Sorry if this is a bit long, but I'm hoping it might be useful to quite a few of you. During the design & build of my car one of the biggest PITA's I found was finding suitable bushes/brackets etc for everything from suspension pivots & shock mounts to things like seat belt mounts, rack mounts, pedals & pedal box etc etc.
I now have all the stuff for my car sorted & I will be putting some brackets & bushes etc on my website shortly, some of which may be of use to you guys. I drew it all up myself on an excellent little FREE 2D drawing package

linky

which produces .dwg files which can be sent direct to the laser cutters for them to quote on. I have found an excellent laser cutter who will do small batches in mild steel, ali or stainless steel at brilliant prices. They can supply & cut plate up to 15mm thick (Yes, 15mm that must be some laser, James Bond eat your heart out!). They will also do any necessary bending, such as that required for the suspension pivot "C" brackets. The only drawback is that they have a minimum order of £65 + VAT. So far that's not been a problem for me as I've had enough bits cut to do 5 chassis, but obviously if you want an odd couple of brackets done it doesn't help. However, I'm quite happy to add in bits 'n pieces with my orders or act as coordinator to get a "group buy" together. I'm not prepared to do it for free, simply because there's going to be a lot of faffing involved to say nothing of bank charges Paypal charges postage etc etc. however even with my commision a simple bracket with 1 or 2 holes in, say, 6mm mild steel plate would be about £1.50, bending ups the cost a little, but as an example the "C" brackets for suspension pivots would come out at about £2.20 each.
I'm obviously aware that we can all make these bits from scratch, but it depends how valuable your time is to you & it can really help to move a build on.
Any comments?
If nothing else do make use of the drawing package, it's dead simple (even I can use it!) & quick.

Sounds like a nice service to offer to the group - well done.

Now here's something that may interest people - how much would they charge for a lump of metal, say 5 or 7mm thick, about 40cm long by 10cm high, with 4 big holes in it equally spaced. A few others around the sides ......

ie inlet manifold for people to make their carb / fi injection systems from.

What engine do you want an inlet plate for. Mild or stainless ?

If you have one I can copy. I can draw it and there would be no min charge.

let me know if i can help. I can get a price when I have a drawing.

Regards
Jason

Paddle shifts in 5mm aluminium sheet ?

Excellent! Currently drawing up my chassis in Solidworks and was wondering were to get all the plates and brackets made!! I could do them myself, but this will be much more efficient.

Can you take any drawings or is dwg best?

Best with Dxf or Iges files

jason

I always use .dwg

The manifold idea sounds excellent, I could also see the paddle shift being desirable

thanks, very handy

Nice one Russ.