Update 5/13/13

So guys it looks like  the Harsh reality finally hit us... the Xr-3 will not be driving by this Thursday, despite our hard work. When it came down to it, we decided on having a solid presentation and a car with a running engine but not driving. Lance made the official decision and said to leave it till the summer and fall. We made tremendous progress, we mounted our engine and started it up, we mounted our radiator, assembled our steering column, welded out housing to the center tunnel, mounted our tie-rod mounts and placed our rack and pinion on them, we placed our temporary gear stick and decided to leave it like it is now.
Something that held us back other than time, was the half-shafts. It turns our we sent the wrong ones to the machine shop. The ones we sent were for the old VW trans and we needed the new ones in order to fit the bolt pattern. We will be sending those to the machine shop, we will be re-placing our brake lines and we will need to buy a temporary battery for our engine.
I'm very proud of the team as a whole and I'm sure Mr. Waxman and Lance are as well. Lets not let this obstacle slow us down, instead let it be our motivation for the Engineering Extravaganza! Lets show the audience that we don't JUST build a car, we do a lot more than that!

Update 5/5/13

The xr-3 team made solid progress today! We met at school for about 5 hours and got a lot done! We were able to mount our transmission, so that means we will be able to measure/mark/cut our half-shafts as soon as we get them back from the machine shop. We ordered our bolts for the rear brake caliper so those should be getting here this week. We were able to weld the chain assembly for the steering, and we also ordered the Coupler that is used for attaching the steering column and the rack and pinion so that should also be getting here soon. The shift tube was cut, and we will be working on getting the gear stick on the car.
We're still waiting on our parts that are at the machine shop, as soon as those are done we will assemble our steering column, place our spacer and mount our power train! Remember guys we got less than two weeks to get it driving, so lets get to it!

Update 5/3/13

The Xr-3 is closer than ever before to being drive-able! The aluminum spacer is in its final stage and will soon go on the engine properly which will allow us to place our new transmission onto our engine. We are currently working on modifying our half-shafts, we cut both the trans and cavalier half-shafts so that they can be measured and machined . The steering is close to being done, we still need to get some welds on the chain assembly and build the housing for mounting it to the center tunnel. The spacer, the half-shafts and some steering pieces which are a key grove and a shaft are all going to the machine shop today. The spacer is being cut down 1.1 inches so that the transmission and go into the flywheel. The half-shafts are going to be measured and we'll put a sleeve on it, so that its one solid piece. The brakes have also been making solid progress. We got our pedal assembly and slave cylinder.

TWO Weeks for Today 5/2/13 we plan on having a drive-able Xr-3!

For that to happen we need to get all these pieces machined, we need to get our battery for the car, get some bolts for the pedal assembly, the rear brake caliper, the front driver's seat and for our spacer. We also need to cut down our shift tube, get our brake hard-line/tee's, we need to get our rack and pinion mounts tapered to the same size as our tie-rods, weld our trans mounts, build our exhaust and place our instrument panel! If we keep our heads focused, their is no doubt in my mind that we will get this thing driving!

Update 4/5/13

So guys Adrian and myself were gone the entire week, but non the less we had a solid week. We got the control panel figured out and found pedals we're going to order. We're working on figuring out a better shift linkage, we sent the spacer to get water jetted and Juan's pieces were sent to get machined. 

Update 3/29/13

So guys as of today we have the material for our Aluminum Spacer that will soon be made, the prints ready for our water jet part (Rack and Pinion Mount, order was placed) and the print for Rod that's for the Steering Column. Sometime in the near future Mr. Waxman will take the these prints to a Machine shop and have them made. Also Adrian is currently working on the Pulley system so that should start coming together soon.  As well as Hemi who is currently working on the front brakes.

We need to get the bolts for Spacer so that when we have it, it can actually go on the transmission and engine. Right after we have the spacer placed we will need to figure out where the trans/engine will be placed and that will open up a lot of jobs so get ready!

Progress Up-to-date

At this point the Xr-3 is at the rolling chassis stage and is currently working on assembling the power train. Some of the individual components include:

• The placement of the 3 brake calipers
• Suspension is intact
• Roll-able chassis
• Rear sub assembly is assembled 
• A Kubota d-1105-e Engine has been purchased
• A 75-78 Beetle VW Type 1 Transmission obtained
• Currently assembling Power Train
• Clutch assembly 
•  A temporal floor on the Xr-3 has been made
• The steering column is much like a puzzle. There are so many different bearing, bushings, gears and bolts that go into this complicated steering. As of now all these "puzzle pieces" are being inserted to the column.

What is the Xr-3?

The XR3 is a super-fuel-efficient two-passenger plug-in hybrid that achieves 125 mpg on diesel power alone, 225 mpg equivalent when diesel and electric power are used in series, and performance like a conventional automobile. The design of the XR3 Hybrid is based on existing technologies and a vehicle "personality" that makes conserving energy a fun driving experience.