Hi all,

I been reading up & trying to evaluate if/what can used to create a 1/8th Off Buggy Chassis.  Just as background, I am racing RC buggy (approx weight 2 to 2.5kg) which involves jumps (6-10ft in some cases), high speed crashes (between 20-35mph depending on the track) and various other types of crashes.  If you would like to see pros in action see link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ig4i2X8I2jk.  These guys are pros so they are fairly easy on the cars!!!

The objective of trying to create a composite chassis is to get better weight if poss & stiffness (too much flex as the chassis was not design for electrics) as I am running Brushless kit which has chuncky LIPO batteries, plus improve the layout & balance.

I am looking a create a single piece chassis including sideguards (which are plastic) but adding along the main chassis additional material to strenghten it.

Desired spec:

1) Main Chassis section thickness 5-6mm, not sure if this would be enough?

2) Side guard section 2-3mm

I was thinking of combining certain materials, Carbon Kevlar / Carbon Twaron / Kevlar.  I'm not sure what the differences are but it seem Carbon Twaron is the way to go Vs Carbon Kevlar.  For the Kevlar Fibre, I was thinking to have this as the core part of the chassis (within the outer fibre) where all the stress & loads will be, this will be the most like place to crack or break.

I am seriously struggling to understand if this will be feasible & what I should use.  If anyone can help to direct me on:

1) Which material & where to use it?

2) How much materials is needed?  Buggy approx dimension Lenght 40cm width 20 cm allowing for 20% waste.

3) Which Epoxy (a little confused on this)?

4) Specific MUST tools to have for cutting?

Creating the Mould, this is clear & the process I will follow is vacuum bagging.

I want to try this out as I am sure there is a good solution, for sure, there will be huge initial cost, but if it works, then I have learnt something new & created a useable solution which is always cool.

ANY ADVISE ON THE ABOVE WILL BE APPRECIATED!!!

THANKS NAZ