Just what should a 'complete chassis' consist of?

[mr henderson]

As some of you may already know, I work on kit cars full time, mostly finishing off kits that the original builders have run out of time, or patience, with.

Typical situation would be where somebody has been building a car for a few years, progress has been slow, it's a bit trickier than thery expected, they are busy at work, etc etc, and they just need someone to finish off the kit and get it on the road.

Anyway, I frequently find myself stuck on a build because I am waiting for parts, or waiting for a decision from the owner, or waiting for various other reasons, so I decided to build a car of my own, for eventual sale, so as to have something to do when other work is held up for some reason.

Having decided on the Haynes Roadster, I then looked into getting a ready made chassis. I wasn't able to find anyone who could supply one at a reasonable price or within a reasonable length of time, so realised that I would have to make it myself.

I used to be involved in chassis making, so I have been busy digging out all my equipment and updating some of it so as to improved the accuracy and speed of the assembly. The main jig consists of two large, heavy steel girders with various other steel parts welded and clamped to them, I don't use a build table as such. I use lasers for projecting centrelines and checking some of the distances. The stuff I use for cutting and preparing the ends is easily capable of matching the accuracy of the ready made chassis packs available, and has the advantage that I can modify the design dimensions if necessary.

Having gone to all this trouble, and having become recently aware of the difficulty in obtaining a ready-made chassis, I am now wondering if I should offer ready-made chassis to others. In order to know how much to ask, though, I have to know just what I am going to be supplying, in other words, just what is a complete chassis?

Normally I would think of a complete chassis as being the central assembly to which everything which needs to be welded to it has already been welded to it. So, obviously, things such as seatbelt mountings would be an integral part.

But what about the rollbar? That's bolted on, as is the pedal box, although both these sub-assemblies require welding.

Sorry to go on at such length, and thanks for reading this far. I thought the background would prove useful. So, what I would like to know is-

Just what would the people here expect to be included in a complete chassis? Oh, and by the way, if anyone knows of somebody who is already selling a complete chassis (and which is available within a reasonable length of time) I would be very interested, and would simply buy one and cancel my own chassis-making plans and get on with my car building plans.