techBox

Hot on the heels of my recent announcement for version 1.0.0, version 1.0.1 has been released.

This includes a minor update which automatically adds any new contacts to the nabaztag MSN contact list.

Enjoy!

http://code.google.com/p/bunnybot/

I have just released version 1.0.0 of my current pet project, BunnyBot.
This C#/.Net project is a windows service or console applicatrion which logs your nabaztag bunny into an MSN account whenever it is awake. Any messages sent to the MSN account is spoken by the bunny.

To download the binaries, jump over to:

http://code.google.com/p/bunnybot/

I have finally switched to WordPress as I was sick of filtering through all the spam comments I was getting with myBloggie.

I chose WP so I don’t have to spend a lot of time designing the site as there are loads of great existing designs out there. I was halfway to implementing BlogEngine.Net but ran out of time writing a decent theme.

I dry-assembled the front suspension today to get the car rolling.
Just need to mount the discs and wheels and that end is done.

Had some fun with an angle grinder removing some unwanted bits (included the front tow point) to make it fit correctly.

I also found that the grease nipples on the beam are right in the way of the mounting brackets, but have been assured that the grease will stay in if they are removed

I will be designing some sort of bonnet lifting mechanism in the coming weeks so watch this space for some more CAD drawings

The work continues…

I have taken delivery of some new parts, some nice shiny 7″ front lights and a brake master cylinder, both from http://www.coolairvw.co.uk/. Mmm free delivery

I’m also thinking about engines and have decided to build one from scratch using a custom kit from http://www.vwspeedshop.co.uk/.

Just finalising some details about the size of components to use to decide the overall engine capacity to end up with. At the moment it’s looking to be between 1776 and 2017 cc, but I need to investigate torque levels and power curves some more.
Any advice for something thats a bit beefy and has quick acceleration without going overboard (I like my gearbox unbroken), greatly received.

Cheers!

Have today created a mould with Mel Hubbard to knock out some pods to house the rear lights. ‘Frenching’ them in.

Also created one pod and it’s perfect. Will be cutting it to size and begin chopping the rear of the buggy around to make them fit.
Also had a crash course in glassing and will be attacking the sidepods (blending them in) over the coming weeks. Work continues, if a bit slower than I’d hoped (darn bathroom:p).

Well it’s another year and I’m starting to rekindle the buggy build.
I’ve been dreading venturing into the cold, windy garage, but bought some new parts to get me started again.

After much deliberation, I have chosen the rear lights and bought them (not nasty LED ones, either!).

Mmm, clear indicators.

I have also got some new wheel bearings and wheel bolts so I can eventually add the rims and get it all rolling. This will make working on it a lot easier as I will have more room wheeling it out of the garage.

A minor setback, though. The front discs have been drilled to fit the wheels (6 holes at 12mm diameter *just* fit!), but unfortunately the pitch was drilled to 1.75, not 1.5. More holes to follow

Finally, I have taken delivery of the completed chassis (well hired a drop-side and driven 6 hours to pick it up ).

Now I have it all back, I’ll be concentrating on sorting out my A-B car (audi coupe quattro) for the next couple of Months (damn bushes!) before starting work on the buggy properly.

Depending on the financial situation I’m hoping to get it to a rolling state before Christmas to be completed mid -2007, but I’ll keep you all posted!

Just a quick update for a few pictures of the seats I took delivery of today.

Very chuffed

After much deliberation over seat styles, colours and finishes, I have finally ordered some seats for the buggy. This will mean that fabrication of the frame can be completed once they are delivered.

I decided I wanted some comfy, yet thin seats which would fit in the very restricted area in the car. I also wanted some seats without the typical side bars usually found on clubman or bucket seats. I found it quite hard to find something to match my criteria.

The following are some corbeau seats I liked the look of, the last being the ‘fall-back’ option if I didn’t find anything suitable.

From http://www.corbeau-seats.co.uk:

Additionally, the following cobra seats were also on the cards.

From http://www.cobraseats.com:

Ideally, recliners would have been perfect, but with some fine measurement, I found I was extremely limited by space. This led me to settle for the cobra roadster 7 seats (pictured last above).

After speaking with cobra and thumbing through their sample swatches of materials (one which was suspicially like cheese cloth), I opted for a black and grey nylon finish without piping. Most images of these seats are with a vinyl finish, so I’ll just have to wait and see how they turn out

Images will be posted when they arrive in 7 to 10 days!