Hamblin body mounts

[Jacob Fowkes]

hi im currently mounting my fibreglass Hamblin body to a ruby chassis and I was wondering if any other Hamblin owners would be able to post a photo of there body mounts. this body originally had steel plates fibreglassed in bolting straight to the chassis, which rusted swelled and splayed the fibreglass. im probably going to go for some aluminium supports but I wanted to see what others have done. thankyou in advance. I know there are many ways to attach these bodies.

[Dave Mann]

Has nobody got any advice on this?

[Davemayle]

Hi Jacob, like yours the bonded steel plates in mine had rusted and ‘blown’ the fibreglass, best to remove them. I wouldn’t bond in aluminium but reinforce the mounting area with a few layers of glass cloth starting with a small patch and then increasing the size of the cloth for subsequent layers. I would use rubber washers on both of the bolts that pass through the body to the brackets. From memory mine had mount points on each of the chassis cross members, the front bulkhead (which was steel but I replaced with fibreglass) and I made a supporting hoop for the rear of the cockpit. Happy to give you a call if I can be of any help.

[sparkeysprite]

I've restored a few Lotus Elans and they use nice little aluminium bobbins that don't usually corrode when encased in the fibreglass and are a good shape to hold strong when you mould the fibreglass around them.  If you google Lotus Elan body bobbins you'll find them available from many Lotus suppliers (SJS Sporstcars for example).  They may work for you.

Steve

[Jacob Fowkes]

thankyou for getting back to me I removed all of the remaining steel work and then repaired these areas. ive gone for a steel frame then aluminium brackets (bonded on) to attach the body to the frame. do you have any photos of your car ? cheers

[dickie65]

Hi Folks,
A little late to the thread,
We use Big Head fasteners at work. they do various styles of bond in fasteners for grp work.

https://www.bighead.co.uk/bighead-solutions/core-range/

We actually use Spabond epoxy to bond then onto the grp panels ( Very Expensive and needs custom applicator gun )

With modern adhesives I would just bond some alloy angle onto the grp with a suitable epoxy adhesive with a couple of bolts to hold it in place till the glue sets then the bolts unscrewed and hole filled in.
The original method of glassing around steel tube is a bit shoddy. ( I used to own an Ashley Special )

[Jacob Fowkes]

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They look very clever , thankyou for your reply, I"ve knocked something up on the lathe that's similar

[Bruce Nicholls]

Epoxy is the way to go. The trouble with polyester resin is that it only sticks to itself and won't stick to the aluminium. Epoxy sticks to anything, is available from many chandlers & ebay and is available in smallish quantities.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Epoxy-Resin-R...SwEMddK5ph

[Jacob Fowkes]

cheers Bruce  , that's what I did then fibreglassed over the flat sections of the mount. 

[Jacob Fowkes]

  austin frame .jpg (Size: 86.47 KB / Downloads: 169)


  austin frame 2 .jpg (Size: 147.05 KB / Downloads: 169)

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The rear frame will be cut away and form the start of the prop tunnel