Hi Peter, I'm considering a similar project. The design is just about ready and I just need to start gathering the pieces and welding it together.
My design incorporates a spaceframe which will have a fiberglass body over the spaceframe. The spaceframe is built with 1 inch square tubing and it's strength is derived from triangelation built throughout the frame. Many sports cars such as Lotus, Masarati and Porsche used this design for years. There are gussets welded on top and within the spaceframe which support a roll bar. I have a book (actually borrowing a book from Paul Compton) on building a sports car using a spaceframe based on the Lotus 7 called a Locost. The book is called, "Build your own Sports Car" by Ron Champion. Also check this link out. Tons of resources on building your own chassis. http://www.gmecca.com/byorc/designpublicationsbooks.html The site discusses the different types of chassis and the pros and cons of each. Also check out Art Morrison Enterprises. They offer lots of info on chassis building including complete frames with roll cages. These guys are actually supplying chassis for a company called Phoenix Cars which is building Street Rod EVs and other EVs. http://www.artmorrison.com/ Chip > >I have a rather ambitious project to build a (mostly) ground up EV with >a fiberglass body. Since fiberglass doesn't offer much crash >protection, I want to integrate a roll cage into the foam/fiberglass body. > >What I want is adequate protection should the vehicle flip at 65-70 mph. > >Can anybody recomend a minimum tubing size, or a good book (or website) >to read on roll cage design? > ******************************************************************* Chip Gribben Today for a [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cars Brighter Electric Tomorrow 5809 Holger Court ________ Laurel, Maryland 20707 / / \ ___/ /________\_____ 144-volt Ford Escort =--------/ __ __ \ GE Elec-Trak E-10 \_/ \__________/ \__> 24-volt Electric Bike \__/ \__/ Visit the Electric Vehicle Association of Washington DC Website at http://www.evadc.org *******************************************************************
