Speed seems to be part of Brian Coombs’ life. As engineering lead for mechanical design at Bloodhound SSC, the United Kingdom’s project to retain the world land speed record with a jet- and rocket-powered 1,000 mph (1,610 km/h) car, he leads a team of engineers that is responsible for the design of the mechanical structure and suspension system.
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As if that weren’t enough of a challenge, in his spare time at his home in Ireland, Coombs is upgrading the engineering and rebuilding a replica of the classic Ford GT40 sports car.
The GT40 packs quite a punch with its tuned five-liter V8 engine. Unfortunately, the engineering on the old replica GT40 that Coombs bought as a kit car some years ago wasn’t in tune with the engine. In particular, he notes, the gearbox has a tendency to fail under the power it has to handle.
“A suitable replacement gearbox for this car is very expensive,” says Coombs. “So as part of the project to rebuild the car and at the same time upgrade some of the engineering aspects of it so it is better able to handle the power, I decided to build my own gearbox using the internal parts I had from an old Reynard Indy racing car.”
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Comments
Virtual design
Hi Neil: as a chemist, I surely value virtual designing & engineering, it is said to save time and money. Just like any timer in the kitchen: it can alert you that spaghetti is almost ready to serve - almost. But you have still to taste it before serving: the timer, as any device, has no sensorial capability. It's no spaghetti-culture, believe me, it's simply down-to-earth knowledge: when one can rely on virtual measures, let's him or her rely on them. But when one needs real data for decision making, well, let's him or her stick a finger in the pie and have a real taste of it. A power-train is a power-train is a power-train. Thank you.
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