The Type 1 chassis is the chassis design documented in the book,

Build Your Own Sports Car for Under 250 Pounds - and Race It

written by Ron Champion (Haynes Books)

This design is usually referred to as a
LOCOST 7 and is the general starting point for all the other
chassis designs presented here. The image below shows the chassis structure.


This chassis is constructed from round and square rectangular tubing. The main chassis structure is fabricated from
one inch (25 mm), 16 gauge square tube. The transmission tunnel region is fabricated from three-quarter inch
(19 mm) square tube. Some diagonal elements and the rear cargo area are fabricated from 19 mm round tube.
Sheet steel of varying thicknesses is applied to several areas.


Clubman Chassis Models

The image above shows a 3D wireframe structure used to perform a simple stress analysis for this chassis design.
The analysis involved applying a couple (two forces of equal size but opposite direction, to create a purely torsional
load) to the front of the frame while holding the rear of the frame fixed. The relative rotation of the front of the
chassis under this load is an indication of the torsional stiffness of the chassis.

 

 Clubman Chassis Models

The image above shows the predicted stress levels (axial stress along each tube) in the chassis structure
due to the applied torsional load. The red colour indicates the most highly stressed chassis members.
Yellow indicates moderate stress levels while blue indicates low stress.

This chassis was tested for theoretical torsional stiffness in two different configurations. It was tested in the form
described in the book, with a combination of two sizes of square tube and round tube. This gave a value
of 1219 lbs.ft/degree. The same structure was then tested with all members using 25 mm square tube.

I
n this configuration the theoretical torsional stiffness was 1219 lbs.ft / degree. For comparison a live
test value for a Locost 7 chassis was measured as 1187 lbs.ft / degree.

 


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