Re: Chassis Stiffening for Alfa Spiders ???

["Paul Misencik" <paul@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> > A) Has anyone bothered to measure the torsional stiffness
> > and/or torsional
> > resonant frequency with and without this bolt-on gizmo?

> I haven't, but I remember one of the car mags doing a test on something
> years ago.  I seem to remember it involved raising one corner of the car
> a measured amount, and measuring the deflection somehow.  The somehow is
> the hard part.

This is probably taking "hack engineering" to a new low, but I have an idea.
Raise one corner of the car - even drive one wheel up onto a curb or
something - then open one of the doors and measure the relationship of the
top of the door to the sill plate and the top of the door to the vertical
sill with the latch.

The narrower the angles, the stiffer the chassis, right?

Paul Misencik
Huntersville, NC  28078
email: paul@domain.elided
www.paoloroman.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ian Lomax" <sfalfisto@domain.elided>
To: "'RonHorowitz'" <RonHorowitz@domain.elided>; <alfa@domain.elided>
Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2003 1:30 AM
Subject: RE: Chassis Stiffening for Alfa Spiders ???


> > A) Has anyone bothered to measure the torsional stiffness
> > and/or torsional
> > resonant frequency with and without this bolt-on gizmo or is
> > this all just
> > seat-of-the-pants?
>
> I haven't, but I remember one of the car mags doing a test on something
> years ago.  I seem to remember it involved raising one corner of the car
> a measured amount, and measuring the deflection somehow.  The somehow is
> the hard part.
>
> > B) Why a bolt on? Would anybody be interested in a better-engineered
> > weld-on structure?
>
> Bolt on is removable, and installable at home.  Welding makes all kinds
> of stuff harder if not impossible to reach.
>
> > C) Anybody interested in an R&D project?
>
> Always, just haven't figured out how to measure it.  And don't have
> access to the big-3's toolbox anymore! :-)
>
> > Don't know if I've ever mentioned it, I've done a fair amount
> > of finite
> > element analysis of the modal behavior of mechanical structures....
>
> Cool, so all we need to do is figure out how to collect some data.
> Thoughts?  I have a flexy spider and a stiffener.
>
> Ian
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