re-imagining wood

The original CarbonFibre... read about it here:

Splinter

I've always liked that car, but I'm not sure about the wooden suspension components

Be sure to use rock maple for the crankshaft!

Pistons could be carbon-carbon made from plywood pre-forms.

I like the idea of the turned around heads.. didn't know you could do that

That is really cool. I wonder if there are some modern production areas that could benefit from being wood?

There was an article on using wood in Racecar Engineering a while ago. Also a university in Denmark's FSAE team used balsa wood for the body of their car.

well.. I know Morgan swears that their ash frames are superior for crash protection...

Plans for this were published in an issue of Mechanix Illustrated (I forget the year, but can find out if someone is interested).

^ thats awesome

i teach voc rehab, specifically mechanics and carpentry.

i wanna build that. anyone have any links to the plans?

and i eonder if i could consider it a locost.....

im thinking bloodwood or purpleheart for the body.

mad_machine wrote: I like the idea of the turned around heads.. didn't know you could do that

I think tommy ivo did that to a nailhead on a front engine rail way back in the day.

Dusterbd13 wrote: i teach voc rehab, specifically mechanics and carpentry. i wanna build that. anyone have any links to the plans? and i eonder if i could consider it a locost..... im thinking bloodwood or purpleheart for the body.

Yeah, here are the plans:

http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2006/08/16/build-your-own-mahogany-sports-car/

junkbuggie wrote:

mad_machine wrote: I like the idea of the turned around heads.. didn't know you could do that

I think tommy ivo did that to a nailhead on a front engine rail way back in the day.

Lotus and Eagle and maybe Cosworth/Ford all had Indy or F1 engines that were the same thing (could have inboard or outboard exhaust).

those plans make me drool.

and im already building one in my head.

think 29 ford roadster pickup style body, mustang2 front suspension, solid axle rear, 4 wheel drum brakes, and some 4 cylender 5 speed combo.

could be done very, very easily.

im wondering if the oak framerails would hold up, though, on an autocross course.

Michael

Morgan does fairly well with Ash.. maybe look for some of that?

Hanging out at the engine machine shop today, old buddy says his neighbor found a 327 SBC sprint car that's been tucked away in a basement since the late sixties including the plywood wing... plywood, I never knew.

the more i re-read this, the better of an idea it sounds. my wife is asleep, and usually she talks me out of my really bad ideas. so I'm bouncing it off of you guys. the other forums I'm a member of just wouldn't understand this kind of thing.

I'm thinking of re-designing the body significantly to give a look similar to an elongated 29 roadster pickup. now im thinking to use a cheap VW beetle for the engine and rear suspension, and possibly the front if i can figure out how to mount it to the frame rails. i was thinking solid model a axle, but i think it would be some scary and unsafe handling characteristics coupling rear engine, independent rear, and solid front axle.

id keep all the construction ethos from the 1956 article, but with a little newer stuff, like epoxy resin over the laid up body, bloodwood and ebony instead of the mahogany, juice brakes on all 4 corners, and a real electrical system.

my wood shop mostly runs restored vintage tools, so i think this would be a neat project to do with them. turn all the knobs and other round bits on my 1946 delta-Milwaukee lathe, cut all my boards with my 54 dewalt-black and decker radial arm, etc.

so, other than it being wooden and Volkswagen powered, why would this be a bad idea?

(I'm really trying to justify it, as Ive been wanting another roadster for a while, ever since i sold my 31, and scrapped what was left of my 31 truck.

I used to build stitch-and-glue kayaks. They were beautifull, cost me well under a grand each, and rivalled four-thousand-dollar Kevlar kayaks in both strength and weight. A lot can be done with wood, and I'm surprised not to see more of it. I've been playing with the idea of building a wood-skinned EV for some time. While it could be sensuous: It could also be very basic, yet still fun:Tell me that wouldn't be cool to have in full-size!

Javelin wrote:

junkbuggie wrote:

mad_machine wrote: I like the idea of the turned around heads.. didn't know you could do that

I think tommy ivo did that to a nailhead on a front engine rail way back in the day.

Lotus and Eagle and maybe Cosworth/Ford all had Indy or F1 engines that were the same thing (could have inboard or outboard exhaust).

Some of the newer turbo'd V8s are doing this, partly for packaging and partly to decrease the amount the exhaust gas cools before it gets to the turbo. Here's are pictures (hotlinked of course, so hopefully they show up) of the BMW turbo V8 and the Ford Scorpion diesel.

BMW

Ford

It's usually not done on naturally aspirated engines because it makes intake manifold tuning a lot more difficult. With turbo'd engines, that becomes less important.

Bob

kreb wrote: I used to build stitch-and-glue kayaks. They were beautifull, cost me well under a grand each, and rivalled four-thousand-dollar Kevlar kayaks in both strength and weight.

Any recommendations on a fun lake/river kayak. i just moved to an area where I can now play on the water, and I'm going to build one (and maybe another for the wife) this winter.

[/threadjack]

In reply to klipless: Chesapeake Light Craft is the dominant kit supplier out there with a ton of offerings. They also sell full-scale templates if you want to source your own materials: http://www.clcboats.com/

These guys have arguably better designs if you are into heavy weather, but far fewer offerings: http://www.pygmyboats.com/

Gorgeous designs, but harder and more pricey to build: http://www.guillemot-kayaks.com/guillemot/

Back to topic

How do we think this would stack up against a similarly equipped steel frame locost?

kreb wrote: I used to build stitch-and-glue kayaks. They were beautifull, cost me well under a grand each, and rivalled four-thousand-dollar Kevlar kayaks in both strength and weight. A lot can be done with wood, and I'm surprised not to see more of it. I've been playing with the idea of building a wood-skinned EV for some time. While it could be sensuous: It could also be very basic, yet still fun:Tell me that wouldn't be cool to have in full-size!

Canoe! Canoe!

Just kidding. Awesome woodwork there.

Schmidlap wrote:

Javelin wrote:

junkbuggie wrote:

mad_machine wrote: I like the idea of the turned around heads.. didn't know you could do that

I think tommy ivo did that to a nailhead on a front engine rail way back in the day.

Lotus and Eagle and maybe Cosworth/Ford all had Indy or F1 engines that were the same thing (could have inboard or outboard exhaust).

Some of the newer turbo'd V8s are doing this, partly for packaging and partly to decrease the amount the exhaust gas cools before it gets to the turbo. Here's are pictures (hotlinked of course, so hopefully they show up) of the BMW turbo V8 and the Ford Scorpion diesel. BMW Ford It's usually not done on naturally aspirated engines because it makes intake manifold tuning a lot more difficult. With turbo'd engines, that becomes less important. Bob

I knew you could do it from a manufactorers standpoint.. BMW and the like have the resources to do stuff like that without blinking.. I just didn't know you could take heads off of a N* and swap them around on your own

Not a canoe. He very plainly said it was a kayak!

Sorry, couldn't help it.

Didn't the very first fords use wood frames as well? I heard that Kingsford Charcoal started as a way for Henry to profit from all the shavings his woodshop produced making the frames. Therefor cars are responsible for modern charcoal grilling as we know it.

Interestingly, carbon and wood exhibit similar failure modes. Sudden, catastrophic and splinter-y. I agree that wood suspension components wood (ha!) scare me. Of course, I do ride a road bike and a MOUNTAIN BIKE with rigid carbon forks....I guess It could be overcome....