What have you done today with your Austin Seven

[Howard Wright]

Thanks Bill and Simon

Yes I understand the over-engineering bit. My first special had an ash frame with an aluminium skin, aluminium wings and topped the scales at about 450kg even as a long wheelbase. But I fancy doing something different with this.

I'm aiming for a car suitable for vintage trials but one that I can also use on the road and will have a period look.  The "shape" will be similar to the infamous Cox tourer as shown in the current source book (I believe the car will be left out of the forthcoming reprint). So its a boat tail Bill.

The idea behind the ply sandwich came from Gordon England construction.  Rather than use ash between the ply I'm using very sparse ply.  The body will sit on the subframe and I'm hoping it will not need any bulkheads apart from the one already in place and one that will support the rear of the front mounted tank and dashboard.  Although I will be putting doors in the car and they may require some support.

Again taking a cue from Gordon England I'm hoping that the body will be totally separate from the running gear including the dash.  I can then complete the mechanics of the car without fear of damage to the fabric body.

Taking on board your comments Simon I may cut back on the ply thickness.  

I think I'll hang fire on a separate thread just at thee minute and see how things go.

Cheers

Howard