Afternoon all,

I have got tot he stage were i am getting ready to fabricate the floor for my Locost,

My question is what would be best to use for the floor, Would 16 gauge aluminium or steel be best or was thinking of cutting the roof of the works transit van and using that as its a good (cheap) flat piece of metal.

What have other builder used?

Thanks

Jimmy

I did mine in steel, pu'ed and rivetted to the chassis.

quote:

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Originally posted by jimmylad
was thinking of cutting the roof of the works transit van and using that as its a good (cheap) flat piece of metal.

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They don't need to know haha. the van is a write off anyway

Are you sure the roof is actually flat?

I used 14swg aluminium.

Cheers
Davie

Steel is going to take a lot more effort to stop it rusting away if used in the wet / winter.

I think one of the recommendations in the original book was to use the Escort roof...

steel is heavier and will corrode, though - depends on you budget would be my answer...

Steel also offers a greater penetration resistance than aluminium. Good for if you run over a silencer left behind by a truck or something similar, you really do not want an exhaust as an enema!

I assumed all floors were ali. Steel would be a pig to prevent rusting.

Shows how little I know when I brought and not built!!!

I have and would use 14swg ali.

Iv got 1.2 mm Alu. 2500x1265 £48.00 from mill stainless

Mine is the roof of the donor escort, welded in,

works fine for me

0.9mm stainless, also pu'ed and riveted.

Mine's zinc plated steel welded to chassis. Can't see rust being much of a problem compared to average tintop as it's a small flat area and easy to rustproof and keep an eye on. Also it's not likely to be going outside for a few years yet.

If you want to run in the 750mc locost formula steel is required otherwise aluminium is more common these days.

You must all be running your cars like gadget cars if you can get a truck silencer under them!

Mine is steel, welded on. After 6 years there is not a trace of rust, so I suppose it all depends on your initial preperation. I etch primed then two coats of black ordinary house paint, then two coats of underseal on the bottom, still as good as the day I put it on. Cheers Ray

16 gauge steel zintec floor on mine puddle welded every two inches. Used zinc spray paint over the welds after and basically tried to run the paint between chassis and floor to seal any gaps, OK so far.

Has had big bash from underneath rear of drivers seat from when I moved a large stone or concrete rubble in road and it tried to come up through the bottom. of the car, looks like a large lump hammer job.

Adrian

My Luego Factory floor is steel.

Corrosion was my concern.
I gave it a good coating of paint and some stonechip as well. Also extra around the front edge of the footwells.
After 6 years, its still rust free.

I also painted all around the seams / joins on the inside of the floor with Grey Stripe Seam sealer. Namely to stop water creeping between th rails and the floor panel as its only stitch welded in.

Its not hard to stop the rust if you do it at the beginning whilst its easy to get at.
Dont leave it until its been on the road for a few years.