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Samtimmons

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Oct 30, 2003
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I am absolutely positive after just watching the soapbox race coverage that next year needs to be FF's year.

Are there any volunteers for the design side/mechanics side?

Im sure there are oodles of volunteers for the driving of it!
 
Cool I had forgotten about that :). I think a car forum provides the ideal expertise to build a t'riffic soapbox cart thing. I'll offer assistance but not sure I can be of much use (maybe I could be your flag waver in a bikini like thay have on F1 before the race?)
 
About 6 months ago I suggested it but said I couldn't afford the time (due to A-levels). This year may be different however. I have experience of building and driving one as a 10 or so year old - damn did it go! Basic designs are easy.

Light weight but strong base - seen some black lids from work made from some sort of plastic, max weight 500kg but weight less than half of equivilent wood board - only trouble is I can't nick one! lol The base is the chassis - seperate chassis only adds weight.

You acquire an old pram with large enough wheels and strip it. The rear axle is fixed to the base at the rear and the front is kept aside for a moment.

Some sort of strut is required coming out of the front of the base and you drill a large hole through the end, a bolt is passed through and nicely secured with a cross beam perpendicular to it and in the middle; wide enough for your feet to be able to press on each side and also to give stability, mine was too thin and wasn't stable above 20mph....it flipped. If the width of the wheel base of the pram isn't sufficient it must be split up and fixed to the cross beam rather than being in one piece. A piece of rope is then connected to each end of the cross beam and your feet rest on it with your bum on the base plate.

Decorate ;)

Obvisouly the above is very basic, however, unless anybody on here has excellent access to good metal working equipment and a strong ability it's difficult to make your own everything really....
 
I was thinking more along the lines of...

An 'I' shaped chassis, i.e. long bit down trhe middle with two perpendicular bits on ewither end. A bit like the very simple lego-kit chassis'.

Then attach wheels on either side through blocks of wood, solid axle at the back. Also a solid axle at the front, but on a pivoting thing to provide limited and crude steering.

However, I was thinking about making a sort of Chopper steering thing. Basically a tricycle. But with a chopper style front wheel, i.e. tilting rater than rotating. Not the best way of describing it but if you think of the difference in front suspension on a chopper and a Superbike, say, you will get what I mean.

I also was tryng to think of clever cunning names. Nothing yet.

I also though just now that maybe 12" bike wheels would be better than pram wheels. Stronger, fatter, more grip more stability and looking schveet.

Oh, and maybe a big old Fiat Badge somewhere.

If anyone saw the program and saw "The self preservation society's" car, maybe we should do the same with a scaled down cinq? hehe
 
gaz_wrexham said:
cant u just chop the rrof off a cinq/sei, they small enough to be passed off as go-karts

haha, very true!!!!!!!!!.

I will be the first to put his name into the hat to drive the FF gokart. YEAH
 
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