Seam Welding

[brien m tourville <HH-7X@xxxx>]

Here is one response to a Thread I brought
to the amc-list.com .
Knowledge of this particular Uni Body stiffening
method seam to be unknown to the average 
Muscle Car builder .

brien.
1981 GREMLIN 4X4
'Merciful 6'

"coulda had a V8 :-} )8- /O-0`


From: "Daniel G Ritzinger" <danritz@xxxx>
To: mail@xxxx
Subject: Re: Re:Seam welding
Date: Thu, 14 Mar 2002 00:20:18 -0600

Misc info from the Web at large:

2001 SEMA Show
Jaguar XKR-R
The XKR-R was built from the ground up using new, modified, and
custom-built
parts. Not a single component-from the revised shape of the front bumper
to
the quad-outlet exhaust-escaped Jaguar's Special Vehicle Operations
(SVO).
The team strengthened the car by seam-welding the unibody, mounting the
front suspension on aluminum bushings, and installing an eight-point
roll-bar. SVO also installed Recaro racing seats and four-point
seatbelts.
The custom Eibach springs with fully adjustable racing-type
remote-reservoir
shock absorbers are specific to this vehicle. Jaguar used its own 20-inch
BBS-sourced R-Performance wheels and Brembo-sourced R-Performance brake
calipers and cross-drilled rotors. But the real fun is under the louvered
hood, where a supercharged V-8 churns out roughly 450 horsepower. SVO
replaced the stock five-speed automatic transmission with a customized
Tremec T-56 six-speed manual, which is paired with an AP Racing
twin-plate
clutch.


THE LUFFIELD CARS MG CAR CLUB SPEED CHAMPIONSHIP 2001
3.2.7 Chassis & Bodywork - Aluminium, fibreglass or other plastic front
wings are allowed. These components must be full road weight;
lightweight
competition panels or skins are prohibited. Aluminium bonnets will only
be
permitted if available as a contemporary special tuning option. MGB GT
and
MGC GT only may use lightweight tailgate and rear window. No other
modifications to the chassis or bodywork are permitted: they must be of
the
same construction and materials to that used for routine production
vehicles
of each model type, during their production life span. Seam welding is
permitted. Spoilers and splitters are permitted - for the definition of
a
spoiler see the MSA Year Book; aerofoils are prohibited. Convertible and
drop head models may remove their hood assembly if the car runs with a
hard
top fitted.



Carrera RS, Carrera Cup USA and RS America - what they are and how they
compare with each other.
Interesting are the changes to the bodywork to make the Carrera RS Basic
suitable for N/GT and Carrera Cup racing. For those of you interested in
the
complete scope of the changes, I refer you to the Carrera 2/4 Workshop
Manual, Body Volume V, pages 50-101 to 53-104. Briefly, these
modifications
include anchorages welded to the transmission tunnel and floor under the
seat for a six point harness, alternate mounting points for the ABS and
DME
brains, provisions for mounting a front tow hook as well as seam welding
and
bracing of the rear suspension mounting points, floor area and stabilizer
mounts, plus some other changes. Fender lips are rolled for tire
clearance
front and rear. The RS Basic, at 2684 pounds, is 347 pounds lighter than
the
USA Carrera 2.


Newsgroups: alt.autos.toyota
One hting I have read in Rally car prep is these guys actaully pull the
front and rear subframes off of unidbody and insert box tubing into them
and re weld them to the cars. Also they do a lot of seam welding of
chassis. Be careful on both of these since its easy to screw up a good
chassis if you don't know what you are doing. Seam welding done
improperly
can really warp chassis.


Newsgroups: rec.autos.rotary
All racing cars (legal ones any road) have safety cages and more often
than not seam welding. This gives torsional rigidy figiures in the
order of 60,000 lbft as opposed to the 10000lb ft I think is normal for
a small saloon /sedan car.
The 500hp rotary racer may produce significantly less torque than a
500hp street V8.
The problem with high torque V8s in shells that were not designed for
them and have not be strengthened is fatigue and creep caused by the
cyclical application of torsional stress across the diagonal of the car
(usually FL to RR). The RR spring often gets destressed before chassis
though.
OK if you potter around in the car and use an autobox no problem. BUT if
you want to play with your V8 just strengthen the chassis.

Dan

Dan Ritzinger << '69 Javelin 401/727 >> << '61 T-Bird >>
WANTED - 20's Jewett
parts/literature
Central Wisconsin WANTED - 20's Dodge Brothers rear fenders/misc.

SEE MY JAVELIN AT: http://chaos.coredcs.com/~danritz/JAVELIN.JPG