building a caterham seven from scratch in Saudi

[knight-of-night]

me and my friend are looking to build caterham 7 ( a pic for those who dont know it ) :

http://www.britauto.net/saleimages/caterham/02cat7slrblackblack/02cat7slrblklg.jpg


this is the chassis for the car ( we want to make one similar to these ) :

http://www.carsforum.co.il/shares/moti/Super4chs-035.jpg


http://www.mnrvortxr1.co.uk/fullpics/chassisAfull.jpg

i have some questions :

1- what would u suggest the tubes for the chassis would be ? we found square tubes : 2*2 cm ,3*3 cm , 4*4 cm

2 - the thickness among them all is 1.4 mm aprrox ,, is that good or should we find thicker ?? ( i dont think we could find thicker )

3- (important) All we could find here in Saudi are Arc welding machines and we r not experienced to do that kind of welding(which we read is harder than the others ) .... should we buy one and just practice with it until we get it right ??

4- what exact model would u suggest for us ( all we can find r chinese ,, we have to go to the city if we wanted a Miller or any other good brand ,,, should we stick with buying chinese ,, which is way cheaper ) ???



sorry for typing in a lot of questions ,, but this is the first car for us ( could be the first in the whole country ) so we r really short on knowledge

Regards ,, Hamad

 

[scarecrow]

WOW now that's what I call a car
mig would definitely be easier on light material if you struggle to find mig then you will probably struggle to get the gas as well

 

[Richiew]

Hello,

You can download the plans for a seven type car here.

http://mcsorley.net/locost/drawings.htm

The designs in the link are for a live axled car, the MNR mentioned in your thread is a more modern design and it has independent rear suspension.

The main tubes are 1.6mm wall thickness, usually 25mm square, some of the smaller ones are 19mm square.

You really want a mig welder to be doing any work like this. Its easier than arc welding too for a beginner.

 

[MrFluffy]

Have you seen the website www.locostbuilders.co.uk ?
Its a mine of information for caterham TYPE car building in a diy manner, Im sure it would be of use...

 

[fluxcored]

The McSorley plans are good and you'll find a mine of info at Locostbuilders.

The secret of the 7's are light but rigid space frame chassis. You do'nt want to go too thick material.

Because tubing is so thin, warpage is a real problem - that is why everybody says MIG.

But beware of MIG - a beginner can make good looking but poor quality welds which'll break easily when stressed so no matter what you do you're gonna have to practice.

The project you want to tackle is more complex than you think - I've been planning for 4 years now. Buy the best quality welder you can afford - you gonna have lots of issues and do'nt want to add to your woes by having problems with your welder.

I admire and envy you - best of luck.

 

[shadowcaster]

Hi
You could also take a look at the Haynes Roadster Forum http://www.haynes.co.uk/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=1
It's based on a more up to date chassis with IRS and uses a Ford Sierra donor, it's also slightly larger than the Ron Champion Locost. The book is available through Amazon.

 

[knight-of-night]

thank u all soo much ,, will look at the sites u all provided


Hip Hip Hooray

 

[lexi]

Didn`t see your post mate. Locostbuilders will keep you right. If getting Mig AND gas proves to be a problem it is perfectly possible to weld a 7 Type frame with Chinese DC TIG inverter.

25MM squ. tube at 1.6mm thick is what you need and Inverter can weld this easily....no gas. Mig with gas is better choice maybe for a beginner though.

 

[JayRS4]

Didn`t see your post mate. Locostbuilders will keep you right. If getting Mig AND gas proves to be a problem it is perfectly possible to weld a 7 Type frame with Chinese DC TIG inverter.

25MM squ. tube at 1.6mm thick is what you need and Inverter can weld this easily....no gas. Mig with gas is better choice maybe for a beginner though.

Lexi, think you might want to edit that post a bit. It reads to me as if your suggesting you can tig weld without gas, which would be wrong, the only thing your going to do is MMA with an inverter that way.

 

[ben8vgte]

Didn`t see your post mate. Locostbuilders will keep you right. If getting Mig AND gas proves to be a problem it is perfectly possible to weld a 7 Type frame with Chinese DC TIG inverter.

25MM squ. tube at 1.6mm thick is what you need and Inverter can weld this easily....no gas. Mig with gas is better choice maybe for a beginner though.

you need gas for tig