I am happy to find some of the guys here have given me a warm welcome rather than outright hostility that some purists have given me in the past. The fact is that there simply are not any more original Bugattis to be had for anything like the kind of money I am ever likely to have. A replica is the only way I will ever have anything close.

From what I can tell, there are good ones and some not so good. They range a bunch of plastic shells glued on top of VW floor pans to the beautiful work being done in Argentina. There are many examples I have seen that are somewhere in between.

My goal is to capture as much of the character of the Type 35-B as possible. My first priority is to build a car that behaves like the original when in action. Some of the components are not available to me. For example, there are no in line eight cylinder engines in the two liter range to be had. Lots of four cylinder ones with similar specs but that beautiful sound is gone and the smooth raw power that the original Bugatti had. I settled on a 1G-GZE Supercharged two liter inline six sold only to the Japanese domestic market in the Toyota Soarer. Nice little engine. I selected the gears from an ordinary MGB for the rear end but the two halfs of the housing will be cast to my patterns and the axel tubes and axels custom made here. The wheels are also going to be cast to my patterns which should be real close to the originals except that they will fit over British splines. The frame to be as close to original as possible made of steel in the same proportions and specs as possible. The body will be a departure from original in that it is being made from carbon fiber. This is being done because I have no idea how to beat sheet metel to look like anything other than beaten sheet metal. I have used composits in my work for years.

There will be several other departures from the original that are simply unavoidable with my limited budget and patience. Brakes, for example. I havn't decided what to do with them. Mechanical or hydraulic. I will probably go with available hydraulic parts. Dampers...Where would I get friction dampers that are even close to original?

If I end up with a car that is anywhere near as fun to drive as a Type 35-B, I will be extremely happy.

About hostility: Not here. This is a place for EVERY Bugatti enthousiast.

I would indeed go for hydraulic brakes. Perhaps use discs, and try and hide them in the wheels, with a coverplate on the end. do not forget ventilation, to prevent overheating.

About carbon fiber: If that was available in the 30's, I am sure that ettore Bugatti would have used it.

I have no idea of dampers, and their effectivity. Nothing available in the hotrod scene?

I hope your build will be succesful. If you have questions, or something to show us, you know where to find us.

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Vive la Marque !!

I have got the front part of the frame cut and tacked together. By front, I mean from the far front where the springs are attached to the area just in front of the rear axel. I used 4130 .090 and welded it with TIG outside and wire feed inside. Pretty close to original dimensional specs. Set 2 liter engine in frame to get idea of fit. Not bad. Only problem so far: Not enough room for my feet!

As far as dampers, I havn't decided what to do. I bought an old video tape made in 1989 by Hugh Conway which has some excellent footage of Type 35's in motion. From what I can see it would be a profound understatement to say that there was not much damping done to the original. I have never even been in a car with friction damping let alone driven one. At this point, I am leaning towards using lever actuated dampers such as used on the back of MGB's. That doesn't have to be decided yet.

The toyota engine at 195 HP is much more powerful than the Bugatti. I may elect to get rid of the supercharger and basically detune it down to roughly 125 hp. I don't need to decide that yet either.

The most dificult thing, so far, has been to figure out where things go. For example, I can not find any pictures that clearly show the foot well area and where the peddles mount. I have some pictures of the area but no detailed ones in which I can locate things as they should be.

Indeed not too much pictures on footwells. Footroom is something that should be solved. However, type 35's are known to be tight.

click this link, and it will give you all posted pictures on type 35;s:

http://www.bugattibuilder.com/photo/thumbnails.php?album=lastup&cat=11

(I reached that page by clicking to the type 35 category, then clicking "last upload" in the menu.)

And one other thing: We Want Photos!!!

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Vive la Marque !!

I found some pictures of the pedals, and will post them tomorrow.

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Vive la Marque !!

Anybody who thinks the design of a Bugatti T-35 was simple has only to try to build one himself.

In the construction of other things I have been involved with, I have found it advantagous to try to learn as much as I can about the mindset of those who have gone before me.

It is easy for me to see the artistic abilities of Bugatti which trickled down from his "top down" business to the finished product. There is a remarkable beauty to most of his creations. For me, the T-35 is absolutely a gorgeous work of art. As a child, I could close my eyes and imagine what a race car should look like and the image of a T-35 Bugatti came to mind. Probably came from cartoons made in the thirties and forties.

To make everything fit in such a small package is really difficult. I thought I had it covered using a small 2 liter inline six Toyota engine. Shorter than Bugatti's in line eight. Measured everything I could think of to make sure it would fit. Sitting in the frame everything is great. So what if the exhaust is on the opposide side. I can live with that. (There are "replicas" built on a VW platform so why should I worry about which side the intake and exhaust are on?) The Bugatti clutch/flywheel assembly is so much narrower than that of any modern engine that it is near impossible to squeeze my feet between the bellhousing and the right side of the frame.
I don't know for sure how I am going to deal with this. Could widen the frame. Could move everything back from the engine which would effectively make the entire car longer. I could also make a smaller flywheel / clutch assembly and also a smaller bellhousing to fit around it. That is probably what I will do. That will necessarily mean the end of the electric starter. The idea of a crank start has a particular appeal to me. After all, how many twentieth century guys have ever crank started anything? I would post pictures of what I am talking bout if I could figure out how to do so.

You could mail me the pictures, and I will make sure they end up on this forum.

herman at bugattibuilder com

Edit: I found the pictures in my spambox. For some reason it marks the message as spam, probably triggered by the word "replica"

Here are the pictures (click on them for a 1024x 768 version)

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Vive la Marque !!

Wouldn't you know it? My frame is a total failure. I built the entire thing from 4130 chrome moly sheet. I cut all the pieces and tacked them together until everything was fitted. Everything seemed okay. Next I spent the night welding the whole thing. Looked good. I noticed that it had warped some when welding. I went to straighten it and heard these loud "crack" sounds. Upon inspection, there were cracks all over the thing. Back to the drawing board.

That's what you can call a "major setback". Too bad about the frame.

Too bad about the warping. any clues on improvement on this for the next frame? And about the cracks? The thing should not crack. Too much heat in the welds?

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Vive la Marque !!

The car in the pictures below is as far as I know a replica inspired by the Grand Prix Bugatti’s. Engine is from an “Opel” and the car is taking part almost every year in the “Molsheim” meeting. The complete car is build by the owner. Probably some of the French forum members can tell more about this car.

I have decided to take an even riskier approach. I am going to build the entire frame from carbon fiber composite material. Well, the entire frame from the engine back. I can get exactly the right shape that way which I could not do using steel as I do not have the necessary presses and so forth. I am absolutely not going to give up and quit!

The replica in the pictures is beautiful! Whoever built it did a great job. I know there are purists who go crazy when they see things like disc brakes. I am not one of them. My purpose is to capture as much of the original driving experience as possible.

Ah, carbon fiber. My field of working.

3 remarks:
Why not making the complete frame from carbon fiber? You could glue steel or thick aluminium pads to it, using a methacrylate glue, to create engine bearers. (just design the pads in a clever way, so they will not rupture the fiber)

When doing a lay-up, do the utmost to get the UD fibers straight and all parallel to each-other, or the piece will warp as well.

When doing the layup, wrap the UD carbon in +45/-45 carbon or glass. Do not use 90 orientated fibers, they will eventually break the UD in 0 direction. (one of my neighbours is a carbon mast producer, he tried it all...). Use a woven on the outside and inside.

Concentrate on 0 direction fiber in the top and bottom, and +45/-45 in the side of the frame rail.

When laminating, use a good quality epoxy. I carry some brands on this side of the pond, which are suitable. On your side, I suggest Pro-Set from West System. (not the 105/206/206 series). Or anything similar from another brand.

Bag the stuff in place. probably not new for you.

When post-curing the epoxy resin (recommended) go slow. Go a maximum of 10-15 degrees fahrenheit per hour upwards, untill you reach a temperature which is approx 20 degrees F below the ultimate Tg of the epoxy. Keep the temperature there for at least 18 hours. Then ramp down with a rate of 20-30 degrees F, untill 100 F. (preventing warping, thermo-shock, etc)

great project, however. If you use West Proset, I guarantee that the project will end up in their "Epoxyworks" magazine.

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Vive la Marque !!

I have built a lot of things with carbon fiber as well as fiber glass and other materials, including kevlar. For me, the most important thing to learn is to "unlearn" every other construction technique - well... excepting concrete.

The attachment points are always a concern with composits. With steel, it is easy to weld a boss and bolt something to it. With composit materials, the tensil strength through the epoxy should never be counted upon to secure a heavy load. Also, a hot engine, for example, must have some sort of insulation near things like exhaust and piping.

The good thing about materials such as c/f is that the strength can be where it needs to be. The direction of the fibers can be oriented to gain a lot of tensil strength in one direction and other materials providing the compression strength. I am thinking of building the frame in a manner similar in appearance to the Bugatti T-35 but rather than leave the frame in a "C" sectional shape, close it in with a rigid foam left inside. The frame, assuming I did it right, should be much more rigid than any Bugatti ever was and much lighter as well. I am also thinking of attempting to use some of the body - the rear section behind the firewall - as an enhancement to the ridgity of the frame.

I have built several 4130 tube steel frames and never had a failure. I have never built an automobile frame from any type of composit material - only body parts. One thing is certain: There is no room for error!