Manky Monkey Motors

Well, the MMMotors itinerant travelling trike builders have been on the road again today.
Ska Man & I bimbled down to deepest, darkest Darrsit this morning to help out with Toad's new tricycle. In Toady's compact & cosy workshop, cunningly disguised as a lock-up garage, we set to & knocked up the basics of a new hardtail frame.
A bit of head scratching, a bit of shuffling components about & a break for some bacon sarnies & a Jaffa Cake or two, then we leapt into action. By the time we left this evening we'd produced this.

For those that don't know, Mr Toad has decided to up the standard Reliant's performance just a teensy bit by stuffing a dirty great supercharger on it. That's led to some good natured, (sort of), rivalry with the Brit Chopper forum guys, who are also charging a Reliant. Obviously ours will be best!
Toad plans to mount the carb behind the cylinder head, so we've made the top tube extra long. Lots of pipework to fit above the rocker cover too so we allowed some extra height.

Now Toad wanted to do this...

Way to go! should look great, love those headers. Started on the front end of mine again today got another two hours of machining done on the front wheel another four should see that bit almost complete.

....but I'm launching a campaign to persuade him he really wants to fit a long thin Bay Area style rocket tank, (Creature's got one apparently), tapering back from almost a point up by the headstock to about 8" wide at the back end. That'd really show off the bulk of that motor. The same solo seat we've got, clip-on bars, rear set pegs, a tiny 4" Bates chrome headlight, black powder coated frame with Chromax coated tank to look like a polished ally one. Build a proper full-on road going drag trike.
You know it makes sense Toady!

yep im well chuffed!!! after a few hiccups! its nice and straight and level just spent an hour double checking before i seam weld it all! tis been a very productive day! with nobody setting fire to themselves although nige did manage to explode a cutting disc on the angle grinder showering everyone with bits of hot disc! :o ;D oh and he managed to cut his coat zip in half!!!! ::) ;D

Is definatley looking the part so far ;D....You guys dont hang around when you get going do ya.. 8)

mmm that idea of the rocket tanks buzzing in my head now!! so im off to buy loads of cornflakes now! so i can use the boxes to make templates for the tank! might be easier to make one to fit the frame rather than try to adapt a ready made one! ;)

As long as we're kept stoked up with cups of tea & sausage sarnies, (thanks Violet), there's no stopping us! The only minor hiccup was a little tweaking of the rear rails to get the kick up & width right where they meet the axle clamps. All sorted & nobody lost any digits, which is always a bonus.

Yeah, sling it below the top tube so you keep that curve, with one of Wynne's 40 quid, flush-mount pop-up filler caps set into the top tube with a pipe passing through the tube into the tank below. If you need more capacity you could fit an auxillary tank in the back end of the frame.

Lookin smart!

Good to meet ya' today MM & Ska man.

 ;D
You too. I noticed you left before the real work started though!
So when do we come down again to build yours?!

Very impressive work Mankster, with your sidekick skaman no straight tube is safe,keep up the good work boys.

Looks like it'll be a hoot to ride ;D

Of course   ;)

Mine? when I've had time to save up for the cake n diet coke  ;D

HUH, You snuk that in didnt you :( Thought I was invited down to help out :) Its too late now though as Im off to hospital on 19th to have my other hip replaced. I was going to invite you into the theatre to give the surgeon a hand, but I dont think I will now ::) ;D
 I did think of asking Saddlebags to machine me up a custom hip-joint but I expect hes toooo busy making proper stuff like trike parts ;D ;D

Its Ok Toady, I wont hold it against you ;D. I'll be in touch after xmas with some money for you. Thanks very much for helping me out. I dont suppose you have a spare sealed beam unit for that h/light do you, the mainbeam is duff ::)

Take care all

Flap says we sound like a bunch of Pikeys -instead of offering to tarmac your drive we turn up in a battered van with a load of tube in the back & ask if you want a trike built.

Not pikeys,trikeys,trikerpete ill put a supercharged titainium hip joint in the post for you,it may out perform the other though and have you walking in circles. ;D ;D

More bodies probably wouldn't have got it done any quicker Pete, but youd've been very welcome to help us get through the mountain of sarnies Violet provided.
We could've got further but ran out of tube!

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really sorry bout that pete!! kinda just happened overnight! one of those spontanious moments. i,ll sort a light unit for ya at work tomorrow! if i donT speak to you before the op i,ll see ya in the hosp at visiting time!!! nursey nursey! wanna see my soldier!!!! ;D

Wow that's coming along nice, well done all of you.

yep its coming together nicely! tweeked the frame back into line tonight. was my fault it shifted a bit! ::) made the gearbox mounts and got them all tacked in. should have a full rolling chassis by weds night all going to plan!

To explain, we bent & tacked together the bottom frame rails & added the headstock & top tube. A cross member was cut roughly to length to fit between the front down tubes & there was enough tube left over to cut the gearbox cross member.
The heat of welding tends to pull tube joints towards the heat, so the braces should've been tacked in & the uprights either side of the gearbox cut & tacked too, to support the back end of the top tube, before anything was fully seam welded. That way nothing should be able to move. Ideally the whole frame should be welded up in a series of long tack welds, working symetrically from one side of the frame to the other.
With the headstock only tacked to the top of the down tubes & the top tube not braced at the back, Toady fully seam welded the headstock. The heat's pulled it out of line. Not by much & with some gentle tweaking it should come back square. Not his fault -we probably should've been clearer with our parting instructions, & hopefully not our fault either. Just one of those things & easily fixed.
As with all the other MMMotors projects, I'm looking forward to seeing what Mr Toad does with this one. Should be interesting. 
 

right then peeps! listen carefully i,ll type this only once. the reason the frame went out of line. was,nt anybodys fault. the front mounts on this engine im using are not symetrical one is an inch further forward!! so when the tubes were made and the engine sat on its mounts. it put the axle an inch out of line! it took me awhile to find out where the fault was! :o so check your mounting plate before welding up! i,ve now sorted it, and its sat on it,s own three wheels now! ;D

Looking good mate, yours will be finished before Manky's.

just hope i can bend the last 2 bits of tube ok!! :o but at least i wont have to file too much! ;D

Looks great Toady.
That's coming on well isn't it. I see you've managed to get the exhaust system running outside the frame line. Very tidy. We had far more troubles with yours than any frame we've done before -I think we rushed it a bit really. Never heard of the engine mounting plates being asymetrical before but something we should've checked -would've saved a lot of head scratching. Worth taking the time to get the basics sorted before you build upwards from them isn't it. Ska Man's right -you'll be on the road before me at this rate! Someone come & give me a hand with mine please!
I could've left most of the welds on mine unsmoothed but just prefer the look of them filed down flush. My own fault for being a fussy git, but I'd hate to get it all done then find myself riding it wishing I'd taken the time to get it the way I really wanted it.   
Still reckon you should run a long slim "rocket" tank though, even if it's just a dummy to hold the 'leccy bits, with a remote tank in the back end. And clip on bars.
Does look good though Mr Toad. Keep us up to date please.

the rocket tanks gonna have to be decieded on when the overhead pipework for the charger has been made and fitted! as the old saying goes slowly slowly! catchee monkey! ;D

Think you'll soon have caught up with the Monkey & overtaken him.
Dummy rocket tank with cut outs on the underside for the pipework to pass through?

a quick update more bits added and relocation of the supercharger shows a quick mock up in the pics!

Looking goooood ;D

'Tis indeed good Mr Toad.
Only suggestion I'd make would be to angle the uprights either side of the gearbox back a little to follow the line of the top tube. Bumper's tidy.

What he said. Stress likes to travel in straight lines.

Kin ell that looks good, coming along nice mate ;D

Yes Mr Toad, its looking good ;D

i did try moving the uprights but it closed the rear triangulation tooooo much and would of made the front hoop weak so i settled on a happy compromise  it should be too weak there as there welded to a very heavily braced section of tube and the gussets have yet to be welded in!

Looking good mate. don't hang about do you?.

well i made my new fuel tank today! (in between sorting loads of domestic stuff >:() its been one of them days! grinder went bang! ran out of welding gas! batterys went flat in the camera! you name it it,s happened so tank piccies tomorrow. ;)

Its tomorrow ;D ;D ;D

come on toady, its still tomorrow or is that today. im confused, chrissie got me hanging new bifold door into kitchen so no workshop stuff for me today :( :) dont like wood work, once its cut you cant weld it on again ;D ;D ;D

Weathers a bit crappy to be playing outside today! Mind you, its better than hanging doors! ;)

Not the best day for being a Postie. Been battling against driving rain & howling wind all morning. Mind you the wind dried out my rain sodden gear so not so bad I guess. Pushing wet letters into those draught excluder brushes is like feeding them into a shredding machine. They drop out the other side just a big blob of soggy pulp.
Several wheelie-bins passed me, being blown along the pavement by the wind. Looked like an invading army of Daleks. Very surreal.
I love my job.  :(

piccys as promised!

another

another

Those downpipes look GORGEOUS!

Lookin' good Toad

Sweet ride, nuff sed ;) ;D

Now tht looks like a proper supercharged trike ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

no more trike news ???

loads where do i start? superchargers fitted, new pulleys made, yolks are done saddles sorted, 4 branch manifold done, the list goes on and on! but no piccys!!! you,ll have to wait!!! ;)

just a quick update! charger etc! all fitted ;)

and another! ;)

Wow!
That's certainly come on since we last saw it Mr Toad! Lookin' great. Love the tank. Would be very interested to see more details of the engine.
Still think it needs a single seat like ours though.  ;)

i,ll post a more detailed piccy when i,ve got the billet rocker box finished! we,re making two so there will be a spare for sale if anyones interested!

Lookin great Toady, keep it up mate. That should be a right hoot to ride ;D

Not so much a hoot, more a blood curdling scream of terror!  :o
Can I have a go please?!
Toad, Mr Critch was looking for an ally rocker cover.

Hi Toad

That little babe has come onleaps and bounds since I last saw her, she is looking good.

 ;D 8)

toad ill have the rocker if its still going......

No luck with the Reliant owners club then Mr Critch?

i,ll get back to you with a price critch. it,s not gonna be as cheap as the reliant cast ones its a big bit of billet that its being carved from!

Must be the size of a couple of house bricks -& weigh as much. That's an awful lot of swarf!
Having given my cast one away to Ska Man, they'll probably turn out to be collectable & worth a fortune now!

guys phone didnt seem to be working.... :(

Well, it was about 5 years ago that I bought it so might've moved by now.

thats the problem i had. never mind made me own! ;)

any updates then Mr Toad? :)

to be honest i hav,nt touched it for quite awhile wiyh recent events occuring i hav,nt really been up to it! but plans are afoot ;)

ar right i didnt know anything about "recent events"? hope things are looking up now? i may take u up on yer offer to visit yers as i still cant get these fcking valves out :) but ther againi wouldnt want to impose?

The doggies by the looks of it Mr Toad love the tank.

you wont be imposing mate. everyone who knows me will tell ya my doors allways open if i can help i will.

Tis true VB!   from one who knows!

with regret it is now for sale! see my post in the for sale section cheers toad!

this now has to be sold first sensible offer will not be refused!!! i,ve just been mde redundent!!! :(

Oh s**t that's bad news Toad!  And isn't it always just before christmas.