Alfa Pages

[LDA]

i have heard that the front of the alfa chassis rails can snap if they are left unsupported. is this true?

if so what do you motorsport people do to stop your car falling apart mid race?

i am having the whole shell seam welded next week and if there is anything that needs to be done to the front end while they are at it, i may as well get it sorted.

also any other points of weakness i should look out for?

thanks

L.
_________________
A good workman allways blames his sh*t tools.

[Alan]

Hello again,

You're right about the chassis legs - I was advised to brace the chassis legs on my rally shell by BLS, so did so. Used 1 inch OD tube and a hand bender, the brace tubes go from the front of the strut top mount area down the inside of the inner wing, and are welded to the top of the front chassis leg, right between the two bolt points for the front cross member.

So now all the loads are fed from the front cross beam up through that tube and into the top strut area and from there back through to the rest of the shell. Seems to have worked - no evidence of any flexing at all.

Where are you based? I live in Nuneaton; if you want you're welcome to come and have a good look at what I've done to my shell.

Cheers

Alan
alan.abbey@ntlworld.com

[LDA]

thanks alan!

i'm based near brighton(ish)

L.
_________________
A good workman allways blames his sh*t tools.

[Alan]

LDA,

I forgot to add last night ... I also took the wings off and added some large gusset plates. One edge welded to the A-pillar; the other was welded to the underside of the rail which runs forward from the windscreen base to the top of the front strut. Hopefully you can understand what I mean.

By doing this, if the front strut takes high load / impact, or with the loads fed back up to the strut top from the brace bars described before, then the gusset plate feeds that load back into the whole A pillar, instead of trying to bend the shell by levering it at the bottom of the screen. If you know what I mean, this'll make perfect sense - if you don't you'll think I'm talking rubbish! Basically it was a conventional underwing gusset as used on plenty of rally cars. Adds virtually no weight but loads of strength.

Let me know if this doesn't make any sense ......

Alan

[adh]

Alan,

Being both thick and in the process of replacing front wings, the
strengthening you describe sort of makes sense (and it would be
the ideal time for me to do this on my car) but a diagram or image
would help.

Thanks,

ad

[LDA]

thanks again alan!

i sorta understand.. but i have never had the wings off the 33 so i'll have to have a look with your discription when i do take the wings off. i think i get what you were at tho.
maybe after some sleep i'll uncderstand more

L.
_________________
A good workman allways blames his sh*t tools.