Manky Monkey Motors

We have finally started! 

First job was to make somewhere to work, here are some pics of us building a temporary garage.

Here is the "garage" going up.  Heavy duty tarp and CLS timber was used to build it. Of course we picked a windy day to make it as hard as possible

And here it is with some "stuff" in it

That's a cool looking workshop Andy!

Cheers MM.  Here is the "proud" builder.  Will is behind the camera.  It's mostly stuff off the old reliant, plus some home knocked up benching etc.  Somewhere to work though!

If the quality of your temperary workshop is anything to go by, the trike will be a stunner  ;)

is that a fire extinguisher i spy... ... them flaming health n safty have got to us all.... good luck...

It is a fire extinguisher, not for long though - Will already discharged it all ove my car to "wash" it - thats the fuel tank to be :)

Nice workshop Andy . Dont forget that those tarps have a habit of shredding if theyre allowed to flap about too much!

Perfect.. now all your neighbours can appreciate grinding, hammering and swearing :) good idea I seem to create piles of dust at work which really annoys the boss....

One neighbour is really interested and wants to help. May let him :)

give him the dustpan and brush then :D :D :D

better still,,,

plug into his electric ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

hi andy, did you manage to salvage anything from the reliant motor?

Hi Dobber. Yes! Between the 2 engines I have one complete one, apart from a set of piston rings. I'mm gonna buy a new set for all 4 cylinders when I get some dosh :)

nice build going on

can't wait to see the trike.

gaz

it will be cool when theres 6 inch of snow on the ground.   you got a heater set up andy. wood burners seem to be the cheap option now.

Ha Ha, yes i have a heater :) - electric though :(

best take mike up on his idea.
 can make a cheap woodburner from gas bottles.
use gas in mine, only because i get a 19 kg propane for 21 quid tho. can get bit nauseas tho if on for ages

Yeah.  I have a bottle there to make into a burner, on the pics.  Just not sure about cutting into it, Read all the stuff about filling with water etc, but tbh im sorta canning it a little :)

May be a while Gaz, i'm Mr slow

there,s a well used ,,bottle,, stove over at ,,wonderland,,  probably going in the skip before to long ,,wherabouts are you ????

be very carefull when cutting it. read this

http://www.mankymonkeymotors.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=8865.0

Hi. I'm up in Bury, Manchester.  Ok for a drive out though :)

Thats the reason I'm canning it!  Spent nearly 20 years in trauma radiography, ive seen enough to know the machine always wins!

i,v cut loads but i,v allways been ,double,, carefull

might still be a big un thats been cut in half  i,ll look when  i go over i,m in north lincs at the mo and ,,wonderland, is south of stockport  9 mile,s from buxton

Wonderland is nearby to me then , not a prob to meet you there one day :)

yeah meet up when i,m over  i,m flitting back and forth so when i,m gonna be there for a couple of days i,ll let you know (dobbers been just ask him what its like  ;))

p.s youre from bury ????  i was a site supervisor for british rail on the metro link conversion job up there ..

small world. I use the metro regularly to get into mcr before training up and down the country.  Dobber told me about wonderland, he said it was just that :)  Would be good to come over and have a cuppa with you

i never got a cuppa, just stood in awe of wonderland.

Theres no kettle in wonderland is there, we never saw one did we dobber? :)

You look awfully familiar in that pick Andy, did you used to lived in/near Buxton?

Hi Nabsim

Nope, not me. I didn't do it.  It was HIM officer (points finger and runs away)

Been there a few times socially is all.  Born in Rochdale and moved to Bury 25 or so years ago.

  :D :D :D :D :D :D :D



so much to see,,,,,,,


you all walked past   the blo#dy kettle,,,,


now thats a first  :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

Has anyone any tips for getting hubs off the half shafts?  so far all the follwing have failed:

1. A Draper hub puller, heat on the hub. and a big hammer (broken hub puller)
2. Modifying my hydraulic pipe bender to make a hub press (steel of the pipe bender is flexing)
3. Swearing and ranting

Dunno but heating it on a barbecue doesn't work!  lol

Na you went wrong by swearing and ranting at it. :o
get the offending shaft. and take it to your local garage and ask them if they got a 20 ton press.give then a few bob and let then swear at it.sorted  ;D

if there that tight the only way is a 20 ton plus press. leave the nut on so it does nut damage the thread

Ditto to Terry T, and stand clear when they let go!!!!

Ha ha.  So we tried and tried with a clarke slide hammer, the shafts wont come out either - grrrrrrrr.  Bigger slide hammer needed methinks.

Spent the evening cleaning my head, here are a few before and afters, evening well spent methinks

Not a finished job, but clean enough to start the polishing up.  Valve compressor comes tomorrow, then they can come out and be cleaned and reseated with new seals

It was a mess !  :'(

nice.
 i left a blow torch on hubs, cut off back plate with a cut off disc then used some box bar against back of hubs with a lump hammer while rotating hub.
   oh what fun.

Yeah, it's usually the bearings that stick in the ends of the axle tubes. As Dobber says, if you're going for disc brakes & don't need the drum back plates, cut 'em off so you can get a clear shot at the hub. Then use a chunk of wood against the back of the hub & a few sharp whacks with a heavy hammer to loosen them. Turn the axle to hit alternate sides of the hub & try to avoid the corners cos you don't want to break 'em off! The hubs should drift out with the shafts attached.
Nice clean head you've got there Andy. As I'm sure you know, the valves are held with a pair of tapered "collets" that sit in a groove in the valve stem, above the spring. If you haven't got access to a spring compressor, you can remove them by putting a small block of wood against the valve head in the combustion chamber, then placing a suitable sized socket on the washer on top of the spring & giving it a sharp whack with a hammer. That compresses the spring enough to dislodge the collets. Best done with a rag over the spring to catch the collets though, cos they will ping out, ricochet off the ceiling of your shed & never be seen again. Yeah, I speak from experience.  :(

A perfect pingfukit moment!

when I removed my hubs from the shafts I found it was the key sticking in the key way that was holding it . I gave the keyway side of the hub more hits than the other sides as I rotated it. (plus I used a gas torch from a brazing hearth on it as well.)

I'm trying to preserve the drum back plates for Triker Pete, I'll persevere a while longer before I trash them.  Yeah, Ive lost collets before like that, I used to press them down with a ring spanner against a wooden block and get a mate to pull them out with a pair of snipe nosed pliers.  I'm getting older and more cautious now, so ive ordered a cheap valve spring compressor.  Best to show Will how to do it properly as well I thought ;)

So when the compressor slips off and the spring goes across the kitchen and hits one of Cath's ornaments, I can blame the cheap tool, rather thant the tool operating it  ;D

Head is stripped, and we have started to reassemble the engine.  Finally something is being put togeter rather than pulled apart. Crank and pistons fitted today :)

don't envy you stripping and rebuilding a  lump. but at least you know it will be right.  spent ages cleaning and regasketing mine and only heard it run on the bench with no exhaust squirting fuel into the carb for a few minutes

Its coming together ok now, but slowly.  Been cleaning the end plates this evening, going to get them in fresh paint tomorrow am, and fit them in the pm.  Crank turns over a sweet as anything now, its in the block I got from you with 2 of your pistons and the cam shaft Dobber :)

nice, let me know when its running. great to see things recyled..

will do - i'm a tight git environmentally friendly :)

Spent the evening playing with the new MIG, laying a few practice welds. Getting the hang of it faster than I did oxy acet all those years ago. Had fun to be honest.  Apparently the tarp workshop looked spectacular in the dark. :)

As it collapsed in a blazing heap?

,,,shrink wrapped,,,, :D :D :D :D

 :D :D :D :D :D :D

which mig you got hunter, got the funds for one but not got round to finding  right one.

Ha Ha Ha.  I was as happy as a happy thing last night just ferkeling about with bits of old steel.  I think I must be getting old myself!  Took me ages to set up the power / wire speed / gas flow to get anything approaching a decent weld, in the end they looked pretty good, so there is hope I think.

Also hoping to get the engine complete and running in a test frame next week while i'm off work.  So thats the first real job for the mig.

My brother is a proper welder, so he's gonna give me and Will lessons etc, hopefully I can get good enough to do my own frame, thats the plan anyway!

This is my mig dobber nice and easy to use, it's not got loads of buttons and swiches,Simple.
(http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll259/spares_photos/carberubbers026.jpg)

,,BUTTERS,,, i bet that was exspensive  they have a good reputation  i,v used a big 3 phase one but never personally owned one

 mine,s a  ,CEBORA, 185   same as snap on but under a diffo name..

So far the tarp workshop is surviving the winds! 

Engine is reassembled and we built a test frame to hold it. Test loom made and all external bits bolted on. She turns over and we have a spark. Petrol pump is goosed though, so a late night now trying to repair it (looks unlikely). I SO want to hear this baby run :)

C'mon, c'mon! Let's hear it run!

been waiting for this andy, be great knowing the block will be used again.

Made myself a gravity feed mini fuel tank today from an old gunk tin.  Batt is flat on my phone, so will post a pic tomorrow.  In the meanwhile here are a few from the past few weeks, and a puzzle for those of knowledge :)

So here is the puzzle.

When I cleaned out the head ports, i found they were numbered. At a glance I thought "Duh, why put 1 to 8 in there"  But then, on close inspection they were numbered 1,6,3,4,5,2,7,8

Any idea what these numbers mean???

Maybe the molds were in several pieces,and assembled in numerical order.

the su carbs look great polished. cant help on the numbers thing, took me ages to suss your engine was upside down...........

and on the kitchen table  ;D ;D  ,,nice one,,, ;) ;)

Yeah,love the assembly area..nice and warm and clean...I bet youre popular lol!

I was in a bit of trouble as Christmas approached, had to move out.  Can't understand why :)

 ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

because you wanted  oil, in the sump and ,,not,, gravy  ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

The engine runs ok. Whooo Hooooo. Water pump and Rad are goosed, need to get replacements.  But the main block is running pretty sweet.

Will is rendering a video now, will put a link up a little later.  Thanks to Dobber for the new block and to everyone for advice :)

Great news -another one breathes again!
I was going to suggest the numbers were the valve opening sequence, but as the Reliant firing order's 1 3 4 2 I'm not sure.

nice one andy, must be chuffed. rebuilds a big job in my book.... job well done. firing mine up on return from my trip. hope it goes as well

You still trippin' then Dobber? ;D

Here it is!  A video of the engine on its test bed and running :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_0yBsSaVW4

Sounds pretty good . Keep up the good work . :)
Looking forward to seeing this build completed  :)
.
.

Nice job!

Very posh set up by the way, switches, lights, exhaust! too clever by half  ;D

Nice informative video Andy -there's a whole new career there for you as a presenter!  ;D
Engine sounds healthy.

-thanks for the MMMotors name check by the way!

Thanks guys :)

heeyyyyy proper job. looks like a lot of time spent doing a job properly. well done.
 workshop looks brill by the way..


still here rod, back the back end of next week.. seeing andys results got me fired up to get motoring on mine asap.

Nice vid andy,
At this rate you'll have the trike finnished for the summer.

Blimey,top gear will be head hunting you soon as a presenter! ;D
 Love the flash wiring and the brazed  and painted 'fuel tank!!
 Tarp seems to be holding up well!
  Engine sounds ok mate.

Thanks again guys. We enjoyed making the vid - yeah, I present a lot for a living - tender pitches etc, so that dont worry me.  Today I think a little tidy up, and then look at the gearbox part of the project.  If you noticed a remote gear stick off a fiat hung up in the background, that is intended for use as an alternaive to cranked gear sticks etc, - going to see if we can use it somehow to give a nice notchy feel to the gate.  Off to get some mig wire now :)

Try the terrortubby type of shifter mechanism.

Hi Rod, yes I looked at that, and the one that sits in front - just fancied trying something a little different. I'm goning t play a little this afternoon and see what i can think of.

If you go for the TT one,you will need room above the g/box for the mechanism. Luckily mine only just(by about 4mm) fitted under the diagonal brace that runs from backbone tube to axle!

Looking to change the vague & sloppy gearstick on my own trike when I get back to working on it -so will be watching your next YouTube episode with interest.

so will i

I must comment that the TT one I built and fitted seems ok to me,but reverse gear means the lever throw has to go a very long way back to engage. I noticed this when I was moving around at msva place. It could probably be adjusted or designed to give less of a 'throw' but Im not bothered about it tho' cos I will rarely be using reverse.(at least it cant be mistakenly engaged cos its too close to forward gears!)

After a very hectic period of work activity, I am back at it!  We have managed to get the drive shafts out and clean up the rear axle a little, and have built a build trailer this weekend. I have ditched the remote gear change, just could not get it to work reliably, so I'm going to look at the TT design as RODeo has suggested.  Anyway here are some pics of the build trailer :)

Here are a couple more. 

The lines are at 250 mm intervals.  I have painted one side of the tape out so I always measure from the correct edge, cos I just know otherwise I'll measure from the wrong side and screw mess something up.

Cleaning up the leaf springs now and fitting new bushes etc ( I know - its a soft tail, has to be for SWMBO's neck as she has false disks in there) - Will put up a before and after pic once one is done.

Here we go

that very profesional looking i see no paint tins bricks or logs ;)

PMSL! ;D

Ah, well, I used those, measured it all then pulled em out again ;)

Oi Andy,I thought your lad handled the computer chores,and you did the trike? ;) ;D

Yeah I should leave that to him. believe it or not thats my day jobs as well !

making us look professional is that set up andy

We have made some progress. Have layed out some of the frame and tacked it up, and cleaned out the inside of the proposed tank.  The tank we bought was full of rust so we made this "tank rotissary". A few hours with it part filled with water and shingle from shmbo garden, and its nice and clean inside now.

Here is a pic of the started frame. We did some more since this but no pics yet. The grid laid on the build frame has been a great idea, as I can check dimensions easily with a set square off the grid.

Takes shape quickly.. Nice 1  ;D

cheers Steve. looking better now i have extra frame going back to the rear. I'll get more pics soon. taking a looong time to build .....

I found the tube that kicks up either side to the axle was a bugger to get even both sides jus wait till you get to the controls they take a millennium .. Lol ..nice work fella

Like the look of that already Andy.

Here are a few more pics, the frame is taking a sort of shape now. Lots of trianulation pieces to put in, but we should be left with clear foot wells and nice storage areas under the rear seats for battery and bits and bobs.

Another view

one more. Looks to droop to the outside, but it dont, it is all square - honest :)

So, we took a look at the wheels I got from the scrappy. They are alloys but in a poor shape. They have been painted but it is chipped and flaking.

paint blistering

Looking good there Andy. Are you using car type seats,or are they just for mock up?

Hi Rod. Thanks :) - Yes, galaxy leather seats are going in with 3 point seat belts. The arches will be high to form arm rests and provide sideways stability. I was reading your posts today and thinking how my plans were sort of what you was trying to acheive :(  - the seats fold down so when im on my own I can reove all the cluttered look at the rear, a nice removeable cover should make it look sleek enough I hope.

so we have cleaned off all the paint from the ally, it looks pretty poor below. We had a go with some wet and dry and it seems to polish up ok (right hand segment), - going to need some elbow grease on these I think.

green pad wrapped round a lump of broom handle or thinner dowel to spin in the drill?

Yeah, that may do it! They are quite rough, so will need gradually making smoother to get a finish. Some form of rotating thingy with various abrasives would be the way to go - you are right.

nah ! bit of 80 grit paper will soon b***er them up ;D

maybe i can get the flap wheel of my angle grinder in :)

Gasket remover spray from rs components will shift all the paint off in 20 mins then re-spray my two cents

 Hi Steve. Respray rather than polish ?

i would have suggested powder coat  ;) ;)

Polish them up if got no laquer or paint then

A little more progress made on the frame

Hoping to get some form of rear subframe at the back, not sure yet if to add full diaganol belts or just lapstraps. Either way the rake is set correct on the frame if I go up with it.

Having a play. these are not the final bars, need to come further back.  rear seats may not be too high when im done, especially as they fold flat when not in use .... ?

Trying to lose 70lbs now to compensate for the weight of those rear seats (and maybe live a little longer!)

Spent a little more time on the build. As I have run out of dosh for steel, Im working on things I can. Exhaust reformed and fitted and the carb is turned and manifold opened up to suit and fitted (waiting for gasket material to finally fit). Now ive started on the radiator mount at the front and the angle grinder bushes have worn out! - new bushes ordered.

Has anyone ever fitted a fuel level sender to a bike petrol tank ???

quite a few big modern bikes have fuel senders in the tank ,,i,v even got a tank of a 125cc kymco sector with one in it ,,

You can buy aftermarket fuel caps for Harleys with a gauge built into them.

Ive got a lovely fat twin filler tank - was hoping to fit a sender somehow - without wrecking the look of it - i'll have a google for the Harley ones :)

Just found this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2011-Sinnis-Stealth-125-Fuel-Gauge-Sender-BIKE-BREAKING-125cc-/220955870507?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item3371ff052b (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2011-Sinnis-Stealth-125-Fuel-Gauge-Sender-BIKE-BREAKING-125cc-/220955870507?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item3371ff052b)

Do these type usuall fit to the bottom of the tank ?

Did a little more and mounted the fan in front of the rad. The plan is all this will be behind a swoopy perforated metal thingy

Altered the angle of the Carb to 45 degrees and lowered it, this allows for my knee (i am sat quite forward) and is low enough and out enough to clear the petrol tank

Carb much lower, but same fuel path distance, I hope this will be ok

Managed to route the exhaust to central and run it under th prop, this makes it the same height off the ground as the sump and diff - it is tight though, and to remove the prop the exhaust will need to come off .. hmmm ...

Cool , are you gussetting the frame?

Yes, all the joints will be gusseted, with one longer edge to make a swoopy look. Waiting for the steel, I ordered 3mm, will that be enough ?

i did all my gusseting from 10awg(3mm) its plenty, andy does the fan spin the right way... as most mount behind the rad and desperse the heat back toward the engine, i know they can be wired to spin either way but if wired to spin anti clock wise mine clicks as its not meant to spin that way :P

Hi, the fan is made to rotate either way so that will not be a problem (I tried it as well).  Good news to hear I got the 3mm right, as I really have no clue to any of this.  I have run out of dosh to finish the frame, so I'm using up all the stuff I have to keep the build moving till I get some more money :)

ideally the gusset should be about the same thickness as the tube wall

and remember to fit the gusset to the side/edge of the tubing, not along the centre line of the tube

so if you cut the tube and gusset thru, you would have a _O not a -O

Ah, Right. It is the same as the tube, I guessed at that being right. I must admint I would have put it along the centre line. Thanks for that advice. Do you know why it is done that way ?

I was going to ask the same question

it could break away or crush easier if in the center and destort the tube if you know what i mean ;)

Ah, I see. In the centre it will be trying to crush the tube, on the outside it will be trying to rotate it.

On my next laser cutting run I can get some triangles/gussets cut for ya .. jus need a sketch or I'll just cut same as mine .. :)

Hi Steve
what are yours like and how much would you charge as I'm going to need a few

Cheers. Not sure what I will need yet, as there are lots of angles in this due to the curves etc. I'll make up some cardboard templates :)

I found it didn't really matter to much on the shape as could move it about when I welded but yeah templates are good , perhaps post them to me and I'll sketch them up and add onto the next laser run , postage plus beer will do :)

Fantastic !

so my frame is totally wrong ,,,,?  ::)

Mines 1/8 inch in on the tube I thought that was best... Ummmm

I agree, to be engineeringly correct, (is that a proper phrase?), the gussets should be on the outside edge of the tube to spread the stresses around the tube, rather than through it. However, I've got to admit, my own are usually welded along the centre line. Never had a problem, but best to do it properly. 

It does look tidier your way,would it make a great deal of difference

i knew the correct way but i havent done them all "right" i put them in the best way to suit where they was going. although id never advise trying it but i wreacon mmm style or simlar frame would be plenty strong enough with out gusseting.  :)

Theres also summat about getting the right angle on the outer edges of the gussetts,so that the weld doesnt finish on a 'pointed' piece of gusset.. There was a long discussion about this a few yrs ago on the Locost forum. Ive never had a prob with any of the gussetts on my trike,some are central,some are outside edge. also have done loads of gussets(ooh er! ;D) on various frames over the years the same.

I just assumed that if you use a 3mm plate on the edge of the tube you get a v shape to weld with.

There is something un-nerving about so many monkeys discussing gussets ....

 :P

mmm,, open ended ,gussets,, now then ther,s a thing  ::) ::)

I only know about closed ones i'm afraid

Its yer age Rennie..not so much appeal to the ladies nowadays! ;D ;D

I'm sure that trike will pull them in.. :)

Ha Ha, theres a thought.  Just got me a dodgy yellow top (ithink) for £26 on fleabay - gotta be worth a punt. Its just down the road from me so i'll collect it this weekend.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221072838761?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

Looks a bit open to the elements, goodluck hope it all good ;) ps thought you had an engine..

i was watchin that ,, ;) couldnt decide,, ::) and didnt know when i,d be able to collect ,,

"Just got me a dodgy yellow top"

Oh, I thought you meant you'd bought a nice new kagool.

Apparently it rotates ok, he seems to be a guy who knows what he is doing so I took a chance. I have a rebuilt engine, but I do like the look of steves little reliant trike, so I collecting parts for a low cost second build /spares. Andy, up here we need more than kags this past few months, its been terrible - I suppose it could also have been one of those 'orrible safety jackets :)

Some reckon it can be done..........

A good weekend. Worked out how to drive the petrol guage in the GS tacho clock from a reliant sender. So have turned the sender upside down on the feed pipe and blacnked off the pipe. Ground off the old petchck fitting on the tank ans made fitted a new one. Rest of the week will be fitting the new sender to the underside of the tank.

The GS tach is being removed and the various warning lights fitted to the face, just ordered those.

Had the engine running again the newly run exhaust seems to work ok ( a little loud? ) so that has worked out ok.

Going to order the remaiing steel for the frame today -  So next weekend I can hopefully finish tacking it all up, just in time for my Brother to weld it properly while he is home from Spain.

Certainly sounds like progress. Soon be on the road then Andy!

I wish!  Every little job takes so long ..... Would be nice to have it on the road this year though, we shall see ....

Just reporting in Chaps. Another round of busy, busy, busy with work, but the frame progresses well. The stainless mudguard has arrived (rear wheel cover from 4x4 and looks like it will work in a treat.  If all goes well i'll take a piccy at the weekend.

I've seen those advertised on Ebay. Good idea.

I used a stainless wheel cover for my rear guards, cut it into the required lengths then trimmed them with 5mm round bar to give a nicer edge as the existin edge was a little sharp although you couldnt cut yourself on it  :)

Some people here in Essex have them but I`ve always thought they wobbled a bit too much when going down the road, and that was after being strengthened a bit.

moved on a bit rennie since i last saw it...

The beast arrived. Been messing with it. Away on hols at the the moment, will put some pics up when I get back. Got a few days on the build when I return before I go back to work. Whoooooooo hoooooooo

Moved things on a little this past view days. Here are some pics (for Merv!)

The rear "roll bar" is c**p - not at all what I want and is coming off.

The rear end is taking shape

What's all the steel tube work at the back for? Bench seats? looking good

Seats steve :)

Started on the riders seat as well

overall view

them mud gaurds have turned out pretty good andy, a little tip curve the rear of the rider seat more you WILL slide back on it, ive had to make two little bush's to make the rear higher on mine as i didnt go over board on the curve and thought it would be plenty :P  to compensate i now ride with my left/clutch foot on the passenger foot rest,it keeps me on the seat and is actually a bloody comfy ride position for my strange self ;D looking good though mate keep at it ;)

Hi OAB. I planned to add a small arced back rest, about 2" high. Would you go higher?

that should be fine mate its just some thing to stop you slipping back, i only lifted the rear an inch from where it sat oridginally and it seems enough at that ;)

So is the roll bar a seat belt strap mounting point also? Is there foot rest for those seats? Looking good buddy

So that's the stainless 4 x 4 stainless steel spare wheel cover? I've seen the ad on Ebay saying you could cut them in half to make trike guards, but didn't realise how wide they were.

got them on mine sprayed black

Yes, I *May* use inertia reeel 3 point belts, or may plump for 2 point fixing and ditch the roll bar. Not sure yet!

The foot area will be formed from a sheet of some form, probably stailnless, with holes opprox 1" diameter in it, or possibly some form of swooping slots nibbled out, not sure yet :)

They come in various widths up to about 10" if I recall correctly. I bought the widest he had as my tyres are pretty wide.  Youb dont get a full 360 as there are a few mounting holes where the circle splits.

Look very shiney Trev :) - did you do anything special to get the paint to key to the stainless ?

you have been a busy man Andy........ its coming togeathe and taking shape keep up the good work  :)

be aware that widths given also include the 2 sides. ie: 10" maybe actually 8" wide with 2 x 1" sides

Thats a whole lot of tube round the back end Rennie! Looking good.

sorry andy ive spotted one major problem with your trike................ that fuel tank aint gonna get you know where :D :D

i opted for a 3 point racing harness to keep the little un in check, i know shes staying where i strap her witch in great peace of mind, doesnt stop me shouting" you ok sum" every 5mins and getting a mouth full of flys :(

no andy just ordinary primer, a can of gloss black and a can of clear laquer.

I have solved that, I've got a really long fuel pipe back to home :)

Good result, Thanks for the info  :) :)

Cheers Rod. I hope the weight is not a performance killer. This is essentially a slow fun trike for the family that we can chuck a picnic basket etc on the back and tootle out on. Having 3 seats changes affects the design a lot as its not possible to triangulate MM style and leave room for the rear passengers legs. I have opted for a central triangulated box section with triangulated outriggers to the axle which also hold the seats.  To be honest its probably over engineered, but as its my first I am going cautiously.

i talked with the spray man up at work when i was sorting out spraying a cromed head light bowl, he said etch primer is good but the key you put on the steel is more important if its a good key normal primer will do ;)

Finally made the seat frame and mounted it !  The springs are mountain bike shocks. I am a fat bast**d gravitationally challenged, and I used 750 Lb / sq inch springs. They seem to compress but I think maybe they are a bit stiff.

Also fitted the tank :)

I'm a bit worried about the travel on the forks, will this be enough? Any more and the shocks clonk on the frame

looks good to me andy my forks are around 45ish degree of lock but dont forget the good old reverse gear ;)  with the seat you'll probably find it will work good as it will compress over big sharp bumps but not bobb up and down like a shaggin rabbitall the way down the road, and if it turns out a little stiff eat more pies ;) problem solved :)

looking again what about handle bars hitting the tank??

going to fit risers to bring them above :)

45 degrees of turn each way on most of my builds too.

Thts why I went straight down with the tubes instead of out and down, its looking good fella :)

Yeah Steve, I thought the way I did it *looked* good, didn't think about the implications. I think it will be ok from the other comments, if not what's a little more CDS to this build :)

andy have you not got steering stops on your frame,they will stop it turning too far.

Hi Trev. Yes, I will be putting some rubber bump stops on to prevent it colliding. I was more worried that the angle of lock (about 45 degrees) would be enough.

andyi think you can get rubber bump stops that slip over the fork stonsions there likea tear drop shape with said holein the middle ;)

Those sound ok. I'll check them out.

Pah! Which then clobbered the tank. So the tank has been moved back a bit now. The 7/8 CDS tube seems plenty strong enough, going to bend up the bars today and fit them, then I gan have a good rive at them and see if they flex.

Also started laying out the dash on the PC last night. We are stripping out the gubbins of various clocks and remounting them all behind a single sheet of clear plastic. A printed front will stick to that with the LEDS for illumination behind, shining through the white parts of the printing.  We are following some of the ideas in this link:

http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-LED-Tachomter-RPM-gauge/

Fair play, that looks to complacated for me I'll stick with something i know already works  ;D

Did a lot of electronics in the past Merv (3 years running international amateur TV champion!) So that holds no fear for me :)

Andy are you a radio amateur by any chance?

Looking good there Andy. on the seat spring it look as if. they need to come up a bit the angle looks to steep. for them to work properly. as for the steering stops don't it have to be a welded pin on the headstock that the bottom yoke to stop against

Yep. Old timer now - G8LIR - got my licence in 1972 only 14 at the time!  Did loads of ATV back in the day. All home brew gear including the receivers. And a pair of 4CX250's with 2KV on the anodes in the transmitter to a set of 4 x 40? element yagis fed with Andrews LDF450 coax. Happy days.
Are You ?

Hi Terry - Cheers. I Fiddled about with the springs a bit, more steep and they didnt compress, I bought 750 Lb/sq inch, probably too much with having 2. I;ll see how it behaves on the road then fiddle :)

Yes, the steering stops. I did wonder about welding something to the headstock as the "bumps" are still on the bottom yoke. Ive no idea which approach is best though.

Yes Andy my call is GI0ZER licensed sinse 1996, it's a hobby that come's in usefull in many ways...are you still active

Hi. Sadly not. Still got an FT221 sitting in the workshop. One day maybe ......

Spent hours with Will today bending a nice set of swoopy barsgot them up the the risers and was not happy at all with them. Then we relooked at the bars we decided not to use, and they look fine on the risers. Ah well, live and learn hey!

I've made & re-made parts for my truck 2 or 3 times. Despite all our plans & measurements & sketches, or even computer designs, sometimes you just need to make bits & try them to see if they're gonna work or not. 

Wait till you get to the fiddly bits they take ages.. Lol

got to agree with that. spend ages doing something late in the build and it feels like your going nowhere. can be spirit breaking.

Been quetly busy making slow progress on the front end.  Work in progress is:

• The electronic dash with smiths clocks nestling in between
  Handlebar pull backs
  New headlight mount

By the end of the weekend it should be together to some degree, and i'll put some pics up :)

Bought a lovely 7" bates style case, and fitted a retro domed lucas headlight (designed for mini type conversions, so it takes modern halogen bulbs) -I have tosay I like its looks.

Great look forward to the pics I buy this item 221111794603 on the bay for mine :)

That looks nice !

Any update it been a month now ..  :o Lol

'Tis true - SHMBO decided I needed to put the new landing floor in ober the old staircase, then plaster, rewire and fit a new rad there, plus move all the others about!  So no trike time past few weeks.

On the good side i got the handlebars sorted and the front end is looking better, and my Bro is coming on Sunday so we can get a full day in (hes a good welder!)

So here we are, brothers at work :)

More

Action shot

Looks like the space shuttle when its upside down :)

A hive of activity your catching me up! :)

I doubt i'll ever do that Steve - like you said, the fiddly bits take forever

Split the diff yesterday to take a look. Ouch, the thing had been under a stationary car for years and water had got in. The bottom of the crown wheel is very corroded. So I split the axle I got for spares and - whoo hoo - crown and pinion in great condition, so a swap in is in progress.

Now a question - there seems to be no sealant between the diff casings on either axle. I really want to run some hermetite replacement in there cos it just does not seem right to leave it dry, but I am bothered. Does the diff really rely on a push fit only to seal it?

I had a very thin paper gasket on mine but I used a sealant as it leaked without, also when I bought my "this axle will be perfect for you" I found that the diff was welded! Not impressed , love the frame work chap

Normally a dry fit, but Reliant engineering's pretty basic. I'm sure a suitable sealant wouldn't do any harm.

Thanks Steve and Andy. Ok, I'm going to run a fingerfull of sealant around the rim when I reassemble it. So here are a few pics of
a) the diff after degreasing ready for inspection
b) same diff in freezer bags to keep it clean from contaminents now it sparkly clean there it will now stay until I reassemble
c) diff housing cleaned, sanded and primed :)

Diff

2

3

Oooh, get you -all organised n stuff!
Very nice mate.

Great keep pics coming :)

Cheers guys. Did a little more this evening, proper paint on the dif cases nowand painted up a hub and disk.Also started on the conversion of my bust fuel pump to an oil filler. This pic shows the type of fuel pump fitted to my lump

Removed the top and the pin that holds the cam follower, then took out the gubbins. The diaphragm is removed by rotationg it by 90 degrees. To my suprise I found a lovely steel wowl below the diaphragm. The bottom of the bowl had a ring of aluminium coming back up. The ally ring was milled away using the dremmel and the hole which the diphragm shaft goes through was made bigger so the oil will be able to flow more easily.

I had hoped to use a Radiator cap as the oil filler cap, and found that the rubber ring of the cap fits snugly part way down the steel bowl. Perfik!

So I made a ring for the upper seal of the cap to fit down onto. Th eplan is to make a lower ring that will bolt onto the pump body, and connect the 2 with a short piece of pipe.

The gasket to fit the new assembly will be cut out of the old diaphragm, as it is already the right fit ;)

Couldn't you just have a flange plate and tube with a bung out at 45 degrees?
Or iz this a feature to resemble the original ?

I am hoping to get a small squat result. I really didnt want a structure running at an angle so I thought i'd have a go this way :)

Fair enough any idea of dipstip or use original?

I was just going to electroplate the tube with replica chrome - not sure about the plastic handle yet - maybe an anodised aluminium knurled knob.

Its great to see an idea take shape ..... good stuff Andy :D

I couldn't figure out how the dipstick tube came out

This is nothing to do with the dipstick Steve. It is purely a mod to the fuel pump casing to allow it to be an oil filler, fitted where the fuel pump used to be. Dipstick is untouched.

Thats a bloody good idea Andy, will you be cutting off the filler kneck from the rocker cover and filling up the hole?

Hi tbone. I wasnt going to, as that also has the crankcase breather in it back to the carb. I am thinking that needs leaving in place otherwise the crankcase pressure will rise and maybe end up pi***ng leaking oil everywhere? For the record Steven Brock mooted the idea :)

Im running my breather pipe from the cap to open air,had no probs. You could cut the rocker cover filler neck off and just weld in a stub for the breather?

Hi Rod. Thats a thought as well, would make the top look more streamlined for sure. If the breather is going to vent to atmosphere it can be anywhere i guess, so maybe I can incorporate it into the dip stick knob. Is this venting to atmosphere ok for thr MOT????

Ah that Rod beat me to it!  ;D

Yes it`ll be fine, the MOT man wont be worried  ;)

Thats that sorted then :) - off out tome make a bit more now.

Your MOT man might want you to clip the vent pipe so it doesn't flap about, probably point it down to the road under the trike & possibly away from heat sources like the hot exhaust, (explosive vapours). Removing the rocker cover filler neck & replacing it with just a pipe would look tidy though.
Re-using the fuel pump housing's very clever, though I think Id've gone with a short filler tube welded to a flat plate, bolted to the pump mounting holes, with a knurled, push in or screw in filler cap.
Clever, lateral thinking.

you could also put a tiny K/N filter at the end of the breather pipe

I wonder if I couild put thje filter onto the end of the dipstick as its "knob" are the little ones strong enough?

More pics in 15 mins - Andy will like what he sees I think :)

Here we go, a short tube attached to a bolt on flange. Is that wht you had in mind Andy? - Edit - Just reread Andys post, not its not. Ha ha ha :) - Edit -

Need to add the "sloping" metal on the filler end of the tube to lock the filler cap down when twisted, then its a file, polish and plate job :)

Post it over ill powder coat it for ya :) i like it

Cheers steve. If the electroplating does not cut it I will :) :D:D:D

That's a great idea for a filler ;)  Have you checked clearance with the distributor clamp plate?

Be alot better coated as hides any marks etc I got a bit of chrome left also :) I don't know where you find the time .. He he :D

Yes, set the tube length to look ok but still enable the cap to come off :)

I like it! 8) idea Andy. But being picky(as you do in retrospect!) and in no way trying to put this idea down...The pump body is quite a difficult area to keep clean,with all those little crevices,so I reckon(but who am I to say? ::))it would be better to have tube and cap as Manky described.Bet there'll be a few people look at it and think"wheres the oil go in" though.

Tell 'em it's packed with grease!

Its an auto oil top up system !

Nice job Andy.

Cheers MM. Ok, so today I lashed up built a variable voltage supply and set up the electroplating kit properly. Action shot in the outhouse setting the electrolpating gear up.

more info please Andy,this sounds interesting

And here is the result. Not as good as I hoped. Its nice and shiney, but I really didnt spend the time prepping the steel. Looked ok when I put it in the tank, but the process seems to enhance every little scratch. It'll be ok for where it will be, but not good enough for eye level.not sure yet if to plate the old pump bidy (will need something called zincate) - paint it metallic blue like the main trike or hammerite gloss black (or post to Steve for powder coat black!).

Powder coat hides all that :) but wow we'll done you !

Looks damn good to me. How long in the tank etc. More info please

Hi Scannerzer. The kit came from Gateros plating http://www.gaterosplating.co.uk/ (http://www.gaterosplating.co.uk/) Thet say you can use a battery charger but it didnt seem so controlled to me so I built that thing from stuff I had lying around from the past.

There is a tub og alkaline cleaned (using current) a tub of what they call acid pickle ( that does a final clean) and a tub of replica chrome fluid (its some form of nickle plus loads of other chemicals including a brightener). So it ends up as a very bright chrome looking nickle plating. I am going to give anything I do with it a polish and a coat of laquer to try to keep it shiny.

Ok, here we go then. 120 milli-amps per sq Inch - so this was plated at approx 1.5 amps, 30 mins insertion time, tank was 35 degrees Celcius (fish tank heater!) with agitation (fish tank pump and aeration stones) -  8 nickle anodes suspended on titanium wires.

looks good to me too

Hmm, like it said, up close in the flesh its just Ok. I'm sure better prep will get a better result. Lets see what the risers / clocks support comes out like later ;)

Well I'll have a big box of trim parts from my truck to nickel plate at some point if you fancy doing a commission! What's the biggest size you can do in your tank?

This tank, probably 8" x 7" - however, the electrolyte is 10 gallons, so it can be put into other things. I saw a long thin placcy box in poundland the other day, and guttering can be used for long thin trims etc. Happy to do it for you Andy once I am happy with my own skills. You cant plate onto Chrome or Nickel as for as I know - ally is ok with a pre coeat with zincate (whtever that is!)

Checking my options, but this looks interesting.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zincate#Zincate_-_plating_processes

Right, Zincate adds a layer of zinc to the aluminium to stop it reacting with air. Then it can be plated, and the zinc is replaced with the plating compounds.

Kinda makes sense. Never tried home-plating, but it's one of those DIY jobs I'd love to see in action.

That looks great Andy, I had the roll bar chromed for my kit car last year, and talking to one of the old timers at the plating works, sort of tapping him for info ;)  he said with respect to steel parts, the bulk of the cost is in the labour for polishing the steel to a near chrome shine, before any plating takes place, starting with a soft brass wire wheel and then on to using two different graded polishing mops.

I have been sceptical about the diy process, until Ive now seen your success.    ;D


 

Ok. Guys, it really is not that good, nice and shiney yes but lots of scatched from the base steel showing. Here is what I'll do - Im going to make a new clutch lever to attach to the gearbox. So, once thats fabricated I'll start a thread for the process, and take detailed pics, then we can see together what is / is not possible, before I plate it we will get it to a point there is a concensus it is ready to go in the tank - fair enough? :)

Cool! We get to do science stuff!
So how long does it take & can you actually see the plating building up on the metal?

Will take about 3 years to make the part, and 30 mins to plate it! I can arrange a shallow tank but with the agitation and the fluid being dark you still wont see much i'm afraid.

Ohhh. So it might not be science then. Could be magic plating pixies hiding in the bottom of the tank.

If it is they need quite a few watts of power up em to get them moving ;)

Yeah, I work with a few people like that.

Do ya want me to powder coat it then? ill do it free like, if it really good you may need to make another  ;D

Ha Ha Steve. Maybe?  I'm playing at the moment, want to see what I can do with zincate on the bottom part first. :)

Your a alchemist now .. Lol I bet you'll be stealing gold off everyone soon .. :)

did a little more, she's on her wheels now, still got to put on some gussets

another view

Looks tight for the exhaust , splendid job :)

Comfy cushions too.

Tis tight for the exhaust, Think I can make it work though. Cushions are needed, that steel is cold on my rear (im worling in a big tent remember!)

thats really moved on since i last saw the thread. nice.

Made a start on the gear mechanism.
This is the concept:

And here is the first part made up, what looks like the main gear stick will be cut short for the final stick to fic to the top of on a slide with a spring.

Curious. I'll watch that with interest as gearstick routing always presents headaches.

if this works, and its a big IF, reverse will be selected by pressing down on the gear knob. This will cantilever the original gear stick upwards.  There is no force at all needed to go side to side across the box, its only really needed to select gears. Im hoping that by having the cantilever rod rotate forwards and backwards with the main gear stick this will help push the original stick back and forth without any attempt at rotation of the original stick, if you see what i mean.

Yup. Interesting.

Wow .. Fingers crossed for ya buddy I'd lose patience lol

Nice Idea and should work, giving a car type gear change.
Only problem that I can forsee, would be the top link trying to pivot around the vertical (right hand) link, if there is any slack in the joints, or if the linkage is not sturdy enough.
Hope this works, moving the gearchange away from ones crown jewels, without ending up, with a really long gearlever, is always a problem.

Ok, Finished roughing out the gear change, and it works! Not to much play anywhere so im quite pleased with it. May take a while to tidy up the welds etc to get a decent finish though :(

To select reverse the gear knob is depressed, which lifts the original selector, otherwise its a standard H selection.

.

Another variation on the theme. The more ideas the better as they may well help someone else out. I'm still waiting for someone to come up with an auto box for Reliants.

there must be a auto box that would work on a reliant engine

andy great gear lever idea

Yes,good idea Andy.

So we have been busy here doing allsorts of nothing! had a good think aboiut the rear sub frame and that horrible hoop we were trying to contruct to allow 3 point set belts. Well, we scrapped that idea. I still want a little bit of strength behind the seats so we have come up with a nice second gentle curve, should look good with the seats up or folded flat. Here is the new weight reduces frame, with a new weight reduced monkey (lost over 2 St now!)

The plan is to fix the new curve in where it is now balanced. and put a few shiney rods down from it the horizontal to the back to form a luggage rack.
 
The old dust sheet is 'cos there was lots of confusion in the picture with stuff on the wall etc, its not a normal part of chateaux rennie

The whole subframe can be removed to allow for axle removal etc, plus maybe we can have a "touring" frame with a luggage area (this one) and a simpler lighter one for day outings....

Also did a bit of work on the inlet manifold. This is the standard reliant manifold with the heater jacket cut off and then polished up. I have also reversed the orientation and turned it by 45 degrees on the main manifold. This angles it forwards but clears the tank (or will with a suitable spacer). I have bought some some 10 mm silicon rubber sheet to make a spacer between the manifold and the adapter plate.

Nice work Andy. Considering you've done very little, you've done a lot!
Lookin' very trim too!

Did you sort the front end weight out?

Cheers MM, feeling better for losing the weight, must admit!. Done some work on the rear seat fixing and suspension,will take some pics tomorrow. Not sorted the front end issue yet Steve. Done a lot of research, im not keen on fork extenders having talked to a few folk who make them - the general view was "DONT DO IT". so its either a different longer set of forks and associated stuff or alter the frame. $$$ say alter the frame. Going to take a good look at it tomorrow.

andy what forks are you using,, what lenth /diam, ar they ,

Hi Mike

37mm Gs1000. They seem to need to be about 70mm longer to raise the front enough :( - will measure the length tomorrow

pair of fork legs here not sure on size or what thy ar of but i think they could be ,xs, yam , i,ll check the size n, lenth,

Cheers Mike. I'll go out to my workshop tent tomorrow and take a few measurements

I tried to put least weight as possible on my front trying to match weight applied to bike front wheel, I'm making girders for my other trike as personally believe anything heavier than a bike needs something more substantial, I bet you could make your own girders check this guy out I think he great

http://youtu.be/xQZ8TIeZnws

That's worth thinking about Steve. Not sure of i have the skills though!

You made the frame! Don't underestimate yourself buddy

hi mike. Current forks are 790 from wheel centre to the top of the fork. Needs to be about 845mm 37mm diam

Well, Steve set me off on a journey!  I'm going to have a go at a set of leading link forks and make my own yolks.  Nothing too fancy, just enough to look ok and give me decent handling. My reading seems to indicate a trail of about 1.5" will be ok.  Going to get a set of shocks off evil bay then start from there :)

When you first came here you didn't think you could build a trike -now there's no stoppng you!

Ha ha. Its not turned a wheel yet Andy, and its taking forever, still, the journey is more important than arriving hey!.

This is the general plan for the leading links. The part I am going to need some advice on ith the pivot at the teal coloured blob.

The main legs will be CDS, as will the rockers and bail. Yolks will be 1/2" steel plate, fork legs welded onto the lower yolk, and both downwards through the upper yolk into a net welded in place indide the top of the fork leg.  Plates below the rockers will carry the clipers, and the shocks will mound into saddles so the shocks runs parallell to the fork legs.

I will fabricate some form of square peg to weld into the bottom of the fork legs, which can then locate between two plates welded to the rockers. Need some form of bearing / pivot in there, I remember comments about needing brass bushes or some such but no idea how to do that. maybe I could use some sort of bearing ???

The man has a plan :)
If you go with this, please take lots of pics as you go along. I'm sure others will be very interested (I know I am).
One thought. If the legs are welded to the lower yoke and bolts through the upper one into threads in the top of the legs, how do you adjust the distance between the yokes to adjust the steering head bearings, or do you make the steering stem long enough to take an adjusting nut plus lock nut plus a bit of clearance under the top yoke?

ssome good pictures here,
http://threewheelsmad.tripod.com/leading_link_forks.htm

Hi ON. The plan is to use an independent adjustment nut. I have a high tank so the extra clearance will be welcome. Onetonmcgoo on you tube bolts his girder forks to the SIDE Of the yokes with straps. The upper straps are longer than the lower ones allowing the rake to be tweaked slightly by moving the whole assembly up an down.
good link that Chewie, again lots of ideas, l had a good look at that :)

That onetwomango fella has great vids it all look so simple..  I'm not far off showing mine off soon :)

I like leading links.


Some observations.

Caliper bracket needs to be above the rocker arm.

The caliper bracket must be fully floating (must be free to rotate when the wheel spindle is done up)

You need to fix the caliper bracket to the fork leg using a link bar (use a rose joint each end) not the rocker or you will get a torque reaction form the rocker arm under braking.

The bar that links them should run parralel to the rocker.

Pivots could be Oilite Bronze, Dx  or needle bearings.

I'd not weld the fork leg to the lower yoke. It's a stress raiser and may adversely affect the metalurgy of the material you are using.

It also makes getting the alignment of the pivots harder to set.

Click on the link to see how Haggis built a set. The link takes you to britchopper.

http://www.britchopper.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=26673&hilit=hopw+not&start=125 (http://www.britchopper.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=26673&hilit=hopw+not&start=125)

Hope that helps

Cheers byzmax. Not sure what you mean by fully floating but i will take a look at the link etc. Early days in the planning, all advice is very welcome indeed :)

Hi ByzMax. That is a fantastic article, credit to Haggis on the forks, and lots of great ideas there. One thing I am still unclear on is the quote above. In the build shown the caliper is below the rocker arm, which puts the link bar into compression under braking. Is that why you said the caliper shoiuld be above, the the link bar would be under tension rather than compression ?

Not sure what diameter stantions to go for. Words of wisdom anyone?

2" x 1/4 wall

http://www.wildcattrikes.co.uk/9.html

ive got the Big Yella trike plans and they call for 48mm with 3mm wall

That's what I'm make my frame out of.. Lol

Hi Steve. 48 mm for the reliant trike frame?

Don't think you will need to go quite this big ;D Have you seen the weight of the trike ? 730 kg :o
Would expect a reliant trike to be about 300 kg.

Mine is quite beefy due to the extra seat. Maybe i should weigh it to bring some science to this :)

You been round here weighing my trike ON? :) Front wheel weight 85.2kg each rear wheel 78.1 kg so total is 241.4 kg. Need to add in 2 seats plus battery and engine water and 5 gallon of petrol plus wiring and lights etc, likely to be in the 300kg region.

i am wondering if i could utilise my existing yokes and use 38mm x 3mm cds as the stanchions. Or do i need to go to 2" as Steve suggests?

http://www.britchopper.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=26673&hilit=hopw+not&start=125 (http://www.britchopper.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=26673&hilit=hopw+not&start=125)

[/quote]

this is interesting Andy do you have to be a member to read the link,good luck with the front end can't wait to see how it turns out

No my v8 one

Unfortunately it's not quite as simple as using the weight of the trike to calculate the tube size. You have to take into consideration the maximum gross weight, the speed, the fork design, even the tyre. One of the biggest factors is going to be the braking forces.
With a low speed vehicle, small drum brake in a motorcycle wheel and straight tubes you could possibly get away with 25 x 2 but I wouldn't recommend it.
You should however, be able to get a good idea of the required tube size, from the existing stanchions as they were designed to cope with the brake/wheel fitted (assuming your existing front end is from a suitable heavy bike).
Long winded way of saying, I Would think 38 x 3 should be ok, depending on design, but it's up to you. ;D

On solid works the basic stress calcs say 38 x3 cds is fine 38 x4 cds is better :)

the current stanchions are 38mm and less than 3mm wall thicjness. So I think i will go for the 4mm wall thickness and it should be ok. Well, I will find out hey!

this is interesting Andy do you have to be a member to read the link,good luck with the front end can't wait to see how it turns out
[/quote]

Yes, I had to register, took a few hours to be approved.

New coil overs arrived for the leading link forks. Looking at them they will look silly on 38mm tubes, so will probably go larger anyway now!

Spent the day sat in the garden dressing the welds on the rear sub frame, will carry on tomorrow and take some pics.

Also tried out my compressor and spray gun repainting an old wicker chair for SHMBO, all works well, so thats ready for painting up the frame when I finally get to that :)

All in all a good day in the sun

the sun always makes one feel better

You could fit a wicker basket to the front  ;D

nearer the truth than you could know Steve. SWMBO has a wicker picnic basket ready for the back.

So a few pics of the rear. This is the luggage frame in on one side, and ive altered theframe itself slightly. The whole rear can be removed to remove the axle.

Another view

First thoughts on the light cluster. I have some lovely old glass lenses to fit into the end of the extension tubes somehow, with LED's behind them .

Very creative Andy. Nice to see something a little different.

 :D been there, done that  :)

The basket I understand. What is the mallet for ? :)

those lights are gonna look good

What is the mallet for?

For getting rid of the inevitable picnic ants?

Like the idea of the tubular lights.
Not making life easy for yourself are you :). As scannerzer said "gonna  look good"

What mallet  ???

grey part of ,cruch, handle pointing upwards at back of basket and basket handle, ;) ;) they should have gone to ,spec savers,,, :D :D :D

Ha ha, sorry Pete, saw that as a caliper and a mallet. Yep, specsavers it should be :)

 :) maybe a mallet would be an idea to whack my knee back into place now and then ;) :D :D ::)

Did a little more. Sorted the rear fixing for the mudguard, and started  making the light pod.

Inner fixings. There will be  a plate over this opening

Overall view

This is where I will fix the temporary (nasty) light I think, hurts to do it though. The retro fog light below is probably staying thoiugh, looks really nice in the flesh

well dont then :)

Im frightened of a fail Pete :(

have faith

I like the concept of a rear bodywork
I really like this idea also ...keep pics coming its shaping up nicely..

(http://i1061.photobucket.com/albums/t466/steveatthemorgue/cool%20trike%20pics/63F070C9-4DD5-46A4-BD6B-C310809F22C1-1655-00000179FA9942DF_zps0fffb94c.jpg)

Saw these rear lights on a Jenson at a local show today. Made me think of your trike Andy.

Yeah, thats the sort of thing :)

You thought about all the extra superficial weight youre adding Andy? (no ..not the cream cakes youre scoffing! ;D)
 Or am I getting paranoid about adding weight? Im even wondering if its ok to carry  camping gear on mine when we go on our France/Spain jaunt! and thats only a few more kilos!

Not too worried Rod. Weighs in at about 250kg now, doubt it will be much above 300-350 when done. This intended to be a pootle about the uk on b roads machine. I used to have a reliant regal 750, took 2 of us plus all camping gear around Scotland no probs. Just not very fast

And im acutely aware I want something between my families backs and the car that rear ends us, Mashed Kidneys are a real life changer. (Mr negative I know, I know). 

Is it a 3 seater or two?

3 seater Rod :)  The rear seats are independently mounted and sprung at the rear. The luggage rack double up as a crumple zone. The seats are designed to have built in lap straps. The arm rests fold down, those are being modified to be larger (with an inbuilt waterproof loudspeaker) and covered in leather to match the front seat and the trim of the trike generally ( Grey seats and blue leather trim :) )

What you thinking?

Still investigating my leading link front end. Anyone got an opinion on these?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/45mm-Billet-Aluminium-Yokes-suitable-for-use-with-Monkey-Bike-Motorcycles-/200903559572?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item2ec6c90994

NO. Please do not contemplate this.
Designed for a very small light bike. Look strong but will be very light as most of the material has been machined away underneath.
Looks like even the stem is alloy.

Cheers. Seemed to good to be true :)

They are for a Monkey Bike not Monkey Trike. :D ;D

ha ha. are these more like it - still 45mm :)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Honda-CBR900-RR-CBR-900-CBR900RR-yoke-yokes-triple-steering-stem-/121086996742?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item1c3158f106

I you want to use yokes off anything why not use some from upside down forks Bigger diameter.

i saw a few at 48 mm but hellish expensive. I could go to custom made yokes, but that will be a lot of £££ I think  :(

If you know someone that could bore the holes for you ,
You could do the rest yourself.

I suppose so, its the hole accuracy that makes or breaks em i suppose. Maybe I can find a local engineering firm tha cam do that for me. Just no Idea of what im doing with this - eeeek

I suppose a good staring point would be wheel width.
That will give you an idea on the hole spacing.

Thats the trigger i needed Hunter:)

If I start there I can get the caliper carriers in , speedo drive etc and that will then set me a width between the rockerss. I could rough all that out to prove how I was going to do it. once I knw that I can work uphill on my dimensions :)

I have a fat bob style tank on, so wider stachions (and fatter ones) will give it a more balanced look I suppose

Just curious..What do you reckon the weight will be when finished then Andy? Mines 300kg unladen ,but seems to have a lot less stuff on it that yours? (and I was put off pulling a small trailer,cos I dont want to strain the clutch!lol)

i wouldn't worry about the clutch Rod. i standard reliant weighs just over 400kg and it can carry 4 adults  :o. so yours at 300kgs plus 2 adults. that leaves 100kg plus 2 adults and a bit to play with ;)

i used to tow break downs in with a robin van when i was a teenager , i used and abused it as much as possible never ,killed, a clutch wore a couple out through general wear and tear , and even snapped a crank off behind the flwheel,, but as i say clutch,s stood up to it very well.

Maybe its deceptive Rod. True there are 2 chairs to the rear and a little steel behind them, other than that its about the same I think. Currently weighs about 250 kg with all the stuff on, I am expecting 300 - 350 when its finished.

Hide came today. Well 2 of em. The idea is to trim her up in the blue against the existing grey leather. Bit of a problem, I ordered 2 and there is SO much of it. Ah well, nice matching tool rolls will use a little extra :)

Are you touching cloth most of the day then  ;)

There is a local rock band called touching the cloth!

Blue leather Andy? Just purely out of curiosity, what does that much leather cost?

E-bay Andy. £60 (£30 per hide)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/111054265115?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

I think its a good price myself, but what do I know hey!

A lot cheaper than I expected. So where do they breed those blue moo cows then?

Well these came from Switzerland, Blue cow, rhymes with moo cow anyway :)

There must be Blue cows,cos I've seen Blue cheese.

belgain blue,s  ;)

 ;D Beat me to it.

we had a pet one when i was a ,nipper,   ;) ;)
,
called
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wait for it
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,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, blue cow  :D :D

Looking forward to the weekend. Spent all week in Lingfield and Oxted. Very nice but not home. Plan is to get the front facing lights fitted into the rear subframe, build up the other rear quadrant and fit the other seat. Then look at making some arm rests with that lovely leather :)

I bought a pair of "waterproof" speakers to go in the armrests, has anyone any experience of doing that?

Assuming the speaker is mounted vertically,as opposed to laying flat,make sure it is tilted in toward the bottom. This should allow any water/rain etc to drain away from it.I have seen them mounted horizontally,facing upwards,with the rain left to 'dance' around in the cone as it moves !

Good point :)

We've finally got the rear seat alterations finished, and they work nicely with suspension. Got one in primer this evening. Will put some pics up after tomorrows efforts. Will has made the outer arm rests and worked out how to fit the speakers to the arm rests without water pooling in them. We have yet to get the centre arm rest sorted out, as that has to fold forwards to allow the seats to be folded flat All this detail work takes forever, hope it shows at the end :)

Curious to see the photos now!

And here they are. Rear profile with the seats up.

Close up of seat suspension, the front is a simple pivot . I welded a tube through the frame, and brought 2 plates down to each side. Welded a little boss into each plate so the pivot rod goes through the components

Seat up, arm rest is still a work in progress by Will

Seat in down position

Seat reclined back

This is the colour scheme. Seat will remain Grey, most of the other trim (armrests, saddle, various trims) in blue leather

It will :)
Nice use of suspension units.
I assume that they are mountain bike rear suspension units. Are the std. springs ok or have you fitted lighter ones?

Yes they are mountain bike shocks. I have left the springs on that came with them. If they need changing i"ll do that once we've run her and seen how they perform. No idea really but they do move on a heavy sit down, but not much!

Interesting seat set up Andy.

Look a bit top heavy in the photos, but in real life they look ok. This is 100% a family trike! Being able to fold them flat should improve the streamlining when i am on my own i hope. This is very much a learning project ha ha

your rear guard's look the part Andy nicely done

Dont forget to cut hole in armrest for coffee cup :)

 ;D

Wine glass

started fitting the back support parts to the saddle base today. Based on the headrests from the donor galaxy, the back support can move up and down into different lock stops, or be removed altogether. The black plastic clips end up flush with the top of the saddle. My plan is to bring the saddle up a little at the rear to form a natural curve for my bum derrier. the lower back support will project up above that when inserted. tried it out tonight and feels just right. Small pic shows how the clips fit against the leather in the finished job.

rear rest fully up position

Just my 2p while youre at the design stage Andy. My first backrest was fixed,non adjustable. I found that apart from getting the height just right(as you have done,by making it height adjusting) I also found that if it was made to swivel on a horizontal axis ,it gave loads of different driving positions eg sitting a bit 'slouched down' or leaning forward etc. It really did improve the feel,and allowed greatly needed movement on a longish journey. My backrest is only slightly padded,so it really needed the angle to alter,to fit my backbone angle. You may get away with yours as its so thickly padded?

Thanks Rod. In fact the headrest part does rock backwards and forwards, so that may be enough. If it isn't I will design a new head part on the existing stems, so there will be no need to redesign the whole saddle. I guess there is no way of knowing till I go for my first long distance ride. Certainly feels ok so far, but i'm sure you are right, small things become big things after a  couple of seated hours.

Some interesting design ideas in here for the leading links:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/grasstrack-speedway-leading-link-forks-/111076638179?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts_13&hash=item19dcaefde3

BTW, I am currently in India - Work you know ;) - Off to work hard in the hotel spa now  :) :) :) :)

What are the 'bobbins' on the sides for?

If your referring to the forks then the bobbins maybe for locating big rubber bands as part of suspension??

That's exactly what they are there for. I believe the suspension unit on the left side is just a damper.
The flaked chrome under the right hand lower yoke, suggests a possible stress fracture at the weld.

Did a little more this evening. Rear mudguards fitted at the leading edge. Cut out the support for the electric fuel pump, and started on the carrier bracket for the rear master cylinder.

Master cylinder bracket fitted

Key switch position, and playing with a location for the remote brake reservoir (sp?)

Andy
   Had you thought of mounting it closer to master cylinder?
 8)

Do you mean put the res on th mc bracket?

Yes, make bracket to fit the upper bolt that holds mc to chassis, with shorter connecting hose :)

Nice soft seat you have there, I guess this idea looks cool but may rupture a disc or summat :)
(http://i1061.photobucket.com/albums/t466/steveatthemorgue/cool%20bike%20pics/null_zpse21cff77.jpg)

looks like something you would find in an S&M dungeon, not that i would know  ???

that's a thought! I was originally going to mount it above the rear caliper height. Maybe with the residual pressure valve i don't need to.

Started on the handbrake while I ponder the remote reservoir position. Made a plate to bolt it to and welded it in. the lever has a rod coming out at right angles which goes through 2 rubber bushes on the frame. I will run the cables along the centre of the frame to the compensator thingy and then on to a tang on the rotating cross rod.

side view

this has really moved on since i last visited the site to have a good look round. you on it regular Andy

Do what I can, usually some every week. I travel for work some weeks which takes my time away. Want to get is MSVA'd before the end of the year :)

Awesome work

Nice work!

Can't imagine that bending a brake disc would be very easy to achieve! Or is it just serverly warped?

oxy,,accetelyne,,, oil .helps bending things ;) ;)

Brake disk not on my trike, I guess a lot of heat was involved though

Made a handbrake adjuster / compensator this weekend

And a clamp for the handbrake cables. I can cut the sheath of the outside now and run the inners under the three screws on each arm. The idea is that the scews will hold the cable, and the lock nuts will keep the screws from rattling out.

Drilling out the centre hole for the handbrake cables, had to go slow on this.

One leg drilled and tapped

Scalloped the tube for the adjuster to help hold the nut at each end while it was welded in.

Adjuster being fabricated. One nut was drilled out to allow the bolt to rotate freely. This allows for the adjuster to draw in the threaded bar attached to the compensator bar.

Finished Adjuster attached to the boss for the handbrake tube

Making up the adjuster rod. Used the magnetic angles in the vice to get everything lined up!

Adjuster rod made up, looks nasty at this stage

But after a bit of angle grinding and filing, came good.

I do like a nice bit o' fileage.
Still can't quite get my head around this set-up, but lookin' good mate.

Back to leading links. Came across this at a 40 weekend of all places. On speaking to the owner (a very nice chap) he was telling me that when he brakes the handlebars rise instead of fall. Is that due to the brake callipers being on the rocker rather than floating?

Will assemble it all onto the fram at the weekend, then it will make sense (I hope :) )

Yep. Causes a torque reaction. Had an early Honda C50 that if you didn't chamfer the leading edge of the brake shoes the front would hop. They had very short leading links.

I had a c100 - don't remember the leading links, maybe it didn't have them, I was only 17 so my head was full of testosterone then !

Modified the post -  - It was a C110 - cos it looked like a real bike, and it DID have leading links, what a blast from the past that is.

Ha ha ha. Wrote that a year ago. Hope to msva this year now...... Ha ha ha

if you handed someone some small bracket or mount and said "i spent a day making that" they wouldn't believe you but that part of what make our projects what the are, unique,our own and well special.

Mine was half built when I got it and I worked for almost a year to go through a MSVA test.It's always the small things that take the time

Does this make more sense?

It does to me :)

nice work Andy I like the way you did that

Ahhh, with you now.

fitted the exhaust today, thanks to MM and Spanners for the Mini Bobbins idea, works a treat

.

and to do something simple tweaked a jack from my old galaxy to use on the frame, works a treat, but will need something soft between the cup and the frame once its painted

Your old galaxy? Always suspected you weren't from this one. Still waiting for the mother ship?

Got left behind Andy. Its not really a Trike, its a SPACESHIP !

Like the jack idea. Might nick that one.
The idea not the jack. :D

Got fed up of heaving her up onto wood blocks on my own. - Nick away, the whole thing took no more than 10 mins. I just cut a piece of scrap to make an opening of about 120 degrees of arc, then put it onto anther piece of scrap and whalloped it till it was a looseish fit. The Jack has a hinge and a little spring in it so the original top could angle as it went up, now the cup can angle as its welded on to the original top.

Thanks Andy, finally got a name for her now, "Delta Flyer" :)


http://www.startrek.com/database_article/delta-flyer
 

 :D
I was thinking more...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LW2RlaC6nAs

Of course, you could weld the jack to the trike frame, in an out of sight spot under the centre of the axle, & it'd always be in position, ready to use when needed.  :)

You can go off people you know

id need three then, cant afford to bye 2 more cars for their jacks

Didn't some classic cars have built-in jacks?

nice work with the exhaust and the jack ,looks good on both counts.

Thank you

Spent a day adding oilite bushes to the clutch assembly - pics to follow. Looks good to my eye :)

So, been planning the new forks and rocker for the leading links. Forks will be 44.45 mm CDs, 4.44mm wall. Rocker and bale will be rectangular section 60x40 mm 3mm wall. Rocker will articulate onto the forks using 25mm id brass bushes inside a crush tube in the rocker. Wheel bolt will pass through the centre of the rocker inside a crush tube. Callipers will be free floating and tied back to the forks. Does anyone have good or bad things to help me with that idea before I go ahead and spend me dosh ?

Here is a pic I hope of the updated clutch pedal. Tried to electroplated the lever and trollied it, not enough current I think, will try again on Tuesday. Pleased with the oilite bushed and mild steel rod.

ehhhh nope  :o

Cant get it to upload off my phone. Will do it when i get to my hotel :)

Here it is. If I can sort out the electroplating it should look ok.

Can you show us the process Andy ,it sounds interesting .pedals look nice by the way

Will do. Once i have got it sorted out and know what i am doing i will start a thread on it. Not really in a position to show and tell yet as its still hit and miss!

Looking forward to the coming thread

Yeh me too

My needle is waiting to be electroplated ready for the thread as well .  ;D
.
.

looking good, what you using for non-slip on pedals?

Not sure yet. Either:

Weld on some part arcs to follow the curve, that can then be plated in with the rest

or

Put on cylindrical rubber bands, old pushbike bike inner tube stretched over in rings was a thought

or

Try to make some rings out of silicon rubber plate.

All ideas welcomed!

KNURL IT

You used to be able to buy custom footpegs called "Sundance" pegs. They were chromed with grooves machined around them & rubber O rings fitted. Unfortunately the O rings used to break & fall off as your feet rubbed them. So you either had to put in a regular order for new O rings from your local bolt shop or hydraulics supplier, or run the pegs without rubbers.
I assume the pedal sections are welded to the arms now so can't be put in a lathe & knurled?

They are welded (well, it is, not done the brake yet) Could soon cut it off, but not got any knurling facilities.

I did wonder about knurning, will mull that over .......

Hmmmm

I wonder if this idea could be adapted ....

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SILVER-RUBBER-GRIP-ALLOY-PEDAL-SET-ALUMINIUM-SPORTS-CAR-FOOT-PEDALS-3-PCE-KIT-/300717793665?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item46042d6181 (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SILVER-RUBBER-GRIP-ALLOY-PEDAL-SET-ALUMINIUM-SPORTS-CAR-FOOT-PEDALS-3-PCE-KIT-/300717793665?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item46042d6181)

what about the grippy paint used on step edges etc,mask of an area paint it and leave the rest as is ,seems a shame to cover those nice pedals

like this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NON-SLIP-CLEAR-MATT-PAINT-ANTI-SLIP-TEXTURED-GRIP-STAIRS-/190844743798?pt=UK_DIY_Material_Paint_Varnish_MJ&hash=item2c6f3bb076 (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NON-SLIP-CLEAR-MATT-PAINT-ANTI-SLIP-TEXTURED-GRIP-STAIRS-/190844743798?pt=UK_DIY_Material_Paint_Varnish_MJ&hash=item2c6f3bb076)

dont forget to check if your trike is in the "compatible vehicles list" :) ::)

That looks like interesting stuff, I've send for a tin to see how good it is.

Ha ha, see the following posts, i've been playing

So I started with a sheet of 10mm thick silicon rubber and chopped a bit off the corner

Then I cut an 8mm slot in a piece of scrap, and poked the silicon into it. If I go for this idea I will add a big blob of silicon rubber to the bottom to glue it in

finally a bit of shaping with the angle grinder and a sanding disk on the silicon rubber produced this

send them to me i will knurl them for you just cover the postage

With a bit of care a few of these may also look nice. Will try the anti slip paint that scannerzer came up with as well first before I decide. This way adds a little texture, could be good, could be bad.

Cheers Stumpy. So now I have 3 options, none slip paint, silicon rubber inserts and knurling. Decisions decisions. Must admit I like the idea of knurling.

did a little today. Tacked in the fuel pump bracket. Checked the tank for water tightness and made good a little weep at a weld with some new weld :)
The inline filter will be positioned between with stainless braided connecting the lot. Might spay the pump "chrome" to bling it up.

looks good bud i hope for your sake the fuel pump never leaks above all that voltage of the ht leads !!! apart from that sound job

is that the filter that comes with various size interchangeable ends?
I had one but ended up chucking it in the bin as couldn't get it to seal, now have a compact unit with water trap/filter  :)

is that the filter that comes with various size interchangeable ends?
The ends are solid, and screw together to clamp onto the glass, hope I can get a seal

for your sake the fuel pump never leaks above all that voltage of the ht leads !!!
Is that worth worrying about before I continue? Must be honest I hadn't considered that. Are these facit pumps prone to leaking anyone?

why do you need a pump gravity feed should be fine  as long as fuel tap is above inlet on carb

I have noticed a few people talking about problems when low on fuel, and also the tank is low relative to the carb, so going uphill the outlet will ne below the carb.  so on balance decided to fit one. Maybe not needed but will do no harm.

for when he chucs the supercharger on it

Think I would fit the pump on the other side of the tank. I'd rather pour petrol onto a hot manifold than a distributor.

OK Guys, I'm listening :) I'll take a look at where I can fit it on the other side later today.  As I was feeling glum I spent a few hours servicing the starter motor today. All stripped and painted, and the bendix is off and a new one ordered. So I polished up the aluminium part that will show. Here is the part where its not polished, and where it is. pleased with this :)

Ooh, shiney! What was wrong with the Bendix gear?

the teeth are very worn and knarled at the place where they contact the ring, and it sparks when it contacts. Wondering if I should replace the starter ring at the same time, then its done with? The teeth on the ring seem ok - they have a 45 degree chamfer on the contacting side of the tooth, I guess that is ok?  This is the inertia type starter.

Only ever had to replace one starter ring, they are deliberately much tougher/harder than the bendix so unless its actually broken I'd leave it alone.
Replacement usually involves upsetting the Mrs by putting the starter ring in the oven and possibly the flywheel in the freezer.

And you in the doghouse.

I am the man with no fear. had the engine on the kitchen table the day before xmas eve. I've almost stopped limping now as well. Had another look at the fuel pump this evening, beginning to wonder if I do indeed need it. Any comments?

Only time I've fitted an electric fuel pump was to my red "Special Delivery" Reliant trike, because the tank was at the back & below the carb height. If you're worried about fuel flow, you could fit a large bore tap, like the Pingel ones for instance.

Not so worried, just seemed like a good idea at the time. I think I'll give it a go without and see how that goes.

Personally I'd leave the starter ring alone unless it is knackered
I,ve only replaced one at work and it required oxy acetylene and soaking the fly wheel in cold water

I remeber replacing one on our Cortina rally car - it involved a large round mark on the kitchen tiles in our council house (where we dropped it getting it out of the oven).

I'm back! Been on holiday and then had stuff to do with my Mum. Still onwards and upwards!

So, I did a fair bit this weekend on the front end, looking a lot better, pics when its a bit further on.

So here is a little question - do the front indicators (mounted on stalks) need to be bendy, or will a solid rod be ok?

Done a bit more this weekend. Decided to fit these BMW grills to the front. Made up a paper template for the top

Transferred the paper template to 1mm steel

And tacked it onto the front

Lots more of the same, and I ended up with this

Grills in place, as a test

getting there :)

side view

very stylish Mr R

Very nice.

Thanks guys. Been good to get some time on her :)

Andy, looking good but will those bars whack your leg when you turn on full lock? :)

Come to my leg, but a bit long at the moment. I think if I shorten them slightly they will clear my legs and still be ok to reach, still fiddling with that bit Pete :)

Maybe angle them up a bit ??

when i make up bars i usually sit on trike and "assume the position" then my chrissie takes some measurments from hands to top yoke, floor to hands and also from hand to hand. this way i know the bars are going to be a good fit and be comfortable :)

Will and I did that. Bars felt much better low, not straining my shoulders. May try with some packers to see what  they would be like a bit higher.

looking very nice  ;D

grills look ace!!!!

(http://www.choppersaustralia.com/picture_library/CAFDavo%27sShovel-06.jpg)
adjustable handlebar jig

So does that jig. Thanks Chewie

Handy jig that. I've often bought handlebars only to find them to be useless once fitted.
BTW  Chewie seems to have aged a bit recently ;)

ha! not me and not mine!

Angled the bars up a bit tonight, they don't dead leg me now! Fitted a couple of conical bump stops for the steering. And played a bit with some braided flexible brake pipe for the front brakes, think that will be ok through the bars and down the centre of the headstock.

So here is a couple of pics of the bump stops. They sit at an angle above the rad grills and the bottom yoke nicely lands against them. Will need a small piece of reinforcing steel behind to stiffen them up.

here she is from the front with the bars angled up, and a trafficator stalk fitted.

this is a cross post, just wanted to get the finished pics into my main build thread :)

neat and nicley done sir  ;)

Can you get the wires past it ok from the switch gear? Assume you got a switch for brake light also?

Yep, wires go through ok. The brake light switch is broken, may fit a new one, or may put a hidden pressure switch in lower down. Playing with that tomorrow maybe.

thanks. Lots of monkey advice got me there

I've never thought of using rubber bump stops -I've always used stainless ones. Makes more sense though.
Love the BMW grille panel.

looking good mate

Been doing a lot the past few weeks. I have finished making the bars, which include a plate that bolts to the existing headstock. All wires and cable run in the inside. Quite pleased with them, will put a pic up soon. Also made a little glass fibre pod for the volt meter, temp and oil pressure gauges.

Keep it up fella :)

Handlebars, glass fibre, sounds like you have been busy  :)
Where's the pics  ;)  :D :D :D

Andy, did we get sorted on the receipt you needed for the engine for the registration. dint recall if i sent it or not.... how did you get on with it?

Hi  Dobber. Dont think I got it. Some sort of receipt would be good just so I can prove its a legit engine. Cheers :)

OK, here are the pics. Im getting back on the horse now :)

Firstly, the bars. The grips will be heated and has a little control box. So i made a small container for it at one bar end

And brought the brake line and accelerator cable out through little angled tubes

the brake line passes down an upright and onwards through to and past the lower yolke and out, ready to  connect to the flexies to the calipers

the overall look will be quite clean I think

here is the glassfibre pod mounted with the other clocks. May be a bit top heavy, will reconsider this once ive got the SVA!

Clocks and pod mounted

Then turned my attention to the rear brakes. Finally fabricated this lot. The outer tube has to be welded to the footboard like the clutch side is, and the end will be radiused to match the pedal.

I will insert silicon rubber discs into the slots to end up with slightly raised rubber ridges. The pedal itself will be nickelplated.

Missing is the return spring, which wraps around the shaft, recovered from the old reliant brake pedal.

I was unhappy with the wheel spacer / stud extender system i got off ebay. Also the wheels are 100 pcd so didnt really work on the 4" pcd studs.  I dont have a lathe, but managed to make this adapter.

Marked it out and then using a hacksaw took off as much material to get it round as i could, then got it a little more round with a 40 grit flap disk in the angle grinder.

I drilled a small hole in the centre and put through a long bolt, which also went through a bearing. plates and nuts were used to clamp the rough ally disk tightly onto the bolt.

Put the free end of the bolt into my bench drill, and clamped the bearing at the bottom.

With the drill running on low speed the whole thing spun securely.

Then brought up the angle grinder very gently and slowly slowly allowed it to becone round.

once i had a nice round thing swapped to a 120 grit flap dick and polished it up a little. Then finally used emery cloth.

To get the centre hole I used a bimetal hole saw, and again took it easy and used plenty of cutting grease.

next job is to fit the new studs to the hubs, and the 12mm studs into the adapter.

Last pics for tonight. I have just got these little parts. The circuit board and wire are a 12 volt temperature sensor. I intend to fit the pressure gland to the bottom of the rad, and somehow put the sensor through it into the water at the bottom of the rad. The relay will turn the fan on and off. The on / off temp is set with the little switches. Hope this will be a neat and flexible way of managing the electric rad fan.

I'm amazed you've gone to all that trouble with those studs, why not just get the holes relocated to suite larger studs? I wholly agree with not "bending" studs by going 4 inch/100mm, but I wouldn't be too keen on the adapter method either.
relocating the holes shouldn't cost more that £50 at a decent machine shop.
Huw

I can see a lot of graft has gone into those bars and the pedal will looks sweet once the rubbers are fitted.
Keep at it mate.

all looks good andy glad to see you back

Hi Huw. I also need thee extra width to suit other aspects of the design. I have added 30mm per side to the width to allow the seats to work nicely.

Cheers. Last couple of months have been a trial, got my life back a bit now. Onwards and upwards

Cheers buddy

doing a cracking job mate. keep it up. liking those bars  ;)

Finished the first wheel adapter today. Fitted it an then spun a rim on it. As far I can tell there is no eccentricity or wobble at all. Well chuffed.

So you should be. Not the easiest of things to make, especially without a lathe.

hey up. . i put corsa wheels straight on the reliant stud pattern  after drilling out n putting thicker studs in. is this gonna bite me on the rear and if so can a adaptor be bought on ebay.

To be honest i don't know Dobber. I think you can get wobblenuts to take up the difference. as i needed to space the wheels out anyway seemed the obvious way to go for me. I initially used wheel spacers and stud extenders but really didn't like that as there would be a lot of strain on the studs plus the pcd difference.

maybe those with more experience than me can comment?

Following adaptors for Reliant to Vauxhall ;
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Trike-wheel-adapters-Change-reliant-hubs-to-vauxhall-wheel-fitment-safely-/231203744238?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item35d4d129ee
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cheers fifer.
bit pricey at 90 quid delivered

Mine probably cost that to make once you add up the price of the ally, hole cutter, other drills i needed - without considering my time (considerable amount used!) Having said that, i wanted 30mm and had fun making them, which was the biggest factor.

Just be sure the extra width will not have your wheels proud of the mudguard if that matters to you - not sure about legality of it either??

Just to be pedantic, there are numerous references to using 100mm wheels on 4 inch hubs. Sure they work, but you'll be bending std studs. If you upgrade to imp studs or 12mm you'll still be stressing them. Ask yourself if, when you tighten your wheelnuts, where do you stop tightening?
I've raced an autograss metro exactly like this, it's caused me no end of problems, but at the end of the day I'm strapped inside the metro,not sat on top of it.
Just my opinion of course,
Huw

Unless your nuts are wobbly  ;)

My nuts are wobbly but only when I run . :o
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 :D :D :D :D

Just done a little past few days. Finished the rear brake mechanism, and fitted the horn. Got a hazard switch and fitted it into the instrument pod.

So here is the populated instrument pod.

Here is the rear brake lever/pedal

And the horn :)

So today i started on the rear light pods. I wanted to use some lovely old glass lenses i got some time ago in individual tubes. But then I realised I was taking a big risk with the MSVA. so to be  honest

I bottled it!

Plan B - fit E marked LED lights. I considered hamburgers, as the trike is curvy, but decided against tht as they would be too round! So slightly curved ractangular on in hand, i destroyed it a little by cutting the box off the back!

Doesnt look much at the moment, but i made up steel pods to take the cut down lights. These have plenty of gentle curves and follow the frame (sort of!)

Once i apply a bit of filler and a lot of elbow grease I hope to nake them look natural and flowing.

loving the instrument cluster very smart and the horn  ;). keep it up mate

those taillamps look the job Andy

Thanks guys! Finished the tail light fixings off today. Cut slots in the top and tacked a couple of lugs to the cowls that will engage.

And araldited a plate with a with a nut welded to it onto the bottom of the lights

So to fit the lights  i offer them up from below, then push the base in and insert a small bolt from below.

Then I started on the rear mudguards. Cut a hole for the front marker light and mocked up the look i want on the arch with sticky paper and card!

Bent up some 10mm cooper pipe  to form the lip of the arch and fixed it into place with glassfibre and expoxy.

The wire for the front marker light will run through the copper.

The tools various are to keep the pipe flat and in place

Rubber came today for the footrests and sundy other uses maybe?  Very pleased with this 1 meter by 2.5 meters for less than £20 off e-bay

close up of the rubber. has small ridges in it

I have used a rubber with small ridges on it  ;)
.
.

 ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

That's a bit sensitive. ;D

Spent a bit of time on one the rear muddguards today. Made the box to receive the front position light and plumbed in the wires round to the back. After working on the inner arch for some time moved to the outer arch and sculpted it up a bit. Not happy with it yet, as it needs a little more material adding to make it more rounded but its getting there. I am going to polish the stainless up  and run the colour of the frame up from the frame round to the back on the outside as a small band of colour, that will cover up the filler and a little of the stainless. I hope that comes out ok.

Wont be able to do any more on her for a week now as im going doing a bit of "international monkey of mystery" travelling again, fly out tomorrow am at 8:30 :(

Are you being parachuted into a trouble spot somewhere?

Cause trouble everywhere i go :)

Remember to send back pics. We like pics  :)
Hope the trip goes well mate.

Spent a bit of time on the build today. Cut the oil filler of the rocker cover and welded it up. Also made the bracket on the rocker cover for the coil. Fitted the brake m/c yesterday. A little further forward.

Working my way around the rear when the mood takes me. Some progress.

Fitted the remote master cylinder. It is at the highest point in the system.

Probably going to fit the coil here. Looks balanced against the dizzy. The HT leads can all run vertically, and drop down is some form of nice harness onto the dizzy cap.

The bits you show are looking good ,when can we see the whole trike

Watching ON change deliverance gave me an idea. The Trike has 2 uses, tootling about with Cath and Will and touring abouit the UK with Cath. So Deciced to make it convertable from 3 seats to two seats. Also the single seat setup will have a higher rear seat so Cath can see over me head.Did a bit of adjustment to the third galaxy seat I kept back, here it is fitted centrally.

Rear seat mounted up with suspension :)

Relaxed Position

Go Faster Position

Ok Merv. Will pus her out in the next few days and take some pics. Nothing much to see yet though.

I am fitting an electrical oil pressure guage as well as an oil warning light. The sender is huge!. After a lot of thinking and googling i came to realise that the spare facit petrol pump i have has 1/8th NSF threaded connectors. One of these fits perfectly into the oil pressure switch hole. So I ended up making a new aluminium "mainfold" to carry the sender and switch, which can be fed from the existing outlet. looks different! The nice thing about this is that i will be able to pick up the wires from the temp sender and these 2 senders into a single loom.

I wanted to try to make the HT leads look neat. My original thought was to take them up and back down in a bunch onto the dizzy top. The plugs for cyl 1 and 2 foulded the dizzy so that wouldnt work :( so plan 2 is now in force. I have made a silicon rubber ht lead spacer so the leads come out of the dizzy neatly. more to do yet

And finally got around to fitting the axle breather after seeing Pete's post!

nice work there sir well done  ;)

looks good Andy

Glad it was of use to you  :)

Today I made a new bend to go between the carb and the manifold. I had altered the original reliant one, but wasn't happy with it and the dashpot plunger was a little close to the tank and hard to get out, much happier with this now. Its steel, but i think if i paint it aluminium coloured or the colour of the frame it will look ok

looks good,i'de go body colour. i like your choke lever very stright foward and effective

Neatly done sir. Found that I had to wrap mine in insulation, to help retain the heat transferred from the manifold. Think the fuel was condensing on the back wall of the bend.

Cheers. I saw that somewhere else and swiped the idea. Will need some bracket ray i think

Thanks Olds. I did wonder about that as the original reliant had a water jacket. I am toying with the idea of a spiral wrap of copper microbore central heating pipe and running the water through as the original reliant did.

i think i know where you found the choke idea  ;) ;)

was it yours Mike?

Used on this one

...& this one

...& this one

...& this one

...& this one

...& this one

etc, etc, etc.

has ha ha. Knew i'd seen it somewhere :)

But not this one  :D
Here you can see the insulation. Do you think microbore copper tube will wrap around that tight without crushing. If it does soldering in place would help heat transfer.

Would look great if it works.

I managed to coil 8mm copper pipe around a 2.5 inch induction pipe for a turbo engine to help cool the charge before it went into the inlet manifold. After several attempts with the pipe flattening out, I filled the tube with brake fluid and crimped both ends tight, then it wrapped around easily with out any distortion.

Good idea i was going to try sand!

and this one  :)

OHHH! I like that one ;D and I dont get trikes!

but the question is who did it first ? and when , :D :D

Changed it a bit to allow for the accelerator cable.

Changed it a lot.  :) Not seen anyone doing it that way  :D
Can you still get to the idle adjusting screw?

Just. The plan is to change the screw for an Allen head so it can be adjusted from the side. I am trying to keep the dashpot the prominent feature, and keep the other components around it neat. Proving difficult!

You used to be able to buy chromed dashpot covers, (may have been chrome effect plastic), that slipped over the top to bling it up a bit -or ask someone with a polisher, like, say, Mr Olds, to polish it to a mirror finish for you.  ;D
What's the choke cable fitting from? Interesting.
 

if you post the dashpot up i will polish it and post it back. if you trawl ; dobbers trike ; there are some better photos of mine all done

Hello dobber
Haven't heard from you in a while 

Cheers Dobber!  Andy, it's from e-bay cost four pounds.

Routed the accelerator cable this evening. Made a couple of little brackets to hold brake pipe clips. The clips were too tight, so pushing in the cable split the plastic casing on the cable. I have eased the clips using files and they work fine now, will have to put some heat shrink around the split casing, may do that at both clip positions.

Also made a double cranked bracket to pick up the return spring for the accelerator. I got a nice shaped spring off ebay for a Mini SU - looks ok on.

So this is the final look - not happy with the short choke sheath - may take another look at that. i have anothr of the bends i used for the accelerato, maybe I can make that fit. pretty clean look which is what I was after :)

That's very tidy Andy -much better than long loops of cable flapping about.

you could use nickel/copper brake pipe as a rigid cable sheath/bend (I have done so in the past). Looks neat and polishes up nicely.

Had a good couple of days firkling about on my build. Following the advice about not putting things like fuel pumps over the dizzy i have reorganised my petrol tank. Moved the weld in pingel boss over to the nearside and welkded up the hole it left a few weeks ago. So now I have also moved the feul gauge sender over to sit above the carb / manifold, as I guess there is always a chance that could leak around the flange.

Having done that I decided to sort out the fitments for the witing to the headstock from the main frame. This is goint to run in stainless braiding, so i made and fitted a nice little terminator for that. I also wanted to brig it out through the bottom of the tank via a rubber gland affair, so i made one from silicon sheet.

to go with this i filled in the large apateur at the front of the tank, and applied filler and elbow grease to get it looking sexy and curved. The tank now drops down nicely and the rubber gland thingy slides up into the tank, finishing it all off

tidy Andy nice way to do it

Very neat and tidy. :)

Thanks guys :)

Looking good Andy.I didnt use any cable on the choke.I hold the choke open by hand.

How did you manage that while riding alon and at lights etc! :)

2 days to build a battery box! Mind you that did include making a sheet metal Break into my bench. Ran out of welding wire as well so trip to somewhere tomorrow to get some more. Pics tomorrow night when I'm done

You too! Trouble is it's a bank holiday, so the only place near me will be Halfrauds.

Yep, same here. Ah well, at least I can do a bit more then.

Andy..I hold the choke open on start up, let the engine warm up a bit then close choke before moving off.Never had a prob.mixture is set correct, so isnt running too rich etc.Mostly only ride on warm days, so that probably helps as well!

Wow, I remember my old reliant 750 (3/25 Deluxe!) took for ever to warm up and not need the choke, mind that was a zenith carb and the heater was usually on most of the time :)

Been a bit quiet recently here. Had to clear out my Mums house to sell it and empty all my Dads tools etc which has been quite upseting.

Anyhoo, I decided to get some Trike Builds therapy this weekend. So made up the panels to go over the electrics box and around the handbrake.

Here is the electrics box I made up fitted, need to make a rubber seal for the edge yet..

And here it is with all the panels fitted, and the new seat balance in place.

I'm much happier with this seat than the other one I mde, and it has the advantage that the little radio fits into the purpose made void behind my back!

Looking good.Do you think the seat base needs to be slightly narrower about half way along? May chafe your thighs after a while? just a thought.

Possibly. I'll sit and bounce a bit once it is fixed in place. I didnt glue the bottom rails in in case i needed to alter it :)

A radio ! Next thing you'll be adding is air con.  :D
All looking very smart.

Completely reworked the saddle this weekend, looks and feels better. Also had a play with Caths sewing machine on the leather I bought. Seems to see it fine, so there is a plan forming for my Christmas distractions now.

Does Cath know about this ! :o

Sort of, I snuck up on it by trying with an old decorative jones hand cranked one, until she took pity on me 😏,

Right. The bolt on is on the road. Next weekend I tidy up and start again on my main build. Feeling much more enthusiastic now.

Good for you  :)

Sometimes you just need to take a break from a project to get your enthusiasm back. Onwards!

Workshop clean and tidy. Bits and bats ordered, bank holiday weekend coming up.

Now i have a confession to make....

I have messed about with the saddle a lot and never got it to feel right. At the weekend i just placed the old seat of my late mums invalid wagon thing on, and it feels brill, but looks like Sh*!

What a decision to make, form or function? Arrrrgggg..

Have you seen the seats on our trike ? :-\

I have now! 

Spent yesterday fitting the oilite bushes to the clutch pedal. Today I finished off cleaning and sealing the tank.

Moving the fant tomorrow one making a little bracket for the fuel line. One small job at a time .....

Hi All

Just reporting in due to a PM from JJ

Been busy with work this past while, and travelling a lot. Done a little on my build (I bought a sewing machine so have been playing with the seats).  Will try to get some pics up sometime.

Good to see you back

Hello stranger.  ;)

Should have been on sooner. Don't know why I didn't. Spent the afternoon doing lots of bits and pieces. Nothing to show as such but all needed doing. I think.

Got an afternoon outside today. Did some work on the bench seat and added a small piece to the frame.

I have retired!

It might get finished now!

Planning to make a set of leading links this weekend. I'll post some pics:)

Congrats on the retirement.


But you only started it in 2011.  :D

I know that feeling 😥 but crack on dude 👍😎

Leading links on the list of todos on my vmax, I'm told they make a big difference.

I have semi - retired

Whoo - Hooo

Get ready for pics and general drivel now i have time

Congratulations!

congratulations Andy

Again!  :D