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 Post subject: Book on Monocoque
PostPosted: October 27, 2017, 1:00 pm 
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Joined: October 27, 2017, 12:38 pm
Posts: 9
Hello everyone, hopefully this is the right place to ask about this but are there any good book on the topic of monocoque construction?


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 Post subject: Re: Book on Monocoque
PostPosted: October 27, 2017, 6:14 pm 
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Joined: February 20, 2015, 12:04 pm
Posts: 307
Location: Norfolk - UK
Not that I'm aware of... you have to piece information together from lots of different sources, unfortunately.

Tony Pashley's 'How to Build Motorcycle Engined Racing Cars' and Allan Staniforth's 'Race and Rally Car Source Book' both have useful chapters in them as a starting point, as does 'Race Car Chassis Design & Construction' by Forbes Aird.


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 Post subject: Re: Book on Monocoque
PostPosted: October 27, 2017, 6:50 pm 
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Joined: October 27, 2017, 12:38 pm
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Thank you for the information. I am in the planning stage for a future build. Nothing solid sofar just learning. I order the Race and Rally Car Source Book the other day so finger cross its will be helpful. Its seem that this type of construction is like a dark art for the homebuilder :mrgreen: :mrgreen:


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 Post subject: Re: Book on Monocoque
PostPosted: October 28, 2017, 3:18 pm 
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Joined: February 20, 2015, 12:04 pm
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Location: Norfolk - UK
What materials do you have in mind for the monocoque, and what basic arrangement for the car?

Here in the UK, we've done monocoque Sevens in most materials from timber, via composite sandwich panels and carbon fibre, to mild and stainless steel, so you could do worse than starting by analysing previous, equivalent designs.


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 Post subject: Re: Book on Monocoque
PostPosted: October 28, 2017, 7:05 pm 
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Joined: October 27, 2017, 12:38 pm
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The design that i been looking at are the replica 962 tubs made by slackmotorsport and the folded honeycombo chassis from dpcars and mosler. I looked at the fw400 for inspiration to but couldn't really find any good photo of the chassis. Material wise i would like to go composite but sofar the one that i taken into serious consideration is aluminum. Basic layout is a 2 seater close cockpit. With a subframe in the front and rear conected to the tub. That my basic idea so far. The body will be from a production car i will take a mold of the body and reproduce it.


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 Post subject: Re: Book on Monocoque
PostPosted: October 28, 2017, 7:14 pm 
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Joined: April 23, 2006, 8:26 pm
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That last part, making a mold off an existing car, will take a really long time. Get to work on that now so that the shell is done at around the same time that your chassis design is finished. Such big parts of a project take too long to do in sequence.

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 Post subject: Re: Book on Monocoque
PostPosted: October 28, 2017, 7:30 pm 
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Joined: February 20, 2015, 12:04 pm
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Location: Norfolk - UK
Speed00 wrote:
I looked at the fw400 for inspiration to but couldn't really find any good photo of the chassis.

I used to own one of the six FW400's built. What would you like to know?

Are you looking at front or rear engine?


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 Post subject: Re: Book on Monocoque
PostPosted: October 28, 2017, 7:41 pm 
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Joined: October 27, 2017, 12:38 pm
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Sam_68 wrote:
Speed00 wrote:
I looked at the fw400 for inspiration to but couldn't really find any good photo of the chassis.

I used to own one of the six FW400's built. What would you like to know?

Are you looking at front or rear engine?

I am looking at a rear engine setup at the moment it is between a hayabusa or a R1 both have their good points the hayabusa being more powerful and with a greater aftermarket support. But the r1 is the lighter engine and the recent ones are putting great power for their size. Honestly any details the you can give on the fw400 is greatly appreciated, finding more then the basic stuff on this car is hard to come by. Mainly looking for pictures of the chassis.


Last edited by Speed00 on October 28, 2017, 7:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Book on Monocoque
PostPosted: October 28, 2017, 7:46 pm 
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Joined: February 20, 2015, 12:04 pm
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Location: Norfolk - UK
I used to have quite a few photos posted on here, but they were killed when photobucket went subscription.

These threads would have been helpful, but probably won't make much sense without the pics:

viewtopic.php?f=39&t=15283
viewtopic.php?f=39&t=17162

U2U me and I'll set up a dropbox link with everything I've got Of the FW400, if you like.

The FW400 may not be the most relevant design if you're going rear engined, though. Depending on what bodyshell you're thinking of dropping over it, the Costin-Nathan is one of my favourites.


Last edited by Sam_68 on October 28, 2017, 9:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Book on Monocoque
PostPosted: October 28, 2017, 8:17 pm 
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I'm not sure what your intended purpose for the car is but if you plan to do any form of racing you need to have the chassis made of ferrous metal (Steel, stainless, etc). Not sure about other sanctioning bodies but I know it is a requirement for SCCA.

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 Post subject: Re: Book on Monocoque
PostPosted: October 29, 2017, 12:19 am 
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Joined: October 27, 2017, 12:38 pm
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KB58 really you think the mold making process would be long? I will admit my experience is limited to not so big stuff like doors or hood, the biggest thing i molded sofar has been a single piece flip hood but even that one wasnt to terribly long. As for the use of the car i am hoping to do some time attack with it but it more of a fun project then for a specific class or category of race. Sam_68 thank you for the Costin-Nathan recommendation i didnt even know about that one. Another car i forgot to mention that was also interesting was the GTM Libra


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