Building a frame

Recently I noticed the gentlemen talking about making his own frame and buying shell from there on. My question is whether there is a "blueprint" type frame design out there that one can use to create with integrity and not worrying about the rear end falling off at 100 mph? (PS Love the forum - so many people happy about some neat stuff!)

 

[Mark Worthington]

I doubt you'd be able to convince most of the replica manufacturers to give you blueprints for their space frame chassis, even though the existing designs run the gamut from flimsy to bulky to bulletproof. It takes a lot of effort (and money) to design a frame that is strong, safe, rigid and light. There are numerous mechanical engineering software packages available for you to use should you opt to design and fabricate your own. It could be quite a project in itself.

 

Why bother... just buy a reputable one that has been designed properly, built in a jig and welded well. They are a cheap part of the overall car so nothing really is to be gained by starting from scratch. Regards

 

[Tony Hunt]

I think the GTD frame (we call them 'chassis' over here!) drawings are available here in UK, as I know of one that was built this way last year. And a lot of trouble and fuss it caused too; the gentleman concerned said that was his one and only - and he is trying to set up a GTD40 engineering business!
I know of several chassis projects, from the ground up, currently on the go. It mostly concerns starting off with a wooden prototype to work out where to hang everything, proceeding to metal only when enough room has been created to ensure that no two components occupy the same space.
And some people build monocoques!

 

[Bill Bayard]

If you would like to see a cool prototype, check out the XJ13 project at www.copycatcars.com This is Denis Bedford's (former owner of DRB Ent)website. He is offering a photo CD of the engineering and construction, from start to finish, which might be a big help to those with a penchant for "from scratch" fabrication.