Christopher Sheehan

Christopher Sheehan

This is a collection of other projects I have worked on over the years.

My Rx-7:

During the pandemic I converted an FB Rx-7 to a baja style off-road vehicle. I redesigned the suspension to accommodate a larger tire and replaced the broken rotary engine with an LS v8. Fitting the much larger engine into the car was difficult to say the least. A new steering column was needed to get around the engine, stiffer front struts were installed to accommodate for the added weight and a much larger radiator was fitted. The original wiring harness for the car was trimmed down and the new engines wiring harness had to be integrated. The doors were modified to pop on and off like a jeeps. In total this project took over 1000 hours, the frame is one of the only original unmodified parts from the Rx-7 I started with.

The first ever successful flying wing glider at the Cal Poly Glider competition:

I was the team lead for the 121 Intro to Aerospace Engineering course at Cal Poly. Our team was the first to produce a successful flying wing for the glider competition. It flew for 7 seconds and came in 4th place overall. At the beginning of the quarter, we were advised “If you want something that flies, you probably shouldn’t try to make a flying wing” Everyone else followed this advice, we took it as a challenge. 


An afterburning EDF:

In my sophomore year of college, my friend and I added an afterburner to an electronically ducted fan. It was a purely cosmetic addition but man it looked and sounded great! 

The ice bath:

I converted a chest freezer to an ice bath. It has an automated temperature control system that keeps the water between 36 and 40 degrees and a filtration system to keep the water clear. 

A highschoolers attempt at a rocket engine:

This is a rocket engine I built for an advanced chemistry course in my senior year of high school.  It used pressurized oxygen and bottled propane. The biggest challenge of this project was finding a regulator that was both affordable and high-flow.