Racecar Bodies

A good way to save money in racing and make your car faster is by building your own body and making the aerodynamic package as good as possible. To make your own body you will need some metal sheers, sheets of metal and a sheet metal break. You will also need crimpers that can be made on your own by welding small pieces of metal to a pair of vise grips. You must start with the cockpit because that is the hardest to get to. Start by deciding how much room you want in your cockpit. Every driver has their different preferences about the cockpit and it has relatively nothing to do with aerodynamics. Comfort however is a major contributor to the way the driver performs. Without comfort in your race car then you are already behind and that’s not a good place to be in the racing world. Everything must be right in order to be competitive. First put in your floorboard which needs to be made out of thick aluminum or diamond plate because it has a lot of weight on it when you are in the car.

From there you can start to build your sides which don’t have to be anything fancy. Trace them out on a sheet and add an extra inch to each side. Cut the piece out and fold the extra inch over in your break. This will make a nice and straight piece with stronger edges. Work your way up the sides of the cockpit and cut out holes for your gauges and switches. You can put your switches wherever you would like preferably a place with easy access in case of an electrical problem. I have been in racing for a long time and I know electrical problems come on go all the time. The best way to prepare for them is to build your car so that you can easily access them.

From the cockpit move onto your deck, there are an assortment of ways to build your deck. You can have a drop in the front or just have a slow sloping downward deck. I prefer the slowly downward sloping deck because it is easier and provides more room underneath to work on the drive train and electrical. You start by measuring from...