Building an off road car (rail) is not as easy as some might think. It's not just a case of welding some pipe to a chassis and off you go to your first race! There's alot more to consider than just the look of the car. There are two very important things to remember, in Jason's case make that three. The first being SAFETY, the second STRENGTH in the right places, and third is a good lock on the garage door to keep your telly tubby friend Nidge out so he can't take the P**S out of you!! (see pic 18)
The steel tube that you use to build your pride and joy, which you are going to hurtle around muddy fields and quarries possibly launching yourself up to 6 feet in the air!, must adhere to the S.C.O.R.R. regulations.
One thing to consider when you are building a frame you will need a pipe bender. If you know someone who has one all well and good, if not you could be in big trouble! You can hire them from a good tool hire shop. Jason bought himself one, it has a 12ton hydraulic jack type and cost about �100 (see pic 19) Unfortunately this type just crushed the mild steel tube that the S.C.O.R.R. regs recommend! After a few phone calls to other members of S.C.O.R.R. who have built their own cars it was suggested by Adi that Jason try using 2inch x 3mm wall steam pipe, this is available at plumbers merchants. This type of pipe bender worked well on steam pipe Jason has used this for the two roll bars over the cockpit area (see pic 20), engine cage and the front bumper. The rest of the rail is being built with 2inch x 3mm wall mild steel and 1.5 inch 16 gauge mild steel tube. |
