After 10 years or so, we're getting the MIT Aztec solar race car running again!

[Wayne 962]

Started this about a month or so ago. Cool project that I worked on many, many years ago. Full details on the car can be found on the Dempsey Motorsports website here: https://dempseymotorsports.com/mit-aztec-solar-car/

Some photos in the meantime!

-Wayne

[Wayne 962]

More...

[Neilk]

How much power can new solar cells produce compared to when that one was built?

[look 171]

Hey Wayne, were you involved with the building that back then? I help with the carbon layup in 1991, the Solar Eagle at Cal State Los Angeles that beat out a lot of engineering schools. I was a Industrial Tech major after I got tired of Geology.

[harvardma]

Cool stuff. For my senior project at WPI we built a solar powered car for the New England tour de sol and MIT had a car in the event as well. That was in 1989 so a predecessor of the Aztec.

[Racerbvd]

Cool

[john70t]

These guys stole your design and put it on modern steroids (one of my dream cars):

https://aptera.us/
-Aptera is the most efficient Solar Electric Vehicle that requires no charging for most daily use
-1,000 miles on a single charge
-40 miles of solar powered driving per day
-0-60 mph in 4 seconds.

[john70t]

How about a 800hp 86lb motor? : https://www.koenigsegg.com/dark-matter

[Seahawk]

Neat stuff.

The company I was a partner in helped built two composite solar cars, one with Duke and one with Appalachian State.

I was not involved other than watching the great young men and women of both universities do their thing.

Very inspiring.

[Wayne 962]

Originally Posted by Neilk

How much power can new solar cells produce compared to when that one was built?

I'm not sure yet, but I will be measuring it when I get it fully assembled?

-Wayne

[Wayne 962]

Originally Posted by look 171

Hey Wayne, were you involved with the building that back then? I helped with the carbon layup in 1991, the Solar Eagle at Cal State Los Angeles that beat out a lot of engineering schools. I was a Industrial Tech major after I got tired of Geology.

I worked on the car, but it was mostly assembled when I was there. I did help work on one of the next cars - the Australia car, which wasn't an official MIT car, but one that was an entry from a fellow who's name I think was Olaf?

-Wayne

[Wayne 962]

Originally Posted by john70t

These guys stole your design and put it on modern steroids (one of my dream cars):

https://aptera.us/
-Aptera is the most efficient Solar Electric Vehicle that requires no charging for most daily use
-1,000 miles on a single charge
-40 miles of solar powered driving per day
-0-60 mph in 4 seconds.

Yup, well aware of Aptera. In fairness, we stole our design from the Pegasus and the CNR PF:

The Pegasus and Fusion Human Powered Vehicles - HPV - Kelly Londry

-Wayne






-Wayne

[Wayne 962]

My To Do list for the next few weeks:

Rear decklid:
- Cut rivets off of panels
- Solder connections onto panels (need to buy red and black wire – what awg?)
- Mount panels down with double sided tape (route and manage wires)
- Wire up panels underneath with zip-tie down blocks
- Cut and drill new rear window
- Install Solectria sticker

Body:
- Clean and install driver side stickers
- Repair front trap door access panel
- Create stickers for holes on each side of car
- Build new front headlamp “bucket”
- Clean up front nose
- Create and install Ingersold-Rand sticker
- Create and install DOE sticker
- Create ATdS entry form, etc.
- Patch and repair damaged spots (gelcoat repair or white vinyl tape)
- Cut and install new windscreen
- Clean out debris from bottom of body
- Clean frame

Interior:
- Recover seats
- Label dashboard

Electrical:
- Install dash light
- Install front headlamp wiring and switch
- Install front parking lamp markers
- On/off switch for support battery
-


Doors:
- Cut new side windows
- Install new side windows
- Clean driver’s door
- Patch doors
- Lubricate door handle mechanism
- Install MIT sticker + Nissan sticker
- Patch gelcoat on doors
- Touch up paint on hardware

Powertrain:
- Crimp battery connection attached to emergency cut-off switch
- Crimp driver’s side battery connection
- Cut and connect circuit breaker wires to left-side shunt
- Mount bus bar at bottom front of chassis
- Check to see if cable length will be long enough for battery #1
- Install single stud junction block
- Modify front battery tray for newly-sized battery.
- Install front battery in place
- Lubricate chain
- Figure out reverse?
- New front tires?

Rear bumper:
- Clean up rear surface
- Install new emergency cut-off pull
- Wire up and glue new turn-signal lamps
- Wire up and glue in place license plate lamp
- Test fit new license plate frame
- Zip tie and tack down rear trunk wires
- Check LEDs on “driving lamps” on the one that doesn’t light up too well
- Reinstall rear lamps
- Place three stickers (MIT, Nissan, Aztec)
- 3D print new license plate frame and paint Dempsey Motorsports lettering white


Purchase List:
- DONE: Terminal blocks for solar panel wires
- DONE: Red and black wire
- DONE: 3M doublesided sticky tape
- DONE: Zip tie down blocks (to capture wires, etc.)
- DONE: Racing pull down handle

-Wayne

[Wayne 962]

Photos

[Wayne 962]

Moved it to my home garage so I can work on it a bit more...

-Wayne

[Wayne 962]

More progress!

-Wayne

[Wayne 962]

[sc_rufctr]

Very cool. I'm rather envious

[Wayne 962]

Got my solar panels today! Ordered them almost a month ago from China. They are the only size that will fit this specific pattern and look like the original ones. After tracking down Adams Probe 16 parts, and Porsche 962 parts, and other random, hard-to-find stuff, I never thought I'd have an issue finding solar panels in a particular size. But apparently the ones we used back in 1993 or so were an unusual size that no one makes any more. It's not like there are lots of used solar panels from 1993 up on eBay these days...

Wifey not happy about the living room takeover.

-Wayne

[Wayne 962]

Wifey says, "hurry up".

-Wayne