Im at the point were I would like to put all my hard sourced components into a chassis.

I have the tools and I think the ability to make my own chassis but it would be a huge boost forward to get a pro chassis ready made .It would make it a 2 year plan instead of a 5 year plan

what have you guys done ?

The car I want to build is a live axle "book " car with zetec engine and Mt75 box and 13" wheels.

I reckon with the price of steel I can do my own for around £150 worth of material ..A bought one would be around £600 but I do appreciate the amount of work involved in making it........ ie locost = high input...

Thanks warren.

With the price you guys can get a chassis on your side of the pond it would not be a question most people in North America would even consider. I would definately purchase. We would have to pay the equivilant of 2500 to 3000 pounds for a chassis.
Dale

I agree with Dale: buy the thing! I've said this before, but it would be nice to place an order with MK or whomever and just be done with it.

I bought my bare chassis second hand. It was a one off made by Lolocost (I believe) and then raffled off at a show. I modified the transmission tunnel to move the geabox back to allow me to have the gear lever in a suitable position. It was quite easy to modify, definately a lot easier than building the whole chassis. It did take me ages to position the front suspension brackets though. I would personally buy one and modify it to suit.

If you have the ability and the tools then I suggest you make one. The actual fabrication of the chassis does not take that long, (I estimate I could put one together in about two weeks of evenings and a couple of weekend days). Certainly not the three years you are suggesting.
For me the atraction of doing this project is the satisfaction of having built as much as I can myself.

Mick

I think it depends on how much time you really have, and how much you enjoy the build compared to the driving. I was amazed how many blokes built cars only to sell them as soon as the last job was done, only to start another, if you are in this camp build your own.
If you can't wait to get on the road then buy a chassis as you will have a big start and within a few hours you could have something sitting on wheels that looks like a car.

I built mine from scratch and fabricating the chassis was one of the most rewarding and enjoyable parts of the build. It boils down to a balance between time, cost and confidence in your own skills.

As is said above, the making of the chassis does not take particularly long considering the time it takes to finish the car. Its jobs like making the wishbones and brackets, turning the bushes etc that took me the most time.

By the way, i fall into the category Zetec has spoken about above i.e. enjoy building as much (if not more) than driving.

[Edited on 1/9/05 by albertz]

I started to build my chassis ages ago. Its not too hard. I think the hardest bit is the susp brackets and tranny tunnel. Other ppl may tell different. I gave up as i was building outside and it was rusting as quick as i had time to build, with full intention of still doing it bought a house and it went on back burner.

Im still building outside so i bought a chassis and now building in between rain until i get my car port or huuuuuge shed built.

Yeah building the chassis is quite rewarding, last night ive just finished up welding and red oxiding it, now it actually looks like something

http://gallery.rootpeg.net/displayimage.php?album=1&pos=14

Yes i know ive still got the tranny tunnel and to grind back a few of the welds!
What i would do if doing it again, is red oxide all the steel before i started cutting and tacking.
Mid you

buying the chassis is for girls. the real satifaction of actually building it and telling people I have built a car not puting together a kit it the best part for me.

then there is cost, it cost me £100 for all the steel and £15 for welding materials so was cheaper than buying, but I am also making some serious mods to a standard chassis so having them built in as a 1 off special would have cost a lot more.

quote:

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Originally posted by ewanspence
buying the chassis is for girls.

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I bought the chassis that is the basis of the car I am building now, but built the chassis for a locost in 1998 which I then sold as I couldn't afford the time as I had the rally car too then.

I am certainly not afraid of the job, it was just a matter of convenience this time. I built the grasser chassis etc from scratch, built my RWD pug 205 from scratch, as well as several other build projects in the last few years.

I took about 4 years to make my chassis!

Mostly due to inertia and inexperience, though. If I was doing another I'd probably spend a week of spare time getting the odds and ends together (suspension brackets, for example) then take a week's leave and build it to completion - it really doesn't take that long, once you've got over the initial hurdle of what goes where, what order to do things, where the mistakes are in the book, and so on.

However, if you have no experience in welding and have no great urge to learn, and/or don't have a MIG welder and wouldn't use it after the car is completed, then buying a chassis is practically and economically sound.

rgds,
David

Remember the green and pink chassis you sold on ebay ? Front end was completed in about a week of nights after work. It's now on it's wheels with an 1800 zetec engine and gearbox in place. These things do not take long to complete at all. Money permitting it'll have bodywork in the next month and be ready for SVA before the end of October. Building a chassis isn't a problem, just be "precise" and make sure your welds are up to scratch. If you aren't confident with a tape measure, cut off saw and a welder, then save yourself the hastle and buy a chassis. If you have all the bits ready, then you could book the SVA for around xmas time and force yourself to complete it in time. You'll finally have somewhere to store your avatar

I love the fact that I built my own chassis, it's a real achievement, but if you want to be on the road quickly or can't weld, then buy one.

Cheers

Chris

Built mine, or should I say building mine, must say I think it is singularly the most important part of a self built car in determining the level of creator input, nothing against buying one though, sometimes wish I'd done so myself as I've sort of hit a progress wall, though this should be remedied soon

I should add that, at the time of starting in 1997, my choice for ready-built chassis was quite small (ST, Ron's Locost company, plus one or two others). Nowadays there are several well-regarded makers selling chassis at competitive prices.

Also, at the time, I couldn't afford to buy a ready-made in one go - paying for my chassis in dribs and drabs made it easier to justify to SWMBO!

David

Built my own chassis 'cos I wanted to do my own suspension/ non-standard uprights.
Time will tell whether this was a good idea........
Bob

Built mine from scratch for no other reason than I wanted to.

Cut everything by hand with a hacksaw, none of this girly cut off saw nonsense!

David

No brainer for me, with wife and two kids, saved me probably 2 years with the limited time I get.

Now getting to do the interesting bits.

That said, original plan was to make the chassis which would have given me a sense of achievement, however I probably would not have trusted my welding anyway and would have been too scared to drive it !!

Currently have powdercoated GTS chassis which is very nice and requires absolutely no welding at all.

Built my chassis , that was the best bit/ main challenge............

I only took 14 months to build the car, in my spare time did not work on it unless I was in the mood............


Rob Lane on here built his car from scratch in 3 months ,so I thought I was slow!!!!

As I said before I did /am building mine as it keeps changing and is definately non standard. There is a great sense of achievment in doing your own, but when your lucky if you get a couple of hours a week to work on it, the time adds up really quick.
Dale

I bought mine from CMC in the US before they vanished.

If I'd built my own chassis, I wouldn't be driving my car now. And for me, the whole point is driving. It took me about 7 months to get the car on the track for the first time. While others have been working on their build, I've been sliding my car around racetracks all over the place. It's far more entertaining.

The downside? Well, CMC didn't do sums very well and I had to correct a number of problems from misaligned tubes to a completely underengineered differential mount. So it's not a completely purchased chassis. The biggest problem is having to admit that it's a kit, or at least some of it is. I'd rather say I started with a pile of tubes. maybe next time.

Keith
http://keith.miata.net/seven

Why not have the best of both worlds? Seems like you could buy a chassis to get on the road quickly, then weld up your own, and when you finish making your new chassis just reassemble on your homebuilt chassis, and sell off the one you purchased.

Have a look a pics 2 and 3 in my archive to see how much progress can be made in two days.

I've also made all the bodywork except the widened nosecone (now laminated to bonnet).

Bought front wishbones/rollbar, made rest.

Could have been done at least a year ago if I'd worked harder

ATB

Simon

Thanks guys....

Still thinking on it while I finish the donor parts..The plan was always to have the running gear ready to bolt up before getting/making the chassis..

The money I would save will buy me my exhaust , as thats one thing I can't make my self .

I have been practicing my welding tonight. Im still confident ....

again thanks for your replys .

Ps told you it was a good chassis Ed ,but at the time I had to let it go.

Hi


Surely an advantage of making a chassis is that you can deviate from the book.

Chassis can be made to fit your engine / gearbox / dif (irs) / seats / size 13 feet / 600mm a*se, etc. etc.
Even interior trim can be designed into a chassis rather than becoming an afterthought.

As they say in engineering circles, "The drawing is only a guide".

Just my 2p

Paul G

I was pleased to see the number of chassis builders in the poll - lately I'd felt like there were very few of us on this list.

Building the chassis is very quick, very rewarding. It's all the cr*p after that that's time consuming - brackets, wiring, dash layout, plumbing. Definitely much quicker to buy a kit where that's all sorted. But it's very rewarding to do everything yourself if you have the time.

I'm still chuckling at a post on TOL that said that a TV show about building a scratch locost wouldn't work - it would have to start with showing the builder searching the internet, visiting forums and using a CAD tool for 2 years before even buying the steel .

quote:

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Originally posted by big_wasa
Thanks guys....

The money I would save will buy me my exhaust , as thats one thing I can't make my self .

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quote:

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Originally posted by MikeP
I was pleased to see the number of chassis builders in the poll - lately I'd felt like there were very few of us on this list.

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I have twice sorted out bought kit projects for other people who paid me rather than abandon the cars.

This was not recently (one was a Dutton Phaeton S2!), and the chassis tollerances were terrible. I had to cut out brackets and reweld etc.

If you buy a chassis, you will have the advantage of having someone to blame for slow progress, bad fits, temper tantrums etc

If you make your own, you will take more care than any producer of chassis's, and can do your own thing. My chassis took 42 hours to get to the 'lets start bolting on the running gear' stage, the rest of the build took 2 1/2 years - BUT IT WAS WORTH EVERY MINUTE

I've been thinking about this, after saying that it would probably only take a week or so to build another chassis - it's probably worth us experienced builders writing down down the 'hints and tips' that we would employ if we were to do it again.

Here's my starter for 10:

1. Get a really stout base-board and mark out the chassis layout. Glue on blocks to locate chassis members.
   
2. Leave out the 'FU' chassis members until later
   
3. Make a jig to locate the front suspension brackets
   
4. Get a pack of the best hacksaw blades you can afford!
   

Keep the fridge stocked up with beer!

When not following the book (at all), finish designing before you start welding

My tip....

Treat those wimpish suggestions to buy a chasssis and take the 'easy' way out with utter contempt

Mick

Chassis After 3 days
Rescued attachment lcday3a.gif

Been practicing my welding

Yep I cant bring myself to spend £600 on the chassis. Im going to get the base board on my day of,ive been and priced the box section. Can you still buy the brackets already made as 12 of them look like hard work

Where are you gonna fit the seats?

For the brackets get a short length of 50mm square x 3mm wall RHS, cut into 35mm sections and cut of the face with the seam in it.
Brackets with no bending involved.

Mick

Note. It's also much easier if you drill the holes before you cut the RHS into sections, just be careful not to drill through the seam.

I just noticed MNR sell brackets @ £1.25 each inc VAT

http://www.mnrltd.co.uk/Brackets.html

GTS also sell them IIRC

quote:

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Originally posted by Mix
For the brackets get a short length of 50mm square x 3mm wall RHS, cut into 35mm sections and cut of the face with the seam in it.
Brackets with no bending involved.
.

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