I keep coming back to this design for that and other reasons.
  Also because it can be retrofitted to Tracy's gear box.
  The stiffness  of the silicone blocks can be almost anything.

  Not because it is my design :)

  Paul Lamar

  Paul, I am willing to do some of the leg work getting these parts made if
  you like. Industrial metal supply is a few blocks from where I live, they
  can cut most of it. Plenty of other cutting options nearby as well.


  And to get a prototype made, I can weld it up too. Have an 84 syncrowave
  waiting for a job.

  Ed Carver

  Great Ed go for it. I think there are some laser cutters in your
  neighborhood.
  I am in the boonies when it comes to industrial stuff. Are you up
  to speed on Rhino or Solid Works? Most laser cutters guys can take Solid
  Works
  files. I can send Rhino files that will load into Solid Works.
  Mazdatrix sells suitable ring gears. Does Industrial metal supply sell
  4130
  sheet?
  Use a .090" for the flex plate. A bit over kill IMHO but fine for
  a test prototype. I'll test it on the RV4 after I get a few hours
  on it.

  You might want to make a prototype with cheap sheet steel to be certain
  everything fits on a counter weight.

  Get all that want them to send a deposit. Let me know what you
  need and I will send a check or cash your choice.

  Paul Lamar


  No rhino yet. I have Industrial metal working on a quote for the raw stock
  .090 4130. They do water jet and will take one of your rhino files maybe.
  I
  will be down there tomorrow to purchase the 1 inch tube for my engine
  mount.

  Ed Carver

  OK Ed. Let us know what they are charging for 1 inch .049 4130 so we can
  compare
  prices.

  Check with IM and see if they can accept IGES or stp files.

  I can send them to you and you can give them a DVD or thumb drive.

  Paul Lamar



  They will take stp or iges.

  .090 4130 3'x12'=$525 I figured it is a little more than needed to make 20
  parts.
  They did not stock .050 4130 one inch tube, so I priced what they did
  have;
  .065 x 30 feet=$130

  They do water jet and laser cutting. Contact Terry Hill:
  thill@imsmetals.comHe apparently is the programmer for the lasers.

  I will, as usual, price this stuff elseware, IMS has usually been less
  costly compared to other local vendors. They do discount for larger
  orders,
  and business accounts. Which does'nt include me.

  If the .050 tube is more than sufficient, I will us it for sure.

  Ed Carver

  I would go easy on the quantify of material bought  until we test this
  thing.

  Try .049" perhaps somebody is not reading the list properly.
  Yes the .065" is over kill for the motor mounts  and too heavy.
  I have to leave in a couple of days for a week in Reno so I will
  not get the dwgs done until I get back.

  AC Spruce is not bad on cost.

  Paul Lamar

  I need to make a trip to ac spruce to get epoxy, etc. I'll pick up a 12x24
  piece of 90 thou plate, it's about $30. I can make a prototype out of
 cheap
  stuff from ims.

  Ed Carver

  Great Ed.

  The splined plate is made from  part 675 in this dwg I think but I could
 be
  wrong.
  You might want to get one and find out. I'll see if I can get one when I
  come
  back from Reno if you can wait. I think Tracy adds a short cylinder to act
  as
  a pilot in the eshaft.  I know it is not a stock manual transmission
 clutch
  spline. The 2.85:1 planetary gear set is part number 582 and the sun gear
  is
  612. Ring gear is 592.


  Paul Lamar



  The 675 center shaft appears to be the only thing that the forward planet
 can ride on. So without seeing it, the back side of it must have the female
 splines. The brown part you drew shows the end removed but I am not sure
 why
 sense I have never seen Tracy's unit on the bench.

 Discussion has been made about creating a lighter psru. It would'nt bother
 me to begin to work on getting this done. If all it is' is getting lighter
 smaller bearing assemblies for front and rear, then we just need to create
 a
 new housing to hold it all.

 Where do I go to get the parts? Is Makco the place? I have a lot of
 transmission shops nearby, that is why it only cost me $75 to rebuild my
 MPV
 Ford transmission clutch basket assembly. I have a 6 pinion planet set
 saved
 on my ebay page. I just don't know about the rest of it.

 Ed Carver

 The main weight increase is with the solid prop shaft and ball bearings.
 So something like this tubing design  might be the right approach.

 Not much can be saved on the input shaft and sun gear.

 Paul Lamar


Do you have a prop hub in mind? There are lots of hubs around that bolt to
CV joints and are similarly bored in the center. What is the correct size
flange for props anyway? Is there a standard size for the HP we run? I seem
to recall seeing the above images a year or so ago.

I'll chase all of the necessary parts down if you believe the design will
work. I'm not an engineer, I've been building engineers' designs all my
life.

Ed Carver

Wood prop flanges are larger than metal prop flanges.
All standardized by the S.A.E.
Here are the dwgs.

I think Tracy's uses a number 2.

Ed do you have a 2D drawing program that will accept DXF's?

Paul Lamar