Drivetrain Review, New Chrome Tape for R5 Dome

Today I went over to Mike Senna's place so that he could take a look at the drivetrain issue I had at PopCon last weekend, and to get some help with re-taping my R5 dome.

First, I took apart the drivetrain that gave me trouble.



Mike inspected the axle to see if it had any sharp burs on it. He did find an area that looked like it caused the flanged bearing to wear irregularly, so he sanded that area smooth.



I had refrained from JB Welding in the new flanged bearing until Mike could take a look at this, but now the time had come to JB Weld and tap it in place.




(I had also purchased a replacement for droid #2's drivetrain, since I harvested this bearing from it. So the replacement was cut to size and JB Welded into droid #2's drivetrain as well.)

Turning to the R5 dome, while I've been working on it, I've managed to mangle the chrome tape that goes on the neck ring. Out with the old.



In with the new. Mike mentioned he had some good foil tape, so I asked if we could use some of that instead.



I managed to tear the foil tape as I was applying it to the neck ring, so Mike did the honors of applying it (and thus preventing me from wasting half a roll). Afterward, he trimmed the excess.



It's very hard to tell, but the chrome tape is in place and looking good.



Sooner or later I should be able to wrap up work on this dome. I have a few more minor things to do, like some touch-up painting, taping the turned aluminum panels to the neck ring, and gluing the neck ring back onto the rest of the dome.