On Wed, 16 Feb 2005 11:51:21 -0500, "Ed Huntress"
wrote:

"Eric R Snow" wrote in message
.. .
Awright, I know there's folks here who know about this. After seeing a
1949 Ferrari 166MM on the show "Victory By Design" I wanna learn about
tubular space frames. That 166MM car has a just about perfect body.
The looks of the car just blew me away when it first showed up on the
tv screen. The interior and the engine were also spectacular. So , I
guess books should be a good starting point but what about web sites
with examples. And a link to pictures of the 166MM with the body off
would be great too. I've googled and haven't found any yet. So, books,
web sites, museums ?
Thanks,
Eric R Snow,
E T Precision Machine

Welcome to my secret passion. g First off, the 166M (popularly known as
the Barchetta [bar-ket-a], not to be confused with the more recent Ferrari
of the same name) did not have a space frame. It was twin-tube. As an aside,
the Barchetta is the car copied by AC of the UK and which became the AC Ace.
Carrol Shelby stuffed a Ford V8 into the Ace and it became the Cobra. Then
Shelby beat the Ferraris with it for the World GT Championship.

Back to the question, there is one book that is an absolute must for anyone
interested in space frame car construction, _Racing & Sports Car Chassis
Design_, by M. Costin and D. Phipps. I have an original copy from 1965, but
I'm told it was recently reprinted. You need that book if you want to avoid
going around in circles. It's still *the* book for understanding the ideas
behind space frames.

Beyond that, _Chassis Engineering_ by Herb Adams, and _Race Car Chassis
Design and Construction_ by Forbes Aird. I think they're both in print.

There are other chassis books but I don't know how much they talk about
space frames. I have a couple of others but they're mostly about monocoque
and other types.

There also is a welding book that specifically talks about welding space
frames, _Performance Welding_ by Richard Finch. It's pretty good. Ignore
what he says about brazing 4130. He's wrong about that.

Web sites? About Ferraris or space frames? 'Lots about Ferraris. Little
about space frames. I've looked.

Regarding racing frame history, here's a short sequence: 1) Ladder-type
frames. 2) Twin-tube frames. 3) Multi-tube frames (Cooper). 4) Space frames
(1948 Cisitalia; 1952 Lotus and Mercedes-Benz). 5) Semi-monocoque. 6)
Monocoque ("tubs").

That will keep you oriented. It's all explained in Costin & Phipps' book.
Have fun.
Thanks Ed,
The show said it was a tubular space frame. I think. I'll watch it
again. It's too bad that it seems like there are no pictures of the
166MM without the body on. I suppose it will be easier to find
pictures of ACs though. I'll look for the books you mentioned. Man, if
I had the time now I'd build a 166MM. What a car!
ERS