I'm working on a project that should make LBC purists and hot-rodders
alike gape, gasp, and guffaw: I have one of Bill Bonadio's "Dio"
splashes of the 1959-60 Bill AMes/Dewey BROhaugh AMBRO fiberglass
bodies, originally intended for a Triumph TR-2/3 chassis or whatever
it would fit on (the body will accomodate wheelbases from 88" to 101",
thanks to the trim-able center body pieces), to race in SCCA
"Modified" classes. (If you've never seen one, it is dimensionally and
sculpturally about as close as a couple midwestern racers could get to
a '57 "Knobbly" Lister without generating lawsuits from Brian Lister.

I'm sending this message to three different user groups:
rec.autos.antique (because of the expertise here on the '64 MGB
running gear I'll be using, and because of the obvious connection to
the wonderful plywood-chassied Marcos cars), rec.aviation.homebuilt,
because I can't think of another group that is likely to have as much
knowledge of stressed-plywood and fiberglass construction, and to
rec.boats.building, because of the wealth of experience there with
plywood and fiberglass craft that don't leak or fall apart in the
middle of the pond.

I've been trying to get started on this project since I got my
"Dio" (AmBro splash) fiberglass body in 1997 (aahhh, why hurry?), but
miserable interruptions and daunting pre-tasks like actual money-
generating work and my Wreck of the Hesperus garage have kept me in
the "design phase" for 14 years -- during which time some of you may
have even seen a post or two of mine.

Well, I'm 63, retired, have my garage half-cleaned (my wife's half,
unfortunately...), I've discarded entirely the idea of building up a
steel-tube chassis to drop a small-block into it, and after much
research, doodling, modeling sections, I have come to the conclusion
that the plywood semi-monocoque and 1800cc MGB engine and drive train
are the way to go -- the Marcos GT1800 used (mirabile dictu!) an
1800cc Volvo engine, the same one as in the late, lamented Volvo P1800
(aside from the PV544, the best-looking car they ever made. But I
digress...)

I have long had an abiding admiration for Jem Marsh and Frank Costin's
Marcos semi-monocoque plywood-chassis/bodies, especially the GT-1800,
and I found, in Herb Adams' excellent book on chassis design, a
stressed skin "2 box plus integrated monocoque side sills and
bulkheads" design very much like that of the Marcos GT1800. Adams'
design is in steel, and was used for a high-end Cobra replica that
wasn't any more exciting than any other Cobra replica: except that its
stressed-skin-and-bulkhead chassis had HUGE torsional rigidity (as did
the original Marcos and Marcos GT)

My running gear donor is a '64 MGB-GT that was rotted to within an
inch of its life (so don't fret, "rebuild it from Heritage panels even
if all you have is part of the floor" enthusiasts -- it didn't have
ANY part of the floor (did have some nice sellables, like the aluminum
bonnet, working Smiths heater, several extra 60-spoke wire wheels,
etc.), but for MY purposes, and at $250 for the whole MGB-GT w/
complete drive train, INCLUDING the 50-mile tow to my garage, it
seemed like the perfect basis, especially as the entire front
suspension and steering rack are mounted to a bolt-on crossmember
(which itself is mounted to the MG's unit body). By using the front
crossmember as a whole unit, all that's necessary is to make sure the
crossmember is mounted to maintain the correct kingpin inclination, as
is perfectly illustrated in the Bentley manual.

Anyway, that's my double-*******ized sweaty-fingered project of the
decade. If anyone happens to know of a good website that might be able
to help me with the dreary details of this project, please let me know
(I'm thinking plywood boat and experimental aircraft builder's
forums), I'd be most grateful for any links. BTW, the origination of
the Marcos plywood monocoque had a LOT to do with Frank Costin's
previous engineering work at DeHavilland, makers of the plywood
monocoque DH.98 Mosquito "Wooden Wonder" -- the near-"stealth"
invisibility of the plywood Mosquito to "Freya" and various FuG German
radars made it an excellent Pathfinder and Night Fighter. Wonder if it
works against police radar?

I'm not building this to fool anyone, or to represent it as an actual
original AMBRO (which has been tried, by the most unlikely person one
could think of), it's just going to be a driver. My plan to get it
street licensed by the anal-retentively-regulatory CT DMV is to use
the matching chassis and engine S/N plates, and call it an "MG
Special," like the Lester-MG. Will it work? At 63, will I live long
enough to complete it? Who knows, but as my distant -- VERY distant --
relative Robert Browning said: "Ah, but a man's reach should exceed
his grasp, or what's a heaven for?”

Sorry for the long post. If anyone's interested, I'll be putting up
pix of the project elements, design, and build on Photobucket or
FlickR.

Any suggestions -- other than "get thee to a loony bin" or "go soak
your head" gratefully accepted.

Peace

Bart Brown

Check out West systems web site. They have some excellent ideas on
bonding to fiberglass.

http://www.westsystem.com/

Richard --

Thank you for the link! I'm a regular visitor to the West site, and
because I live on the (non-POSH section) of Connecticut's Fabulous
Vacation Shoreline, I'm fortunate in having a big West Marine retail
store about 2 miles from my house. Excellent products, excellent
service, 2 miles away... what could be better? More money, for one...

Thanks again!

Bart Brown

On Oct 18, 7:59*pm, Richard Geis wrote:
Check out West systems web site. They have some excellent ideas on
bonding to fiberglass.

http://www.westsystem.com/

Check out www.iboats.com for your needs.