Gentlemen;
The place to start with any stiffening plan for the car is with some
accurate, dimensioned drawings, or even better some CAD files,
representing the chassis and the body.
I can see several areas where there appears to be insufficient stiffness
in torsion and bending and the need for bracing, but having accurate
drawings greatly helps to estimate loads and plan for the location of
stiffeners and allow for body and interior clearances.
Such information would also help to determine whether the chassis is "in
spec" before bracing so any mis-alignments can be removed first. Taking
dimensions off of an existing vehicle isn't completely satisfactory as
you don't know whether it's frame is "in spec". To do that you need
both the dimensions and the tolerances the designers permitted during
manufacture.
If these drawings exist the Bricklin owners club should try to obtain
them or at least copies as they would be an invaluable asset in
maintaining the marque. Some willing member with access to the right
equipment could transfer the information to CAD at a future date.
I've seen some partially dimensioned drawings in old issues of the
Bricklin magazine. Given the year of manufacture it is unlikely that
there are CAD files, but there should have been some detailed drawings
for the frame member manufacturers and the people who did the final
welding. Does anyone have any contacts who worked in the original
company who might have access to such drawings? Tom Monore, who I
belive was the chief designer, is still around and may have a lead. I
will try to see if he can be contacted.
George Schiro
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