today Warren*, i are mostly making …

flat panels out of 3 layers of 450g CSM.

The plan is to try and get four panels made, ready for the next stage of the tub, which is the sitting in squab part either side of the transmission tunnel. It’s also a chance to practice my wet-lay technique.

 

photoI also think that if I am skinning both sides of a steel space-frame section with a diagonal in, then I don’t need the diagonal at all. Come to think of it, how brave should I go – make a full panel and dump the steel altogether? I could make a full panel and use a CF tube as a cross-brace if I wanted. If I made a panel it could be made from front-to-back uni-directional so I will be able to do it in two skins and a good core layer

Repeat to self –

I will not replace all the steel for a composite tub.

I will not replace all the steel for a composite tub

Now that I’m off to make the panels out of poly-resin I’m doing it outside, so hopefully I won’t poison the household.

4 thoughts on “today Warren*, i are mostly making …

  1. Hi there what are you planing on replacing with cf on the current tub? How mutch more work do you think there would be in makeying a full CF tub and what do you think it would weigh?

    • Hi

      I’m debating the practical against the purist right now. Large parts of me would like to make a pure tub, but that would involve also having to design several aluminum bulkhead hard-points and set them in, as well as capture the fury chassis geometry and jig from it.

      For myself, I’m definitely making the transmission tunnel and seat squabs (as in the full bit of the chassis you sit in, bottom, back, sides) from structural composite. I’ll also make two seats and a new passenger footwell. The dash is also going to be composite. I’ll be removing the rear rails that used to support the fuel tank (which I’m moving and making out of composite) and replacing them with a composite crush-zone. I’m tempted to replace the side areas as you saw in the original photo.

      Then I’ll put it on the road, but over weekends I’ll also replace the body with CF as well.
      Price wise, no idea. I reckon you’re looking at about £3k of composite materials and if you asked an expert like Warren to make you a tub, you’d be looking at about £15k on top to make the moulds, bulkheads, etc in order to take the tub. It’s an incredibly time intensive process.

      Weight wise, I’m finding I can take 50% of the weight of steel out of the chassis, and the aluminum parts are being reduced by 30%.

      • Thank you for the info, this is a very interesting build.

        I was asking because I would have assumed that it would make sense to make the floor and tunnel as one peace that you then bond in from the bottom of car, once you have done it would look like you are a long way towards having the whole tub done. But as I have never made any CF parts I am probably very wrong.

        Do you thing that the price of composites will come down so that this type of construction becomes more affordable / main stream?

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