The drawings available on this site should at least provide you with new ideas, and hopefully they will increase your chances of a successful build. You can email me with questions or comments as I continue to improve the drawings for everyone's benefit.
Please do not host or redistribute the drawing files that you retrieve from this site as they are updated frequently and without warning. It is best to refer to this site (http://www.mcsorley.net/locost/) so others can download the latest and greatest information.
Notes regarding Unit of
Measure:
The CAD models were developed using standard
measures based on 1" and 3/4" rectangular tubing. The
drawings show secondary dimensions in metric and the build
accuracy when using the metric measurements should not be an
issue. Each measurement that depends on the tubing thickness
may be off by at least .4mm (25mm vs. 25.4mm) and this small
difference may be compounded during the assembly process.
However, the overall effect of the discrepancy is probably
negligible given the accuracy of most shop tools (or lack
thereof).
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Download the Drawings
There are three drawing packages available to
provide various design ideas and geometry. Details of the
transmission tunnel, suspension brackets and triangulating
strength members are not provided in any of the drawing
packages at this time. It is assumed that each builder will
be using specialized donor parts that dictate the final
geometry of the transmission tunnel and suspension. The
builder should take great care to include triangulating
strength members as per the overall book design using a
cut-to-fit approach.
- Book Chassis (~317KB) with a BOM/Cut list (~24KB)
Based entirely on the design presented in Ron Champion's book, "Build Your Own Sports Car For As Little As £250 - And Race It!" There is also an Excel spreadsheet containing a bill of materials for the book chassis. Thanks to Vince Hotho and John Nonnemacher,CPA for compiling the data and contributing the initial spreadsheets. Also available as a zipped IGES file for 3D CAD users.
- McSorley 7+4 (~272KB)
An increase of 4" through the entire width of the chassis with subsequent changes to the diagonal members as needed. There are a few vendors manufacturing a +4" nosecone by adding 4 inches clear down the center, or this can be accomplished at home with little effort. Standard front wishbones should bolt right up assuming the track width of the donor axle is exactly 4" greater than the UK based Ford Escort Mk1 (the book donor).
- McSorley 7+442 (~305KB) FAQ
An increased width, length and height using the nosecone and suspension mounting points suggested by the book. The increased width exists through the rear and the cockpit, while the front end is based on the book chassis and it uses a standard nosecone. The suspension brackets can be mounted according to the layout provided by the book, but the length of the front wishbones should be customized to be sure the track width agrees with the donor axle following assembly.
The increased length of this chassis provides an additional two inches for the pedal box and another two inches in the engine bay. The increased height goes through the horizontal portion of the chassis (forward of the dashboard) to balance the over all design and accommodate taller engines. A standard nosecone that is 26 inches wide at a distance of 12 inches from the front should fit with little-to-no modification, although a tall "cowcatcher" is called for to bridge the bottom of the taller chassis with the bottom of the relatively stout nosecone.
There are some vendors manufacturing nosecones that are taller than the book design to provide even more height for the engine. For example, Champion Motor Cars produces a nosecone that sits 13" below the top rails and an additional 1" above the top rails... placing a full 23.5" under the bonnet while leaving a relatively small 2" gap along the bottom of the 442 chassis. A standard book nosecone leaves a 5" gap along the bottom of this super-sized chassis.
