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How much floor does there have to be?
smart51 - 2/8/10 at 11:28 AM

I'm trying to make my exo build as light as possible. I'm now considering how much floor I need. I'll do the footwell and area up to the seat of course but do I need to do under the seat? (single seater, no passengers, steel fabricated seat). Behind the seat is a plastic fuel tank from the donor. Do I need a metal floor underneath this? Its all killograms and I'm looking for reasons to keep or get rid of sections of the floor panel.

Miks15 - 2/8/10 at 11:32 AM

out of interest, if you looking to save weight, how come you have a steel fabricated seat?

Why not an ally seat or a GRP seat?

With regards to the tank, theres no floor under my tank which is in the back of the car

interestedparty - 2/8/10 at 11:34 AM

Yep, no floor under tank, needs to be separated from engine and passenger compartment by bulkheads etc

smart51 - 2/8/10 at 11:55 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Miks15
out of interest, if you looking to save weight, how come you have a steel fabricated seat?
Why not an ally seat or a GRP seat?


I had some thin sheet steel for free. It weighs less than 5kg at the moment and I'm going to punch and swage some holes in the backrest to make it lighter, but then add some thin padding. 0.7mm steel sheet weighs the same as 2.0mm aluminium so there's little to gain unless using paper thin alloy. CF seats are lighter but cost more than some welding wire and gas. Light is good but free is better

Miks15 - 2/8/10 at 12:08 PM

fair enough. All seems to make sense.

probs much lighter than my seats anyway

iank - 2/8/10 at 12:38 PM

IIRC the atom has a moulded composite seat with no 'floor' underneath it.

norfolkluego - 2/8/10 at 05:53 PM

If the floor doesn't meet the bulkhead to partition off the driver completely the bulkheads pretty useless isn't it. If the fuel tank did rupture you'd be sitting unprotected over a nice pool of petrol just waiting to go whoosh. Could get a bit toasty round the privates.

The Black Flash - 2/8/10 at 10:32 PM

...and don't forget wind resistance. Big holes in the floor can add a fair bit of drag as I understand it (the rear tub being a prime area). Skipping the floor might save 2 or 3 Kg, but how much will it sap power at speed?