My Elio Alternate Project Is Underway.

[Mark BEX]

This idea looks like something worth considering.

Way ahead of you :-)

the BEX silhouette is very different and has been determined by the body side panels he has chosen ....

Yes, but the hatch opening is where I can, and am considering something along the lines of what JohnJ posted.

------------------------------

B Pillar was laser cut today, I took it to get folded, and started to look at the setup for issues.

You can see the jigging plate being used to line it up, using the door hinge holes, and I sat the side protection bars in looking for issues ... so far none.

As you will recall I had steel tube before, but this created alignment headaches, every bend can not be perfect, just a tenth of a degree difference in each of the total 10 bends in the 3 main roll hoops, and it ends up out of alignment very quickly.

The laser'ed parts are super accurate, and this makes the 2 main longitunal bars easier to be consistently placed accurately.

 

[JEBar]

Way ahead of you :-)

Yes, but the hatch opening is where I can, and am considering something along the lines of what JohnJ posted.

it comes as no surprise that you are considering possible changes to the angle of the hatch door .... doing so in order to allow more rear interior room in an Elio was widely discussed on this forum ..... reports following shows where it was raised with EM employees consistently indicated they had no interest .... the body style/shape was a take it or leave it proposition to them ....

 

[Mark BEX]

it comes as no surprise that you are considering possible changes to the angle of the hatch door .... doing so in order to allow more rear interior room in an Elio was widely discussed on this forum ..... reports following shows where it was raised with EM employees consistently indicated they had no interest .... the body style/shape was a take it or leave it proposition to them ....

I'm not promising anything, and this is not a statement of commitment, but I was thinking of offering easy to change, multiple hatch shapes.

 

[JEBar]

As you will recall I had steel tube before, but this created alignment headaches, every bend can not be perfect, just a tenth of a degree difference in each of the total 10 bends in the 3 main roll hoops, and it ends up out of alignment very quickly.

do you anticipate the bends used to create the side roll bars can/will create the same issue ???

 

[Mark BEX]

do you anticipate the bends used to create the side roll bars can/will create the same issue ???

No, because now I have 3 known fixed points, front, middle, and rear, and the tube is flexible enough to be positioned into those points, with no more than a push or pull with your hand.

 

[JEBar]

No, because now I have 3 known fixed points, front, middle, and rear, and the tube is flexible enough to be positioned into those points, with no more than a push or pull with your hand.

OUTSTANDING .... well thought out as usual

 

[Mark BEX]

While quite happy with the B pillar design, as you can see with the red arrows, I can and will widen the top more to tuck it in closer to the bodywork. My fault, I played it too safe, worried about clearance issues, but pretty good overall first a first attempt, and you can see the lower half tucks in very nicely.

The panel with the yellow arrow, is an alignment jig, it doesn't stay there. It is the same alignment jig I use for the front firewall as well :-)

You can see the side impact bars here, they are in their final position.

 

[84mpg]

Looks great Mark. Hey, when you build mine, can you leave the alignment jig in place behind the front seat? It will help prevent kicks from my backseat driving wife.

 

[Mark BEX]

Looks great Mark. Hey, when you build mine, can you leave the alignment jig in place behind the front seat? It will help prevent kicks from my backseat driving wife.

There will be a fully sealed version, complete rear seat segregation, I expect it to be popular, almost as popular as the ejector seat option..

 

[grampi]

I like what I see here, except maybe for the ICE powerplant. I would like to see an engine a bit more mainstream with known reliability. Something like the 1.5 Toyota Yaris engine, or the the Honda fit engine. These engines would also make it much more fun to drive, considering they are more powerful...fuel economy would still be better than any other ICE vehicle with more than 2 wheels...Not much interested in an electric version, it would make the purchase price too high...