The Ferrari 1950 Ferarri 166 F2 Of Gastone Piegatoassale

Tks for sharing some of the details of your machine with us Dave.Hope you don't mind if I pick your brain, I'm the curious type you know. That's a unique idea for the front suspension, don't think I've ever seen one like it. How does it handle?Have you had any problem with the rear bearing mount or frame flexing in the turns?Do you get much twist in the frame?dg

Denny,As I add more photos you'll notice that I was nearly obsessed with keeping the weight low. So a drop frame was a must. I knew I wanted those control arm mounts and the rear axle bearing carriers above the frame, but no higher than the axle line. I fooled around for days with how to mount that spring, swinging those arms up and down. It had the function as upper control arm itself, so it's arc had match the lower arms. When the spring finally arrived ( I had been working with a mockup. NEVER again) it was much softer than advertised. The radius of travel was tighter. Camber change was more than appropriate... Then I drove it anyway, and low and behold, the camber change, paired with a motorcycle tire, actually has a positive effect on the outside wheel when turning in. As youaccelerate out it unloads. You can watch it working.So far I like the steering response and effort. And it shows no tendency to push the front end.More later. Got to make some money.

Ok, where was I?Those rear axle bearing carriers are meant to be welded directly to the top of a frame rail. They are1/4"steel plate, as are the doublers I made to join them to my rails. All high strength hardware. No flex.The frame alone, was fairly rigid with just the floor in. The real car, when viewed head on is shaped like a D laying on it's straight edge, which I wanted to capture. The .04 wrisco is fairly stiff and when formed into shape, along with the floor, creates a pretty good monocoque. This car was built with mainly the road courses in mind. That orchard business almost needs a specific kind of build, in my view. I like the handling now, but I may be singing a different tune once I get it on rougher terrain.

I got cha Dave. The body would stiffen up that ladder frame. Still looks like the rear bearing mounts might give you some trouble, I'd keep a close watch on those if it were me. As fur as the handling, I've never understood how the positive camber thatthe 20's cars used worked in their favor. All the later cars are designed withnegative camber as part of their front geometry. dg

Yeah, I figure those will deform a fair bit before they would fail. Easy to keep an eye on anyway. Experience has been that it's easier to make a weak stucture stronger than to make a heavy stucture lighter.I've heard more explanations of positive camber than I can remember. The most sensible to me is that it loads the bearings towards the inside of the spindle. Steering geometry understanding and matallurgy have come a long way.