Aluminum frame - Is this a bad idea?

The average full bodied 200" WB FED with an iron headed SBC only weighs 1300 lbs give or take a couple a Lbs.
Why not make the chassis outta Moly and skin it light?
This thing with a 12 point mild steel cage and an iron headed SBC and a 57 pont. rear only weighs 2305 with my 195 lb self in it.

 

Mike, I'd ask Kevin. If anyone can figure out the hows and whys, it would be him.

 

Chad, after that rumble seat ride you gave me I'm dying for a roadster but Chuckspeed's thread on high MPG stuff got me to thinking as well.

What I'm thinking may be the easiest to pull of would be a steel ladder frame or ladder style tube (space) frame with a driver's cage for crash & rollover protection (God forbid) with the rest of the body being aluminum skeleton and a thin gauge aluminum skin. Something along the lines of the Stu Hilborn streamliner for the street. Narrow, light and slick. I'd love to get 50 MPG out of it.

When the time comes (this means the $$$ comes along) I'll definitely be buying my brackets and such from HRCC. I've seen the quality of the stuff that comes outta the shop and I'm sold.

 

You don't want Chrome Moly.
The welds can be brittle if not welded correctly.

Mild steel is easier to get,easier to work with,and less money.

 

Whoa where can I see more of this thing?

 

Have you thought about what this would cost? I'm sure it could be done and might be a neat car,but it would be a hell of a lot of work and money.

 

Not a lot to see. It's mostly just tubing and aluminum sheet. the nose is glass. hodge podge of Ford, GM, and old MG parts. got paint on it now and it looks a lot better than in these pics.

with a different front crossmember a ford axle and some radius rods would be a breeze.

 

"That sure is a cute little dune buggy you have there mister" JUST kidding...I know a lot of the boat trailer manufacturers are using aluminum on the larger trailers. Problem there is the I beams are 8-10" thick in order to get the strength they need. Interesting idea though. You may be on to a future hot rod of some sorts.

 

That's a trifecta in my book.

 

The Panoz Roadster has an extruded aluminum frame.