Wish our team had seen this book http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Racing-M...e+constructors when we were doing Formula Student, would've been invaluable, discusses types of steel and aluminiium used in frame construction. welding and the distortion causesd by it, steel and aluminium alloys suitable for axles, hubs etc, exhaust construction, low volume casting techniques (are you reallygoing to cnc all the parts for the theoretical 1000 production run?) and loads more.