Steel Q's
 

Hi,

Looking at starting the chassis in the next few weeks, I have found this on Ebay :confused:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HAYNES-ROADSTE...#ht_500wt_1182

It says 2mm wall thickness, Thought I needed 1.6mm?

Is it ok to use 2mm or will the weight/structural integrity change too much?

(May be a dumb question as my book hasn't arrived from Amazon yet :eek:

Cheers in advance


EDIT: Just noticed he is a forum member so i guess its OK :D

2mm is fine.
a lot of people are using 2mm, including me

The add you are showing is our own Handyandy.
It is an excellent way to buy your chassis.;
Saves all that hassle of getting the steel and cutting it to length.


Edited: just noticed you have just noticed.....;)

:D

Cheers for quick reply,

Have been having trouble finding 1.6mm off the shelf, can find 1.5mm and 2.0mm.

I am trying to decide on cutting myself or paying a bit more for someone else to do that part :confused: would save me having to manhandle 6m long pieces of steel :eek: something would get broken :cool:

Saves cutting
Saves Swearing
Saves on buying a decent cutting tool
Saves time
Saves Sanity
Saves Space

Add those up and weigh against the price of steel alone.

TT

And, saves waste from wrong cuts and unusable cut offs.

Saves head scratching as all the lengths have the correct angles and are identified as such..

LG,
Steve

If like me you have a large workshop, a bandsaw, plenty of time and happen to be slightly masochistic in nature then buy the raw steel and cut it yourself. If on the other hand you are working in a domestic garage, don't own a bandsaw (or other cutting device), prefer to stay on the sensible side of the sane/insane line then buy a chassis kit from Andy:D .

D.

Welcome to the forum
 

A very warm welcome to the forum Headshot :cool:

Steel has gone up quite a bit over the last year .... The last quote I had for just the chassis tubes was £149 + £10 delivery ( Full uncut length prices ), that was at the end of last summer, daresay it has gone up even more since then :eek:

Started by using the bandsaw but soon got bored spending ages constantly changing the angle of the cut .... Ended up cutting the tubes square & cutting most of the angles with a hacksaw. :o

One thing is for definate.
If I were to start again, it would opt for the flat pack chassis route.

Understandably, you may wish to enjoy the challenge of cutting the steel from scratch .... On the other hand, you may be just like me & dagging to get on with the fun part of the build :D

I bought mine from handyandy, best decision I made I reckon. It went together like a dream, only very minor fettling was required. It's good quality steel and you know it will be accurate. I reckon it saved a month of very boring work too.
You can see how it has turned out at www.deepfolly.co.uk
Best and all that,
Enoch

Thanks for the pointers guys

Been browsing your website's Enoch.... they are great :D

I can think of no compelling reason to cut your own steel with a chassis kit this cheap.

if you have a look underthe bodywork and interior category
you will find a post by TJ called Handyandy,s chassis kits ( i know he put it in the wrong section )
there are a couple of photos of Andy,s kits you can clearly see what you get for your money
cheers les g

Handy andy is re maun for steely stuff.........and Les you have a pm;)

It's just not worth buying all the equipment and cutting it all yourself.....;)

Well, I have put a couple of coat's of white emulsion on my freshly built "build table" while the mrs started on early labour pains :eek: hmmmm maybe bad timing for building a roadster :D

My friends all call my plans "Project Divorce" :cool:

:eek: :D
I must be ready for the men in white coats then , LOL

Thanks for everyones support of the Flat pack kits,

Headshot..... whichever route you take , best wishes for your build, its great to have another Roadster build started :cool:

cheers
andy

Andy, could you share the details of what tools and techniques you use to cut the tubes, especially the compound mitres? I've cut my steel with a 115 mm angry grinder mounted in a chopsaw-like holder, but I'm curious how the pros do it. :)

And I have a baby boy :D

Congratulation Headshot

Congratulations, I hope mother & little'un are both fine :)

If you are anything like me .... That lad of yours, will be able to help you complete the build :D :D

:o i,m not sure if the way i cut a chassis kit can qualify me as a Pro but here is how i do it......

I now have a "Master Template Kit" that is cut 2mm over long on each tube which allows for the scribing & the kerf cut of each tube i cut, each part is then checked to ensure the dimensions are correct.
The tools I use are mainly a bandsaw, a 4 inch angle grinder disc that is 1mm thick ( plasma disc ) that i use to cut the compound mitre cuts & a cold cut chop saw that I use to cut the basic maximum length of each tube before cutting any angles to them.

When i have all the tubes cut to length, I then work thru the full kit cutting the same angles on the various tubes...eg do all the 45 degree cuts at same time, next all the 17degree cuts & so on etc on the band saw ( saves changing the required angle of cut on the bandsaw),
once all standard cuts are finished I then scribe out all the compound mitre angles on the relevant tubes, I,ve found that if I scribe just 3 lines for the compound mitre cut it is then easy to cut in a vice with the plasma disc, each face is cut then the tube turned in the vice rather than just making 1 cut as this is often the cause of a bad mitre cut, then each completed mitre cut is placed into a Master "female" jig to check its correct.
Each tube is then marked with the angle of cut at each end , on both faces of a compound mitre cut & of course the main part code... TR1 etc.

Now i know i have a reputaion for being tight :o :D but from a 7 mtr length of steel I end up with on average 2 to 3 cm of waste .

I hope the above covers the info you wanted ?

Headshot........
Congratulations on your new addition to your family, all the best to mum & the young un :cool:

cheers
andy

Andy,

How is that band saw fairing, how many blades have you got through.

Cheers Ginge

Would this welder

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/79434/...20MIG%20Welder

be any good, I am on a VERY tight budget, will be selling off xbox games to finance a welder LOL

:o :D erm..........quite a few blades, but then again we do cut ALOT of steel, its a great bit of kit, spud & I like the fact that you can set it going doing a cut & go away to measure the next cut, sort of get into a rythem :cool:

cheers
andy

with all respect to working within a tight budget ( budget is my middle name :D )............I would suggest that machine is not upto the job, ideally you want a GAS Mig, I got mine from a "for Sale" thread on the "Mig Welders Forum" for £50 & it even came with 2 pub style gas bottles.
If you can,t find a good 2nd hand mig then it,d be better to save up & buy a new GAS Mig, the Machine Mart Clarke 151 turbo seems a popular choice & will be able to weld anything to do with building a Roadster.

cheers
andy

Cheers, as I thought :)

Have put a wanted add on Mig Forums :)

never mind, my bad :(

needs a login.

TT

may have just sorted a STUPID bargain :D

Cheers, very interesting. Makes me want to start an FAQ thread and link all gems of posts like this one there :)

Albertas

sorry for dragging this thread out,

but is this welder any good?

http://cambridge.gumtree.com/cambridge/45/58803645.html

cheers :confused:

A tad low on power I would say .... It would be OK for the chassis tubes but would struggle on the platework !!

You really need to be looking for something with at least 150 amps.

I am ging to stick my neck out here .... Almost certain sure, that welder will be a re-branded Chineese import .... Some are quite good & some are dreadfull ;)

Spend a bit more and get at least a 160Amp unit, preferably with a Euro torch and one that can take the larger 13KG rolls of wire. Mine is an Italian unit rated at 160Amps made by CEM but its poor quality for what it cost. It doesn't have the Euro connector for the torch and only takes 5KG rolls which unwind themselves and get tangled too easily. The feed motor is too small, I've had to replace the main power selector switch and the wire feed control rheostat is dodgy so stay away from CEM too:p . It has been in regular use for over twenty years though:o

D.

Just to add a bit of fuel to the fire:)
I tried a chinese mig and most have probs with the wire feed motor/mechanism as they are really shit and not worth the bother unless you can get somebody to recommend you a good one that they have.
I just bought a 170 amp inverter arc welder as this is what we use at work(mine site).It is a quality brand Cigweld and has 3 year warranty etc,anyway the best part is the price as it cost me $399 about 240 quid and is absolutely fantastic.The quality of the welds is excellent and even my 3 year old could strike an arc with it as its basically one touch onto the workpiece and it arcs up.Although i will admit it is easier to tack your chassis with a mig:eek:

Think I am going to get A Clarke mig, of around 150 amp, just gotta unload stuff on ebay first

I have just blagged a welder on long term (read years) loan :eek: money will get spent on a chassis kit instead of a welder :D

Nice one :cool: ( you,re having a good week :D )

What size ( power ) Mig welder have you sourced?

cheers
andy

Nice one,:D when are you getting your steel or are you flat packing it?

Now if someone will spray my chassis orange for me that would be just great. Got quoted £500 today.

Cheers Ginge

We are all questions this afternoon;)

Will be getting a few bits of scrap to re-learn on, then will probably get a flat pack next month (ebay sales permitting)

Its a 170amp mig which should be OK, not sure on make, but I trust the owner.

is this stuff ok to build with?

http://www.parkersteel.co.uk/Product...5+EN10305+E220

(Amazon still haven't delivered my damn book!!)