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The books gave me a good starting point for the frame. In order to give me maximum room for the batteries, electric motor and gasoline engine, the car
is very boxy. The main structural elements are a pair of side trusses fabricated from 1" square 16 gauge steel tubing. A rear trailing arm assembly
pivots on a solid 3/4" diameter steel shaft supported by 4 bronze flange bearings.
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| August 23, 2007: The steel arrived at the office today. |
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| The first side rail assembled (partially welded 1 side). As shown, a 250 lb load in the center caused a 0.700" deflection. |
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| With the diagonals, it dropped to 0.020! With it fully welded, it should be even less. |
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This is the basic chassis box (frame upside down). Looks like the seats will fit OK. The front end
needsto be welded in to the firewall with short connectors. |
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From the rear, you can see the tandem wheel setup. The two cross members between the seats
and the rear wheels are where the electric motor and gas engine will go. |
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After watching EBAY for weeks, I finally found exactly what I wanted.
This is the welder I used at school to qualify for my AWS certification.
It's a Miller 200 rated for 200A and is built for industrial use.
It makes MIG welds that look almost as pretty as TIG welds. The welder
and tank came as a package with a brand new MIG Gun (never used) for $400.
I disassembled it, cleaned it and painted it. I LOVE this machine! |
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This is a view of the rear with the frame up on its leveling blocks. The blocks keep the frame
at ride height, 5.25 inches. The 24 inch bar across the center is 3/4" inch thick and mounts on
a total of 4 bronze bearings. It will support the trailing arm for the rear wheels. |
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The new tires are General Altimax HP 185/65R14 on lightweight aluminum wheels. The originals
were 38 lbs each; these are only 29.5 lbs each. Tirerack gave them a good rating. |
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December 16, 2007: This is the seat mounting frame. The driver's seat is adjustable; the passenger
side is fixed to save weight (the stock Fiero slide mechanism weighs about 5 lbs). |
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One of the rear suspension knuckles from the McPherson strut. New Plasma cutter severed the
inch-thick support ears. |
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This is the resulting mounting hub. The three large symmetrical holes are where the bearings
bolt up. The two holes on the tabs at 10 and 11 O'clock are where the caliper mounts.
The 3 small holes are where the brake dust shield attaches. |
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Here the spacer ring is welded on. This was made by bending 1/8 x 3" wide flat stock around
a lally column in the basement. |
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These are the two hubs oriented as they will be. The inside edge of the tires will clear the mounting
plates by about an inch. The front edge is facing down in the photo. The left hub (passenger side)
will be removable so that the hub can be removed, as well as the axle. |
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As luck would have it, the hole in the center of the hub is not big enough for the CV joint to
pass through. If I made it big enough, it would hit the three bearing mounting holes.
So one hub has to be removable. |
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Top view of the removable hub. The inside of the hub is 4.5 inches in diameter, big enough to hold
the CV joint and its rubber bellows. |
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