Racing Articles:Wheel covers and door locks.

Wheel covers and door locks
by Victor Tikhonov ©2002

The wheel covers probably do not reduce C-d measurably and mainly there for aesthetic reasons. Also they serve as lug nuts protectors making it more difficult for casual "passer by" to take the wheel off. They are made of 2.54 mm (0.1 inch) thick aluminum. Now the car really has distinctive look earning reputation of being head turner, neck twister and eye brow lifter.

The idea behind electric door locks was to be able to open the doors remotely. It is not the same as remote unlock in modern cars where push of a button on a tiny remote unlocks the door but you still have to lift the handle from outside to actually swing it open. My doors will be gas spring loaded and can be unlocked AND opened at the push of a button on the remote. Unfortunately I don't have the images for the lock units (when I made them for DC car I did not own a digital camera nor a scanner). Basically, made from scratch and incorporated into the doors, they consist of a small automotive 12V electric motor (similar to used for wipers movement) coupled with a lead screw. A "nut" moving along the screw as the motor shaft rotates is linked to the same pull cord the lock handle used to be linked to. A couple relays and micro-switches do the rotation direction change providing back and forth nut movement. So now the doors can ONLY operate electrically. Therefore I don't even have stock locks and handles outside the doors. Later on a small RF or IR transmitter will activate relay which energizes the motor in the look and opens it. For now a reed switch behind glass window is sufficient.

Victor Tikhonov
www.metricmind.com
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* Article by Victor Tikhonov. Visit http://RacingArticles.com for more "how-to" on Racing.