Crowley
|
| posted on 3/7/03 at 06:12 PM |
|
|
Stainless Steel
What are the pros & cons of building the chassis from stainless.
I've seen one or two comments, but is there a particular reason that they arn't common.
|
|
|
|
|
chrisg
|
| posted on 3/7/03 at 09:13 PM |
|
|
Are we talking the chassis or the panels?
Cos the chassis would be difficult due to the cost and availability of stainless section and the cost of a tig welder for the sticking together of
it.
The panels could be stainless, the downside being the difficulty in working (bending etc) when compared to aluminium and the additional weight, having
said that , done well it does look good (but not on a Robin Hood)
Cheers
Chris
Note to all: I really don't know when to leave well alone. I tried to get clever with the mods, then when they gave me a lifeline to see the
error of my ways, I tried to incite more trouble via u2u. So now I'm banned, never to return again. They should have done it years ago!
|
|
|
Crowley
|
| posted on 3/7/03 at 09:18 PM |
|
|
Sorry. The chassis. A mate of mine can get the steel at a good price, and he's into MIG/TIG welding so thats not so much the problem. Its
more a case of the practicalities and of stainless, and if there are any cons due to the properties of stainless etc.
|
|
|
kingr
|
| posted on 3/7/03 at 09:28 PM |
|
|
I'll be interested in whatever replies there are to this. Not because I want to make my chassis out of stainless, but because despite having
spent several hours trawling around the web reading about stainless, I found very little about the structural properties of it, and less still about
it's potential uses in car building.
Anyone got any good links/books/whatever?
Jon Ison - If you're listening, I understand that you made your wishbones out of stainless, what spec did you use and did you have to do
anything other than tig them such as normalise? (from my reading, I would guess some type of ferritic stainless, and hence no need to normalise, am I
right?)
Regards,
Kingr
[Edited on 3/7/03 by kingr]
|
|
|
blueshift
|
| posted on 3/7/03 at 09:31 PM |
|
|
Info I've picked up about stainless on my travels is that it's harder (so more difficult to work with), more subject to fatigue (though I
could be wrong on that one) and way more expensive.
there was another thread about use of stainless for chassis a month or so ago, try that.
|
|
|
stephen_gusterson
|
| posted on 3/7/03 at 09:59 PM |
|
|
i thought you could weld stainless with an ordinary mig.....I can with mine if argon is used.
I have also heard that cracking can occur in stainless.
AFAIR, there was some discussion on the locost theory group on yahoo about this kinda thing.
why stainless.....seems to me that lots of peeps sell their locost in 2 - 4 years, not really much chance to rust in that time anyway.
atb
steve
[Edited on 3/7/03 by stephen_gusterson]
|
|
|
Rorty
|
| posted on 4/7/03 at 02:00 AM |
|
|
Stainless can be more brittle than mild steel, and work hardens, but there's nothing wrong with using it. I suppose the reason it's not
seen in chassis more often, is cost, and the need for careful welding/heat treatment.
If you were to use stainless tube for the chassis, it would be logical to use stainless for all the bracketry too. Finding a supply of the necessary
sections/profiles could be more dificult than finding the tube.
It can be welded quite sucessfully with a MIG, though TIG would be my choice.
The most suitable grade would probably be T304L, though T316L would also do, but is a bit harder. Try and find seamless tube.
Cheers, Rorty.
"Faster than a speeding Pullet".
PLEASE DON'T U2U ME IF YOU WANT A QUICK RESPONSE. TRY EMAILING ME INSTEAD!
|
|
|
Crowley
|
| posted on 4/7/03 at 09:23 AM |
|
|
Cheers Guys for all you input. So the main reason seems to be price & availability/knowledge og MIG/TIG. With luck I have both of these covered,
so I think I'll experiment and see what it comes out like. I've seem the site for the +442 and am really interested in this one.
I'm also trying to find out all I can about the de deon rear end as this solves one or two small issues that i've had, but am finding it
difficult to get me head round it.
|
|
|
