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reduced chassis stiffness with lowered floor


tiddy1

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I was considering fitting a lowered floor but am wondering how much torsional stiffness is lost by removing the flat stressed sheet and replacing it with a tub which will be no use in stopping the chassis from twisting any thoughts?
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I had exactly the same thoughts. Although it's not a "stressed" panel as such, it does use a sealant before the rivets are popped therefore it offers a lot of triangulation.

 

I'd prefer to find an alternative for that reason AND because having my sensitive parts that much lower to the stuff I normally drive over seems a shade too "daredevil" for me. *tongue*

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any thoughts?

 

Several...

 

It's even worse for me (see recent threads) because fitting a lowered floor will (almost certainly) require me to remove a 'minor' chassis diagonal from my race-chassis.

 

I'm also not entirely convinced by the statement that you no longer need the honeycomb insert due to the lowered floor being stronger (heavier gauge?) than the standard one...

 

I dunno. Maybe I should get a tall-bar instead - the hood issues aren't for me - IYSWIM *wink*

 

Project Scope-Creep is underway...

 

Alcester Racing 7's Equipe - 🙆🏻

 

Alcester-Racing-Sevens.com

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Having seen some lowered floor "Tubs" while I was at Arch, I am fairly certain that no overall stiffness will be lost - it's quite a robust looking piece of kit *thumbup*

 

BRG Brooklands SV 😬 It seems that perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing more to take away. (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)

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As you may know I've replaced all interior panels including floor with RiF's excellent carbon panels. After a year of hard road use in the North there is no sign of rivet strain etc so I conclude (good word) that these panels are not put under stress.

 

Norman Verona, 1989 BDR 220bhp, Mem No 2166, the full story here

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Tiddy,

 

The new car I am currently building has the lowered floor. Lovely job IMO it is made from NS4 Ali and would guess its 2mm thick it is also runs the complete floor pan of the car tapering all the way from the peddle box bulkhead to the rear bulkhead behind the seats so no crossbracing is affected. I would not advise you to use 1mm ali for obvious reasons.

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Hang-on...

 

My understanding of the lowered floor was that it tapers from the pedal-box bulkhead down to the cross-brace underneath the drivers knees - it is then horizontal under the seat area - i.e. constant depth...

 

Looks like this from the photos I've seen (curse CC for not having an Autosport stand) and this has been confirmed by an SV owner I know.

 

Can you double-check.confirm, Rob - this is critical to my plans *thumbup*

 

Project Scope-Creep is underway...

 

Alcester Racing 7's Equipe - 🙆🏻

 

Alcester-Racing-Sevens.com

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At 4cm lower, is it possible to ground the floor? My exhaust has taken a bashing from hard cornering and the tow eyes (I have 4 on my car - says alot about my car!) have all met the ground at one stage or other. I like the idea of a lowered floor but wondered if it could come into contact with the ground - not an appealing thought!
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I hope not Alex! Am having one fitted to my car in March, from what I have read your sump will always be lower than the floor. I have seen one installed on a standard chassis, the bar at the front of the seat runners had over an inch gap to the floor, and looking underneath I could see lots of other bits hanging lower.

 

R300 Register

My R300 *wink*

 

Edited by - knowley on 18 Jan 2005 12:13:39

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The A frame is the big A shaped frame that sits under the back of the car. The point of the A is attached to the diff (the big silver lump bolted to the back of the car), infront of the metal silver box (the fuel tank). The other 2 ends are attached to the chassis just in front of the rear wheels. *smile*

 

I think the new cars have the A frame bush higher up than my old '97 chassis. My concern is that these have hit the ground before on my car (admittedly only in extreme circumstances), but they are less than 40mm tall, therefore I wondered if the new floor really was lower than these and could hit the ground. The worst place for this is exiting the Karrusell at the ring.

 

 

 

Edited by - Alex Wong on 18 Jan 2005 14:19:54

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is it possible to ground the floor?

 

I don't think so Alex... I currently run the old-style side-impact bar - this has a 38mm tube running underneath the current floor - right below the chassis member under your knees.

 

As this is closer to the center of the car, I'd expect to grind this as much (if not more) than a lowered floor - and I've only ever had a problem negotiating those lie-flat security bollards used to protect parking spaces...

 

 

 

Project Scope-Creep is underway...

 

Alcester Racing 7's Equipe - 🙆🏻

 

Alcester-Racing-Sevens.com

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