Using CATIA, I then made a spaceframe in 3-D, based on these figures. When I was satisfied with the design I made some FEM-calculations which revealed the need for some modifications. After that the spaceframe was done. Well, in the computer that is… Also the suspension was designed and calculated using CATIA. One benefit with the program is that you can do movement within the model, i.e. you can do a simulation. Very useful!
When I was at it, I also made suspension brackets, steering, wheels and rear axle brackets on the model. Now it was looking like a car frame!
[2000]
As my skills in CATIA improved, i got the idea to do my own design on the body. I wasn´t really pleased with the nose on the seven-cars I´d seen. I was looking for a little more aggressive look. So I made some sketches on paper to find a nice line on the hood and nose. When I was pleased with the line, I made a 3D-model and put it together with the frame. I also made the fenders and the rear-end peace. The picture show the result. (sorry for the bad quality…)
Close to Scania is a junk yard. At least once a week a visited the yard during lunch-brake. On one of these visits I spotted an interesting car, a Fiat 124 Coupe´. For some reason I´ve owned a couple of Fiats during the years, and always been very satisfied with the machinery. Italians are known for there temperament, and it also reflects on their cars. A closer look at the 124 revealed a 1756 twincam engine and a five speed gearbox. The shaft was a two-piece shaft, which might be useful since the seven has such a short wheelbase, and of course a short distance between the gearbox and the rear axle. The engine was complete except for the carburetor. The owner of the yard didn´t know anything about the condition of the engine, so if I wanted it I had to take it without any guarantees. He wanted 500 SEK (about 50 euros). SOLD!
So now I had engine, gearbox and driveshaft. Time to make a frame!
To make things simple, i plotted all individual sektions of the frame, from CATIA, in scale 1:1. That means the paper format was A 0. Every single framepiece (pipe) was also drawn with measurements in order to make it easier when cutting the pipes.
The frame piece plots where glued on to wood boards, and it was then easy to lay down the pipes according to the drawing and tack-weld them.
When all the parts where done, then the exiting part came when they where put together to form a frame! When I was sure that all angles where correct the frame was fully welded.
Earlier i mensioned that i made a 3D body in the computer. With a function in the program I could now take the body model, which until now had been solid model, and turn it into a shell model, with shell-thickness of 2mm, approximately the same thickness as the real body will have. In this shell-model I added some vertical pieces of board, which where cut with the inner surface of the body. This gave me ribs like on a boat. These ribs where plotted 1:1. I then made the ribs in plywood, attached them together and got the pattern for the body, i.e. scuttle, hood and nose cone in one piece. I have then put some thin board stripes on the ribs to form the mould.
The same technique has been used for the rear fenders. Read more under the body section…
