Week 1

In my first week at BAJA, I have begun to learn the many machines and parts that will be used to build the vehicle. So far the team has constructed the skeleton of the car and is in the process of constructing parts for the vehicle. I learned how to create plastic bushings for the car using a machine called a lathe. This machine helps cut the hard plastic rods that we use for the bushings with near perfect precision. The plastic bushings will be placed on the car for a short period of time as a prototype until new metal bushings can be made using the lathe. The plastic bushings are good to have so that the team can continue to work on the car without having to work around the metal bushings and the team must use metal bushings because the plastic bushings begin to expand and malfunction when there is water or high temperature around. These bushings will be used in holding the front and rear suspension to the car and making sure that there is enough space for everything to work properly.