Hi all!

Need a new project; tossing up the options but ive got a few questions I can't find the answers to...


I've been looking at some of the various kit conversions you can buy, namely an MeV. This got me thinking, I'm a mechanical engineer by trade making my own chassis isn't beyond me and the kit I have access to at work. What I can't seem to find after several hours of searching is where do you stand on getting it registered if you design and build your own chassis? Is there a list of specs you need to design and build it to meet? what about calcs, do they need to see any supporting maths/fea to validate what you present for test?

Thanks in advance!

Tom

Here's the same question from another perspective. How would the average IVA examiner know that a Lotus seven rep followed the Haynes Roadster instructions to the letter, and the builder hasn't made some core change that has turned it into a suicide machine?

As far as I can tell there is no restriction on what a car design should be. As long as it's fundamentally safe and road legal, it can follow whatever criteria you want. In terms of it being road legal, it just needs to meet the IVA rules, which are downloadable from the VOSA website.


[Edited on 13/7/12 by Slimy38]

they seem to think a radiused lower dash is more important than a crumple zone/ poor chasis welds. its a joke!

I would suggest not designing your own chassis but take the basic frame of the Haynes or Locost and mod.
I in the middle of a full custom job and it is a serious PITA - nothing off the shelf will fit so you will be designing and building everything down to simple brackets.
Dont discount how long this will take, my rear suspension is up to 2 months from when i said i will have it on the car and i am about to cut apart the a-arms due to redesign to include adjustable toe and camber without unbolting the upright.

Making your own chassis, if you have a flat surface to use as your BL then you should be fine. Just dont be scared of cutting the chassis apart if she starts to twist. My aim was +/-1mm at any point off the build board. I had it during tack up but not put it back on to check after weld out - i am sure it will be much worse then that and not sure i want to know now.







Cheers,
Taffy

[Edited on 17/7/12 by ftaffy]