Tom Mauldin's BadAsp Coupe Build

[Sydney Chris]

hi Tom,

Has been a long time since Ive been on this site.. I trust you are going well..

Am looking at removing a bit of sheetmetal and dropping the floor level to get the extra head height.

Would you be able to assist with the dimensions for the cutouts you completed..?

With thanks

Chris

Were you able to post or send the

[Garry Bopp]

Chris,

You may want to try sending a Private Message to Tom. Sometimes that works best when trying to get hold of someone.

Garry

[Tom Mauldin]

Chris,

I can get you the measurements when I get back home. I'm in Canada right now planning a job. By dropping the floor you will need to stiffen the frame with door bars or something like that. I'll send the measurements early next week.

Tom

[Sydney Chris]

thanks Tom,

Will look forward to the details.

I had considered the reinforcement.. was thinking of fabricating a 2" x 4" RHS section, cutting then, welding end plates to the main rail and inserting the pre fabricated section so the frame didnt loose as much as it would with the method you had used. Look forward to any thoughts re additional support that would be required there after, assuming the seat mounting plate was also reinstalled..?

Cheers

Chris

[Tom Mauldin]

Chris,

I think that would help. What about doing that and replacing the square tubing that the body attaches to under the door with a heavier gauge or round tube and tie it in two places to the 2x2 below the door?

[Tom Mauldin]

I just measured the cut. From front to back I went 18". The total depth that I cut into the frame at the back was 2". I also cut the 4" crossmember 3" toward the middle of the car measuring from the side of the 4" frame rail. I just carried the angle I had cut on the frame over to the crossmember. I hope this helps.

[John Dol]

One of the mods I didn't do, that I'd wish I did!

John

[Sydney Chris]

thanks Tom... much appreciated.

I had already upgraded the lateral tubes under the sill location to 2".. can tie them in easy enough..

Cheers

Chris

[Jacob McCrea]

I like it! Keep up the good work.

[Tom Mauldin]

Sounds great Chris! Let me know if you need anything else.

Thanks Jacob!

[mjazzka]

Tom, this looks great, I really like that mod. Looking forward to seeing this coupe get built, and with a truck to match too!

[Tom Mauldin]

Thanks Michael! Wow, another coupe within 50 miles, cool! I just checked out your thread and your making great progress. It is looking good! Yea, the truck was one of those squirrel moments where I lost focus. I have the truck at the painter right now and the coupe is up on the lift waiting for me to finish with the roadster and now a twin turbo aluminator coyote 33 that I have been asked to build. Anyway, good luck and I can't wait to see your car on the road!

[mjazzka]

Tom, thanks for the support, I actually added a little to the thread today. Glad to see there are some other FFRs around! I really do need to get around and see the FFR cars around here, especially mslone's and yours

With all that BEFORE the coupe it may be a little while, haha. Can't wait to see all of those done, and hopefully you'll post some pictures of the truck when it's done

[Tom Mauldin]

Looking good! Keep it up.

[Sydney Chris]

Further to my post above (without wishing to highjack Tom at all), I had completed some stress calcs, just torsion and mid point bending for the replacement 2"x4" RHS to get the 2" drop in the floor level.

6mm wall or roughly 1/4" seemed the optimal point between weight and strength. With around a 10% reduction in stiffness for this element alone when compared to the 4" chassis rail that's standard for the Coupe. Cutting the rail in half obviously increases the stress / deflection by up to 50% and reduces the torsional rigidity by up to a maximum of 70% when compared to a sealed tube.

All of that said, the mods Tom also included more than compensate for that element in isolation.

Cheers

Chris

[Tom Mauldin]

Chris,

So...the math checks out? I'm glad you did the math and not me, cause I would never finish the math or the car.

I have been working on what type of wheels to run on the coupe. What do you think???

W20151101_102802.jpg

[wallace18]

Chris,

So...the math checks out? I'm glad you did the math and not me, cause I would never finish the math or the car.

I have been working on what type of wheels to run on the coupe. What do you think???

W20151101_102802.jpg

At least you would have spares on your trailer. LOL.

[John Dol]

Now that's Stylin'

John

[Sydney Chris]

Wheels look great Tom..

Perhaps a set of off roader treads to go with them and you will have your very own smoke machine..

Re the maths.. 1/4" wall on the insert section with the RHS capped as well is not quite as strong as the original 4" tube, but close. Without the additional mods you did to the entire cage Id be more than a little concerned about dropping the floor after cutting it with a torch. The main issue would be brittle fractures around the edge of the heat stress areas from carbonisation. Will hopefully be able to post pics in a couple of weeks with what Ive managed to come up with..

As with all of these things you need the strength in the tub for structural integrity and handling, then the roll cage can do its work for driver protection.

Chris

[Tom Mauldin]

Keep us informed Chris.

I think with my wheel choice I will have a one of a kind Daytona!

[jgm]

Hello Tom, I'm new to the forum and I'm trying to figure out what to do. I'm deciding whether to build a type 65 coupe or the mk4.

In your experience was the coupe a lot harder to build, and the fitting b of the parts is somewhat good?

There are some tips to make the kit more useful and also about making panels removable to service the dash, suspension and pedal box, and others posted some trouble with the aluminum panels not fitting propperly.

I see that your coupe got modified for the track with an impressive side protection.

Regards,

Jaime

[Tom Mauldin]

Jaime,

In my opinion, the coupe is a little more challenging to build than the roadster. A bit more expensive too, but what you end up with is a car that there are fewer of when you go to events.