my batmobile

[roadwarriormfp]

Out of curiosity what is the distance from the center of each wheel arch????

[Daz]

The swedish replica (and the original) were built on stretched 70's american sedan chassis, so might be a problem in Australia? And ambulance or limo chassis would be perfect.

If the width is similar, an old kingswood or XB/XC station wagon might be a good option. You'd still probably have to lengthen it...or, maybe a hilux ute chassis, that way you only have to lengthen the braklines, rails and tailshaft...

[GT-HO]

I've been looking at the Chicks Love the Car website as long as i have been with this site and the first thing i read was these two topics http://www.chickslovethecar.com/board/B ... -21-1.aspx http://www.chickslovethecar.com/board/B ... -21-1.aspx they should be of some help really they whole required reads section is good for info, and the original Batmobile used two 1972 Chevy Impala chassis, and this is from the old Australian 89 bat build

Hey Richi, I had a chance to look it up. It appears the Holden is built in New Zealand from a GM base. General Motors is the parent company for Holden. The 308 refers to the cubic inch of the motor and is equivalent in size to a 5.0 liter. They made a 3 speed automatic known as a trimatic. You say it has leaf springs that would be like a truck. One of the problems with leaf springs is the limited ability to lower the chassis. Springs are better because of the ability to lower the chassis by either cutting the springs or air bagging it. Air bags are nice cause you can adjust the ride heigth after the chassis has been loaded with the fnish curb weight. Coil springs usually have some type of four-link system to keep the axle centered.

All that being said there appears to be enough room to get the leaf springs under the body. If the leaf springs are mounted on the top of the axle you can relocate the leaf spring under the axle which will help to drop your ride heigth. Drop brackets at the end of the leaf springs will lower the chassis even further. The problem is the limited amont of travel going this route. Its like riding in an overloaded truck. And no matter how much you modify it the best ride you can get is a limited truck ride.

I initailly started my first 89 attempt using a 1970 Chevy pick-up. I figured using drop spindles, c-notch the rear chassis and reverse the springs. After all this I felt the ride would be dramatically compromised by limiting the suspension travel so I abandoned that donor. The Holden might have the same problem except I dont think you could find a drop spindle or c-notch package for a Holden. I hate to say no but if it was me I'd have to pass on the Holden unless you can find one with a rear coil spring system. Maybe other CTLC members have some opinions on this. I hope that helps...BWD

hope this is of some help.

[zykotec]

The swedish replica (and the original) were built on stretched 70's american sedan chassis, so might be a problem in Australia? And ambulance or limo chassis would be perfect.

If the width is similar, an old kingswood or XB/XC station wagon might be a good option. You'd still probably have to lengthen it...or, maybe a hilux ute chassis, that way you only have to lengthen the braklines, rails and tailshaft...

Well, the problem is they used BOF (body on frame) cars, so there is a separate frame, you just lift off the body and toss it away, like on a truck (the original was as mention Chevrolet frtames' the Swedish build I believe was on a stretched Lincoln frame, most Australian cars I've seen useually have a Monocoque body, so it will just bend if you chop the roof off without reinforcing it first, and Monocoque cars can get flimsy with such a long wheelbase. One good thing about a monocoque is that you can generally make the car sit lower to the ground.

[Foxtrot X-Ray]

If it was me, I'd build a full tube frame for the thing.

[PacificMuscle]

What about using a Holden One Tonner (HQ - WB) ?

As this is a completely seperate chasis perhaps this could be extended to achieve the wheelbase. Cheap too.



These were used for the ghastly Perrenti - a rather nasty Corvette replica.

[Daz]

That looks prefect. Even if you need to extend the rails, it's a straight extension. If the width is wrong, you might consider getting some extended wheel hubs or wheel offset spacers. I doubt it would ever be street legal, so most engineering concerns go out the window...