Metal...metal!

[jolly_roger187]

hello again good people.....

As i've mentioned a few times in this forum, im determaned to construct a off-road dune buggy as soon as i can. This weekend i will go hunting for a small car (fiesta or something) and use the chassis as a base. I have a basic idea of the outcome already but this is my first project and it might not go to plan.....thats why i have joined this great forum and read almost every topic so far. I am eger to learn the art of welding, and you people here have much knowledge to offer and i'm gratefull.

I would like to know if anyone has done a simmalir project before and what material is used; tubes, metal ect.
I would appreciate the help very much, cheers people

JR

 

[Hitch]

A good friend of mine is well into grasstrack racing or autograss, he built a very much similar thing to your pic, built from scratch, mainly from 20mm box section. All the front and rear suspension arms custom built too.
Rear engined, 2litre highly tuned zetec lump, 3 speed gearbox purpose built (£2800!!) Light enough for 3 peolpe to pick up, goes like erm.... :lol:
http://www.stotti.freeserve.co.uk/class8.html
His is the blue and yellow one, in the 7th pic down.
If you plan to race it at any time, its worth building it to the required specs.

 

[malcolm]

We've got a Beetle round here that I think is going to head towards the scrapyard. Lots of rust and a carb fire. I can ask about it at the weekend if you are interested. It should be easier to work with something that started out in life with a seperate chassis.

For the rollcage it probably makes sense searching Google for rollcage regulations, and going with the regs for the series that looks closest. The rollcage regs also have ideas about how to mount the cage to the chassis.

I looked at a couple of random pages. The Icelandic Formula Offroad regs require a minimum of 45mm tube with 2.5mm wall thickness. That's probably close to limit that would bend with the metal bender without kinking, so it's worth testing a tube before going ahead and buying lots.

 

[Hitch]

Depending upon your budget, have a look at Demon Tweeks motorsport products, and get yourself a cataalogue.
http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/category_homepage.asp?cls=MSPORT

 

[jolly_roger187]

We've got a Beetle round here that I think is going to head towards the scrapyard. Lots of rust and a carb fire. I can ask about it at the weekend if you are interested. It should be easier to work with something that started out in life with a seperate chassis.

I'd love a beetle malcolm, but i dont think i could get the transport to collect it, thanks all the same mate.

yes.......i was planning to used scaffold bars as a rollcage, there 50mm by 2.5mm so thats perfect. I want to build the rest of the frame with 1" round section tubing, is there a particular metal i need to aquire or will just normal steel do the trick. Is there anything i should avoid like the plauge?

thanks for the link Hitachimad, there is a whole list of accsessories i have in mind to make my Buggy look like the dogs nackers!

cheers good people!

 

[Hitch]

We've got a Beetle round here that I think is going to head towards the scrapyard. Lots of rust and a carb fire. I can ask about it at the weekend if you are interested. It should be easier to work with something that started out in life with a seperate chassis.

I'd love a beetle malcolm, but i dont think i could get the transport to collect it, thanks all the same mate.

yes.......i was planning to used scaffold bars as a rollcage, there 50mm by 2.5mm so thats perfect. I want to build the rest of the frame with 1" round section tubing, is there a particular metal i need to aquire or will just normal steel do the trick. Is there anything i should avoid like the plauge?

thanks for the link Hitachimad, there is a whole list of accsessories i have in mind to make my Buggy look like the dogs nackers!

cheers good people!

Personally, i wouldnt use old scaff poles, but if you do, make sure you dont get galvanised ones, not only for welding purposes, but also painting.
I thought that FIA regs stated that tube for cages should be 38mm diam, x 2.5mm wall? 50mmx3mm tube for a single roll bar...
Spend a bit of time on rescearch before you get the tools out! As much as you want to! It will save you a lot of hassle in the long run.

 

[malcolm]

i was planning to used scaffold bars as a rollcage, there 50mm by 2.5mm so thats perfect. I want to build the rest of the frame with 1" round section tubing, is there a particular metal i need to aquire or will just normal steel do the trick. Is there anything i should avoid like the plauge?

I'd be inclined to use mild (normal) steel for the frame. Go for mild steel scaffold poles too as sometimes they come in aluminium, and that's a pain to do anything with. But tube is cheap - I'd buy nice new tube in the size you need rather than mucking about with old stuff that needs preparing. New stuff is so much easier to put together.

I've used Demon Tweeks in the past, but they are expensive. They've got the easy to purchase thing sorted out and they charge for it. Normally you can shop around for the less easy to purchase guys and swap a bit of time for cash.

 

[Chris_]

make sure at least one or two of the over the top hoops are made of decent wall thickness Seamless tubing, preferably CDS (cold drawn seamless) It is worth the extra expense when you think of what the cage is there for.