Hey guys,
Just kicking around a thought.
I'm an engineer by trade and car junkie by heritage. I dream of one day scratch building my own hotrod/tube chassis of some sort.
I would love to build something like the Ariel Atom (http://"http://www.arielatom.com/"), Factor Five Racing 33 Coupe (http://"http://www.factoryfive.com/hotrodhome.html"), or Stalker V6 (http://"http://www.bruntonauto.com/ax/videos.htm"). So I got to thinking, what about starting an open source chassis design?
I'm pretty handy at fabrication, and I use solidworks and autocad at work quite a bit. I'm an EE/CPE by trade so I have no formal training in suspension or frame design. How many of you guys would be interested in collaborating on something like this?
I think we could follow the Megasquirt business model. Whereas, the frame design and models would be available free. If it works out, build a few in our garages. If they became a hit, maybe people would pay to have a few batches built (I know some excellent fabrication shops in SA). I'm not saying do it for the money, I just want to build a car from the ground up.
I like the idea of re-using parts like the Stalker V6. This keeps the cost down. We could pick a drive train (spindles, brakes, etc) from a easily poached junkyard vehicle (Cougar, Towncar, Mustang...whatever) and build the frame/suspension around those parts.
As far as body, I like the coarse open frame look of the atom or the Stalker. Maybe something simple that could be fabricated from sheet metal over a DIY form. Obviously it would never be as elegant as the Atom, but I'm more interested in the high HP:Weight ratio, wind in the hair, I did it my self aspect.
I've always been a huge proponent of open source work. This just seems like a logical mingling of the OS and vehicle worlds. So what does the hive mind think? Anyone out there have some good input on suspension design?
-Dan
Biggest problem I can see is liability. If an OS crashes you lose some data. If a car crashes somebody could lose their life. Wouldn't take lawyers too long to break you...