Door handles and brakes

[f1racr]

Hi all,

We have been building a scratch built car and I have a few questions...... will try to separate them below to make them easy to answer.

1. We'd like to have a clean look and not use door handles. I wanted to use touch handles, but am not sure if it's legal to not have a physical door handle in case it's needed for emergency services etc ?

Can someone possibly clarify if we have to have a physical handle or not. We do plan on having a hidden release somewhere of course just in case something goes wrong with the electrics so we can still release the door, but it won't be obvious of course so won't help emergency services.

2. Also, regarding the doors, they are going to possibly be quite hard to reach when belted into the car (long story) ..... so I wanted to use retractable gas struts to be able to bring the door closer to the passengers with the press of a button and then the user can grab the door and close it the rest of the way........... any reason I can't use such a device on a door ?   They're essentially what you might have seen on some rear hatches on people movers and stuff like that where the tailgate goes up and down on their own, however ours will just be one way (part close only).

3. Our car is mid engine and so are there any requirements on front and rear firewalls being made of metal ?   I'm thinking composite (ie fibreglass) instead, but wanted to check.   

4. The same question applies to the floors............ do they need to be a specific material ?   The seats will be mounted on side rails so won't be bolted to the floor, but thought there might be some issues around impact from underneath or something like that..........

5. Due to a packaging issue, the brake booster we're using (Corvette C5) doesn't align perfectly behind the pedal......... is it OK if I machine an adaptor for the pedal that will essentially be an h shape instead of a Y....... so that it's attached to each side of the pedal, but the rod to the master is offset to one side of the pedal rather than directly in the middle ?   Hope that makes sense..........like this......

Thanks for the help in advance.......sorry for all the questions, but I guess now is the time to get it right rather than later when it's too late !

Fraser

Attachments:

[Todd]

Everything you’re after should be available in the NZ Car Construction Manual (CCM), but see below for an overview.

1. We'd like to have a clean look and not use door handles. I wanted to use touch handles, but am not sure if it's legal to not have a physical door handle in case it's needed for emergency services etc ?

Can someone possibly clarify if we have to have a physical handle or not. We do plan on having a hidden release somewhere of course just in case something goes wrong with the electrics so we can still release the door, but it won't be obvious of course so won't help emergency services.


A: You can get away with no physical handle, as per many cars with shaved handles.

The door retention systems standard (here: www.lvvta.org.nz/documents/standards/LVVTA_STD_Door_Retention_Systems.pdf) states

“An exterior door handle or other opening device may be positioned in a hidden location on a low volume vehicle, provided that either:
(a) the location is such that the handle or opening device is shielded or protected to prevent unintentional activation by contact from road debris”


2. Also, regarding the doors, they are going to possibly be quite hard to reach when belted into the car (long story) ..... so I wanted to use retractable gas struts to be able to bring the door closer to the passengers with the press of a button and then the user can grab the door and close it the rest of the way........... any reason I can't use such a device on a door? They're essentially what you might have seen on some rear hatches on people movers and stuff like that where the tailgate goes up and down on their own, however ours will just be one way (part close only).

A: No issue with this, assuming that in the case of loss of electrical power, you can still open the door from inside and there’s still a mechanical mechanism holding the door closed.

3. Our car is mid engine and so are there any requirements on front and rear firewalls being made of metal ? I'm thinking composite (ie fibreglass) instead, but wanted to check.

A: No problems with this, just make sure you meet the usual requirements such as no open holes in it etc as mentioned in the CCM. Also have a think about if the vehicle was involved in an accident, what’s to stop the engine coming forward into the passenger compartment.

4. The same question applies to the floors............ do they need to be a specific material ? The seats will be mounted on side rails so won't be bolted to the floor, but thought there might be some issues around impact from underneath or something like that..........

A: The Body Modification & Construction chapter of the CCM states:

“A low volume vehicle must incorporate:
(a) a floor-pan that is strong enough to support, during all
normal and impact loads:
(i) the weight of any occupants; and
(ii) any components attached to it;”

Materials are not specified beyond this.

5. Due to a packaging issue, the brake booster we're using (Corvette C5) doesn't align perfectly behind the pedal......... is it OK if I machine an adaptor for the pedal that will essentially be an h shape instead of a Y....... so that it's attached to each side of the pedal, but the rod to the master is offset to one side of the pedal rather than directly in the middle ? Hope that makes sense..........like this

A: This one needs a bit more discussion as to how you’ll attach it to the pedal etc, so maybe give Justin a call in the LVVTA office, or email [e-mail] with any more info if you can.

[f1racr]

Thanks for the replies Todd.

I did have a read through the manual and although as you've posted there are some references, but it's wasn't black and white so it's good to get some clarification on your thoughts also.

Regarding item 3, there are large steel bars that form the tube chassis between the cabin and the engine so in a crash if the engine moved it should be stopped from entering the cabin by these bars..... it's just the parts in between that we wanted to seal off with fibreglass.

Regarding item 4. We have been working on that this week and we're most likely going to have some 6mm flat steel bars with extra bracing across the floor that the seat mounts to and then fibreglass over whole floor once that's in place, so I guess since a thick aluminium floor would be acceptable that if we make sure it's stronger than that then we should be fine. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't any "floor must be steel or aluminium" type restrictions that I'd missed ....... so it seems not which makes our life easier

Regarding 5. I will give Justin a call and see what he thinks.

You've been very helpful and it's very much appreciated...... as most people on here have probably found out, it's hard to be sure when you're doing your own thing sometimes !!

[Todd]

Good to hear. We're all looking forward to seeing it as it comes together.