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MG MGB GT V8 Factory Originals Technical - how much does all the bodywork weigh?

since i've been procrastinating getting my conversion done and i'm looking for a good shop to do it (any reco's in the l.a. area?) i've had time to think. having taken an interest in composite material layup while fixing my motorcycle track plastics, i'm wondering how much weight would be saved if all the bodywork on an mgb was replicated and replaced with carbon fiber? any ideas? also, could composite body panels be used as replacements for the fenders as well?

i have friends who work on composite materials and i might even try to do some of that stuff myself.
jeff

jeff, simply put I have no idea but I am interested to find out myself. If you manage to work it out please post it here.
Cheers , Pete.
Peter Thomas

The first thing to come to my mind is the unibody nature of B's. Everything seems to rely on everything else for strength. Could one safely, and effectively remove sheet metal w/o having to shore up the car in other ways? (Welding in metal tubing, etc) Wouldn't that negate the potential weight savings?

Justin

Jeff, I first considered what you are suggesting back in '79. Carbon fiber was not readily available then but I believed then that it could be feasible, even more so now. But I would lean more towards F-1 type construction, using a sandwiched honeycomb where possible to give high strength, concentrating on the firewall, tunnel, sills and the front and rear box sections and bracing panels. If you managed that properly you could get enough strength there to be able to hang whatever panelwork on it you like, and should be able to reduce the weight significantly.

Jim
Jim Blackwood

Certainly all of the bolt on panels (front wings, bonnet, doors and boot) could easily be replaced. I guess since the sebring conversion replaces most of them with plastic that the outer rear wings could be done too. I'd reckon you would be looking at around a 200lb saving by doing all those, and it wouldn't affect the structural integrity one bit.

Beyond that you would be compromising the monocoque and unless you had a full carbon fibre tub designed and made you would probably be looking at some kind of spaceframe underneath it to hold it all up.
Dave

I am with Jim: I have not really restricted myself to MG bodywork, but I always thought that if someone made a generic two seater centre tub, with a tranny tunnel wide enough to take a T5, it would make a great starting point for a LOT of kit cars. Hang any body you want made out of whatever you want. The engine and suspension cradles would be tube structures bolted to the front or rear bulkeads. In my mind it would be rwd but with the possibilities of sloting a fwd inot a rear centre configuration, it could go either way.

Pete
Pete

good thoughts all. i always thought carbon fiber was structurally as strong, if not stronger, than steel. i'm no body man, but my thought was, replicate the pieces in carbon and then adhesively bond them to the body. cut away the body parts and leave a section of them for bonding to the carbon. maybe the whole piece couldn't be replaced, but at least a significant portion of it would be.

i suppose it might just be smart to only replace the parts that are obviously changeable. even that alone should shave off around 100-120 lbs if i'm reading everyone right. the reason it even came up is that i was seriously thinking about the bodywork that i'd like to change on my car. i'd be bastardizing it, but i really want to modernize the design a little. i think i posted my photoshop visualization a while back, but here it is again.

http://homepage.mac.com/jeffnee/.Pictures/mgb_front.jpg

http://homepage.mac.com/jeffnee/.Pictures/mgb_rear.jpg
jeff

This thread was discussed between 31/03/2005 and 01/04/2005

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