Sportmotive evelution chassis, anybody got one fitted?

[Alun450]

This is probably a pipe dream but has anyone had said chassis fitted, it looks really good, small fortune but once its done.
This must be the future, shorter wishbones, Scubi rack, new hubs etc
Has anyone looked at them up close.
Very interesting!

[AlexHillTVR]

Why has no one made a chassis out of carbon fiber yet? Or is that a stupid question?

[Goaty Bill]

I am guessing it [the chassis] would cost more than the car you are planting on top of it?

[AlexHillTVR]

Surely for those with big enough wallets though, people undertaking full restorations, a chassis that doesn't rust would be desirable?

[Alun450]

If one of us could get a job in F1 !
What about aircraft grade aluminium? Could you make that work?

I'm bound to just repair my chassis the more I think about it but it would be nice.

I like the billet hubs and suspension geo on the Sportmotive, I also have paranoia over the old steering rack!

Proper good bit of kit by the look of it.

[Quinny]

I've seen the sportmotive chassis, close up, also fitted to a car, and in piece parts being made in the jig....(the jig itself must have cost a pretty penny)

There's a reason it's expensive..... The chap doing the welding, is absolutely brilliant... I stood and watch him, and knowing a bit about welding, it was obvious the amount of experience and expertise was on show.....

He told me its 10 days work just to complete the welding.... So add in the tube cutting, fettling, finishing etc its a very labour intensive process, and decent welders earn decent money.... So that where most of the costs go....

I suspect Ian at SM makes very little profit on the chassis itself...

To my mind, if the car is a keeper, the sportmotive chassis, is the way to go..... I suspect it'll outlive most owners

[Alun450]

Ooh it does sound good, maybe I should save my pennies. It would make the car very special!
The hubs would they cope with the attack of road crud!
You'd never let it live there in the first place but corrosion attacks worse when standing still !

[ianwayne]

Goaty Bill]I am guessing it [the chassis said:

would cost more than the car you are planting on top of it?

Lotus used to galvanize theirs on the Elan, Excel and Esprit from the mid 80s. They seem to last well.

Did TVR ever consider doing this? I doubt it's an inexpensive proposition for one chassis alone!

[Goaty Bill]

There are a few people that have some parts galvanised, and the fellow at Verpoorten Technik that offers the full service. He is on here quite often, but I can't recall his name.

[SILICONEKID346HP]

Quinny said:

I've seen the sportmotive chassis, close up, also fitted to a car, and in piece parts being made in the jig....(the jig itself must have cost a pretty penny)

There's a reason it's expensive..... The chap doing the welding, is absolutely brilliant... I stood and watch him, and knowing a bit about welding, it was obvious the amount of experience and expertise was on show.....

He told me its 10 days work just to complete the welding.... So add in the tube cutting, fettling, finishing etc its a very labour intensive process, and decent welders earn decent money.... So that where most of the costs go....

I suspect Ian at SM makes very little profit on the chassis itself...

To my mind, if the car is a keeper, the sportmotive chassis, is the way to go..... I suspect it'll outlive most owners

Could the work be done in China ?

[Goaty Bill]

SILICONEKID346HP said:

Could the work be done in China ?

You suggest that because the Chinese factories are known for the brilliance of their engineering work?

[Quinny]

SILICONEKID346HP said:

Could the work be done in China ?

China might struggle with it..... But I'd bet you'd get a cracking job from Timbuktu

Daz..... China is well known for making high volume cheap crappy stuff...... Why would you go there for something that's low volume, and needs to be made to a high standard, just to save a few quid??

Edited by Quinny on Saturday 8th March 13:30

[Discopotatoes]

AlexHillTVR said:

Why has no one made a chassis out of carbon fiber yet? Or is that a stupid question?

It would be a bit pointless the chassis weighs feckall, the body weighs a lot more

[AV8]

Quinny said:

China might struggle with it..... But I'd bet you'd get a cracking job from Timbuktu

Daz..... China is well known for making high volume cheap crappy stuff...... Why would you go there for something that's low volume, and needs to be made to a high standard, just to save a few quid??

Edited by Quinny on Saturday 8th March 13:30

Yeah, like iPhones, iPads, smartphones etc.

As long as they didn't stack the bare chassis outside in the rain and power coat directly over bare metal without any surface prep, they would probably be better chassis than we are driving around with at the moment.

As for carbon fiber, if you made the body out of it you wouldn't need a chassis at all.

[Goaty Bill]

AV8 said:

Yeah, like iPhones, iPads, smartphones etc.

Proving the point IMO

AV8 said:

As long as they didn't stack the bare chassis outside in the rain and power coat directly over bare metal without any surface prep, they would probably be better chassis than we are driving around with at the moment.

Surely no one could be that foolish

[AV8]

Goaty Bill said:

Surely no one could be that foolish

Although the rain in China would be as good as acid etching so it might be a good idea so maybe TVR were on to something after all.

[Hoofa]

SILICONEKID346HP said:

Quinny said:

I've seen the sportmotive chassis, close up, also fitted to a car, and in piece parts being made in the jig....(the jig itself must have cost a pretty penny)

There's a reason it's expensive..... The chap doing the welding, is absolutely brilliant... I stood and watch him, and knowing a bit about welding, it was obvious the amount of experience and expertise was on show.....

He told me its 10 days work just to complete the welding.... So add in the tube cutting, fettling, finishing etc its a very labour intensive process, and decent welders earn decent money.... So that where most of the costs go....

I suspect Ian at SM makes very little profit on the chassis itself...

To my mind, if the car is a keeper, the sportmotive chassis, is the way to go..... I suspect it'll outlive most owners

Could the work be done in China ?

What a donkey comment, firstly how could u guarantee workmanship, plus then there is shipping costs, then import duty vat

Ok I bought some tanks ( silos ) for work from Poland , they were cheaper but the quality was ste nahhh buy british you get. What u pay for

Edited by Hoofa on Saturday 8th March 16:56

[Discopotatoes]

Hoofa said:

SILICONEKID346HP said:

Quinny said:

I've seen the sportmotive chassis, close up, also fitted to a car, and in piece parts being made in the jig....(the jig itself must have cost a pretty penny)

There's a reason it's expensive..... The chap doing the welding, is absolutely brilliant... I stood and watch him, and knowing a bit about welding, it was obvious the amount of experience and expertise was on show.....

He told me its 10 days work just to complete the welding.... So add in the tube cutting, fettling, finishing etc its a very labour intensive process, and decent welders earn decent money.... So that where most of the costs go....

I suspect Ian at SM makes very little profit on the chassis itself...

To my mind, if the car is a keeper, the sportmotive chassis, is the way to go..... I suspect it'll outlive most owners

Could the work be done in China ?

What a donkey comment, firstly how could u guarantee workmanship, plus then there is shipping costs, then import duty vat

Ok I bought some tanks ( silos ) for work from Poland , they were cheaper but the quality was ste nahhh buy british you get. What u pay for

Edited by Hoofa on Saturday 8th March 16:56

All the stuff I'm buying on eBay at the mo is from china, and delivery is free!
On second thoughts if the Romanians did the work they could bring them with them when they come over and finish the job when they get here. Win win!

Edited by Discopotatoes on Saturday 8th March 18:01

[wuckfitracing]

Guys/Girls you will be glad to know that we are exporting our stuff to them, yep I spent 141 days last year in China building test equipment. I can confirm the reason they want our stuff is because they do not have the quality or expertise (yet). When they do finally realise that quality beats cost we will be in real trouble.

[SILICONEKID346HP]

Hoofa said:

What a donkey comment, firstly how could u guarantee workmanship, plus then there is shipping costs, then import duty vat

Ok I bought some tanks ( silos ) for work from Poland , they were cheaper but the quality was ste nahhh buy british you get. What u pay for

Edited by Hoofa on Saturday 8th March 16:56

Yes but everything in the UK is made by Polish ! that`s the same thing