Fabman
Dances with Racecars
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Weigh that box of sheet metal and decide if that weight is worth the loss in structural rigidity.Well engine is just about ready and only waiting for the last parts to come in so Shaun can finish the engine, then ship to Miami, and finally get in on a plane down here. In the mean time getting ready to beef up the roll cage and see if we can loose some weight. Another S197 car in the shop is getting the swiz cheese treatment, but am not very keen to follow the example. What do you think??
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Then weigh those extra roll cage tubes and see what the difference is.
You can save more weight using selective roll cage sizes/thicknesses.
Not everything has to be .120 or .095. Mandatory tubes/safety structure needs to be regulation size/thickness, but all the extra diagonals and supports can be smaller diameter/thinner wall.
If you swiss cheese the car to death then build a full cage out of 1.75 x.120 wall (or thicker) and add a bunch of extra tubes are you really getting anywhere?
I use .120, .095, .085 and .065 in 1.75, 1.5 .1.25 and 1.0 tubing depending on the loading for each tube in my cages. You can build a very stiff/light structure this way without sacrificing safety if you do it right and give the holesaw a rest.