Hi Fergus,
> Ref: The Rumble Roadster
> Daniel, I like the way your mind works. I am constantly surrounded (in
> work) by those unable to see 'outside-the-box'.
> This, The Rumble Roadster: the mental picture really made me smile, because
> with a healthy bit of fab and immense number of man-hours, it is entirely
> do-able.
Don't be such a party pooper. I don't think that it would take a
team of mechanical engineers to figure it out. I'm big on doing lots of
research first and having everything worked out before I start a project. In
fact right now Ican see how to do the entire project except the exact form
the hinges would have to take. Now that I think about it I think that the
hinges will have to be mounted on the sides of the trunk lid. So the trunk
would pivot up at the 3/4 away from the edge and not the edge. It would have
to pivot up all the way to 30 deg past vertical and then somehow lower it
self so only the top 2/3rds of the tunklid stuck out from the level of the
trunk.
> a few things that spring to mind, read below:
>
> <.....You would have to make
> up new hinges for the trunk so that it would open from the oppisite side it
> does now. These would have to be pretty heavy duty and you would have to
> reinforce the trunk lid and the wall of the trunk that you are mounting to>
>
> The nearest 'big and strong, can't go wrong' structure is the two tongues of
> the frame sticking backward. Stiffening the body enough for two people to do
> all the clambering around getting in and out they'll be doing, will be
> difficult at best. (one of my buddies is 6' tall and 300+ lbs, and he helps
> scoot himself into the passenger seat by grabbing on to the top of my
> windshield, and I think he may be starting to flex the windshield, or I
> might just be freaking out)
Most of these concerns you can take care of by instructing people
how to get in and out and limiting the passangers to smaller people-you
know kids bikini models etc....
And I think your 300 pound freind is definately flexing your wind
shield-I never let people do that with my car.
> Uh-oh, I just realized the Model T arrangement has the rumble-humans
> weight/CG somewhere over the rear axle, therefore you may be building a
> wheelie mobile. This would be really cool but hard to drive on Lombard
> Street or the road into that park in Solvang. I think you'd have to add
> turning brakes or a vertical rudder!!
I saw several real rumble seats at a recent car show. Most of them
had the people slightly behind the rear axle. Course these cars have a lot
more weight up front also. In my design the passangers cog would be probably
slightly behind the rear axle but nearer the rear axle than the rear bumbper.
Daniel 69 2000
SF CA
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