Dimensions of SV Chassis?

[johntennyson]

Does anyone have the dimensions of the Caterham SV chassis? It seems to me that those measurements would be a good starting point for a car I could fit into, at 6'2", 235 lbs. and size 11 shoes. Does anyone know how close this to the McSorley 442?

Thanks!

[skou]

Best I can tell, the SV chassis is about the same size as a book frame. According to Caterham, the SV cockpit is 80mm longer, 110mm wider and 25mm taller as compared to an S3. Based on the limited dimensional information available on the internet for the S3, that makes the SV roughly +1 in width, -1 in overall chassis length and +1 in chassis height through the cockpit and engine bay.

[horizenjob]

You should be able to search on here for "prince" blueprints, which are accurate S3 drawings made to repair and replace original chassis...

[skou]

The Pat Prince drawings, attached, are of a late S2 Lotus 7 chassis. The Fisher Paykel drawings, also attached, are the only S3 drawings I could find.

Edit 12/18/2010: The file named "blueprints.zip" is actually not the Pat Prince drawings. These are from an unknown source. The Pat Prince drawings are posted below.

[horizenjob]

Sorry Steve, thanks for the correction and the repost. We should get these into our resources section or FAQ or something. Is there any way you could convert the dwg files into a pdf?

Are the basic dimensions different ( S2 -> S3 ) or just details of bracing tubes etc.?

[skou]

I believe the main differences between the S2 and S3 frames are internal tube/bracing layout and suspension pick-up point locations. The differences seem to be minor. For example, the published wheelbase for the Caterham S3 is 2225mm versus 2235mm for the Lotus 7 S2. The Pat Prince drawings have several inconsistencies and errors in them. The Fisher Paykel drawings are more of a layout drawing for someone's Lotus 7 replica and has several frames overlaid to compare their dimensions. One layer is named "Caterham" which I assume is the Super Seven S3. There's also the George Cushing S2 drawing, attached. This must be a different vintage frame since most of the internal dimensions are different from the Pat Prince dimensions. I have been looking at these drawings a lot lately as I am designing my frame around an SV nose cone and S3/SV rear fenders.

No problem converting the CAD drawings to PDF as soon as I get access to a workstation with CAD installed on it.

[skou]

No problem converting the CAD drawings to PDF as soon as I get access to a workstation with CAD installed on it.

And here they are.

Notes on the Lotus Seven Drawings

The seven was produced in four series. Except for Series Four all the frames were similar, but not the same. These drawings are based on the frames of a few Sevens, each of which differed in minor ways. If you are using these drawings for restoration or major repair they may be suitable. If you are just checking the alignment of things you probably should not rely on them.

Copyright and Trademark
All trademarks, service marks, and trade names not owned by George Cushing that appear on this site are the property of their respective owners. These materials are provided for educational use only. Lotus Engineering, a division of the Proton Motors Company owns the Lotus trademark. Caterham Cars owns the shape and design of the Lotus Seven. Any unauthorized use of these materials may violate these trademarks and other copyright, trademark and could result in criminal or civil penalties.

Home: http://georgecushing.net/index.html

[skou]

I uploaded the wrong file up above. Here are the correct files for the Pat Prince drawings. Sheet 2 is too large to upload. PM me and I can e-mail it to you.

[KYO]

......

[Jawfish]

The Pat Prince blueprints are pretty good... except for one small details...

They are often missing the last decimal or it`s been rounded off. Just gotta remember that all measurments are in fractional inches.

Cheers,

Fred

[danilo]

Uuuh NO.. the Prince drawings are Rife with errors. Frustrating actually.
SV dims are easily obtained by taking some 'decent' s2/3 chassis drawings and addiing 100mm longitudinaly along the Chassis Centre line and 80mm through the cockpit.
ALL other dims remain as before. Except the scuttle is 1" higher as is the Windshield.

[danilo]

After having spent wayyy too many hours on thse drawings it's my opinion/conclusion that the Ceorge Cushing Drawings are FAR superior to the Prince Race ones..
Cushings' drafting is not neatly executed but the dimensions are much more accurate.
Suggest using both sets as reference to drawing your own.