Having convinced Gordon Viola to rid himself of the Farrell chassis, I drew up a simple chassis using the Allard P2 2” diameter chassis tubes. Holding the view that there is little point in the chassis extending much further than the centre line of the front and rear axles the result was quite compact, requiring only light weight tubular structures to hold the front and rear of the body.
This time, unlike with my own car, there was no attempt to provide a clear door access. There would be doors, but it was necessary to climb over the chassis to gain entry, this met with the spirit of the RAC regulations. Having decided a wheelbase of approximately 100”, the relative position of the engine and gearbox in relation to the front axle, plus the track of the rear axle, the set of the P2 chassis tubes were slightly modified, warmed up and the shape of the bends slightly increased.
It was now possible to begin to make the four major horizontal tubes. The cross tubes were cut to length and then with my elderly Myford ML2, a 1” radius was machined in the ends so that they fitted their mating chassis tubes. Once all the cross tubes were machined the initial assembly of the chassis took place. With the cross tubes accurately machined the assembly was a simple process with little fear of welding distortion. The front axle would use the Jaguar upright, however like my own car, fabricated wishbones were made.
The pivot points were phosphor bronze bushes with greasers. The use of aircraft type spherical joints was considered and would have allowed adjustments to be made to the suspension geometry. Their cost at the time would have been in excess of £200!
The rear axle would be as per Allard with a De Dion axle utilising some Allard designed parts, plus a cut and shut Salisbury axle. Rather than using twin ball thrust bearings to locate the wheel ends of the axle Gordon opted to retain the Jaguar outer Timken race and inner ball thrust bearing – a cost saving but poor engineering solution with major difficulties in getting the correct level of preload. The diff unit was cut and shut to produce a unit similar to the Salisbury 4HU unit using more Allard designed parts.
This diff unit was rigidly mounted on the chassis and incorporated the track for the De Dion axle location roller to operate. Twin radius rods, which picked up on the outside of the chassis located the De Dion axle. The coil springs and shock absorbers used were obtained from various sources, however while the shock absorbers needed overhauling the load carrying capacity of the springs was questionable.
Using best estimates of front and rear axle weights plus, estimated spring rates, the shock absorbers were modified so that they acted as suspension units. Unlike the ‘real thing’ threaded adjustment circular clamps around the body of the shock absorber located the spring. Spring adjustment was then via a compressor, not a viable solution however it would suffice to do the job until proper suspension units could be had.
Once all the mounting points for the engine, gearbox, differential unit, brake and clutch were made and fitted the chassis was arc welded by Tommy McLaughlin, an enthusiastic fitter. When the chassis was completed, it was inverted and a central aluminium under tray was fitted in the cockpit area.