re: torsional rigidity
Hi, great to hear the depth of your design thoughts on the car! When it comes to the chassis there are two separate issues. One is the basic strength - and yours looks to be made of sturdy stuff.
The other is resistance to twisting. A 7-esque chassis is essentially a box shape (with rails at each edge). Each rectangular side to the box has a diagonal member to give the resistance to twisting and spread the loads. It is the shape and especially the triangulation that allows the steel tubing to be so thin. It would be disastrous to use such light tubes in a car without that triangulation.
The original Dino chassis was more rudimentary and had big thick tubes instead of a light, well-engineered frame. It did have a certain amount of box-like shape and triangulation in places though.
I wonder if the chassis in your pictures Terry has any triangulation or even height? It looks like a flat platform. All twisting loads would be transferred to the body shell - with resulting stress fractures in the GRP. Any twist would also compromise the geometry of the MG suspension which is designed to work in a stiff chassis.
These are all development problems which I hope your car will have sorted - it looks like your venture deserves to do very well indeed.
cheers
Ross in NZ
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