The 24 Hours of Lemons Forums → Lemons Newcomers → Any problem with using wood in the cockpit?
We are discussing building a little console out of plywood or MDF to mount our radio, amp, and some other electrical components inside the cockpit. Before I got started on that I wanted to make sure there weren't any rules against having a flammable material inside the driver's area. I don't see anything about it in the rules, but I figured it would be good to confirm with the veterans.
I wooooooddn't think there would be a problem (small Humor) If you've ever seen a car completely burnt about 80% of the inside is flammable. Or take a tip from the Wartburg and use an old license plate, very classy
just call it prebonded organic carbon fiber
Splinters in a bad wreck would be a concern.
Splinters in a bad wreck would be a concern.
Given the location where we're planning on mounting this if we were in a wreck bad enough to break this thing, splinters would be the least of our concerns.
Plus, I'm about 95% sure we'll use MDF if we do this and it doesn't really splinter at all.
We use a liberated road sign for our dash, lightweight aluminum and price was right!
Sheet metal, tin snips, and pop rivets. The possibilities are endless.
I have wood in the cockpit everytime I pass somebody!!
I recall seeing a Lemons car several years ago with a big block of wood on the gas pedal as an extender.
I'm pretty sure "wood" belongs in the "cockpit," if you catch my drift...
Unless you need to use lumber as part of your theme, I'd highly recommend aluminum instead. Cuts easily, a hole saw goes right through it lickedy split for gauges, it's lightweight, relatively cheap, and with a 1/8 or 3/16" drill bit and some pop rivets you can fix it to almost anything. Brackets are easy to fabricate using hand tools and a combination of flat stock and angle stock that you can pick up at the ever-exotic Home Depot or Lowe's (not to mention dedicated metal sellers like Metals4U down off I-35 and Regal Row). And aluminum's not flammable. Well, unless you get to like seventy gajillion degrees (not an actual number).
It occurs to me that there are plenty of things in the cockpit of the average Lemons car that are more readily flammable than a piece of wood, like hundreds of feet of wire insulation, plastic galore, etc. And if you're still in the car by the time a piece of wood ignites you've got bigger things to worry about other than a couple small flames coming off a little pine...
But, all that aside, sheet aluminum IS something everyone building a car should have on hand, and unless you're going for a Sammy Johns "Chevy Van" theme or doing a Sierra Club themed XR4Ti, wood is pretty pointless.
go light weight - use balsa wood
I don't have much experience with metal working, but building this thing out of sheet metal seems like it would be so much more difficult than using MDF. Creating a long 90 degree joint for instance seems very difficult to do with metal unless you can weld or you have the tools to make a nice, clean, uniform bend in the sheet.
I'm sure there are plenty of people on these forums with the fabrication skills necessary to build this out of metal, but I'm not one of them. My main question was really about whether I would get any flak from the tech inspectors for building this out of a somewhat flammable material, and it sounds like that answer is no.
you really should learn some basic metal working skills seeing how the car is 90% metal.
Try clamping the sheet metal to the edge of a workbench, or a straight piece of lumber, then go psycho with a rubber mallet the length of the edge. Soon, you will have a professionalish-looking, long 90*
Wood is ok, but try to use metal. It will draw less attention in tech, no matter how bad it looks. Also, this is the place to begin your new skill set training as 1) we will all help and B) there is no award for pretty.
Yep. That was my first sheet metal brake; a trip to home depot for some aluminum, pair of 2 x 4's and a vice. Clamp it, bend it and bang it! Viola! ninety degree bend.
Harbor Freight is a good source for real, made in China, sheet metal brakes.
Harbor Freight is a good source for more elaborate, pretend, made in China, sheet metal brakes.
Fixed it.
I recall a team in the past that used Bamboo to cover their floors. They wanted to be environmentally conscious.
So if I were to attempt to fabricate this thing out of sheet metal, what gauge would you recommend?
Will I be able to make all the cuts I need with tin snips or do I need to get any other tools beyond that?
So if I were to attempt to fabricate this thing out of sheet metal, what gauge would you recommend?
Will I be able to make all the cuts I need with tin snips or do I need to get any other tools beyond that?
Thicker than tin foil ( actually aluminum, about 0.007" thick ) but thinner than a road plate ( about 1" )
For dash plates I'd go for between 0.100 and 0.085" roughly. 1/8 ( 0.125" ) is a bit thicker than you need, 0.065 is a bit flimsy.
You can cut it in a bunch of ways, one that I use often is a fine tooth carbide blade in a table saw. The cutting speed is slightly above the recommended at a good feed rate but with the large number of carbides to spread the heating you won't have issues with aluminum deposition. A blade guard is recommended, the chips that fly out are HOT.
To make brackets hand bending them in a vice is pretty effective, a hard 90 degree bend isn't really optimal in aluminum.
Use zipscrews to fasten the panels or rivets, whichever you prefer.
Thanks John!
I feel a little dirty that I used the Ch-ch-ch-ina word. I actually buy New Balance sneakers because I can find models made in the USA.
Friends don't let friends shop at Harbor Freight.
Creating a long 90 degree joint for instance seems very difficult to do with metal unless you can weld or you have the tools to make a nice, clean, uniform bend in the sheet.
Stand on one side and hammer it over the concrete edge of your porch.
Yep. That was my first sheet metal brake; a trip to home depot for some aluminum, pair of 2 x 4's and a vice. Clamp it, bend it and bang it! Viola! ninety degree bend.
Harbor Freight is a good source for real, made in China, sheet metal brakes.
So, is there a way to do this *well* without a sheet metal brake? I need to do similar work with copper (for a project unrelated to Lemons), and the local fab shops seem to be uninterested in doing anything so simple.
Nanker Phelge wrote:Yep. That was my first sheet metal brake; a trip to home depot for some aluminum, pair of 2 x 4's and a vice. Clamp it, bend it and bang it! Viola! ninety degree bend.
Harbor Freight is a good source for real, made in China, sheet metal brakes.
So, is there a way to do this *well* without a sheet metal brake? I need to do similar work with copper (for a project unrelated to Lemons), and the local fab shops seem to be uninterested in doing anything so simple.
I use a Black and Decker Workmate with angle iron facing the "jaws". Clamp up and bend it over. If you want to be neat, you can clamp bar stock or angle iron to the part sticking out with welding clamps or Vise-Grips..
Our Eleanor Mustang has a plywood dash "board" and it works quite well.
The 24 Hours of Lemons Forums → Lemons Newcomers → Any problem with using wood in the cockpit?