One step forwards, one step back

[dnb]

It's a bit depressing - I was getting everything ready for the big day when my Griff chassis and body become one again, when I noticed a damn great crack under the driver's seat, along with many other smaller cracks and missing bits of fibreglass. (Will try to get a pic tonight)

Guess I'll have to get the shredded glass matting & Wests out this week... Otherwise it could get uncomfortable with the seat sitting on the road!

I'm now looking to re-enforce this area of the car. Is this a common thing, or is it just because I have a well used (abused? ) example?

[griffter]

dnb said:

It's a bit depressing - I was getting everything ready for the big day when my Griff chassis and body become one again, when I noticed a damn great crack under the driver's seat, along with many other smaller cracks and missing bits of fibreglass. (Will try to get a pic tonight)

Guess I'll have to get the shredded glass matting & Wests out this week... Otherwise it could get uncomfortable with the seat sitting on the road!

I'm now looking to re-enforce this area of the car. Is this a common thing, or is it just because I have a well used (abused? ) example?

Dave, check out the undercar photos in this thread: www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?t=375564&f=9&h=0

Although on reflection I'm not sure the plates reinforce the floor so much as the chassis.
I have heard of reinforcing bars being used (think they might be mentioned in the bible) and certainly by people putting Tuscan seats in.

Soon after I got my car, during the chassis/underbody restoration I painstakingly went round the car making good all the areas where GRP sections had been joined or had left the moulds less than perfectly. There was absolutely no point to this excercise other than my own 'amusement'... Fortunately I did not have a crack under the seat though. To stop a crack happening you really want something under the seat in the car to act as a load spreader. Very large washers would help, but a custom made bracket preferably between mounting bolts would be better.

Edited by griffter on Monday 23 April 12:44

[dnb]

I always wondered why the car leaked there too... Guess I know now!

There are plenty of voids where mine is joined together too - I've filled most of them now as it'll only be a problem waiting to happen if I don't.

I read about that one in Sprint. It was indeed a chassis re-enforcing excercise, but the photos hint at the possibility of it supporting the seats too.

Point loading is never good for fibreglass, so I need to do something. I have a couple of spare thin stainless sheets in the workshop, so I may see what I can do with them.

[spend]

I used some strong strips of plastic sheet material, being softer and a little pliable I think it spreads the loads better including impacts/vibrations, I simply sikaflexed it to the floor - precautionary as I had no cracks. Also made large washers from the same material for the underside - 2 ticks with 52mm Starrett hole saw.

I still like POR on Fibreglass to seal it - just in case their are any 'fibre tubes' left unsaturated. It just seem like putting gel coat back to me - and quite important when you drill / cut into the glass.. Maybe I am being a bit anal tho

Dave

[dnb]

LOL. That's the same reasoning I came up with when I decided to use the epoxy pitch.

Whatever I do, it will certainly be bonded to the body somehow. I have some arbourmast left over from the boat that'll do the job nicely.