I'm really not sure of the best way to cut the holes in the aluminium bodywork for the wishbones.

Although for an easy life I'm tempted to follow the modern Indy style and cut the sides short of the wishbones I really don't like the look of this as much.

That seems to leave the following options:

Drill and File: Drill holes all the way around the circumference then file it round.

Tank cutter: Weird thing that goes in drill with one blade sticking out side and cuts as drill spins.

Hole saw: Hacksaw blade in circle shape set in steel piece- goes in drill.

Jigsaw: Can you do 3" diameter cuts with this?

Advice on best method gratefully recieved!


Thanks,
James

[Edited on 23/5/05 by James]

james,

i haven't done the sides yet, but a carboard template (open an old packing box flat) worked really well for some other bits I've done/am doing. get it right with cardboard, then use that as a temlpate for the ally...

Ned.

Holesaw will probably be easiest/cheapest/neatest.

I would suggest buying a few, Q-Max Cutters, of varying sizes. (I think thats what they're called)

Picture in archive (but a bit big!).

I've used them to cut 18gauge steel but it think you could get away cutting 16, and thicker still if ally. I believe that Car builder solutions sell them but under a different name. All that needs to be done is a pilot hole of around 9mm to be drilled through the centre of where you want the hole. Unbolt the two halves of the cutter pass the bolt of the cutter through the sheet and screw on other half the other side. Do up the bolt and it punches a neat hole with no distortion to the surrounding area.

Hope this helps,
Andy

[Edited on 23/5/05 by andylancaster3000]

[Edited on 23/5/05 by andylancaster3000]

would also go the holesaw route. did mine a couple o' weeks back and non to shabby result. but of finishig with drill mounted flapper wheel and round as a pound. avoid "holesaw" from b+q tough, more of an elipse if it doesnt rip your arms off due to having teeth at all sorts of angles - fit birds and decent holesaws have straight teeth.
also go for the template. mark out as per uncle ron, cut out with large margin, mate up to chassis and correct where necessary - everywhere, then use to mark out both sides of ali. also use 1.2mm ali. i used 1.5 cause thats what i had kicking around, and way more hassle.
good luck and such

James all the methods you suggest run the risk of damaging the gelcoat...(if it is grp bodywork....if not ignore me )

I have always found the best way of cutting fibreglass without damaging the gelcoat is this.

Mark out the hole positions with a template of some sort. Chain drill the bits you want to remove. The use a high speed drill (dremel) with a sanding drum in it to cut the holes to the right shape. The drums will cut very fast, and leave a nice smooth edge on all the holes. Just beware of the amount of dust produced and wear a mask!

Cheers,
David

[Edited on 23/5/05 by flak monkey]

Sorry James, I may have misunderstood you, do you mean cutting aly or fibregalss?

Andy

[Edited on 23/5/05 by andylancaster3000]

Fibreglass - i used rotozip. Bought one cheap off ebay.

Ali - sorry cant help you other than to say i saw Suggs Luego (stainless side panels) and they were spot on - he used q-max cutters.

It's the ali side panels- sorry guys, I should have said.

Cheers,
James

Hole saw!
I believe you need four holders (with center drill) to handle the full range of sizes.
The holders are not cheap but the circular saws are.
I've cutted some 30 mm holes in 3mm steel plate and works as a charm with the right coolant and proper RPM.

Did mine with a Jigsaw. It went round OK and just needed filing deburring to finish. I had problems doing them with a hole saw as it wandered and the centre drill wouldn't hold it as it just slotted the centre hole.

David

I used a air nibbler
http://www.machinemart.co.uk/product.asp?p=000310390

(been making bbq out of oil drums with it)

pukka tool from machine mart. But before i had my new toy it was a descent hole saw (not the £5 ones from a market) as they seem to rip the metal more than cut it and the arbour moves about.

As for GRP dremmel every time. Small drill bit first, then a tiny rotary file then the sanding drum.

these are brilliant if bit expensive, not sure if they will go big enough for what you want though....

part number 543-800 on

www.rswww.com


Ray

I believe the chassis punch would give the cleanest hole. Don't know if you can buy these in the UK. Conduit and Pipe punches.
Greenlee Standard Round Knockout Punches 0.5" to 5.675" Capacity Mild steel up through 10 gauge.

do the following for very ver good holes..

get an pieces of 4mm steel but smaller as the circle you want to cut..

poprivet it on the centre of the hole..

then use that as an base for the centre drill in that way it stays at the centr while drilling..and with 4 mm it has something to eat while you are still doing the big circles..

untherstand the trick??

then when you are done the poprivets and the 4mm material are all on the wasted part of the hole....

Regards

TKS

We used a Jigsaw to produce the holes for our clocks. Drill an 8mm hole for closed holes. Then, using an upcut profiling blade you can produce holes down to 25mm diameter. We always use masking tape onto which we draw the shape. Use copious amounts of parafin or other lubricant, run the saw as fast as possible using a light feed and the burr produced will be quite small. Where safety spec's please as the swarf flies everywhere! We have done all of our cutting of aluminium using this with little or no problems what-so-ever... always use a very sharp blade on aluminium and lubricate well. failing to lubricate produces a built up edge on the cutting teeth and renders the blade useless until cleaned.

HTH

nibbler every time see photo archive

Holesaw or Qmax cutters.

These are available from Cromwell Tools and do an Excellent job.....................Qmax from Cromwell

Thanks for the responses everybody.

What I can conclude from this is that everyone has used a different method and all seem to have worked ok.

I'm pretty tempted in that case just to use a jigsaw seeing as a set of Screwfix blades is about 4 quid!

Cheers,
James

I used a nibbler for my front panels, see: http://www.irvined.co.uk/gallery/Arches/cimg0267

For holes (Such as the fuel filler) I've used holesaws which are ok. (Get the solid ones, not the ones with removable blades.) However in ali you need to have something solid behind it else it tends not to cut very nice holes, ideally you want a QMax cutter thing.

HTH

D