Homemade tub chassis?

[LusBus]

Hello friends of the RC10

Does anybody of you have experience in making a tub chassis from aluminium? I would be interested in making one, but there are a lot of questions...

Which material is good?
What heat threading processes are needed (before, between, after forming processes...)?

How to do it?

A simple way would be to mill a positive mould from hard wood, drill the holes in the bottom of the (future) chassis, bolt it to the mould and then form it around the mould with a hammer. Is this possible with a positive mould or will the aluminium be stretched too much? In this case I would need a negative mould and hammer the aluminium in the mould, maybe more difficult.

I think the best way would be to have a positive and a negative mould and to use a hydraulic press. Does anybody know how to calculate the force needed? Probably the force is bigger than would we can achieve in a hobby room...

Thanks for all answers and hints!

[bluewormx]

Search the forum, I recall Curtis Husting describing how he made the prototype RC10 chassis at Associated.
https://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=16520&start=30
From what I remember chassis where drilled after being formed. The material of original chassis was 6061. It later changed to 2024 for the worlds car.
There is also a video on youtube part of the Gene Husting collection, where it shows chassis being drilled.

[LusBus]

Thanks a lot, this is what I was looking for. The search function of the forum told me that "chassis" is a too common word and that it would not serch for it. (no joke!)

Sounds complicated... maybe not a good idea... My daughter came up with the idea to make it similar to folded paper houses: Make cuts, fold the sidewalls up and bolt them together. Not a bad idea for 8 years old, maybe worth a try. Would not give the perfect chassis, but would be much simpler.

[bluewormx]

Here is the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkuHj0g7NuE

[Dadio]

Just to throw a curve ball , have you thought of Kydex ? You could make the male and female moulds and use them to form a Kydex chassis , may not be as rigid but I don't think anybody has tried it before and it would be a lot like what you planned only easier .

[JosephS]

Hello friends of the RC10

Does anybody of you have experience in making a tub chassis from aluminium? I would be interested in making one, but there are a lot of questions...

Which material is good?
What heat threading processes are needed (before, between, after forming processes...)?

How to do it?

A simple way would be to mill a positive mold from hard wood, drill the holes in the bottom of the (future) chassis, bolt it to the mould and then form it around the mold with a hammer. Is this possible with a positive mold or will the aluminum be stretched too much? In this case I would need a negative mold and hammer the aluminum in the mold, maybe more difficult.

I think the best way would be to have a positive and a negative mold and to use a hydraulic press. Does anybody know how to calculate the force needed? Probably the force is bigger than would we can achieve in a hobby room...

Thanks for all answers and hints!

Making a one off by hand and making them on mass is different. Your idea of making a buck and hammering a sheet to shape should work. It's be interesting to try. Start out with something softer and thinner than you'd finished with to see how you do.

As far as a press goes you'd likely need many tons of force to stamp out chassis like was done for mass production.

I have seen some projects here that were made like your daughter suggested. Basically a flat chassis bottom with the tub sides made from folded metal and bolted on .

If you are inclined I'd recommend you try it. It'd be a good time.

[jwscab]

You would need to aluminum that is not tempered and form over a buck, like you mention. Then it needs to be tempered/hardened, which for aluminum is kinda complicated.

[LusBus]

Thanks a lot for all your comments and help. It sounds quit complicated. It is possible, for sure, but with a big effort, spending a lot of time testing different materials and treatments. In the next few months I don't have the time to do that, but I will keep all this information in my head... Maybe later. Would be an interestin project for sure!

Workaround for the moment will be a flat carbon chassis with upper deck.