Parts, Off The Shelf And Custom Built

[TCBronson]

I was wondering what parts would have to be custom built for the production Elios.
Starting on the out side I am GUESSING........entire body including the door, all the glass, emblem, headlights, tail lights and front fenders.

On the inside I am GUESSING....Elgin Dash, rear seat, carpet, door panel and all upholstery as well as the headliner.

Mechanical: I am GUESSING.....engine, exhaust, wiring harness, radiator, and gas tank.

I know I am missing some things but I was just thinking about what all had to be sourced out and specially designed and built for a production Elio.

 

[Ty]

I was wondering what parts would have to be custom built for the production Elios.
Starting on the out side I am GUESSING........entire body including the door, all the glass, emblem, headlights, tail lights and front fenders.

On the inside I am GUESSING....Elgin Dash, rear seat, carpet, door panel and all upholstery as well as the headliner.

Mechanical: I am GUESSING.....engine, exhaust, wiring harness, radiator, and gas tank.

I know I am missing some things but I was just thinking about what all had to be sourced out and specially designed and built for a production Elio.

I'd point out that many of the "custom" parts are made from off the shelf components. For instance, the Lord Elgin dash will have standard lights in it. They will be housed in a custom housing, of course. Unless the Lord Elgin is the same shape as another current production dash. Then, the face, RPM, and MPH gauges will be special.

 

[Saint]

I am curious , is it a steel frame and steel body?

 

[TCBronson]

I believe the frame is steel and the body is composite

 

[RUCRAYZE]

swing arm?

Speaking off the shelf, ago the container to hold the windshield washer fluid was to be a pop bottle!!

 

[Sethodine]

I am curious , is it a steel frame and steel body?

Frame is a steel roll-cage. The "body" is made up of bolt-on panels, which are made from the same SMC fiber material as you see on Corvettes (lighter than fiberglass for the same strength, but not as strong/expensive as carbon fiber).

 

[NSTG8R]

Frame is a steel roll-cage. The "body" is made up of bolt-on panels, which are made from the same SMC fiber material as you see on Corvettes (lighter than fiberglass for the same strength, but not as strong/expensive as carbon fiber).

And a whole lot quicker! The initial cost for closed molds is pretty high, but they can process 200,000 units before the need to be replaced. They also mentioned an 'open mold' method which is much cheaper in initial cost [only a female mold required]. Not sure which method Elio plans on using.

Copied from Compositeworld.com...Love that site!

http://www.compositesworld.com/articles/fabrication-methods

"Fiberglass thermoset SMC cures in 30 to 150 seconds and overall cycle time can be as low as 60 seconds."

One panel per minute?! That's cranking them out!

 

[Jambe]

How many panels are there? They ALL have to be cranked out in one minute.

 

[Sethodine]

How many panels are there? They ALL have to be cranked out in one minute.

How many machines are cranking out panels? I would guess that you have at least 1 machine per mold, with possibly several parts per mold. So at least 1 Elio's worth of panels per minute.