Brabham BT41 cockpit/ monocoque question

Hello again,
Question: Looking down into the cockpit of a Brabham BT41 there are walls defining the width of the space. My question is; Are this walls part of the monocoque and therefore structural or are they there to define the cockpit width only. In pictures, I am struck by the small number of visible rivets leading me to wonder if these walls are load bearing. If not, can these walls be widened to accommodate a larger driver? I hope I am being clear. My knowledge of monocoque chassis is less than negligible. Thanks everybody. Looking forward to your thoughts. Bill Pierce

Try Marc Bahner Engineering, I guess they have repaired one over time.

http://www.bahnerengineering.com/

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Originally Posted by wjpierce

Hello again,
Question: Looking down into the cockpit of a Brabham BT41 there are walls defining the width of the space. My question is; Are this walls part of the monocoque and therefore structural or are they there to define the cockpit width only. In pictures, I am struck by the small number of visible rivets leading me to wonder if these walls are load bearing. If not, can these walls be widened to accommodate a larger driver? I hope I am being clear. My knowledge of monocoque chassis is less than negligible. Thanks everybody. Looking forward to your thoughts. Bill Pierce

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Bill: The walls are load bearing. Do not cut.. You will be cutting into the fuel bags. A larger driver can be accomodated by removing the fiberglas seat (if it has one).

a hammer?

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Originally Posted by Thomas Wirtz

Try Marc Bahner Engineering, I guess they have repaired one over time.

http://www.bahnerengineering.com/

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Bill,

He's in Newberry Park just off the 101. Probably has pictures and ideas...

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Originally Posted by BeerBudgetRacing

Bill,

He's in Newberry Park just off the 101. Probably has pictures and ideas...

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As I recall, unlike the BT-40, the 41 had steel inner tub walls in order to make F3 minimum weight of the time, so there might be some welding/brazing where you would expect to see rivets.

Cut a rectangular hole in each side, maybe 8" x 4" just about where your hips are and let in a joggled panel secured with rivets. As mentioned remove the fuel cells first!

I have seen several cars modified like this to accommodate the well fed driver with a broader beam.