Nowadays it's hard to surprise someone new model car, but a do-it-yourself vehicle has always attracted attention and excitement. A person who makes a car with his own hands expects two scenarios. The first is admiration for the creation, and the second is the smile of others at the sight of the invention. If you figure it out, then there is nothing complicated in assembling a car with your own hand. From a self-taught engineer, you only need to know the design of the car and the basic properties of its parts.
Historical facts
The beginning of the construction of cars was preceded by some historical conditions. During the existence of the union, mass production of cars was carried out. They could not meet the individual needs of the consumer. That is why self-taught inventors began to look for ways out of this situation and did this by designing homemade cars.
In order to make one car with your own hands, three non-working ones were required, of which all were removed necessary spare parts. If we take into account people living in remote villages, they most often improved various bodies thus increasing their capacity. Cars began to appear that had high permeability and could even overcome the water. In a word, all forces were thrown to simplify life.
A separate category of people attached great importance to the appearance of the car, and not just its technical properties. In addition to beautiful cars, sports cars were made that were not much inferior to factory copies. All these inventions not only surprised others, but also became full-fledged road users.
At times Soviet Union there were no specific restrictions on homemade vehicles. Prohibitions appeared in the 80s. They concerned only certain parameters and technical characteristics of the car. But most people could get around them by registering one vehicle with the appropriate authorities under the guise of a completely different one.
What you need to assemble a car
To proceed directly to the assembly process itself, you need to think through everything in detail. It is necessary to clearly understand how to do future car, and what technical characteristics it should have. First you need to determine for what purposes the car will be used, and then implement the idea. If you need frank workhorse, then in order to do it yourself, you will need special materials and parts. It is also important to make the body and frame of the car as resistant to stress as possible. When a car is made only for driving, the question is only in its appearance.
How to make a car with your own hands for a child, you can learn from the following video:
How to make drawings
You should not trust your head and imagination, it would be better and more correct to think about what exactly the car should be. Then transfer all available considerations to paper. Then it is possible to correct something and as a result, a drawn copy will appear future car. Sometimes, for complete certainty, two drawings are made. The first shows the appearance of the car, and the second is a more detailed image of the main parts in detail. Before you draw, you need to prepare all the necessary tools, that is, a pencil, eraser, drawing paper and a ruler.
Nowadays, there is no need to draw a picture for a long time with a regular pencil. To facilitate this task, there are special programs having wide opportunities and with their help you can make any drawing.
Advice! If there are no engineering programs, then the usual Word test editor will help in this situation.
With a strong desire, you can make any car with your own hands. If there are no own considerations, then ready-made ideas and drawings can be borrowed. This is possible because most people involved in the creation of homemade cars do not hide their ideas, but, on the contrary, present them to the public.
kit-cars
In the vast countries of Europe and America, the so-called "kit-cars" have become widespread. So what is it? This is a certain amount various parts with which you can make a car with your own hands. Kit cars have become so popular that there are many variants of kit cars that allow you to fold any car model you want. The main difficulty is not in the assembly, but in the registration of the car obtained as a result of the assembly.
To fully work with a kit car, you must have a spacious garage. In addition, you need tool kits and knowledge. If you do not have certain skills, then the work will not give the desired result. If the work is done with the help of assistants, the assembly process will be faster and more fruitful.
This kit includes everything from small screws and instructions to large parts. For full-fledged work, there should not be serious difficulties. It should be noted that the instruction does not have a printed form, but is presented by a video master class, where everything is considered to the smallest detail.
It is very important to assemble the car correctly. This is necessary in order for the creation to meet all the standards and norms prescribed in the regulations of the traffic police. Since non-compliance with the points leads to problems with registering the vehicle with the relevant authorities.
Advice! If there is such an opportunity, then you can consult with experts in this field.
You can learn more about what kit cars are and how to make them in the following video:
Building a car with scrap materials
To make it as easy as possible for yourself to assemble a homemade car, you can take as a basis the base of any other car that is fully functioning. Best to take a budget option, since it is never known in which direction the experiments will lead. If there are old worn parts, then they must be replaced with serviceable ones. If possible, you can make parts with your own hands on lathes, but this is if you have professional skills.
First of all, the assembly of the car must begin with the body, instruments and necessary details salon. Modern inventors use fiberglass for the body, but before there was no such material, and plywood and tin material were used.
Attention! Fiberglass is a fairly elastic material, which allows you to implement any idea, even the most unusual and original.
The availability of materials, spare parts and other components makes it possible to design a car that, in terms of external parameters and appearance, will not be inferior to car models of the world's leading automakers. This requires ingenuity, good imagination and certain knowledge.
DIY supercar:
Building a car from fiberglass
Start assembling a car from fiberglass should be from the moment of choosing a suitable chassis. After that, the selection of the necessary units is carried out. Then it’s worth moving on to the layout of the cabin and mounting the seats. Upon completion of this, the chassis is strengthened. The frame must be very reliable and strong, since all the main parts of the car will be mounted on it. The more accurate the dimensions of the space frame, the better the parts fit together.
For the manufacture of the body is best to use fiberglass. But first you need to make a base, that is, a frame. Styrofoam sheets can be attached to the surface of the frame, as closely as possible corresponding to the available drawings. Then, if necessary, holes are cut out, and, if necessary, the parameters are adjusted. After that, fiberglass is attached to the surface of the foam, which is puttied and cleaned from above. It is not necessary to use foam plastic, any other material with a high level of plasticity will come in handy. Such material can be a continuous sheet of sculptural plasticine.
It should be noted that fiberglass tends to deform during operation. The reason is the effect high temperatures. To maintain the shape of the structure, it is necessary to inner side strengthen the frame with pipes. All excess parts of the fiberglass must be removed, but this should be done after it is completely dry. If everything is done correctly and there are no other works regarding the design, you can proceed to the interior equipment and electronics fasteners.
If it is planned to re-design in the future, then a special matrix can be made. Thanks to her, the body manufacturing process will be faster and easier. The matrix is applicable not only to make a vehicle with your own hands from scratch, but also to improve the condition of your own car. For the manufacture of paraffin is taken. To get a smooth surface, you need to cover it with paint on top. This will increase the convenience of fastening parts for a new car body.
Attention! With the help of the matrix, the entire body is made completely. But there is an exception - this is the hood and doors.
Conclusion
In order to implement the existing idea and make a car with your own hands, there are a number of suitable options. All sorts of working details will be useful here.
With your own hands you can do not only a car, but also a larger and more powerful truck. In some countries, craftsmen manage to earn decent money on this. They make cars to order. Cars with various original body parts are in great demand.
How to make a Porsche with your own hands:
Some motorists are categorically not satisfied with cars produced official manufacturers. And then they decide to create homemade cars that will fully satisfy all the individual wishes of the owner. And today we will talk about 10 most unusual similar vehicles.
The black raven is an ideal car for the Kazakh steppe. It is fast, powerful and undemanding to use. This unusual SUV was made from scratch by an enthusiast from the city of Karaganda.
Black Raven has a 5-liter engine with a capacity of 170 Horse power, thanks to which the car can accelerate to a speed of 90 kilometers per hour when driving over rough terrain and off-road.
Angkor 333 is the first fully electric car, created in the Kingdom of Cambodia. It's amazing that this machine is not the result of the development of the auto industry in the country, but a private project of one person - a modest mechanic from Phnom Penh.
The author of the Angkor 333 dreams that in the future he will open his own factory for mass production of both electric and gasoline versions of this car.
Batman fans all over the world are dreaming of the Batmobile, a superhero car with an amazing design and a wide variety of features that are not available in ordinary production cars.
And engineer Li Weilei from Shanghai decided to realize this dream with his own hands. He created a real Batmobile, as if descended from the screens of cinemas. At the same time, the Chinese spent less than 10 thousand dollars on the construction of this machine.
The Shanghai Batmobile certainly doesn't have ten different types weapons and does not drive at a speed of 500 kilometers per hour, but in appearance he exactly repeats the Batman car shown in the latest films about this hero.
A real Formula 1 car costs a lot of money - more than a million dollars. So there are no such cars in private ownership. At least their official versions. But craftsmen from all over the world create copies of racing cars with their own hands.
One such enthusiast is Bosnian engineer Miso Kuzmanović, who spent 25,000 euros to create a Formula 1 street car. The result is an incredibly beautiful car with 150 horsepower that can reach speeds of 250 kilometers per hour.
Driving this red car through the streets of his city, Kuzmanovich earned the nickname "Bosnian Schumacher".
Chinese farmer Old Guo has been fond of mechanics since childhood, but has worked as a farmer all his life. However, after the fiftieth anniversary, he decided to follow his dream and began to develop a car of his own production, which was named after the inventor - Old Guo.
Old Guo is compact replica Lamborghini intended for a children's audience. But this is not a toy car, but a real car with electric motor, which can travel up to 60 kilometers on a single battery charge.
At the same time, the cost of one copy of Old Guo is 5,000 yuan (slightly less than 500 US dollars).
A resident of Kiev, Alexander Chupilin, together with his son, assembled in a year from spare parts from other cars, as well as original parts their own SUV, which they called the Bizon. Ukrainian enthusiasts have released huge car with a 4-liter engine with 137 horsepower.
Bizon can accelerate to a speed of 120 kilometers per hour. Combined fuel consumption of this car is 15 liters per 100 km. The interior of the SUV has three rows of seats that can accommodate nine people.
Also interesting is the roof of the Bizon car, which has a built-in tent for spending the night in the field.
The LEGO constructor is such a versatile material that even a completely working car can be constructed from it. At least two enthusiasts from Australia and Romania succeeded in this, establishing an initiative called .
Within its framework, they built a car from LEGO constructor, which can move thanks to a 256-piston pneumatic engine, while accelerating to a speed of 28 kilometers per hour.
The cost of creating this car was just over 1 thousand dollars, of which most of the money went to the purchase of more than half a million LEGO parts.
Every year, Shell organizes special races for alternative fuel vehicles. And in 2012, this competition was won by a car created by a group of students from Aston University in Birmingham.
The Upside Down Camaro is a 1999 Chevrolet Camaro with the body turned upside down. The car was created for the parody race 24 Hours of LeMons (24 Hours of LeMons), in which only cars worth no more than 500 US dollars can take part.
Design and engineering.
Of course, as in other areas of business, industrial espionage flourishes in the automotive industry. Therefore, all developments and secrets of new cars are kept in the strictest confidence. Of course, these secrets are carefully guarded, and it is not so easy to get into production and the design office.
Before the car body is first welded at the factory, a design project is made. First, the designers draw a design of the car on a piece of paper. Later, these contours and lines on a sheet of paper are reflected in a real car. Although, it happens that under a certain set of circumstances, a car on a piece of paper and a really created car still has different features. These drawings of cars are created by a group of designers. After a rigorous selection, a sketch of the car is selected, which is recognized as the best.
When a new car is created, the designers' eyes turn to the past: the new car should carry the outlines or small elements of the previous cars of this manufacturer. Be it radiator screen or body outline.
In addition to the main design of the appearance of the car, the interior of the car is also being developed. A group of designers is similarly working on the future interior of the car. Recognized as always the best. It happens that designers are in different parts of the world and only the work of one is selected. Winning a car design competition is a huge success for any designer.
As already mentioned, the engineers who work on technical part machines often do not always agree with the designers. Therefore, often a sketch of the interior of the car may differ from the approved design project.
The next step in building a car is to create a comprehensive plan. A comprehensive plan contains the basic principles that designers and designers must adhere to. Changes to the integrated plan by engineers and designers must be justified and technologically feasible. It is thanks to the complex plan of the car that the designers have to go down to earth. After all, not all the outlines of the machine are feasible from the point of view of engineering.
During the work on the design of the machine and interior salon, the main theme of the car is set and they try to follow it. For example, the harmony of smooth lines on the car body and in the car interior is set. Finally, designers and engineers are finalizing final version car body and interior. These components have changed a large number of times. Sometimes, they find the optimal, but not ideal solution. Engineers and designers are in close contact throughout the creation of the car. This is the key to success.
It depends on the art of the engineer which technical capabilities can be done in a car. After all, the beautiful forms and outlines of the car will cost nothing if these forms are not brought to life. The machine must be structurally sound, safe, comfortable, streamlined in terms of aerodynamics, economical, if the engine allows it.
Later, when the design has already been developed and a comprehensive plan has been written, a 3D model of the car is created. On this model, all the details should be viewed separately and the whole car as a whole.
Thanks to the 3D model, the creation of the first prototype of the car is greatly facilitated. First, a plastic car frame is created. And then they cover the plastic frame with clay. This clay allows you to shape the car that has already been put into the project. After the sculptors have created a prototype car according to the drawings, a thin film is applied to the body. This film will imitate iron. After all the preparations, the plastic-clay car covered with a film looks like a real one. For all designers and engineers, building a car is a big responsibility. Billions of euros are being invested in the project.
When the car project is ready, it is submitted to the Board of Directors for judgment. It is either accepted or sent for revision. If the project is approved, it is a great success for the design and engineering team. But before stock car still far. An infinite number of improvements will have to be carried out on the created car.
Dashboard, dashboard and control levers are the most complex parts of the car interior. The front panel is created in full original size. In addition to good appearance, the car panel should be well functional. If there is no combination in this, the panel will be rejected. With so many people working on the same project, conflicts and disagreements are simply inevitable. Engineers and designers find a compromise and an acceptable solution.
In addition to design and technical characteristics, the car must be given chic, elegance and charm. These qualities ensure good sales all over the world. After all, the car must be stylish and you need to follow the fashion and style trends that are changing all over the world. The combination of materials inside the car interior is created based on the analysis of the combination of color trends around the world. Sometimes designers have to stretch their imagination to create something truly worthwhile for excellent car interior design. In addition to current fashion trends, previous generations cars are also taken into account that modern machines carried the character previous models. Such ideas require a special scent. A large number of upholstery samples are made and tried on on a prototype created from clay and steel film. For the designer gets up difficult question: the interior of the cabin should be harmonious and should not irritate the user's eyes. In a special room that changes color after a certain amount of time, fabric samples are evaluated. The same fabric colors may look good on a bright day, but look bad on a rainy day. Success depends on the right interior color. And now, the interior upholstery is selected. Now the experts determine whether the design and finish created on the prototype will fit, or whether the entire work is rejected and work begins anew.
To create each car, global manufacturers invest more than one million euros in their development and production. The start of its mass production directly depends on the speed of creating the concept and the public's reaction to it. Any car that you see on the street has a lot of work put into it by a lot of engineers and designers before it gets into mass production.
In addition to the appearance and interior of the cabin, comfort is of great importance for the driver and passengers of the car. Will it be convenient for the driver and passenger to be in the car? Also, it can be called the ergonomics of the car interior. Since the drivers and passengers using the car can be different, with different figures and parameters, an interior is created in which everything would be comfortable and not crowded. Any woman (95% of possible people with different figures) and any man (95% of different people with different figures) are taken into account. Ergonomists make the interior of a car comfortable for most of the people who will be using it. The car is made convenient for any person, no matter what you do with it: drive, refuel, get out of it, put luggage in it, pour fluid into the washer reservoir. Everything is thought out!
Particular attention in the design of the car interior is given center console dashboard. This part of the car is clearly visible to all passengers.
After the console is ready, it is mounted on a test vehicle and tested. All possible operations with devices located on the console are recorded by 4 cameras. It is they who reveal whether the device is conveniently located on the console or not. In addition to cameras, back seat the car is an engineer who also captures all the nuances associated with the ergonomics of the panel. Based on the camera data and the engineer's recording, the team working with the ergonomics of the car console is ready to eliminate all the nuances and shortcomings.
Throughout the development of a new car, designers and engineers are constantly meeting and discussing all the details regarding the design of the car and its technical filling. The fact is that designers and engineers work within a very narrow framework, in the process of creating a car, so there are often inconsistencies in opinion.
In the process of building a car, a group of experts who receive the car evaluate the stage of creation and during this process take their notes where they think the car needs to be finalized. They apply blue, red and yellow round stickers to the places that need to be changed and improved. After evaluation by experts, designers and engineers correct the specified details. Since technology does not accept many aspects of design, design has to be sacrificed. And vice versa. Designers and engineers polish the car to perfection. And this happens time after time. Day after day.
All companies that design and build cars create rims for a specific car. This explains the fact that the rims of cars are different. Wheel disks are not created separately from the machine. Many designers compare the wheels of a car to boots, and the body of a car to a suit. Therefore, when choosing shoes for a suit, you need to follow certain rules.
After correcting the points indicated by the experts, the car is tested in a wind tunnel. For a car body, it is extremely important that the car has good aerodynamics. The fact is that a good streamlining of the hull can improve the safety of passengers, including reducing the fuel consumption of the car. In addition to safety and fuel economy, a more streamlined car has better handling and dynamics. The wind tunnel shows where the air turbulences that slow down the car occur. The test results show whether it is necessary to make changes to the design for more streamlined shapes or not.
After finalizing the aerodynamics of the body, the turn comes to internal mechanisms and details designed to serve the comfort of the driver and passenger. Separate mechanisms are taken out on a special stand: power windows, on-board computer, dashboard, control levers, etc. At this stand, all devices installed in the passenger compartment are tested for compatibility. After the devices have been tested for compatibility, it's time to test them in extreme conditions climate, whether it be the sultry heat of Death Valley or the severe frosts of Russia. Devices should show themselves on the good side, as a single, perfectly functioning system. If the device does not cope with the task, it is changed to another.
After the experts approve all changes in the appearance of the car, a line is drawn that says a ban on any changes in the design of the exterior and interior. This is also called "Freeze revisions" or "Stop revisions". After this moment, a decision is made to start mass production of the car.
Now you need to make sure that the new car sells well, otherwise why all this. Now marketers will promote the car to the domestic and foreign markets.
It is necessary to show in all its glory a new car, which has been created and refined for so long.
First, not a metal, but a plastic sample of a car with an iron supporting frame is created. And the real, serial models have not yet been assembled. Photo shooting in progress plastic cars. Thus, marketers want to convey the emotional image of the new car.
As time passes, when all the attention of designers and engineers was focused on the appearance of the car, the views will be transferred to technical equipment And specifications car. Engineers will need to check every node and section of the created car.
The first test vehicles will be assembled by hand. In order to prevent new cars from getting into the press or on the Internet, they are carefully masked, because the tests are carried out on the roads of the city. Tested cars are also called "Phantoms" or "Shadows". The car is, as it were, camouflaged so that the paparazzi do not take photos of the new car. Moreover, industrial espionage flourishes. And I didn’t want photos of the new car to be posted in magazines and the Internet, if there were still 2-3 years before the start of its mass production.
The only way to be sure of the reliability of a car that has just been designed and built is to test it in different areas, with different conditions, in different parts of the world. The first tests of the new car are carried out on tracks hidden from cameras and eyes. After the tests on the track are passed, the technical experts raise the car on the lift and begin to inspect all parts of the car, from the engine to undercarriage. Of course, during the tests, problems arise, which are then corrected and finalized.
In addition to testing the car on the road common use, suspension and engine of the car are tested by computer at the stand. The computer creates the conditions for the car if it were racing. Tests are also subjected to all components of the car, without exception, for increased load on them. This is where the strong and weak sides all vehicle mechanisms.
Now it's time for crash tests. First, they test for a car hitting a concrete block and the driver is not wearing a seatbelt. The car doors are removed to better capture all the moments. Mannequins are put into the car, on which numerous sensors are installed (by the way, mannequins cost much more than many mannequins tested in them, their approximate cost is 200,000 euros) and these mannequins are given the position of the driver and passengers sitting in it. Paint is applied to the mannequins so that it is clear which part the mannequin will hit, because the cameras cannot fix everything. After a head-on collision, a side impact is carried out. Crash tests performed are carefully recorded and analyzed. After that, appropriate changes are made to improve security.
Throughout all types of tests, the car is subjected to constant fine-tuning.
The next stage of testing is testing the car for competition. Manufacturers find out which car is a direct competitor of the tested model. Models of competing firms are purchased, which they have in this class. After that, all cars are tested for maximum speed, maneuverability, endurance, etc. Long test drives allow you to feel the cars in action. And after that, already draw a conclusion.
An interesting feature of the tests is that cars are tested in different parts the globe: in snowy Russia (here they adapt to the harsh cold climate); in the hot desert of South Africa (testing the endurance of the engine and the performance of the air conditioner); in Japan (here they test the movement of a car in conditions of large traffic jams), etc. All this is done in order to maximally adapt the car to all markets of the world. For example: in Japan, all cars have a right-hand drive steering wheel, therefore, only right-hand drive cars need to be delivered to this country.
Before the car is put into mass production, it is shown to the workers who assemble it. This rite gives extra motivation to improve the build quality of the car. When the car is first assembled in the workshops of the plant, it is tested again. For example, after assembly, it is washed to see if the car is leaking water into the passenger compartment, etc.
On average, it takes a company three years to develop a new car. In fact, this is a very short time to develop, create and put into mass production a new car. The car must pass a lot of tests. If at least one unfinished element is missed, then the purchased car will be recalled by the manufacturer, and this, in turn, causes negative feedback from consumers. Therefore, so much attention is paid to testing and testing a new car.
The manufacturer spends millions of euros on the development and creation of a new car, therefore, in order to prevent delays in the start of production, the management of the customer company constantly monitors all stages of creating a new car.
It is worth noting that the newly created car is constantly undergoing a process of refinement and modernization. All tests reveal any nuances with different elements of the car, whether weak suspension or an air conditioner that can't handle the heat. In the car, everything must be finalized, so the car is fine-tuned right up to the start of production.
In automobile factories, many of the assembly operations are performed by robots. They perform those jobs that require special precision. It comes to the fact that one robot welds the part, the other robot checks the work done for the previous one. If something deviates from the norm, the robots correct themselves. For example, before painting, the seams of the car are treated with sealant, it is interesting that robots also do this, with extreme precision.
Despite the robotization of production, many complex work people perform.
As for the production of a car, the process of creating it is as follows: sheet steel is brought to the manufacturer. A special press cuts this steel into individual elements of the car body. These presses make several hundred thousand parts in 24 hours. After that, the robots mount the car body frame: they weld and twist the body and frame parts. Welding robots make an average of several thousand welds. Now the frame with the body is ready for painting. After that, the body is well degreased and primed in the painting booth. The paint booth is a paint bath into which a car part is lowered. After painting, the car body is dried in a special sterile chamber. When the primer dries, several coats of paint are applied to it. In a sterile chamber, robots apply paint. The process of painting a car on average takes up to 20 hours. The final stage of painting the car is applying varnish to it, which gives a metallic sheen to the car body. There are several ways to apply varnish to a car body. After checking the quality of the painting for the thickness of the layers, the body is sent to the conveyor for assembling the car. Well, then the assemblers, people who are each responsible for their own details, get down to business. On average, a car consists of 15-25 thousand parts. A separate assembly specialist is responsible for each block of parts. Parts are constantly brought to all assembly blocks. readiness assembled car controlled by a computer program. After the car is assembled, it is sent to a test post. It tests all controls, parts and components of the car. All systems and parts of the car are tested for reliability and performance.
After the car has entered mass production, after its manufacture, the car undergoes an initial run-in. They do it special drivers. So when you see a new car you've bought with miles on it, know that these are test runs that the testers did after the car was built at the factory.
After all the tests and tests of the car are passed, the newly created car is presented to the public for detailed consideration. This usually happens in the design office of the manufacturing plant.
In parallel with the public display of the new car, the marketing department of the car manufacturing company is working on the task of how best to market the newly created car. Of course, in the media and magazines will be shown the best sides created car: safety, comfort, efficiency, interior ergonomics, beautiful curves of the car body. The company's marketing specialists study the best aspects of the car in order to better operate them in advertising.
For beautiful brochures and banners on the Internet, the car participates in many photo shoots. As a result of filming, the photos taken will help sell cars in markets around the world. These photos of the car should convey the best aspects of the car.
The company-manufacturer, before offering the car to the consumer, invites its authorized dealers to the presentation of its new car at its headquarters. This process is present in almost all companies that produce cars. Often, this presentation is closed and secret. After the presentation for dealers has taken place, the manufacturing company invites the sellers directly. Those people who should directly promote these cars to the masses. These people should feel all the pluses and benefits of this car. Sellers are put in the head with information, after which car sales should be on high level. Sales managers are also given a feel for the car and given a ride on it. At the same time, they use different techniques to understand how they differ from competitors.
The car, which was re-created and kept secret, is usually presented at the largest exhibitions - car dealerships. One of the largest car shows is an exhibition in the German city of Frankfurt am Main. It takes place every year in September. After this exhibition, thousands of photos of new cars will scatter around the world.
When a car is presented in Frankfurt am Main, it goes to different countries, for presentation incar dealerships where dealers invite their customers to the presentation of a new car model.
In order for the automotive publications and the media to cover the new car in a positive way, a separate presentation is arranged for the journalists of these publications. Here, journalists are given the opportunity to ride on their own. And see for yourself all the advantages of the car.
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AvtomaxX.ru - reviews about cars, buy a new car in Nizhny Novgorod, automotive terms, car news, car dealerships of N.NovgorodAgree, it's nice to be a car owner. But it is even more pleasant to assemble a cool car with your own hands.
Today we will share information about what you need to collect cool car in my garage.
Kit Car or “component car” is a set of parts from which the buyer can assemble the car himself or entrust the assembly to a third party. Kits can vary significantly in terms of configuration, ranging from those in which the complete set + instructions to those in which the set of parts is not complete (that is, for example, you will have to order the engine and transmission separately).
At self assembly such a car, it will not hurt you:
- spacious garage;
- a complete set of necessary tools;
- good knowledge in auto mechanics;
- support team in the form of friends who will always help.
The importance of the team is hard to overestimate. For example, the guys in the video below assembled a car in just 7 days!
History of Kit Cars
Basic definition kit car- this is a car assembled from spare parts for sale. parts from a specific manufacturer. Most manufacturers tend to sell a complete set of spare parts needed to fully assemble a car. These sets are usually accompanied detailed instructions and the model can be assembled in the garage by yourself.
Essentially, a Kit Car is just as good as a factory-built car, but by no means can we rule out factors such as efficiency and safety, which largely depend on the person doing the assembly.
The first Kit Car was designed by Englishman Thomas Hyler White in 1896. As you can see this species it took a long time to gain popularity.
By the 1950s, Kit Cars had shifted to second gear and their production increased significantly. And in the 1970s, the real Kit Car began in the UK - a revolution associated with the fact that such cars were not considered a vehicle and were not subject to the corresponding tax. Models such as the Lotus Elan appeared on the market, which could be assembled "at home" without paying tax on the purchase.
Most modern "models to build" are copies famous cars middle of the 20th century. With bodies made primarily of fiberglass and polyester panels, such models were lighter and easier to handle than a typical factory car.
What's in the box?
If you think: “Is this crazy?” - then think again!
Every year, thousands of assembly kits are sold all over the world. which means that when you read this article, some guys are sitting in their garage and making their own car after work. Kit Cars are relatively cheap and typically cost less than $3,000.
Most of the companies that sell these kits expect you to come and buy your chosen kit on designated days. Depending on the company you buy the kit from, this gap can vary from 1 to 10 days a year.
Regardless of the model you buy for yourself, the basic set will include: chassis, body parts, engine, radiator, transmission, clutch, brakes and shock absorbers. The kit comes with a huge bag of nuts and bolts and other parts depending on the type of car you want to build. If you don't have a build guide, then it will be quite difficult to figure it out.
At the next stage, the most important thing is to correctly assemble everything, because in assembled car people will drive and it is important that the car does not fall apart under them and is safe. Most kits also include an instruction video where you can watch someone build the car.
If the instructions provided by the manufacturer are not enough for you, you can always consult other experienced amateurs. kit cars on special forums and resources on the Internet, but it is better to meet them in person (if there are such guys in your city). If you are collecting a car for the first time in your life, then use this option.
In search of material for the community, I accidentally stumbled upon a blog in which the author described how he created the car. This was not just some kind of car, but a legendary car with interesting history- Mercedes 300SL Gullwing. I became interested in the history of recreating an automobile rarity and plunged into a fascinating reading about how a copy of the legendary car was made from scratch, and not just a copy, but a car assembled from original parts.
Later, I was able to meet with Sergei, who made his dream come true and learn some details about the creation of the car. He gave me permission to take text and photos from his blog and make a post for the community readers.
In progress creation of Mercedes 300SL "Gullwing" was used suspension from the Mercedes W202 and W107. Remembering that the best is the enemy of the good, we put adjustable shock absorbers. Particular attention should be paid to the gearbox rear axle, usually it is with him that the biggest problems arise, which is why customizers love non-split bridges so much. On a Mercedes, this unit, along with the drives, is assembled on a subframe, which greatly simplifies working with it.
The stainless steel exhaust system complies with the Euro 3 standard, and the fuel tank is a real work of art: baffles and overflow pipes are installed in it to prevent the fuel from splashing. In one of the photos - the steering wheel lock
In the Gullwing project, it was decided to use the next generation of M104 engines with a volume of 3.2 liters and a power of 220 hp. paired with an automatic 5-speed transmission. The choice of engine was not accidental - it is more powerful, lighter and quieter. The gearbox is primitive, with a torque converter, many of these units are familiar from the Mercedes W124, W140, W129, W210. A hydraulic booster was also installed, all units are new, so there should be no problems.
We make a body.
Back in 1955, the company " Daimler Benz"released 20 cars with an aluminum body and 1 with a composite one. We decided to try a composite one.
After the manufacture of the body and assembly of the chassis, the crossing of the body with the frame begins. The process is so painstaking and dreary that no photos and words will convey. Assembly and disassembly, adjustment - all this takes more than one day. Many details are finalized on the spot, and the body is attached to the frame through special dampers with bolts in 30 places.
All body parts are installed and adjusted - doors, hood, trunk lid. There is a lot of trouble with glass - they are mounted on rubber seals, and since all seals are original and designed for steel, you have to strictly observe the thickness of the frames of the openings. Each part is removed, adjusted by hand and only then installed in place.
Many parts for the most popular rare models are still produced in small batches in some workshops, which is actively used by all restorers. But what is there to hide: the factories themselves forge their rarities, especially Audi and Mercedes have succeeded in this.
In many museums there are candid copies. So recently, a lot of "Horkhov" has bred. This is especially interesting, given that all factory documentation was lost during the war. Dozens of workshops on the equipment of those years churn out fakes, passing them off as carefully restored products. The devil is in the details.
So we just bought and collected all the details that could decorate any rarity for 500 thousand euros. I assure you, every nut and bolt (I'm not talking about rubber bands) is correctly marked in 1955. Everything is original, even the seats.
The body has already been primed, and this is the most important point, because the composite is a special material in painting, because plasticizers and all sorts of other complex things are needed here. The secrets of the primer are kept and no one will ever tell you. But it looks nice.
A short video from the painting process
In the meantime, the body is being painted, let's prepare the components for assembly. As I said - the devil is in the details, and there are more than 2 thousand of them in the car! Dashboard, she was looking for a very long time.
We also find devices and relays, of course, not everything turns out right away.
But with enviable patience and perseverance, you will have the opportunity to get a completely authentic instrument panel consisting of 80 (!) Parts.
The main thing is that it also works later: the devices are all expensive. Cheap is not good.
The body is covered in 6 layers of varnish, it is very beautiful and will not need to be pasted over with a chrome film. Yes, shagreen is a must, and the grain should be fine. Now they don’t paint like that anymore, they dilute everything with water, they have ecology, they protect nature. By the way, paint 744 (silver) is the most difficult to paint, any painter will tell you.
They finally married the chassis with the body.
Installed doors. It would seem that the matter is not tricky, but I want to tell you one story. The Mercedes 300SL "Gullwing" had many design flaws. One of them was the doors themselves: they were steel, heavy and hinged to the roof of the body, and fixed with a spring enclosed between the hollow steel pipes with hinges at the end.
In the extreme upper position, the spring was compressed, and when the door was lowered, stretching with a roar, the door slammed shut. When opening, it was necessary to overcome the resistance of the spring, which simply pulled out the door along with the brackets (900 euros each).
Experienced owners of "Gullwing" know that with inept use, this will inevitably lead to deformation of the roof, moreover, the brackets themselves simply break. The stem and spring assembly has become insanely scarce over time, and its cost has risen to astronomical heights. Each owner of such a rarity repairs these units once a season. We decided to go the other way and put gas shock absorbers.
It would seem that something easier, but it was not there. I had to develop the whole assembly, it took 4 months of hard work. Fortunately, there was a workshop that brought ideas and drawings to life. With complete external authenticity, the doors open today as rear fifth the door of a German SUV. The knot turned out to be so successful that it immediately became the object of desire for all owners of rarities, I think that soon all "gullwings" will have doors that open very effectively and smoothly, without knocking. Now this process has really become similar to the flapping of a gull's wing - gracefully and smoothly.
This is just one, and the simplest example of the tasks that had to be solved when building this car.
By the way, the door lock mechanism has also undergone changes. Despite the cost of 1,500 euros, it stuck very often and did not fix the door, but that's another story.
At the very beginning of the project, it seemed that interior trim was the smallest problem, since there are workshops for altering interiors at every step, so what, and now any master can handle leather. The business is to sheathe a bunch of details with leather, but as it turned out, this is a HUGE PROBLEM!
After four attempts to create interior details in tuning studios, I realized that everything is much more complicated.
Created products by no means wanted to look like the original. Everything looked like a cheap fake: the leather was bristling, traces of heat treatment were visible, the texture did not match, and no one could pick up the material. In short, I began to delve into the subtleties and found out that modern masters they absolutely do not know how to work with felt, wool and other materials used at that time. They stupidly warmed and stretched the skin, used foam rubber wherever they could, actively worked with an iron, in short, mercilessly destroyed materials, depriving them of their naturalness and nobility. I'm not talking about durability either.
After suffering for half a year, we came to the conclusion that only restorers are capable of such work. They have a special paralon and felt. In general, they found a company, guys - wolves, uncles, under 60 years old, who have been restoring only Mercedes for 40 years. What they showed us and told us is just a novel about the skin, and they guard their secrets in much the same way as the secret of making paper for the dollar.
The video shows an example of the process.
Interior details for my baby were made for 4 months. The skin is just alive.
I will also add that the skin that manufacturers offer today is chemical bullshit with impregnations. It is not for nothing that all the owners of Mercedes and BMWs go nuts after a year of operation - the interiors look like those of old redvans: not fresh, the skin stretches, peels off. As I said earlier, the devil is in the details.
I'm not talking about vinyl, widely used by the Japanese, and by all manufacturers in principle. Now in a Mercedes there is not enough leather even for a jacket, one bullshit, that's why options appear - "designo", "individual", "exclusive". Leading manufacturers, at least for 10-15 thousand dollars, will offer you real leather, but what they sew for you for 50 thousand rubles cannot even be called leather.
Wheels are one of the important parts of a car. So for our handsome man there were two types of wheels. The first were placed on the civilian version.
The latter were offered as an option. They came from sports - real ones, with a central nut. Of course, it is nice to have chrome wheels, but the price of 5 thousand euros per wheel is somewhat annoying.
How then to hit a nut with a hammer, knowing that it is gold? The original disc for the classics is also not cheap - 3 thousand euros. So I think, I really want to save 8 thousand euros.
One of the main factors in the operation of the engine is the removal of exhaust gases (combustion products). I do not want to recall here the laws of thermodynamics, I will only say that the last 150 years exhaust pipe is a symbol of progress. Remember locomotive pipes, steamboats, blast furnaces. Remembering my love for details, I want to assure you that it was the pipe that was given the closest attention. This is a masterpiece of engineering.
The exhaust system is made of stainless steel, which no manufacturer can afford, and is complex system thick-walled and thin-walled pipes mounted one inside the other, this made it possible, with the complete authenticity of the appearance of the pipe, to solve the problem of "gulving" - noise and heating of the passenger compartment. Well, the main thing is the sound of the exhaust, it's just a song. The problem was solved with the help of resonators installed inside the system.
If you want to understand what kind of car you have - look at the exhaust pipe!
Don't pay attention to the date on the photo, just bought a decent fotik. They snapped it off, but they didn’t figure it out with the instructions, it turned out to be the wrong date. Well, to hell with it, everyone interested, enjoy.
We have made many changes to the design, we try to do everything as authentically as possible. A very clever hand.
With a tank, a separate song, they made their own from stainless steel, slightly changing the location of the neck, but this is a separate story.
There is a good saying - it is better to see once than to read about it a hundred times. Everyone who reads and watches my blog knows my favorite expression - THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS. These are the details that I will show you today. There is no point in writing for a long time, you will understand everything yourself.
Braided harnesses and wiring, well, I think you just haven’t seen this yet, a two-tone horn, in short, just look, all this is called TECHNOLOGIES.
The main task facing the implementation of this project was to create complete authenticity of all interior details. It would seem that it could be easier than copying an existing sample, but as they say, everything is not so simple, and much more difficult than even restoring.
So, we had to get all analog devices working, and work correctly with electronic blocks modern units; put in a cramped little car a bunch additional equipment such as air conditioning, hydraulic booster, brake booster. All this should work from standard toggle switches and switches. The stove dampers used to have mechanical drives, as on the Volga Gaz 21, so the stove had to be thoroughly redone. But most big problem was the manufacture of the gear selector.
The whole difficulty lay in the fact that the car was originally built for sports, it was small and very low, even the engine had to be placed at an inclination of 30 degrees so as not to break the silhouette of the car. The box was located in the tunnel and had a direct articulated drive.
There was no more than 2 cm of free space between the box and the box itself. I have already said that the car itself was cramped and very noisy, and this problem had to be solved. Since a standard engine-box pair was taken, the task became even more difficult, because the automatic box is much larger in size and has a completely different control principle.
After much torment, a hinge and a linkage system were designed, which made it possible to completely imitate this assembly, which can be easily seen by looking at the original.
Well, the most interesting: if you carefully study the photos, you will see that the seats are much lower than the original, this is also a trick. The fact is that the car was so cramped that a person with a height of 180 cm rested his head on the roof and was forced to sit hunched over at the steering wheel, but I like to drive with straight arms, so I had to change the angle of the steering column to ensure comfort and not violate general form. How this was achieved is a novel, from the manufacture of the unique sled to the alteration of the floor and seats.
I'm not the first to decide to recreate the legendary car. Back in the late 70s, similar attempts were made in America, the furthest advanced was Tony Ostermayer, a former mechanical engineer from Gardena. He managed to build about 15 cars in 10 years using units from Mercedes of those years. Today, these machines are themselves rarities.
I saw them, of course they are not as high quality products as we would like, but this is the best thing that has been done. In the 1990s there were attempts American company"Speedster" using Tony's matrix to implant it on the components of the "Chevrolet Corvette C03". Only 2 cars were made. One of them is now in Ukraine, and the other in Moscow. The cars were sold for $150,000.
Actually, that's all. True, there were attempts to put shells on the SL and many more high-profile statements, but all this is zilch, people ran ahead of the locomotive, as with our yo-mobile: there is nothing yet, but 40 thousand applications have already been submitted.
By the way, working with a composite is very difficult. Only its high-quality painting costs about 10 thousand euros. Well, and most importantly: FORGING AND COPYING ARE TWO BIG DIFFERENCES.
They say that everything in the car should be perfect, both the engine and the trunk. On the first car, they decided to use gas shock absorbers to open and fix the trunk lid.
We redesigned the filler neck a little, reasonably considering that if it would fit tightly to the trunk lid. this will reduce the risk of spreading the smell of gasoline inside the passenger compartment in the event of a spill.
I didn't like the idea. On this machine, they made closer to the original, changing only the shape filler neck(steel funnel around the cover should prevent fuel from spilling onto the carpet).
Of course, it could not have done without a collective farm: they built a leather condom around the filler neck. It seems to look nice, and they abandoned the shock absorbers, putting the native mechanism (stick) for fixing the trunk lid. It was possible, of course, to get confused with the springs, as on modern cars, but it seems to me that this will kill the very spirit of the machine. The open trunk looks great.
And yes, the back looks great. Considering that today everyone already uses tubeless tires, we decided to free up space by placing a stowaway in the trunk instead of a standard wheel. Now at least there is a place to throw a string bag.
Actually, the case is inexorably moving towards its logical conclusion. Of course, it's nice that everything ends so quickly, it remains to smear with a movilchik and stick the wheels.
The wheels are temporary so as not to spoil the original.
That's basically it!
Let's go around the car.
I can only add one thing: before you start doing something, think carefully about whether you have enough strength to finish what you started.
After arriving in Russia.
Video from inside the recreated car.
In this video, you can see how the Germans are restoring the hero of the report, the same "gullwing".
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