Weight of S.S. frame vs. Stock, coated frame

[SupercoolBill]

Anyone know the weight of the stainless steel frame vs. The OEM frame with a protective coating on it?

Does anyone have CAD type drawings of the MT frame with ALL the dimensions? Not just attachment point measurements.

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[Mark D]

I'd contact Josh / DPI directly and he should be able to give a weight comparison.

From what I remember in past discussions, the design of the SS frame was changed and improved quite a bit. The stock frame has many areas where there are multiple layers of steel that are sandwiched together and stitch welded along the edges. Not the greatest from a corrosion standpoint as any crack in the epoxy allows water to wick its way between the layers.

For the SS frame I think this design was changed to thicker gauge material to simplify and improve strength. Stainless isn't necessarily 1:1 in strength when compared to steel of equal thickness. I don't think the stock frames were built using particularly high strength steel to begin with, but there would be areas that would likely need to be made thicker or reinforced when using stainless vs mild steel.

Josh could tell you more about the FEA or other design analysis that was done to ensure the frame (and suspension parts) were as strong or stronger than the stock components.

As far as the dimensions go, I doubt you'll be able to get more than a few key dimensions of the SS frame since the time to design and develop something like a frame assembly is considerable, and the info would be proprietary.

In another thread Rhye shared a 3D PDF of a model he created of a stock frame, although I can't speak to how accurate it is. In the PDF you can snap 3D measurements.

https://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?18559-Chassis-3D-model-in-PDF

More info from DPI on their stainless frames in this thread. There's another thread out there as well that has more info on the design process for the SS frame. Can't seem to find it though.
https://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?8525-DeLorean-Frame-in-Solidworks

[SupercoolBill]

Mark thanks for your reply.
I learned a lot from it.
I didn't realize that the stainless frame was a total reboot. I assumed it was just an exact copy of the original only in SS.
My first impression of the stainless frame was "Wow that's awesome!" "That thing won't rust!" But after thinking about it for a while I don't really get the point. Stainless weighs more, changes size based on temp more so than mild steel, it's more expensive, and it would make a DeLorean not original anymore.
I guess the pros would be that it looks cool and doesn't rust. Also if you later decided to resto-mod it the stainless would be easy to work with vs grinding paint or epoxy off a mild steel frame. I get the no rust thing but how many people are driving a DeLorean in the snow? I know for me, mine will only be driven on nice days.


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[82DMC12]

Anyone know the weight of the stainless steel frame vs. The OEM frame with a protective coating on it?

Does anyone have CAD type drawings of the MT frame with ALL the dimensions? Not just attachment point measurements.

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Not sure about the SS frame but a stock frame weighs around 220 lbs. It's most hollow so it's "easy" to move with two people picking it up, or I have moved one around on a furniture dolly no problem.

[Bitsyncmaster]

Mark thanks for your reply.
I learned a lot from it.
I didn't realize that the stainless frame was a total reboot. I assumed it was just an exact copy of the original only in SS.
My first impression of the stainless frame was "Wow that's awesome!" "That thing won't rust!" But after thinking about it for a while I don't really get the point. Stainless weighs more, changes size based on temp more so than mild steel, it's more expensive, and it would make a DeLorean not original anymore.
I guess the pros would be that it looks cool and doesn't rust. Also if you later decided to resto-mod it the stainless would be easy to work with vs grinding paint or epoxy off a mild steel frame. I get the no rust thing but how many people are driving a DeLorean in the snow? I know for me, mine will only be driven on nice days.


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I'm pretty sure a block of stainless steel is a little lighter than a block of cold rolled steel. Now you may need more SS to get the same strength which would make the frame weigh more. It drives me nuts when people say the DeLorean must be heavy because it's SS.

[SupercoolBill]

I'm pretty sure a block of stainless steel is a little lighter than a block of cold rolled steel. Now you may need more SS to get the same strength which would make the frame weigh more. It drives me nuts when people say the DeLorean must be heavy because it's SS.SS is 2.4% heavier from what I have read.

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[Bitsyncmaster]

SS is 2.4% heavier from what I have read.

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I looked it up on internet and one source shows these values which does show SS is a little heavier.

304 SS 7.93 grams/cm3
Cold rolled 7.87 grams/cm3

If my math is correct that makes SS 0.76% heavier.

[82DMC12]

I looked it up on internet and one source shows these values which does show SS is a little heavier.

304 SS 7.93 grams/cm3
Cold rolled 7.87 grams/cm3

If my math is correct that makes SS 0.76% heavier.

When the first SS frames came out (Pearce) I seem to recall they were nearly the same weight as the OEM frame since it was said that the mild steel + epoxy (which weighs a lot more than you might think) is about the same weight as bare SS.

[CFI]

Anyone know the weight of the stainless steel frame vs. The OEM frame with a protective coating on it?

Does anyone have CAD type drawings of the MT frame with ALL the dimensions? Not just attachment point measurements.

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DMCH weighed a stock frame last year and posted the results on Facebook. It was 207 lbs.

[MrChocky]

DMCH weighed a stock frame last year and posted the results on Facebook. It was 207 lbs.

Almost as much as a single "heavy" quarter panel!

[Helirich]

Weight is not a big enough difference to be a deciding factor in going to a SS frame. Of more concern would be work hardening and cracking. I would assume there are some of the stainless frames out there with considerable mileage, so the trouble areas should already be corrected/reinforced. As mentioned already, it would be easy to repair such areas because you don’t have to repaint. (Possibly on the car)

The only real concern is price. I think if I was already going to buy/install a new frame, I would go SS. It’s kind of hard to justify tearing down a running car that doesn’t have a frame problem to go that route.

[David T]

While S/S is heavier than CRS, it has a much higher tensile strength. That means you can reduce the gauge (thickness) to achieve some weight savings in lower stress areas. I don't think they did that with the current S/S frames though. Weight is a problem with the Delorean. Besides being underpowered it doesn't have a lot of useful load before you go over max weight. Do the math and you will see with just 2 average weight passengers you are already very close to the max weight limit. Sticking a heavier frame on the car only makes that problem worse. Marty was right when he said "That's Heavy"!

[CFI]

Almost as much as a single "heavy" quarter panel!

Absolutely. That’s why I took mine off. Quarter panels are overrated anyway.

[MrChocky]

Absolutely. That’s why I took mine off. Quarter panels are overrated anyway.

Good idea. And despite all this real or alleged heaviness, the DeLorean, magically, somehow is still able to drive just fine.

[jamesrguk]

There is a chap in the UK who manufactures both mild steel and stainless steel DeLorean frames.

When chatting to him recently at an event the subject of weight came up.

He advised (having worked/manufactured using both materials) that once a coating was applied to the mild steel version i.e. galvanising/power coating, it was actually slightly heavier than the bare SS frame.

I thought that was quite interesting but I suppose when you galvanise or epoxy coat something you are effectively adding another layer of material over the whole surface and that is bound to add significant weight.

J

[SupercoolBill]

There is a chap in the UK who manufactures both mild steel and stainless steel DeLorean frames.

When chatting to him recently at an event the subject of weight came up.

He advised (having worked/manufactured using both materials) that once a coating was applied to the mild steel version i.e. galvanising/power coating, it was actually slightly heavier than the bare SS frame.

I thought that was quite interesting but I suppose when you galvanise or epoxy coat something you are effectively adding another layer of material over the whole surface and that is bound to add significant weight.

JInteresting
Makes sense I guess

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[DeloreanJapan]

There is a chap in the UK who manufactures both mild steel and stainless steel DeLorean frames.

When chatting to him recently at an event the subject of weight came up.

He advised (having worked/manufactured using both materials) that once a coating was applied to the mild steel version i.e. galvanising/power coating, it was actually slightly heavier than the bare SS frame.

I thought that was quite interesting but I suppose when you galvanise or epoxy coat something you are effectively adding another layer of material over the whole surface and that is bound to add significant weight.

J

Hi James, Is that the guy produce the Frame for Arran at Delorean GO?

[DeLoreanGo Arran]

Yes it is :)