Jim,
There are very few bends in our frame because we had nothing to bend tubing with! Our motor is a 1hp Scott I ordered from Cloud Electric, it has the copper brushes & larger fan than normal. I wish I could find another set of wheels like the rears. They have the built-in drum brakes, very simple to hook up. We did something different in steering, front drive and front steer. We got around the Ackerman dilemma by using a "joystick". Push forward to go left, pull back for right with a twist grip throttle. Next car will have a steering wheel, only one kid can handle this one & he graduates this spring.I think we'll probably go conventional with 2 fronts & rear drive. Torque from this little motor is awesome! I bought a 3-n-1 machine & no gas MIG welder so we'll be able to get a little more creative with frame design. By the way, 3/4" EMT works great doesn't it!
Would attach pix but all are too big file size!