Why I hate Fifth Gear

[Evan Bottcher]

The couple of 33s I've owned were all very flexible - you'd really notice the chassis twist over railway crossings etc.  Not as bad as the Suds I've owned.  I always assumed they were pretty stiff when brand new, but a few years and a few big bumps and I expect a few spot welds let go.

Our Sud race car had HEAPS of flex, until we had a six point cage welded in, tagged into the windscreen pillars and bars extended to the shock towers.  Now you definitely only have to use one jacking point to change both front and back wheels.

[colcol]

I remember back in the days when dinosaurs walked the earth and i used to run the 33 at track events, at Winton, the front use to flex so much, the left gaurd would rub against the A pillar and rub the paint off it!, it always looked like a paint chip, took me a while to work that one out.
The cutout in the 33 rail, where the driveshaft goes through is a pre determined weak point where the car crumbles in an accident.
The 33 has a surprising to me high crash test rating, not good compared to todays cars, but good for a compact car from the 80's, by a manufacturer that was going to the Italian Goverment for money, Colin.

[Duk]

All of this talk about the flexability of the 33 chassis has me wondering about applying the typical aftermarket chassis bracing techniques to them.
A strut tower brace is obvious, but seeing where the bulkhead is in the 33, probably not woth it. But in guard bracing the helps prevent the strut towers from being pushed upwards with bump forces and lower chassis bracing that tie the lower control arm mount/chassis together, may prove to be very helpful.
On top of that, selective seam welding or plug welding at panel joins, even drilling old spot welds to replace with plug welds. Perhaps adding gussets or additional box sections, too.
Pretty sure that the chassis could be considerably stiffened without adding more than 10kgs could be done. Just a matter of being smart and thorough about it.

[colcol]

The Sud and the 33 had almost the same rails and subframe, the Sud was lighter than the 33, so maybe thats why the 33 was more prone to cracking.
The twin carb Sud we had, cracked the rails, but it was never fixed, but my 33 also cracked and i had the rails fixed by an expert, ie not me!, but they cracked 10 years later.
DUK, that bracing looks like a good thing, but i remember seeing some bracing on a car, running from the bottom rails up to the top of the firewall and thinking, that in a head on, the front rail would transfer all that energy back to firewall instead of absorbing energy, Colin.

[suzuiq]

it's true if you have ever driven a truck in traffic their are HUGE blind spots on the left hand side. I like tiff from fifth gear he reminds me of colin .

[colcol]

Tiff reminds me of Colin as well, except Tiff is handsome, knows what he is talking about and can drive.
If you believe the rumours, Tiff Needall was the original 'Stig' on Top Gear.
If you look at youtube, he tests an Alfasud and comes to the conclusion, that its the best handling front wheel drive, i have to agree.
Tiff was also in Formula 1 for a brief time in the early 80's, Colin.

[suzuiq]

colcol you are a modest thing arnt you