showed me kind of what my truck was capable stock.

6.  What other source supports your answer?
My personal experience has taught me a lot more then RC. Getting out in the real world and networking with many company's and many other racers has helped me a lot. Ive probably have 50 interview quality conversations but I don't go around recording everyone I speak with.

7.  Tie this together with a concluding thought.
My concluding thought is that my topic is just about out of research because it is very much more experience oriented and thats why you see the huge amount of hours I have put into my work.