Rally Cars Pork Pies Floating Fountains Artificial Stone Ornaments
A rally car is a compact vehicle that's had a radical makeover. It's been stripped to the steel core and completely rebuilt. International rally regulations govern the process. In the end, that efficient little vehicle becomes a lean, mean racing machine. Fresh out of the factory, this compact car is about to be ripped apart and put back together again. The rebuild will pump up the power and transform a quiet road car into a vehicle that roars on the rally racing circuit. Bold graphics will also make this compact car look fierce. As they dismantle the car, they get rid of some superfluous brackets and panels to shed weight. They blast off the paint. Then they weld a tubular steel roll cage to it to protect the driver and co-driver in a rollover or crash. The roll cage also stiffens the chassis for better handling on hard turns. They widen the back end slightly to accommodate an upgrade to a 4-wheel transmission and a larger fuel tank. Then they paint primer onto the modified body shell. They're now ready for the rear transmission. This will convert this compact car to 4-wheel drive. The technician bolts the transmission to the rear floor panel. Upgrading from 2-wheel drive to 4-wheel drive adds traction and allows the car to handle more precisely. Now the seats. They're individual survival cells made of carbon fiber, a virtually indestructible material. It's also extremely light, and this helps offset the extra weight added by the rear transmission and roll cage. The new dashboard fascia is made of lightweight fiberglass and covered with a velvety fabric to block the reflection of light. With the dashboard in place, the car gets the steering column and wheel. The car is now ready for the fiberglass bumper. It's been redesigned slightly to accommodate new fenders that are flared for bigger tires. The technician then equips the rally car with heavy-duty dampers to absorb the shock of high-speed bumps on the rally course. He slides the stiff spherical bearings into the car shell and secures them. He links the dampers and the driveshaft to the hub carrier and bolts them into place. He inserts brake pads into lightweight aluminum calipers and mounts them to the rotors. This braking system is extra large for serious friction, allowing the rally car to be slowed efficiently when needed. Using a crane, they now lift the engine into the chassis. This is the original 1.6-liter engine, but seriously ramped up to boost performance. They've upgraded the pistons and camshafts, among other things, and added a turbocharger. This takes the compact-car engine from 90 horsepower to 300. Instead of a metal fuel tank, they install a rubber one. It's pliable and expands, so it's unlikely to split or crack in a crash. The rubber fuel cell fits perfectly under the trunk floor. Strapped to that floor is this little tool kit. They've lightened these tools by drilling holes into the handles. As the race heats up, so will the engine and its fluids. They custom-designed this u-shaped radiator to keep the power-steering oil cool. They tie it to the front of the supersized engine radiator. Without this substantial radiator system, overheating could kill the engine, and that would be the end of the rally for this car. The mechanics of the rally car have now been completely rebuilt. They now install windows. They use double-sided tape to bind the rear side windows to the car. Taping the windows means they can be easily kicked out in the event of an accident. The windows are made of shatterproof plastic. So there shouldn't be any cuts or scrapes when busting them out. Instead of painting the car, they glue on graphics from bumper to bumper. The graphics are made of plastic film that is much lighter than paint. The crew saves about 11 pounds by not painting the rally car. Saving weight and redistributing it for better handling, while adhering to tight weight regulations, is just part of the challenge. And a good finish in the rebuild shop could lead to a strong finish in the rally. British pork pie is made of chopped pork and pork jelly nestled inside a crust pastry. Mass-produced versions contain cured pork in a soft pastry. Premium pies are handmade with fresh, uncured pork inside a pastry that's hard and crisp on the outside, soft on the inside. Among the best-known premium varieties of pork pies is melton mowbray, named after an english town which has produced this british snack since the 19th century. Only manufacturers situated within a defined radius of the town can legally call their product melton mowbray pork pie. And they have to follow the traditional recipe, which begins with blending hard bread flour. Then workers put lard into a pot of cold water... Sprinkle with sea salt, then bring the water to a fast boil, dissolving the lard. Then they add this hot mixture to the flour. They blend for a few minutes until the ingredients form a medium-soft golden dough. Unlike dough made with cold water, which bakes soft throughout, hot-water dough bakes hard on the surface, but soft within. They roll the dough into balls of approximately half a pound each... Then roll half the balls flat into a layer roughly 2/10 of an inch thick. With a round pastry cutter, they slice circles. Each one will be a pie top, called a lid. The other dough balls will later become the base of the pie, called the case. The pie filling is made from fresh pork shoulder, white pepper, and sea salt. They prepare the filling in small batches in order to better control the distribution of ingredients. After cutting the pork into small chunks, they sprinkle with salt and pepper... Mix by hand... Then form balls the same size as the pastry balls. In the assembly area, workers lay a plastic sheet over the hoop of a pie press to prevent the dough from sticking. They put a pastry ball in the hoop and cover it with another sheet... Then plunge a round metal die into the hoop to form the case. Now they drop a pork ball inside, pushing it down to force out some of the trapped air. They brush water onto the edge of the case to make it sticky. Then they apply the lid, lightly thumb-pressing all around to adhere it to the sticky edge of the case. Then with a different hand press, they score the perimeter of the pie... And gently run a wooden block across the top. This removes the excess dough without unsealing or ripping the pie. A ventilation hole in the middle lets just enough steam escape to prevent pressure from building up and bursting the lid. The steam that remains helps tenderize the pork. A pie decorator crimps the edge inward. Then the pies go onto a baking sheet and into the oven for an hour at just under 400 degrees fahrenheit. Earlier, workers prepared the pork jelly by boiling pigs' feet in a large pot of water... Then simmering for nine hours to release the natural gelatin from the bones. Now they strain the pot's contents to isolate this natural jelly. They've timed this perfectly so that the jelly is still warm when the pies come out of the oven. When they do, their pastry crust is a golden color. The pork, as meat tends to do, has shrunk during cooking, creating empty spaces inside the pastry. It's into those voids that workers now inject the warm pork jelly until it starts bubbling out the hole at the top. This indicates the jelly has filled all the nooks and crannies. The pies go immediately into a fridge set at 43 degrees fahrenheit. They remain inside for about 90 minutes until the jelly sets. From now on, the pork will remain moist thanks to this congealed jelly surrounding it. Each pie is wrapped in a see-through package bearing a "best before" date. Kept refrigerated, a pork pie stays fresh for about a week. You take it out of the fridge and let it warm to room temperature before digging in. No self-respecting brit ever warms up pork pie. A floating fountain adds visual interest to a pond or pool. It continuously shoots water several yards high, producing ribbons of cascading water. A submersible pump generates the effect. And all you have to do is just sit back and enjoy the show. A floating fountain is a pleasant sight, but it's also practical. The constant pumping action aerates the water, preventing stagnation that breeds mosquitoes and causes algae growth. Production begins with the floatation ring, which they cast a section at a time. A worker pours a measured amount of plastic powder into the bottom half of a clamshell mold. The mold is attached to an arm that swings it into an oven and rotates it on two axes. The mold heats up. The powder melts and adheres to the walls of the mold, forming a hollow part. The mold now moves into a cooling zone, where it first rotates in front of a fan, then under a cool spray of water. The constant turning minimizes sagging or buckling in the plastic as the hollow part cools and solidifies inside. The mold opens, revealing a quarter section of the flotation ring. Stainless-steel inserts for attaching it to the other sections have been embedded into the plastic. They now mechanically push the hollow part underwater. This is a test. They pump air into it and check for bubbles that would indicate a hole. The fountain ring must be leakproof because water will eventually be added to it to level it. A worker now bolts the four quarters together using brackets and the steel inserts molded into the plastic earlier. Next, they focus on the framework for the submersible pump. A mechanical saw cuts the stainless steel parts to size, and a welder pieces them together. Another worker now attaches the completed framework to the brackets protruding from the bottom of the floatation ring. Using a press, they bend steel to create brackets to hold the fountain's lights. They bolt the light brackets to the pump frame in a position to illuminate the upward spray of water. They slide the long, tubular casing for the pump and its motor through brackets on the bottom of the frame. This is the pump. It's open to display the inner workings. Those steel disks are the impellers that will force water upward. The next employee applies pvc glue to attach a flange to the pump assembly. The flange will be used to connect the pump to the fountain's plumbing. He now inserts the pump and motor assembly into the casing. The motor has been hermetically sealed to keep water out. Using a special gripper, he pulls the assembly all the way through the tube to complete the installation. He spreads more glue onto the flange and attaches a pvc elbow that links it to the rest of the plumbing. The entire assembly is painted black so the fountain workings will seem to disappear underwater when viewed from the surface. With the assembly now flipped right side up, they install the lights. Then a worker screws a circle of eight brass nozzles onto a pvc base. These nozzles will split the flow of pumped lake water into a eight sprays and configure them in a circle. He tightens each nozzle to ensure the connection will withstand the powerful and perpetual pumping action. He places the nozzle assembly on the plumbing protruding from the fountain raft and twists the threaded ends together. The connection must be extremely tight. Another worker then rolls a sheet of perforated steel to build a tubular screen to filter the water as it flows into the pump. The screen fits perfectly onto the intake end of the pump and motor tube. With the floating fountain now complete, it's ready to be wired to the control panel. This panel will be positioned lakeside for onsite activation and programming of the timer. The floating fountain is now ready for launching. This particular one is a larger version of the one we saw being built, but big or small, it's all about going with the flow. Artificial stone is a cast material that looks just like sculpted natural stone. Since the early 18th century, manufacturers have cast stone in molds, producing beautiful garden and landscape ornaments, as well as architectural components designed to enhance buildings. Classical-style statues and other garden ornaments came into fashion in england in the 1700s. It was trendy for the upper classes to tour italy and admire ancient roman art and architecture. Not every noble was wealthy enough to haul home a solid stone antiquity by stagecoach, so english factories began producing facsimiles in artificial stone. The production process today is much like it was then, beginning in the studio, where a sculptor makes a plaster model of the ornament. This one's a copy of an antique bust of pan, the greek mythological figure. They use this intricately detailed model to make the production mold. After coating the plaster with a sealer, they cover the entire model with thin strips of clay, making certain divisions between strips to create the production mold's various sections. Over the clay, they apply six or so layers of fiberglass cloth saturated with resin. The resin cures, producing a 3/10-inch-thick multi-sectioned case around the clay-covered model. Next they open the case and remove the clay, which leaves a gap around the model. They close the case and fill that gap with their specially developed rubber. When the rubber cures, they open the case and remove the model, revealing a rubber mold that bears all the model's intricate details. They send this cased mold off to the production facility and put the model in storage until the rubber mold wears out and it's time to pour a new one. The artificial stone is a natural-looking off-white color. It's made of fine sand, white cement, and limestone, plus plasticizers, waterproofers, and a few secret ingredients. The factory adds stone pigments into the mix to produce terra cotta and other colors. A computer-controlled system feeds the ingredients into the mixer in all the right proportions, then adds a small amount of water to activate the cement that binds everything together. On the production floor, a caster repeatedly shovels a bit of stone mixture into the fiberglass-encased rubber mold, then, using both hand and pneumatic tools, compacts it in the mold. The quality of the ornament depends greatly on the caster's technique. The trick is to ram enough stone mixture into every nook and cranny of the mold, but not compact too much at a time, as this mold would produce unattractive layers in the finished ornament. They trowel the open side of the mold by hand and smooth the surface. The stone mix takes 24 hours to reach an initial set. Then, section by section, they unbolt the case and peel off the rubber mold. This may be artificial stone, but its surface texture closely resembles carved limestone. The final step is a vapor curing. The ornaments go into a chamber overnight. The steam forces moisture into the pores, curing the cement inside. This type of artificial stone is called dry cast limestone. Other ornaments are made of wet cast limestone, a mixture of similar ingredients, but in larger particle size and containing much more water. Because you can embed stainless-steel reinforcement bars in it, wet cast is the better material for making objects such as garden benches or large fountain bowls that require structural strength. Wet cast doesn't have to be vapor-cured because of its high water content. However, unlike dry cast, which is finished when it comes out of the mold, wet cast does require finishing. Workers have to grind away excess material that sometimes seeps out of the joints in the mold and hardens. The wet cast surface is smooth and sealed, so it's normally easier to clean. Dry cast stone, by contrast, has a textured surface and weathers to an antique look.