How much did it cost you guys in metal to complete a locost chassis or any chassis you guys have built. Im makin a chassis of my own and I was curious to see how much I should save. thanks

Budget about $400 USD. That's around what mine is costing, including the floor.

-Aston

Depends on where you can buy the metal, some places sell it by the ton, meaning you'll have lots of square tube left over. I got all mine free tho

It would help if you gave us a clue to which hemisphere you are located in. We have 15 countrys here at a guess!

Costs about ten zillion Zimbabwe dollars.!

Well I'd be interested to know as well and I'm in England.

I think we payed about £120 for all the tube we need (actually a bit too much inch box but it's always handy to have).
It was half that a year ago but apparently demand in China is driving up global prices or somesuch.
The margins stockholders keep for small volumes is silly though!

prices vary widely. 4 years back I paid 60 quid for 60 mtrs of tube - i think its twice that now. A normal car takes IRO 45 metres methinks


2.4 x 1.2m 1.6mm sheet was about 30 quid, and you need 1 and a half - if you do floor and rear bulkhead, more if tranny tunnel too

atb

steve

I live in the USA. Would 200 be enough to get a good start?

I can't find in the book exactly how much of each type of tube you need. Does it tell you in the book? If not could someone kindly let me know how much I need!

Thanks, Andy.

I purchased the following

6 25mm SHS 1.6mm 6.1m lengths
2 19mm SHS 1.6mm 6.1m lengths
2 19mm RHS 1.6mm 6.1m lengths

1 8X4 sheet 1.6mm

And have plenty to finish the chassis but not enough to have dropped a tube length

cost me best part of 200 GB pounds including delivery, again it was a special order and the stockist had this sign on their desk saying steel prices where going through the roof, checked on the net and this was confirmed.

I guess you can source it a lot cheaper but I didn't have the time to ferret about to look for it.

Yes, $200 is a very good start. Plan on around $50 more for the DOM (suspension), and $50-$100 more for odd tubes like 3/4" DOM.

You'll get 95% of a live axle chassis done for less than $200.

--Chris

Sells 1" 16 Ga. square tube for $20 per 20' stick. I think the "Cut List" calls for 5 sticks, so $200 should go pretty far.

I have a friend at Siskin's, and he can get cut-offs that weigh under 10 lbs. for scrap price.

8 lengths of 1"x1" 16swg box section, 55 quid delivered to my door

i love my local steel stockholders

The cost of raw metal for a car project is probably one of the cheapest parts of the whole project! If money is a concern, steel costs are the least of your problems.

Got a quote for £22 per 6000mm length- ex-stock...

22 quid a length of 6.1mm inch box its only 6 quid a length ere!!!!!!!!

if it was only 6.1mm log it would be very pricy Gracey

TT

oooooops

hehehe

6.1 metres

Where did you go Paul, K Steels?

IIRC john stansfeld in leeds is (was) £7 per 20 foot length, last year. less than a tenner for a 4x8 sheet of 16g. Seems a good price.

seems too cheap.

you have to dig up rocks, melt them, squash the juice that runs out flat, trim it, ship it and charge only 10 quid for a 4 x 8 sheet of it.

thats only 3 quid more than a sheet of mdf 12mm same area.

atb

steve

true... i remember paying around £70 for 6 sheets. So maybe 12 quid each. need to go back to get lots of 3mm sheet soon, so i hope the price hasnt gone up much!

TBlue - yep - got it all from K-steel m8 my source of cheep materials

get my welding wire from Tommy Wrights on Barge Street - cheepest in huddersfield

where abouts in huddersfield are you from?

If you're in the US, $200 will get you a good start. I spent $190 on all the square and round. Later on i got the floor, a length of 2x2" square, and a 1'x4' sheet of 3mm which drove me up to around $300. That was a month ago, and apparently steel is costing more now, which is why i said $400.

The cost of the steel for the chassis is next to nothing when compared to the rest. I now have a completed chassis, and a bunch of odd parts and i'm up to $1000 spent. In order to get the rest of the stuff i need to make it a roller, i'll be up to $1250ish.

That doesn't even include the tools i've bought either. Since starting the build, i've spent $800 on tools. A welder, chop saw, measuring tools, welding equipmet, etc.

This isn't an extremely expensive project, but it does take a decent amount of money. The cool thing is that you can buy the stuff you need as you go. Usually i can spend $300 or so and that'll keep me busy for a few weeks. The initial outlay for tools can be tough, especially if you are young and "unskilled," in college, and working full time.

-Aston

Graceland, I'm down here in Lockwood.

arrrrrrrrrrr - no far from me then

you got msn m8?

anyone know how many times more expensive Metal Supermarkets is in comparison to other stock holders?ive bought stuff from there before cause they cut it to length for free so when i was scratch building a lathe from 10x100mm bdms strip it was quite handy.
or does any one know of somewhere cheeper in glasgow?
i was looking on line at shop4steel but theyre in the worng bit of the country (dang)