LocostUSA.com

The fact that I feel the need to ask this should probably tell me it's a bad idea, but here goes. I'm coming to the realization that due to finances and space constraints that assembling an entire frame might be hard right now. I'm wondering people's opinions on just assembling the "complete" front for now. I currently have 35' of 1" square tube, enough 1" round for wishbones and my XR4Ti donor. I was thinking maybe I'd just build the fronts first few feet complete with suspension, steering, etc. and build the rest of the frame around it later.
Don't be scared to pee on my parade.
Jeff

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My wife is lucky she found me.

Jeff, if space is a big factor you need to go through and see how many others are building in a one car. Mine might as well be for all of the other crap in there.

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RacerDan
+442 Chevy 2.8
Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the
Ark, professionals built the Titanic.

If you look at the first page of "airframefixers" build in the non-traditional builds you'll see a good example of doing that. A lot of progess could be made by just doing the front suspension and steering before the rest of the frame was complete.

Ron

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They say a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. By the time you finish the car it'll feel like you've done it on your knees.

Problem isn't how big the shop is it's more a 10 lbs of crap in a 5 lb bag thing currently. But if this build drags on for years I like the idea of not having a big table in my way.
Jeff

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My wife is lucky she found me.

In theory will work fine. I wouldn't worry about it.

You might choose to build up to the bulkhed behind the driver and leave the tunnel out for a first half. That will let you fit the tunnel to your engine/transmission and the placement you choose. I've see folks cut the back off and redo it, so you'll be in the same boat.

You might be a little short on tubing for that, you'll just have to add up the numbers. It makes sense to wait on the diagonals in the frame until you decide what to do with your engine mount and exhaust also.

The table is a lot like a work bench with room for a pile of crap in the back, if you don't have a workbench yet...

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Marcus Barrow - Car9 an open design community supported sports car for home builders!
SketchUp collection for LocostUSA: "Dream it, Build it, Drive it!"
Car9 Roadster information - models, drawings, resources etc.

Geez, he's doing nice work. Thanks for the heads up on his builld. Sure makes me think it would be a good idea to do subframes.
Jeff

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My wife is lucky she found me.

Points noted. Thank you
Jeff

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My wife is lucky she found me.

Geez to Pete, I need reading glasses. I'm going to fix my typos, stretch my arms so that they are longer to reach the keyboard and wish you hadn't quoted my mistakes

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Marcus Barrow - Car9 an open design community supported sports car for home builders!
SketchUp collection for LocostUSA: "Dream it, Build it, Drive it!"
Car9 Roadster information - models, drawings, resources etc.

Can you put your table on pulleys and raise it to the ceiling when you are not using it, then lower it down and sit it on legs when you are working on it. They are not very tall and a 9 ft garage ceiling would still give you about 6.5 ft of clearance. Just a thought.

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Graham,
www.earleymotorsports.com

That's okay. I just assumed you had gone slack jawed and were unable to move your feet or type.
Jeff

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My wife is lucky she found me.

Yep, I considered it as well. Just not enough headroom. There was, and then I dropped the ceiling so I can get some heat in there. Now I have low ceilings and still no heat . But I'm working on it.
Jeff

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My wife is lucky she found me.

You might consider folding legs on the table, or even puting the table on saw horses when in use and leaning it against a wall when not. Just thoughts. I'm building in a basement. Not a problem with room, but no outside door to move car when completed. I'll have to do some disasimbly to get car through a 36 inch door. We do what we have to do.

Is the concern that you have both the donor and the build taking up the same space?

Not too keen on a partial front/back build. There could be some frame warpage on the open end that, I would imagine, make it pretty tough to get the front/back properly aligned.

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"Patience is something you admire in the driver behind you and scorn in the one ahead. "
Mac McCleary

photoman, Not sure about the folding legs. When I was a kid we had a neighbor 2 doors down that built an entire front engined dragster in his basement. The house was a sideplit and the lower basement had the car in it. The entire recroom was built so the frame could come into the next level through a door, just enough room to swing it, and then out through a window. I used to borrow his old hot rod magazines just so I could admire it. He had the firesuit and all. I lived there 14 years and it never left the basement. Not sure of what happened to it after they moved.
TimTaylor, The shop currently has 4 cars in it including the donor. We're not allowed to store them in the yard around here. Believe me I know You'd have to see the layout of my shop to see my problem. I split it down the middle and dropped the ceiling on one side so I can heat it with a woodstove, but because of the clearance I'll need to maintain around it (the woodstove), I'm kind of low on wallspace. By the time I put up shelves and workbenches etc it's getting smaller and smaller. My sons midget occupies one side, leaving me with about 10x12 to use. Once the donor gets stripped it'll be much easier, but I want/need some warmer weather. I guess I'm just getting anxious to get started.
Jeff

_________________
My wife is lucky she found me.

People often build the left and right sides of the cockpit first. I think you can see that in some of the build log pictures here. Then after you build the second side, you might think you've had enough practice you want to build a third side and use the first one for scrap to make other parts of the frame. This would give you progress, practice and hardly take any room at all.

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Marcus Barrow - Car9 an open design community supported sports car for home builders!
SketchUp collection for LocostUSA: "Dream it, Build it, Drive it!"
Car9 Roadster information - models, drawings, resources etc.