My new chassis build

[shh120m]

hiya mate, the build table looks good and a lovely clean workshop you have there! Just one suggestion, it may be worthwhile to put some legs at the corners of your build table, mine was sat on an old desk which was fine at first but with the weight of the chassis steel, it warped from back to front, leaving my chassis bent by 10mm over its legnth from front to back . I only noticed it after fully welding the chassis. I was lucky that it was bent in a straight line and not twisted but all the same, i wouldnt want it to happen to anyone else

cheers nathan

[TheArf]

Welcome to the funny farm, hope you enjoy the build and as you can see you can get answers to most questions on here.

p.s. do you hire yourself out for workshop cleaning

arfon

[HandyAndy]

A warm welcome to the forum .

As you have already seen, lots of helpful friendly members on here,

wow...very tidy workshop indeed

I also noticed the back end of Motor X bike alongside your build table too

Best wishes for your build, any questions....have a play with the search facility on the forum or if you can,t find the relevant info just ask away.

cheers
andy

[shh120m]

i bet thats a ktm

[Northern Joy]

Thanks all for the warm welcome, I am on many forums and this one by far has been the best. I have been Lurking quite away so kinda know some of the names. Well once I have actually finished the build maybe I can give some of my experience back to the future new guys and complete the circle lol.

Nathan: I have a few left over 100x100mm fence posts that I am going to chop up and make the legs tomorrow night.

Your right its a KTM 250 SX (2 Stroke all the way Braaaaapp ) just recently fully rebuilt. I like tinkering what can I say hehe


Arfon: So far its been really easy to get the answers I'm after. Other forums people mock you because you don't know what they would consider common knowledge.


Andy: Cheers buddy, It's tidy because I have just moved in, but I always tidy my tools away though each night (mostly ). I bet over the next year as you see my car progress it will become more and more grubby

I finished the marking out of the lower chassis and measured it about 5 times to make sure that it square and the correct lengths and only one diagonal check dimension was 0.5 - 1mm out so well chuffed thus far and now can't wait for the steel to arrive (hopefully before the royal wedding)

[Northern Joy]

Originally Posted by Talonmotorsport

I would say go for 2mm ERW as it's a nicer material to work with, just remember to grind a 1mm 'weld prep' (45' angle) around the edges. This will aid in the finish weld as it will give you a guide so you can see the joint,give better penetration in to the material and also means there will be some 'meat' left if you grind the weld nearly flush on the out side to fit the panels.

I phoned around all the steel suppliers I could up here but no one seems to stock ERW in anything bigger 12mm square so I ordered 7 lengths of Cold Formed SHS EN 10219:S235JRH. Excuse my complete naivety but is this still ok use as chassis material?

I understand that EN 10219 means its cold formed, S235 is strutural steel and yield but I think its the crappy stuff and the JRH is the fracture toughness of the steel. After reading some posts I'm a bit nervous now using this grade of steel in a car I have to (hopefully :P) drive when its built and is going to play havoc in the back of my mind. I spent £90 but if it's considered crap then I'll have no choice but to find somewhere that can deliver ERW further away. Damn impaitence, really need to stop it as I was hell bent on starting the chassis this weekend.

[Talonmotorsport]

There's nothing wrong with using hollow section or black it will be strong enough. Use a fibre/sanding disk in a grinder to remove the scale on the flat faces and put a 45' weld prep on the joints. Treat your self to a tub of Swarfega as you will get very grubby.

[Northern Joy]

Originally Posted by Talonmotorsport

There's nothing wrong with using hollow section or black it will be strong enough. Use a fibre/sanding disk in a grinder to remove the scale on the flat faces and put a 45' weld prep on the joints. Treat your self to a tub of Swarfega as you will get very grubby.

Thanks again Talon. Picked up all the steel at lunchtime so I'm ready to rock n roll, but I am traveling down to Edinburgh tomorrow and away most of the weekend so I'll have to wait til next week. Also is there a type of service a company can do to check my welding and test it as I have only been welding for a few months and even though they pass the hammer test and been cut in half (good pen) I would still like someone to varify the welds after the basic chassis has been completed to give me peace of mind. Or do you think I'm been waaaaay over paranoid?

Thanks again and sorry for all the silly questions.

[Talonmotorsport]

If you have some material spare say 2 bits about 200-300mm long prep and weld them in to a T shape. Allow to go cold and abuse it vigorously while clamped in a very good vice bolted to some thing very solid, your aiming for as much leaverage as you can find. If the weld comes away from the material looking like a steel scab it's naff and you need to turn the heat up, if there is enough penetration the material will tear around the welds if at all if using 2mm.

[Northern Joy]

Originally Posted by Talonmotorsport

If you have some material spare say 2 bits about 200-300mm long prep and weld them in to a T shape. Allow to go cold and abuse it vigorously while clamped in a very good vice bolted to some thing very solid, your aiming for as much leaverage as you can find. If the weld comes away from the material looking like a steel scab it's naff and you need to turn the heat up, if there is enough penetration the material will tear around the welds if at all if using 2mm.

Once thanks a lot, I just read that in the FAQ he he

Bit of an update:
Started to cut and tack the BR's so I'll let some photos do the talking for once, and I'll be posting loads of photos throughout my build so watch this space.

Notes I made proper legs for the table, I put up a screen in front of the westie as I can't move it and I forgot to put on my steel toe caps tonight and nearly drop a length of steel on them, whoops.





Could not resit the Brum Brum picture:


Finally some test welds (forgot to prep them properly i.e just cut and welded and I'll make re do it with a T section as I think I made the corner to strong with the brace), I smacked the shit (excuse the language) out of it and just bent it a wee bit. Also can you give some tips on my welding just by looking at this picture. If you need other pictures I can get them over the weekend.


So that's it for now. I very nearly bought a flat pack kit but you know what building it myself setting up the saw etc is hard work but when I start to see it come together the feeling is just amazing when I stand back and take a look at it even with how little I have done this evening.

Cheers all for your help and support, gods knows I'll need loads of it.