I almost hate to do this but I am going to throw this in. Don't forget about the fatigue created by the heat in welding. The metal closest to the weld will lose its temper and be more prone to cracking. You should also add some stiffening angles around underneath the box and alternate the welds from side to side of the angles as well as put them only about every inch. This will tie the body to the box and create strength.
J. Reed Please visit: www.sheetmetaleng.com -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, August 13, 2002 11:10 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Civic EV Conversion At 01:51 PM 8/13/02, you wrote: >Matt Muelver wrote: > > I believe that a properly bolted box can be just as strong as a welded > > one, maybe even stronger as long as you use the correct materials and > > mounting points. > >That's certainly true. But it isn't true. The material in the bolt holes is missing. All that is left is the material between the bolt holes. It is a balance between how much material you take away with bolt holes and how widely you space the bolts. If you space the bolts too widely, they "pull out" a wedge of metal when they fail. If you space the bolts too closely, the webs between the bolts fail. You can never get the full strength of a welded seam using bolts. If you properly weld in the box, you have 100% (or very nearly) of the strength of the unbroken sheet. > Just be sure to use lots of smaller bolts; not a >few large ones. Or, attach your bolts where the unibody already has >reinforcement plates and gussets to handle concentrated loads, like they >do around suspension and motor attachment points. If you weld these reinforcements in place on both the box and the body sheet metal, this will work. However, you might as well just weld in the box. If you don't weld these in place, they don't help at all. _ /| Bill "Wisenheimer" Dube' \'o.O' <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> =(___)= U Check out the bike -> http://www.KillaCycle.com
