What's the range of diff to floor clearances, and wheel to mudguard?

[DavidL]

The special body I built 30 years ago is going to a friend's son and I'm having another go.  Last time I was very conservative with the clearance above the diff and axle.  I'm wanting to have a go at trials so can't get too close, but I'm also content for this to be a Mk1 and rework or remake entirely if I've cut it too fine.

"Diff to floor" is an easy one to understand.   "Axle tube to body side" depends on the width to make sense, but "tyre to mudguard" is easy enough to all be "on the same page".

1 - what was the range for those two measurements on factory bodies?

2 - how much clearance have the trials brigade found they've needed?

[Austin in the Shed]

Q2 ,lots. About twice as much as you think it will need.
When I built my trials car about 20 years ago thinking I had allowed enough later had to fit 1" spacers at the rear to stop tyres rubbing the body away so much and altering the front wing brackets quite a lot to clear the twisting front wheels.
Imagine how much twist will be put into the chassis and axles if say you traversed a heavily rutted track at 45 degrees.
If you can stiffen the chassis and soften the springs the body will last longer.

[Steve Jones]

I agree with Dave, above. Like him, when I built my trials car in the early 1990's I thought I'd allowed enough but, again like him, I hadn't and I too fitted 1" spacers to stop the tyres rubbing the body away. When I re-bodied the car in 2007 I allowed much more clearance based on my previous experience but even then, now and again it isn't enough, and there's still evidence that tyres touch in the extreme.

Steve