techBox » space frame

The return

Rob — Sun, 13 Aug 2006 10:40:00 +0000

Finally, I have taken delivery of the completed chassis (well hired a drop-side and driven 6 hours to pick it up ).

Now I have it all back, I’ll be concentrating on sorting out my A-B car (audi coupe quattro) for the next couple of Months (damn bushes!) before starting work on the buggy properly.

Depending on the financial situation I’m hoping to get it to a rolling state before Christmas to be completed mid -2007, but I’ll keep you all posted!

Frame almost complete

Rob — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 17:24:00 +0000

Sorry for the delay in posting, I have a couple more images of the frame in progress.
All that is needed now is for me to buy some seats so that John and I can ascertain the positions for the handbrake, gearstick and pedals. More information on that soon.

Teasers

Rob — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 19:31:00 +0000

Some photos of the frame in progress.
I’ve decided to keep the build photos a bit vague to work up some suspense.
This way when it’s all finished it should be a pleasant surprise to you all.
Rest-assured I will still be uploading and posting, but you won’t get to see it all till the end

And another one

Rob — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 18:51:00 +0000

Here’s how the frame is coming along:

I’m hopefully seeing it in a week or so, so I’ll get some higher resolution images.
The beam is coming along nicely now I’ve decided to polish it up, too.
I’m also decifing on some seats – cobra or corbeau recliners are the order of the day at the moment.

First frame pictures

Rob — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 23:11:00 +0000

So here they are, the first images of the new space frame.

Unfortunately they are a bit on the small side! Larger ones will follow soon

Speaking to fabricators…

Rob — Sat, 25 Jun 2005 17:26:00 +0000

This week I have spoken to some chassis fabricators, some with buggy knowledge, some without and shown them my plans.

I’ve had rough quotes from them all and the good news is it all seems possible!
There may be a few teething problems as I believe this has never been done before, but all should be well.

I have decided to have the frame made by a chap called John Gurney, a buggy builder for many years who shares my enthusiasm for different buggy designs and new ideas. I have arranged to get the body to him as and when he has some spare room and the body is made.

Designing my own chassis

Rob — Sat, 18 Jun 2005 17:19:00 +0000

Armed with a CAD package and some knowledge of designs (mostly ideas stolen from other designs) I have mocked up something which I can talk to fabricators about.

The design is a bit radical, I just hope it can work.

I’ve gone for a 2-piece structure (with the rollbar seperate) which would allow the body to be sandwiched between the 2 pieces. As long as this is bolted down correctly, it shouldn’t affect the strength of the chassis.

Frame chassis designs

Rob — Sat, 11 Jun 2005 05:10:00 +0000

With the body ordered, I have started to think about a design for the space frame chassis and to look into finding a reputable fabricator to make it.

After scouring the internet and looking through online forums (2 good ones are http://www.beachbuggy.org.uk and http://www.volkszone.com/VZi), I found a few designs to work with:

I have considered these designs and decided to use some of the ideas to come up with my own frame design.
Daring to be different as always, I want to see if it’s possible to make an ‘exoskeleton’ type frame which would allow the body to be easily removed and not restrict the cabin space. If all goes well, the side bars could also be hidden inside the side pods.