....down the rabbit hole we go.........again

[Audi1]

Yup, I took the red pill.......again. ;)

In search of a better performing plastic chassis, I've started a scratch build from a 2mm styrene sheet. I'm looking for a stiffer rear and more controlled diagonal flex in the front. This one will have carbon fiber torsion bars to help control the front end motion (at least that's the plan right now). All of the raw materials are in the house now, so it's a matter of getting them cut out and glued together.

I'll add to this thread as I go along. If it works, it's headed for the Group 5 North American proxy; if it fails, then last year's chassis gets a recall to action..............

Kind or ugly at this point; you have to use some imagination to "see" it............ The larger holes inside the small hole outlines on the main chassis are for inserting a coping saw blade to facilitate the cut-out. The structure to the left is the guide holder.



Next step is the cut-out, smoothing up and a few more straight cuts in the chassis.

I will clearly need a considerable amount of luck..............

Allan

[dreinecke]

What is this madness LOL!!! LOVE IT!

[TuscoTodd]

Craziness! I love it! :D

[Audi1]

Well, this is what last year's madness looked like at the end.

From here:



Via here:



And other various intermediate steps - to here:



This year's trip down the hole is a bit more radical, so the end product is still an unknown at this point. Keeps you off the street though, doesn't it....................

By the way, all of this madness is courtesy of Chris Walker (chrisguyw), who first showed me the entrance to the rabbit hole last year.................................... :lol:

Allan

[4424ever]

Did a hookah smoking caterpillar have anything to do with this, seriously though nice chassis, the workmanship shows, can't wait to see the latest :clap:

[chappy]

Looks great Alice. Lol.

Lets face it Allan if we dont go there then we never learn , Personally I think it takes great determination to explore the alternatives for performance enhancement , even at our level.
I take my hat off to, you, and wish you success.
Bob

[HomeRacingWorld]

[chrisguyw]

Lookin good Allan!! :text-bravo: ... please keep posting progress reports , I look forward to seeing your "torsion bar" design.............you do know that once you reach the bottom of the hole, you will come face to face with THE omnipotent "GOLDEN SOLDERING IRON" ;)

Cheers
Chris Walker

[Gameover]

Way cool. defiantly watching this one!

[Audi1]

[Audi1]

A little more progress. Not a fun day, but the cutting and filing needed to be done to get the chassis out of the plastic Swiss-cheese board.



Next up is finishing the shaping of the roughed out chassis, then the cut-ins for the SCC axle blocks and the front and rear pod elevation strips.

Allan

[studioRS]

[chrisguyw]

Hi Allan, Looking good!!............I trust you already have a plan for your "torsion bar" set up, but, if not, I will offer some food for thought.

You could......find a length of .047 piano wire and some styrene tubing that will just accept the wire............
1/ cut a length of styrene tubing the length of the rear of your guide plate step.
2/ Insert a length of piano and bend each end so that the legs angle out slightly towards the back of your main chassis plate (they must also be long enough to reach this far)
3/ Cut some styrene tubing to go over these ends. (3/4" ish)
4/ With everything in place,glue the styrene tubing to the chassis plate with Pro weld or some other styrene weld. (It is critical that the piano wire must be absolutely flat, and provide no "twist" of its own when glued to the chassis.....use a flat surface to "massage"/check the trueness of the wire, and be very fussy with this).

This system will provide some additional longitudinal stiffness to the chassis (never a bad thing) and will also offer torsional resistance. The rear "step" on your guide plate will make an ideal location point (and will look trick) for the front torsion bar mount.

I don't want to stop the flow of your creative juices, just thought some input may have merit.......if not, I consider myself told! ;)

Cheers
Chris Walker

[chappy]

Good info Chris, , certainly got my attention.
Like watching Allans build, I like all the info and pics.
It enables me to pick and choose what works for me in particular situations.
The day I think I know it all will be a very sad day indeed
Sorry to go off topic Allan, still following your build.
Bob

[gascarnut]