Hot Rods The Unibody Roadster Dissected

neat car, great work !

 

Innovative. Very impressive. The top is great.

 

Always has been and still is one of my favorite cars. Could sit and look at it all day and still not find all the neat details.
Seem to remember some guy named Reggie almost having to change pants and some guy named Ryan having an almost permanent grin after riding in this car several years ago in Missouri. I would like to make a reservation for a ride next time we are together!

 

Ok ...

:d :d

 

I've ridden with Alex...you don't know what you're asking for.

You'd better be an adrenaline junkie!

 

Whoa that thing is slick. At first I saw the photos and It looked just like a VW pan under there of course reading the description proved it wasn't.
It seems A lot of people who try to do something different have to make a bunch of compromises but it appears you were able to do it all and sacrifice nothing. Very cool.
The video is awesome that car really sounds nice.

 

Nice Work

 

What video? The short one that Enfo posted?

 

Ah yes... very nice car.

But is it traditional?

 

First cool looking car - great engineering and all that stuff.

IMO it is a unibody since the chassis is welded into the body structure.
This chassis cannot roll down the road without the body, and you cannot unbolt the body to remove it.

 

newbie advice;
read posts closely,
absorb material read,
think before putting mouth in gear or not, then, open mouth wide, insert foot

 

While not a unibody, the floors in old Bugattis are done in a similar fashion. I like how they narrowed the frame rail for more ass room.

 

A friend of the Family was into Bugatti's when I was a kid.

Amazing vehicles...

Most parts on them are sculptures in themselfs, and the whole car is stunning too.

The one I knew ( and wrenched on a tiny little bit ), was one of the smaller ones.

The oilpan was a sturdy piece with 4 mounting points on the corners to help tie the chassis together.
( and other cool tricks & features..)

 

BTTT, I looked and can not see where I asked you what guage steel the floor and tunnel are? Plus that Bugatti is pure art!

 

I think you P/M'd me...

If I remember right, the floor is 20Ga, and the Driveshaft Tunnel 18Ga.
( could be one Ga heavyer on both, its been a while since I did those...)

 

And I recently erased all my PM's. DOH!

Thanks, keep you posted.

 

Metalshapes,
I've seen your posts while researching my next (slightly O/T) build, and always been impressed by your broad knowledge base - to see this applied to a traditionally styled hot rod in a way that works so cohesively - very cool!
Thanks for posting, inspirational stuff!
CraigR

 

Thank you Craig.

 

Gee Alex, maybe next time, can you be a little INNOVATIVE?!
hahaha just funnin', I love that car!

 

That is one cool car , done from a different perspective , I like it, try earplugs when on the freeway , takes all the inner ear buffeting you get from the wind, that's what gives you fatigue & the off balance feel , works a treat & you can hear the car better

Great build , thanks for sharing .

 

Alex, some of the ideas in this car will find their way into my T roadster for sure, so thanks for posting the pics. Ts don't have a lot of room (vertically) in the passenger cell and I don't really like the appearance of riding on top, so sitting down low as possible is the goal. I'm fairly certain most of our engineering/registration requirements don't allow me to pull the centre crossmembers, but the sunken floor with certainly find some application in what I do.

 

peddro! Cool to hear you are working on a T!

 

Yeah, I heard that you guys have really strict rules.

Engineering reports, measuring how much torque rigidity a chassis has, etc ( maybe thats just on newly built cars... I dont know )

Cool that you'll use some of my idea's.

Thats what its all about...

 

I love it, I had a 34 tudor for a while and it had a sunken floor, but only in front of the seat. It added a lot more leg room. But I'm short as heck and really didn't need it. But I really love the car and the respect the engineering that went into the ride. thanks for the tech info.

 

Very cool ideas in this car, thanks for sharing.

 

Great ideas and great way to pull them together.
I like the car all the way around. Too bad I'm on the wrong coast to see it in person!
And thanks for taking the time to photograph and upload the pics for all of us to see, as well as describe why you did certian things, just phenomenal!

|M|

 

Very cool! What is the diagonal square tube that runs along side the rear spring for?

 

The Square Tube on the driver side goes from the lower end of the Panhard Bar Mount to the middle of the Rear Spring X-member.

That is to triangulate the mount, and make sure it doesnt flex.


I did the same on the other end.

The Pass Side Panhard Mount ( on the axle ) is also the Shock Mount.

It is triangulated to take up sideways loads.

The shockmount on the Driver Side only takes up the loads from the Shock absorber, so it doesnt have the triangulation.

 

So Alex, did you get the updates done and back on the road?

 

It looks more like evolution to me! I should know, I'm from kansas.