The aluminum floor is not good idea, you have to use only steel in the floor, because is the best for the chassis.
At the side panels you can use aluminum.
ok so i decided i wanna do aluminum floor. Is it possible to do the floor and side panels in a single piece? is this even a good idea?
Hi
The aluminum floor is not good idea, you have to use only steel in the floor, because is the best for the chassis.
At the side panels you can use aluminum.
you can use alli for the floor. Itl be much easier to do the sides and floor in seperate pieces to make folding etc easier and neater,
Best to keep floor and sides seperate:
The floor needs to be thicker than the sides and generally is in a harder grade alloy with the sides being thinner and softer to make fitting much
easier. Also the most commonly stocked sizes of sheet alloy are not large enough to do a wrap around.
[Edited on 12/6/06 by Kodiak]
quote:
Originally posted by Vangelis7
Hi
The aluminum floor is not good idea, you have to use only steel in the floor, because is the best for the chassis.
At the side panels you can use aluminum.
If you are going to race it in any series, it has to be a steel floor.
quote:
Originally posted by the_fbi
If you are going to race it in any series, it has to be a steel floor.
Both floor & sides are easily rivetted - just use large headed 5mm rivets on the floor panels for extra strength. The sides only require 4mm standard heads. Best to use PU adhesive too, ensuring less rattles and waterproofing.
It's worth remembering that if you buy a Westfield kit, you'll get aluminium sheet for the floor...
In the end, it's whatever you fancy. Steel can be thinner (1.6mm) but can bow and distort when welded giving an 'oil-can' effect. Not
a big issue if you're careful. It is tougher for a given thickness.
Aluminium has to be thicker to get reasonable strength for walking on it (3mm is common, I believe) so the weight saving isn't that significant -
but it will be a little lighter. It will have to be riveted and/or bonded to the chassis - Westies use ordinary rivets every couple of inches, and
not too many of their floors fall off in typical use!
If I was doing another chassis I'd probably use 3mm aluminium next time.
David
The problem with a ali floor is to get it to work as the stressed chassis member it is (supposed to be). It is possible to achieve this by riveting,
but I have never seen anyone with some deeper understanding of the problem say how and show some figures to back it.
You will find ali floors in many kits because it saves the manufacturer money and trouble, it also looks smart and sounds hi-tech. How well it works
is another question.
The bond between the frame and the floor has to have, at least, the same E-modulus as the ali. Like some nice, strong, structural glue.
quote:
Originally posted by viatron
quote:
Originally posted by the_fbi
If you are going to race it in any series, it has to be a steel floor.
Not quite so i'm afraid, We are racing in the Tiger Racing Series and there is no requiremtn either by the series rules or blueblook for a steel floor.
Mac
quote:
Originally posted by leto
The problem with a ali floor is to get it to work as the stressed chassis member it is (supposed to be). It is possible to achieve this by riveting, but I have never seen anyone with some deeper understanding of the problem say how and show some figures to back it.
several people have used 1.6mm ally on the floor. Commonest method is rivets, and sikaflex to prevent movement wearing the holes bigger.
Over simplification is not without danger either. A ali floor will, in most cases, reduce the cars performance. Not to the point where it get
dangerous or even easily noticed, but the lack in performance is still there. I don't think it is a bad thing to make people how have the choices
of floor material aware of consequences that might not be obvious.
By the way, if you use ordinary rivets and sikaflex, 1.6mm ali is fine. The floor will take nearly no frame loads, so there is no need to bother with
the extra wight and cost of a thicker plate for that reason.
Edit: Typo (one of them 
)
[Edited on 06-6-13 by leto]
Thicker floor panels are still a good idea - you are going to be standing on them occasionally and you are less likely to leave dents where you tread.
