Dick Bear
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| posted on 9/5/07 at 07:34 AM |
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Time it took
Over an 18-month period I devoted approximately 7-8 months full time to the McBearen build project. During that time I have to admit that I was
guilty of working 24/7 with 18-20 hour days being the norm. I'm very happy at this point to be finished with the build and am looking forward to
getting it approved for the hi-way enjoying my effort.
Dick Bear
 
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www.marketpointproductions.com
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suparuss
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| posted on 9/5/07 at 03:27 PM |
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looks really cute with those big wheels! beautifull car that is, id be very proud and as another who spends almost every spare hour on my car i
appreciate the dedication and sacrifice it has taken.
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02GF74
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| posted on 11/5/07 at 10:21 AM |
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not bad, not bad at all.
do you need to have it examined, like the SVA test in UK,. before you can drive it on the roads?
not wishing to start of any arguments etc: but just curious so if you were to do it again, would you have used glassfibre bodywork?
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geoffreyh
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| posted on 11/5/07 at 10:26 AM |
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I think Dick wrote something about glass fiber a couple of pages before.
Geoff
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Doug68
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| posted on 11/5/07 at 10:54 AM |
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Dick,
Well done its a fabulous looking piece of kit, each finished car I see here acts as an inspiration to keep going to the me and I'm sure the rest
of us.
Now the fun part begins, Seeing how it goes! I for one await the first testing videos on YouTube with baited breath.
In your part of the world there'd have to be plenty of asphalt half miles to run on, but would the closest road course be Road Atlanta?
Regarding the fiberglass question, Dicks obviously got serious skills in the metal forming dept, if I could do that I'd going that way too.
As a cultural reference motorsport in the USA has a lot more metal bodied racecars that aren't modifed street cars (and so are fab'd from
scratch) than in Europe and elsewhere so these types of skills are not as uncommon in the USA as they are in the rest of the world.
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Dick Bear
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| posted on 18/9/07 at 12:30 PM |
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McBearen UpDate
9/18/07 McBearen update
Hey Guys,
It’s been a while since I updated the McBearen project and a lot of good things have happened. The car is finished and passed the NC-DMV inspection
with flying colors and was given its’ Official VIN number and title registration/tags nearly 5-weeks ago. Since that date the little monster has been
spotted on the streets and highways receiving mostly good reviews.
Last weekend I put the McBearen to the test and drove it from Winston-Salem to Atlanta Motor Speedway to be entered in the car show judging of the
NOPI Nationals were it received 1st Place honors in the Elite Class! At first I wasn’t sure what kind of reception a take-off on a late 60’s CAN-AM
car would receive from an estimated 1,500 Sport Compact competition entries that literally filled the infield of the mile and 1/2 speedway but the
2-day show was exciting for me and if the car could speak I’m sure it would say the same.
Many individuals stopped by to see the car mentioning that they ‘experienced” the build through the MetalMeet log and were happy to see it in person.
It was good to meet them all!
On Saturday, the first day of the event the producer of one of NOPI’s TV specials shown on Speed Vision asked it I’d participate in a taped video
interview about the McBearen. So for about 45-minutes we were on camera answering the interviewers questions. Following the taped conversation the
two cameramen then spent about 15-minutes filing every inch of the car from every angle one could imagine in minute detail. Supposedly the segment
will be shown on NOPI’s Speed Vision program during the last 2-weeks in October.
I said earlier that if the car could speak it would ‘cause at the close of the second and last day (Sunday) we were invited to drive the McBearen to
the Atlanta Speedway’s Victory Lane for an exclusive photo shoot conducted by professional photographers and three-scantly clothed and refreshingly
beautiful NOPI-Chic models who proceeded to climb, lay, lean, bend and contort all over the vehicle posing for some very pleasing and somewhat erotic
shots using the car as a sensual prop. Based upon what I saw during the nearly 2-hour shoot I will not be lacking for background images for my
computers’ desktop for years!!!!!!!!!
All in all it was a fascinating and exciting weekend for the McBearen and its owner with only one negative incident to report. After a summer of
nearly no rain in the SE the travel day to Atlanta was blessed with the remains of a hurricane moving inland from of the Gulf of Mexico. Making the
7-hour trip in constant rain and an occasional cloudburst here and there wasn’t too bad since I was dressed for the weather. Unfortunately during one
of the many cloudbursts a re-capped tire of a truck exploded sending tire shrapnel in every direction right ahead of me. One large piece caught the
left front fender at the grill bending the brake intake port and the fender. It is bad but could have been much worst since at that moment the whole
area in front of me was filled with flying rubber and biased steel wires none of which hit me or any other part of the car.
Having passed police and state troopers in Tenn., Virginia, S Carolina, Georgia and N Carolina without anything more than a long stare by any of them
I was surprised to have my rearview mirrors filled with the flashing blue lights of a local constable causing me to pull over and stop, To make a long
story short all he wanted was to have his picture taken with the car and ask a few questions about its existence. I was pleased to snap the photo and
answer all his questions, as I chalked the moment up to the McBearen Public Relations Department.
This was the longest trip taken in the McBearen so far and except for some fuel pump issues it performed very well. The excitement generated and
recognition it received made the acceptance of the damage inflicted by flying rubber less frustrating. I didn’t build the McBearen to be a trailered
show car queen and it isn’t. With over 5,000 miles on the odometer in only 5-short weeks of being eligible to drive legally on streets and highways
he McBearen is not a queen.
IT IS SO MUCH FUN TO DRIVE!!!!!!
Dick Bear
www.marketpointproductions.com
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timf
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| posted on 18/9/07 at 01:26 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Dick Bear
last day (Sunday) we were invited to drive the McBearen to the Atlanta Speedway’s Victory Lane for an exclusive photo shoot conducted by professional
photographers and three-scantly clothed and refreshingly beautiful NOPI-Chic models who proceeded to climb, lay, lean, bend and contort all over the
vehicle posing for some very pleasing and somewhat erotic shots using the car as a sensual prop. Based upon what I saw during the nearly 2-hour shoot
I will not be lacking for background images for my computers’ desktop for years!!!!!!!!!
It would be rude not to share some of the pics  
A prisoner of war is a man who tries to kill you and fails, and then asks you not to kill him."
- Sir Winston S. Churchill, 1952
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sgraber
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| posted on 18/9/07 at 03:41 PM |
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I am so happy for you. Your car (and you of course!) deserve ALL the attention you get. You have done something that few mortals will ever attempt,
and you succeeded in every way.
Congratulations!
Steve Graber
http://www.grabercars.com/
"Quickness through lightness"
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Dick Bear
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| posted on 10/2/08 at 07:13 AM |
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I've finished the "corrected" rear suspension for the McBearen.
Using the existing bearing knuckle of the Jeep Cherokee hub I fabricated a 3-point upright, upper and lower wishbones and moved the coil-over shock
inboard by incorporating a bell crank mechanism to facilitate the change in motion from vertical to horizontal. Seven rod-ends were used to connect
the upright and wishbones to the frame with an additional pair of rod-ends for the shock/ride-height adjustment bar. I don’t think I’ll be lacking
adjustment points once I get it to the alignment rack. An initial check of delineation from full bump to full rebound appears to be only 3 degrees.
I doubt that I’ll ever experience full vertical motion (bump/rebound) once everything is loaded and tightened-up, so 3-degrees should be adequate.
Hopefully this will quiet the impulse one individual has to flame not only the car but me personally where and whenever he feels the urge.
Dick Bear
[Edited on 10/2/08 by Dick Bear]
 
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www.marketpointproductions.com
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Dick Bear
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| posted on 10/2/08 at 08:13 AM |
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another image
Here's another view
Dick Bear
 
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Doug68
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| posted on 10/2/08 at 11:14 AM |
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Hi Dick,
Thats an interesting looking design, I don't quite get what you mean by 'delineation' is that camber gain, loss or something
else?
I'm paranoid about putting rods ends in bending so if it were me I'd look at getting the push rod mounted to the same rod that the other 2
bottom rod ends are on. Then they won't have the bump load acting in bending through them.
When do we get to see the YouTube of it in action?
Doug. 1TG
Sports Car Builders WA
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Dick Bear
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| posted on 10/2/08 at 04:08 PM |
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rod end bend
Doug,
Now that you point out the issue of the rod end bending it is so obvious. I will change it and I don't think it will be a difficult fix at all.
I can either extend the control bar to the bottom outside of the upright or perhaps simply change the orientation of the current bottom wishbone
fitting by rotating it 90-degrees(?). Thanks for seeing the problem.
Once again my terminology gets me in trouble. The 3-degrees I mentioned is in fact the change in camber between full bump and full rebound. Do you
feel that that is within the acceptable range?
Dick Bear
www.marketpointproductions.com
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Tralfaz
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| posted on 10/2/08 at 07:58 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Dick Bear
Hopefully this will quiet the impulse one individual has to flame not only the car but me personally where and whenever he feels the urge.
Dick Bear
[Edited on 10/2/08 by Dick Bear]
That would be a nice treat, wouldn't it...
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Doug68
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| posted on 10/2/08 at 11:22 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Dick Bear
Once again my terminology gets me in trouble. The 3-degrees I mentioned is in fact the change in camber between full bump and full rebound. Do you
feel that that is within the acceptable range?
Dick Bear
A probably over simplistic explanation is that as the car rolls in a turn the suspension on the outer side of the car will compress.
If say this amount of roll is 3 deg in the car, then the amount of camber gain aimed for would be at least 3 degrees. Even starting with 1 or 2
degrees of camber in the car at static height. The aim being that the tires on the outer side never lean out during a turn.
Where it all starts to get complex is that this needs to be achieved with virtual swing arm lengths that are long enough to prevent
'jacking' and to try and not have a Roll Center that moves too much otherwise the car
will feel odd and unpredictable.
If you've not seen it before get hold of Herb Adams book
Chass
is Engineering he takes a very practical approach to the subject.
Doug. 1TG
Sports Car Builders WA
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