E Mod Fiat 600 replacement chassis

gene cooley

gene cooley

Autocrosser
It's time to accept the fact that the Fiat 600 unit body can no longer handle the approx 240 -250 hp and the stresses of the 8 and 10" slicks we are running.We have decided to build a scratch built chassis for the 600 or an 850 Spider.We are looking at an HP Pro book laptop to run an Autocad program. Does anyone have any experience with Autocad and the Probook?
 
Be sure to check the system requirements for Autocad and compare them to the ProBook's hardware. Many laptops are somewhat compromised when it comes to graphics capabilities, also memory and disk can be weak depending on the laptop.

What model of ProBook are you looking at?
 
JimD said:
Be sure to check the system requirements for Autocad and compare them to the ProBook's hardware. Many laptops are somewhat compromised when it comes to graphics capabilities, also memory and disk can be weak depending on the laptop.ok thanks

What model of ProBook are you looking at?
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I will have more info this afternoon My son's boss has one for use in the office with steel drawings We will duplicate that for a starting point it appears that we need lots of ram, but I'm not a computerexpert.Their system is up and runningMy Autocad is at best a 10 year old memory.
 
gene cooley said:
I will have more info this afternoon My son's boss has one for use in the office with steel drawings We will duplicate that for a starting point it appears that we need lots of ram, but I'm not a computerexpert.Their system is up and runningMy Autocad is at best a 10 year old memory.
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Gene, it sounds like "cloning" your son's boss' laptop can get you on the right path. Yes, more RAM is always better regardless of the application. It makes everything on the PC run smoother.
 
JimD said:
Gene, it sounds like "cloning" your son's boss' laptop can get you on the right path. Yes, more RAM is always better regardless of the application. It makes everything on the PC run smoother.
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I will have more info by about 2 today.I still have our old subframe drawing with the engine and trans mounting points That took about 3 months of discussion and2 hours of drawing. I remember we ordered the steel and took the drawing to the shop. 3 hours later Bernard came back with the subframe, We have used itever since.
 
I often find projects where having some sort of CAD program would be great. But I'm not confident in my computer/software technical skills so I've never pursued any of the many CAD options out there. If you find something that is simple to understand and use, and will run on a "normal" computer, please share about it.

Also looking forward to what you do with your chassis.
 
gene cooley said:
I will have more info by about 2 today.I still have our old subframe drawing with the engine and trans mounting points That took about 3 months of discussion and2 hours of drawing. I remember we ordered the steel and took the drawing to the shop. 3 hours later Bernard came back with the subframe, We have used itever since.
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Dr.Jeff said:
I often find projects where having some sort of CAD program would be great. But I'm not confident in my computer/software technical skills so I've never pursued any of the many CAD options out there. If you find something that is simple to understand and use, and will run on a "normal" computer, please share about it.

Also looking forward to what you do with your chassis.
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Here's the computer info
 
20211201_155010.jpg
 
gene cooley said:
Hope this is readable if not will try again
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Likely pretty good unit for what you are trying to do.

You might consider looking at SketchUp as one solution and Autodesk Fusion I believe still has a free version which would be pretty much the best way to do it.

With SketchUp, which I use all the time, there are some good free plugins which can be used with the program.

I also use Fusion and it is similar to Solidworks if you have any familiarity with that software.
 
kmead said:
Likely pretty good unit for what you are trying to do.

You might consider looking at SketchUp as one solution and Autodesk Fusion I believe still has a free version which would be pretty much the best way to do it.

With SketchUp, which I use all the time, there are some good free plugins which can be used with the program.

I also use Fusion and it is similar to Solidworks if you have any familiarity with that software.
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Looks like Autodesk Fusion is $400 a year, no free versions. SketchUp has a very limited free version, but the included file types are not friendly with most needs (3D printing, laser cutting, printing, etc). This is the problem I'm finding, anything that is free or affordable for very limited home use doesn't have the needed tools. At least not that I can tell.
 
Dr.Jeff said:
Looks like Autodesk Fusion is $400 a year, no free versions. SketchUp has a very limited free version, but the included file types are not friendly with most needs (3D printing, laser cutting, printing, etc). This is the problem I'm finding, anything that is free or affordable for very limited home use doesn't have the needed tools. At least not that I can tell.
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SU outputs excellent files for printing and laser cutting. STL and DXF respectively are excellent files for both of those uses. Though the free version may no longer do so. I have been a ‘Pro’ user since 2004. Eventually we all have to pay…
 
kmead said:
SU outputs excellent files for printing and laser cutting. STL and DXF respectively are excellent files for both of those uses. Though the free version may no longer do so. I have been a ‘Pro’ user since 2004. Eventually we all have to pay…
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I should have specified, the free version does not offer all of the file types like the better (paid) versions do. So it is limited to output only a couple formats (at the moment I don't recall what they were), which to my understanding are not good for many of the applications I'm interested in. I've found the same thing with other "free" software options. In order to do what you want you need to invest in a better version of their softwares. For my purposes that simply isn't cost effective (most are several hundred dollars for a limited period of use time).

However I find it a bit odd that each application (reason to use such files) prefers a completely different type of digital file; CNC machining, laser cutting, vinyl cutting, logo printing, 3D printing, etc, all want a different file type. I suppose it may also depend on who you go to for such services. Some places will accept other file types but then charge you more to convert them to their preference. You would think with today's technology things might be more universal or at least more flexible.
 
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