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Originally Posted by Nortad
can anyone give me some pointers about a good way to combine a steel rollcage with an aluminum chassis? possible solutions?
i heard that the corvettes gt racers are using the normal steel chassis instead of the zo6 to avoid complications with mating steel with aluminum.
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I can speak to that one, since I race a corvette and own two others.
Yes the C5r and C6Rs use the stock steel frame rails not the aluminum frame rails. There have been many C6Z06s with aluminum frame rails have a steel roll cage installed.
Now on the aluminum frame, a special aluminum plate is welded to the aluminum frame. one plate on each side of the frame where the cage will make contact. so 8 point cage would have 16 plates on the aluminum frame.
a steel plates are bonded with a special glue to the aluminum frame. Now you have an aluminum plate, bonded material, steel plate sandwich. A hole or several holes are now drilled though that sandwich and the frame and special bolts are put though that sandwich and tighten down. Special bolts and nuts are used so again, aluminum and steel do not come in contact with each other
at no point can the aluminum and steel come in contact with each other do to oxidations or some other electroplating that happens when steel and aluminum come in contact with each other.
Now you have 16 steel plates to weld the steel roll cage onto.
The process takes about twice as long and is twice as expesive then installing onto a steel frame.
The other advantage of a steel frame is that in case of an accident the steel frame is much easier to repair of replace part of then an aluminum frame.
the aluminum frame is not a wt saver as it does need to be twice as thick as the steel frame for the same strength.
that is the basic idea of the process
HTH
Tom