Solar powered race car.

[flamerz14]

I'm helping my friends to build a solar powered car (small one) for a national competition. Thing is, I only have less than 3 days to complete it, and its chassis has to be made from recycled materials. Also, the solar panel cannot be modified (e.g.: bent, cut).

I was thinking of a drag race-themed car. The car HAS to be styled as a racing vehicle, able to take turns and uneven surfaces on track. each car will be placed in a lane with walls.

Any ideas what I can use for material and design? It doesn't have to be too sophisticated; I (think) I've figured out the electronics part.

help VERY much appreciated [/img]

[frankrede]

Use Plywood, Plywood is made of wood scraps

[TurboSuper]

Depends on your budget really. If money is tight then yeah, plywood should do fine. But if you've got cash to burn, consider something lightweight like fiberglass.

[psycix]

Well, you could also use paper mache. Its recycling of old paper, and its very lightweight.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papier-m%C3%A2ch%C3%A9

[POLAND_SPUD]

plywood or fiberglass is not a recycled material

[grumpy]

how about plastic wood, it is made from recycled plastic and wood mixed together. pretty sure lowes or home-depot would have it.

[STHORNE]

plywood or fiberglass is not a recycled material

How the f*ck do you figure plywood isn't made from recycled material?!
Do you even know what plywood is?

[clide]

How the f*ck do you figure plywood isn't made from recycled material?!
Do you even know what plywood is?

Do you? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plywood

The manufacturing process is basically just shaving a tree into thin layers and gluing them together. I don't think there is any way you could argue that it is made from recycled material.

Particle board or OSB could arguably be made from recycled materials, but even that would be a bit of a stretch as I imagine the bulk of the material comes from newly cut trees.

How about cardboard? It is cheap, light, and pretty rigid for its weight. You could probably get some sort of water resistant coating so it won't fall apart if it gets a little wet.

[Gippeto]

Any objections to plywood scraps?

Construction sites throw them away to be burned.

If you grabbed them before the burn pile, I think that qualifys as recycling.

[STHORNE]

How the f*ck do you figure plywood isn't made from recycled material?!
Do you even know what plywood is?

Do you? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plywood

The manufacturing process is basically just shaving a tree into thin layers and gluing them together. I don't think there is any way you could argue that it is made from recycled material.

wow, that is sooo not the plywood I am talking about.

This is:

[clide]

wow, that is sooo not the plywood I am talking about.

This is:

That is soooo not plywood. It is oriented strand board, or OSB
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oriented_strand_board

[POLAND_SPUD]

one way or another OSB and plywood are made from trees not old planks or whatever... so they can't be treated as recyclable material...

paper mache seems like a good idea...though I am not sure how strong it is

[STHORNE]

wow, that is sooo not the plywood I am talking about.

This is:

That is soooo not plywood. It is oriented strand board, or OSB
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oriented_strand_board

Oh, o-k?....

I guess what you call strand board, we call plywood (in Wisconsin, the most hick state in the U.S., right next to Kentucky)

[flamerz14]

I WAS thinking of using particle board (i got bits lying around), but the new criteria (damn!) says I need to use recycled plastic

I was thinking of using 50mm pipe pieces from my old spudgun. But how do i get a flat piece as a base?[/quote]

[psycix]

You can heat pvc, then it becomes soft. You can then bend/shape it and let it cool down to fix its new shape.