Aussie Body Rules

[Neddo]

Hello everyone
This post is about what is involved in a bucket body in Australia.
In Aus we have the Australian Street Rod Federation - ASRF it is a national group that was instrumental in compiling the National Street Rod guidelines, the hot Rodders build bible.
The ASRF work with licensing depts in each state to help hot Rodders get their vehicles registered.
Each Aussie branch of the ASRF have technical inspectors who check off your work against the build guidelines over three seperate build stages. The inspectors are not engineers.
If you do something funky outside of the rules the inspector may refer you to an approved engineer for a report. As an example, supercharger requires engineering approval and at the final stage a functional test on the Dyno to prove you are not over 9psi boost.
In the case of fibreglass bodies the build bible refers the builder to some ADR’s which are design rules that all vehicles registered in aus have to comply with.
If your fibreglass body comes from production facility in aus it has to meet side impact rules for both strength of the fibreglass panel and in the case of doors the ability of the hinges and catch to hold.
In the case of my Koop de glass body I have to substitute no known fibreglass strength data with steel reinforcement. The reality is there is no more work to meet the rules than would have done otherwise to strengthen the body.
My doors do not have a jam as such so the way in my case to meet the side intrusion requirement is to have two burst proof catches per door, each catch opposite a hinge with steel tube in between.
The details for my body and side intrusion requirements have been sorted out with the technical advisory people first before anything is built. Inspection is just a formality once the works done.
Some people get bent out of shape with our rules but if you do the process in the right order it’s easy….build it first without consultation will end in tears.
In a month or so I will start on my body steelwork so I will set up a thread to show how this side intrusion stuff goes together.
Neddo

 

[Neddo]

Aussie bodies part 2
Some will say the use of wood in our bodies is a no no, this is not entirely correct. You can as long as its not structural.
The steel frame has to reinforce the fibreglass structurally. Wood can be used for attaching trim panels etc.
Most people incorporate a steel floor into their frame with varying levels of success. Corrosion and the actual attachment to the fibreglass being the common problems.
In my case I have a 1/2” marine ply floor glassed into the body both sides. Body mounts on the chassis sit below the internal steel structure with the floor sandwiched in between. A steel bush the thickness of the floor goes in the bolted connection so the floor does not form part of the structure. Again this detail is figured out with the technical people before it’s built.
From underneath the body there is no steel to try and seal and no problems with sealing a floor into the body.
In my case the steel framework will be bonded to the glass using a product called Teroson MS939.
The trick is to make the steel frame fit as tight as possible in the body. Make a gap by sticking a screw driver in between glass and steel and inserting Teroson. The Teroson is very flexible and once it drys you will destroy the glass if you have to remove it. It doesn’t suck the glass in which can be a problem with some adhesives.
Patience is the secret to this process.
When making the steel out parts in theory you should be able to make R & L at the same time. I have done a couple of bodies and this hasn’t been the case.
Cut a template and check both sides first is the first tip.
The second tip is if there is a difference don’t force the glass to fit your steel. More often than not it will not be noticed until you get shiny paint on it…..again patience.

 

[El Tono]

Hello I'm in South Aust. Where in the guidelines does it talk about steeling out the body? Also here we don't have the inspection processes you guys over East have. I'm going to ask the TAC guys to come here and look if I can, but they've basicly just said follow the guidelines and I'll be sweet. I have questions.
Cheers