Elio Type Vehicle Resurection --- AKA the BEX

[JEBar]

when I asked Mark :

how thick is the steel you will be using for the chassis rails ..?

how about for the firewall ..?


he responded :

Starting with 1.8mm, but not confirmed until I do a load test later, I always tend to be a bit thicker on prototypes just for ease of handling and my bad welding. Likely land at 1.5mm/0.060".

Also, I can't stamp ribbing into the panels like a manufacturer can with million dollar dies, so I rely on folds and additional material welded on for strength and anti-drumming, so need to be a little bit thicker than a mass manufactured car.

On one hand it make me slightly heavier, but on the other hand a bit safer and less prone to serious rust issues in the long term.

[JEBar]

Per Mark BEX ....

Another unexpected nice surprised today, like the main rails, the A-pillar and dash/dashtop cnc laser files also fit onto the one 4 x 8' sheet, I truly wasn't expecting them to, and as you can see, a tight squeeze.

Also done (below) it is the main rails cnc laser file.

[JEBar]

Per Mark BEX ....

Finally have the laser files ready for what I need.

There are 3 more parts to go, that will just fill that upper right hand corner, but I need to assemble the bulk of the chassis first before I can finish those 3 parts (rear bulkhead, center roof crossmember and swingarm subframe).

It's 4am, and I'm going to bed

[markiver54]

Per Mark BEX ....

Finally have the laser files ready for what I need.

There are 3 more parts to go, that will just fill that upper right hand corner, but I need to assemble the bulk of the chassis first before I can finish those 3 parts (rear bulkhead, center roof crossmember and swingarm subframe).

It's 4am, and I'm going to bed

It's fun to see this progress. Seems to be coming together quickly now.

[JEBar]

agree .... I'm really looking forward to how he will figure out to run the exhaust

[markiver54]

agree .... I'm really looking forward to how he will figure out to run the exhaust

And I know he'll do just that....figure it out!!

[JEBar]

er Mark BEX ....

Yay, most parts are done, and most fit like a glove.

Some jiggling required to get some of the tabs in, but clearly working as intended!

I give myself a B+ because one of the B Pillars I bent the wrong way, now I have 2 x right hand B Pillars, idiot ...

I had to run back to the laser shop and get another B Pillar cut, will fold it tomorrow, hopefully the right way, well the left way actually.

It's so nice I might have to pay a pro-welder to join it together rather than my ugly excuse for welding.

[JEBar]

Per Mark BEX ...

YES! Oh boy, am I happy.

It ticks all the boxes, it just falls together, it just works, it just does, and you're looking at just 6 pieces to create this assembly

I had to take 7 steps backwards to make this very large leap forward, completely worth it!​

You can see the tabs sticking through the slots here .. the shark fins are the folding points.

[JEBar]

Per Mark BEX ....

Going together smoothly, added all the floor cross-members and the main front rails.

Did most of the welding myself, as my welding guy was busy and I didn't want to wait 2 days for him, bit ugly but passable, and most are on the inside so you can't see them anyway

Got my template set up for the B-Pillars as you see in the lower picture, so have a look at that tomorrow.​

The A-Pillars had 7 tabs on the bottom and 12 on top, I found I only really need 3 on the bottom and only 2 on top, once again CAD computer Vs 'real world', and real world wins.

Got to paint my bench i think, looks ugly in the pictures.

[JEBar]

Per Mark BEX ....

Moving along, lots of welding today, B-Pillars are on, and so are the rear main chassis rails.

Some of my welds aren't too bad, but I'm not going to show all of them, ha! Don't worry, I will never be 'the welder' on production.

Again the CAD computer was wrong Vs real life, the B-Pillars were 16mm or 5/8ths" out, but it's not a problem because I know why, and my real life template, see picture yesterday, did the job of placing them where they belong.​

Obviously rollcage is next big item.