Manky Monkey Motors

hi guys. first photo of new project.

different view

built the frame from scratch around the engine n box then took em out to weld. tanks an old Harley one with big chunk out of other side to fit su in. under seat is remains of a fire extinguisher with i slot at top for prop to run thru. gonna have a second seat same as first but sat a few inch higher.

back up tank. gonna put a pipe from main tank to fill and a air return back up to top of inside of main tank.

bare frame before being properly welded

had engine n box running on bench.

Woo hoo -another project begins! I like the white rocker cover & pulleys on the Reliant motor.

yes dobber keep the pics coming ;D

Thats a great start, or should that be a great nearly finished  ;D

see what you mean t bone. this is how it started, old terry the plumber parked it up in 96, hadn't turned a wheel till dec 10. freed brakes off n shoved it for 15 min to my depot. [very embarrasing when bus passed us]. hacked it to death with alligator saw n hammer when blade bent. surprisingly on my todd in an afternoon

things were growing in it. smelt lovely.. only thing i saved ,n didn't need that  sold was steering colom n stalks, sold em on ebay

bit further

took this lot to the tip,wasn't sure i could dump a flat pack pig.

cleaned engine up a bit while waiting for steel n bender. the whites just a primer but quite like it. may get sump, pulleys rocker n a few bits powdered white. cut water sleeve off inlet, did a bit of polishing.

oooo like the shiny bits

this is proposed color scheme, black tank, front n rear guards. as much polish as poss then the metallic green powder on frame, second tank fork yolks ect.

To be honest im not keen on that combo i think red tins would look much better

that looks a nice size garage you got there dobber.plenty of room to move about in.
have you sorted the forks out yet

got to admit it looks better in the flesh somehow dogs.

trying to to a deal on ebay for some legs now  terry. now its so obvious what prob was,  not so worried.,

its my depot building for summer business terry, allready got too many bikes in there.. building the trike on a 10ft x 7ft trailer chassis, makes it a good height and can push it about if its in the way without disturbing set up.

I like that. Looks very promising in that last pic &, personally, I like the bright green. Would look good with the white detailed motor.

the more i think about it manky  the more i think i may powder the engine bits white,. the green on the bike i did is a really bright metallic, doesn't show so good in photo but looks good with the polished bits.

found if i mounted the tank a little higher on the t shape theres room for the coil under the tank, used the curve bit of coil mount welded a bit of flat plate then drilled it and threaded two holes in tube of the frame. fits tight but out of way.
turbo, am based in horbury not far from jct 40 of m1.you local?    don't know where donor car came from, know previous guy had it for years and a few former owners on logbook.

Ah Horbury spent many a happy afternoon in Henry boons  ;D

used to go in a lot when it was  woolpack  bigdog, few year back now tho. off across the road from it  to fleece in half hour, line cleaning nite, funny, get a right hang over of it n only drink bottles. nowt to do with that 2am finish.

seat lay out, based base on my vn15 but wasn't big enough, got mate to expand with foam n cover first seat  in leather. got second base n cut back rest. will post later. is it a prob rear seat being directly over diff. could be harsh on the arse with no springs

Not sure if I'd call it harsh -bumpy maybe. When you're riding, you've got other things to think about, so don't notice the bumps so much. Your passenger is just sitting there thinking God this ride's harsh.
Most of my trikes have been single seaters, so not been an issue, but my last had a pillion seat directly over the diff. Never had any complaints & I rode pillion on it myself several times with no problems.

back seat on with frame under and up to support back rest..

with 2 seats n rest on it looks a lot shorter than this photo. [gonna cover back rest, not leave it as a chunk of ply]

Looks like you are making good progress dobber the trike is looking well.
Did you fit the brake discs and hubs yet?(i machined them for you)

hi mick u OK., yep there fitted, went right first time.. thanks for them. . may have to come see you again. thinking of putting a scooter front disc between the axle and prop joint and rigging it up as a hand brake. would look a little different but need to check if it has to be a mechanical working or OK as hydraulic.

hi dobber yes i am ok , pleased they fitted. the scooter front disc sounds an interesting concept has anybody tried this before?

Yeah, Landrover, Jaguar ...  ;D
I'm guessing a prop brake would be O.K if it was mechanically operated -by cable or lever, like a mountain bike disc brake for example.
About a thousand years ago I started my biking career on a Honda CB200. I'm pretty sure they had cable operated disc brakes on the front.

It has to be mechanical but  that's not difficult is it, there are allsorts of calipers with mechanical operation.

if its legal can mount disc  between rear  of prop n diff. plenty of room under rear seat. may take space up that would have done for battry and wiring box..
ain't much you can come up with mick that some one ain't tried allready...photo shows hubs n disc you did fitted.

Hi dobber. why dont you use the calliper and disc that you have allready got for the hand brake

hi terry,just to do something different i think..... maybe i should keep this first one simple and use it as a learning curve, [[[ n it certainly is ]]]   keep using the tried n tested things like the manky disc conversion.. no matter how we do em i guess there all unique tho.  can understand how some projects go on for years when folk have regular jobs n family, very time consuming and addictive.

hi dobber, this looks to be coming a long very nicely, great to see some pics of your progress, ;) keep up the good work.all the best zak

my super hi tec laser controlled zero tolerance high pressure computer programed cutting device stabilizer bracket forming system, or v.i.c.e. as we call em in wakefield.

Hi dobbers thats coming on leaps and bounds. ;D keep up the hard work  ;)

or v.i.c.e.

 :D

well you could call that. V.ery I.mportant C.utting E.quipment . ;D ;D ;D

or versatile implement customising enabler. (think i just invented the word enabler) ;D

looking good keep at it

cheers Dave, bit of a stand still on it at mo, guy who does mig weld for me [iv only got stick] has got really busy at work,and don't want to put weight of engine in till headstock fully welded.. haggis in Scotland is gonna send me some axle parts [ never met him but seems a great helpfull guy].  then the guy who's making seats etc has got busy too..  sometimes i think they think that there livelyhood is more important than my toys.
keep polishing n doing bits tho...

It's so annoying when they get like that!

hi, got a guy for upholstery turbo, hopefully,mates rates.. found time to put a few things back on. mounted the reliant hand brake. two mounting bolts lined up exactly with the second tank mount and a brace at the back. just in right spot for passengers feet so will duplicate a shorter version of the handbrake mount and bolt it on otherside. put a polished stainless cover on each.anyone got advice on getting cable made up and who does them in yorkshire.

made a bracket to mount off the caliper bolt to put a boomerang type curve to mount the mudguard so when new axle tubes go on they can be left clean of brackets. will look smoother coming from inside dish of the wheel

off to see mick the miller on fri, hes hopefully got a guy who will weld the fuel pipe tubes and curves into the two fuel tanks. think then i can do a bit of preliminary wiring and fire it up..
watching that brake set up of yours zakboy n g6, looks like i may have to go same route, don't want to get pipes made up from xj brake pedal to find its not powerfull enough.

www.speedycables.co.uk

These are the best in the business.

I thought Mick the Miller was a horse (a dead one).

cables there easy to make up just get the origanal cables and do them your self,same as on me xv page 13

had a look at them cabman, will look further, checked that out too zakboy, quick neat job. have used the reliant handbrake which is a continuous inner cable around a plastic wheel.  easier to order one as they will allready know ends and cable sizes., unless i can just by inner and outer cable with universal ends.  try evil bay later for that.. hopefully by end of day will have tanks, prop, duplicate foot plate, and new axle clamps being done.
got my Axel tubes sent down from bonnie Scotland and were wrong ones,easy sorted tho. if anyone wants or knows someone who does, the tubes with 3 back plate bolt holes as apposed to four can have them for postage costs.

Hi dobber.try these i used them on mine
i will post a photo later

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270696842048&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Hya mate. I dont remember you from my Landy Days, or would maybe by face  :D
You are correct about my tubes. Thats maybe why I have not sold any. But unfortunately I just cant make them any cheaper.
There is over 10 hours of machining time to make a pair. The bearing housings are machined out of soild bar 100mm diameter. Have you tried to buy Staniless steel lately??? Scrap stainless is fetching  over £1.50 a KG.  :o There is nearly £75 or material in each pair.
£275 a pair means that £200 for 10 hours machining = £20 an hour. Then there is electricity, workshop rent, wear n tear on machine. Coffee, milk n sugar.

If you can find a machine shop that will do machining to an accurate standard for less than £20 n hour please let me know.  :) :)

Dobber I will have your replacement tubes removed today. Just off to work so text me about 10 ish to remind me. My ageing memory is slipping  ???

will call beginning of week haggis, been put back with young un not right and lotta work come in. know what you mean bout price of stainless, work with catering stuff, lotta stainless. been so many ronkas up n down my area with the greedy boards on that we cant leave anything shiny out.

"been so many ronkas up n down my area with the greedy boards on".

What language is that Dobber? Can you translate for us English speakers please.  ;D

dobber,  where abouts in yorkshire are you from?    im on the isle of skye now but only moved here 4 years ago.  originally from Thirsk, North Yorkshire.

~Jonno

hi, jonno, in wakefield, worked up at thirsk a few times at the race course. nice part of the world..posted a photo of handbrake plate on trike. put odds on there all the same.

manky, was on about them there fellas that drive pick ups with old boards at the side so they can get more of other peoples stuff on the back,  with scrap prices thru the roof theres loads of em every where. missed my bacon breakfast other day cos they nicked the mains cable to my local caf..

call me daft but...   where'd you post that pic dobber?

its on page 4 of this jonno.  got it cleaned and painted now. will repost.

hand brake mount cleaned up and a coat of paint, feels in a good position

got back rest covered and returned, found the old xj luggage rack, altered the bracket so it mounts with the back rest bolts then to make it look uncluttered with out supports i welded a bracket off the top and a plate onto the backrest support top, drilled down and tapped the backrest bit so the rack bracket bolts down into it..
want to stiffen rear seat frame up with gussets so looks clutter free from back.

its taking shape nicley dobber.

made the mudguard brackets, mounted from one of the caliper bolts, not sure if will be strong enough with vibration etc.

looking good dobber nice work

too many distractions when sun peeps thru, had 5 of these running to day, had a ride out on the bandit

cheers zakboy, sirral.. could be moving quicker but relying on mate for mig welding, gonna look at buying one, got access to a guillotine and a bender so gonna have a go at a battry box etc

this be terry the plumber who donated the pig,seconds before he went arse over tit over the jack handle, wrist still giving him grief 3 month later. pig had never turned a wheel since 96.

any one think this bracket would look better if i filled the right angle joint with a curved gusset and round off the bottom right angle.

i think some 6mm rods, bent and mabe up in to a cobweb would look good tacked in to the angle

Hi....nice looking trike,ive just put a battery box on ebay.....stainless steel as well. If it doesnt sell in 10 days its yours if you wanna just pay for the postage.

HHMMM off to your neck of the woods on Tuesday as picking up some Trike bits in keighley.....Voodoo....

cheers hornet, take you  up on that if it dont sell. nice one

wellcome to call in voodoo, put postcode in your sat nav n see if its out your way. wf45af. like someone clued up to cast a weary eye over project. brew waiting.

Just checked autoroute and you are just below Leeds which is not far out of my way..If time permits I will Drop down and come find you.....if you see a bright Green VW Golf mooching about in your street  loaded to the roof with trike bits flag me down and get the kettle on lol....Voodoo.....

whats it under hornet, just put in battry box and eleventeen million pages come up.

Hi,sorry about the delay. The item number is 260756054936. Someones placed a bid on it allready mate and theres 9 days to go now....sorry about that.

no worries hornet, looks like im as well trawling ebay, out of all available got to be something right size and right money. be cheaper than making one.

try this dobber dont seem too dear chgeck his other items as well

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ALUMINIUM-BATTERY-BOX-CHOP-CUSTOM-/290540589647?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item43a591924f
al

Hi. Hope you lot dont mind but ive just looked at that last battery box,and in my humble opinion,mine is the better design.With a box,its difficult to put a battery,relays and fuses in cuz you cant get your fingers in at the same time. Will put a picture on of my design and see what ya all think. At the moment there is only 1 bid on mine at 4.99 and 3 quid p+p.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/chopper-bobber-battery-box-/260756054936?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item3cb645a398

hornet is this it you are right is better than the other one are you making them yourself or is this a one off (if this yours)
al

tis a fine one hornet for sure, took my fuel tanks in today for welding so when i mount the cylindrical low one i can get a proper measurement for what room i have.
am thinking  now of a longbox, both sides of propshaft on a base plate then shaped round prop,could have battery and electrics one side and a bit of a tool box otherside. look like one long box with middle shaped round prop and the rear facing panel drops down to give full access [so solid side facing weather]. would help stiffen frame too with out looking like a after thought and be removeable by bolting to chassis rails.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, if ya know what i mean..

Yeah,that was a one off. My project is using a diversion 600 engine,and the battery is quite big on those bikes.The box thats on ebay was a little to small so i made myself  a newer bigger one. I was going to throw that one away,then at the last minute thought i,ll stick it on ebay and see how it goes.
If when your ready for your battery box,try and send me a drawing with all the dimensions on and i can see if i can knock one up for ya.

got tanks back today, put a bit of temporary paint on and sat em in place.

its a hell of a chunk i took out but looks different and how i wanted

bit o paint makes all the difference

not got anywhere near as much room for battery as i hoped, handbrake plate will be rear footrest and matches one going on other side that will have handbrake on it and be a footrest.

which air cleaner fits easy on to carb, bitta chrome or polished would do.

carb looks miles away from tank but its quite a snug fit, barley enough room for throttle cable.

Looking good....did u do the cutout in the tank yourself?

cut it out, started small then bigger a bit at a time till 5 mm from nearest bit. had to get it welded and steel rolled to go in at guy who does my stainless work cos iv only got stick welder. got impression he wished he hadn't seen it cos thin metal, said the fire extinguisher one was easy.

I had to do the same on my bike project. The diversion 600 engines air filters stick up in the air,so i had to cut the back end out to accomadate them.I think the tank will only hold about 2 gallon of fuel now. Dont care though cuz ime not gonna go touring over europe on it.... ;D ;D

love the tanks dobber they look brill with the cut outs

gonna be moving the trailer on that i used as a bench soon, all details in for sale section.

started on the rear brake cylinder last night, got a defender clutch unit as recommended by haggis [could still use those axel tubes haggis] off evilbay for 15 quid delivered, seems a big unit but found a spot for it. cut a plate and drilled it etc

hoping i can polish the unit but not sure it will

tacked plate in place after lining it up with a straight edge [was getting late], gonna have a long 6mm rod from pedal arm to master cylinder but as its dead straight cant see a problem with it bowing. anyone know better??

got a elbow off a gas ram i use at work, like a tail gate ram. bolted straight thru arm on brake lever, can then use threaded 8mm bar to screw in end of elbow and weld to a stainless rod to go to cylinder. the elbow has all round movement so will not try to strain angle of the rod.

no flash, batterys dead. but can see idear.. the arm on the cylinder is in a bit of a ball joint set up behind the rubber so even if not bang straight should still work.

The longer the rod, obviously the more it's going to flex. Might be worth adding a couple of guide eyelets for it to run through.

put some 8mm threaded bar in to the ball elbow manky on the brake lever bit, on the cylinder end its threaded but in old money, so welded a 8mm nut and the old money nut  together, ground em round on bench grinder and screwed the long threaded bar right into the elbow, lined it up with the cylinder threaded bit thus joining em with the two thread sizes. goes into elbow bout an inch so room to screw it out so other end goes into old size end of joint. doesn't seem to flex but passes within a few mm of upright part of frame so can do what you said which will stop someone standing on it or anything else equally as dumb.

finally got round to welding headstock up today, looks plenty strong enough.

got the second hand brake plate sorted, so one side has handbrake and doubles as rear foot rest, right hand one is just footrest. looks balanced.

timber bit is a mock up off proposed battery box, want the curve under prop to match cut outs in tanks and all curves in frame as apposed to squaring it off.

You've been busy Dobber.

looking good dobber no a bad idea making things in ply first
al

got seats back today. starting to look like something now. turned engine over today.turns quick for size of battery

its defiantly coming together now dobber

found ten Min's to make the next mudguard bracket, only thing got done for weeks. stronger than i thought they would be..

thinking of making a battery box out of another extinguisher of same size as bottom tank. slice it long ways in half, put the same slot in the top for prop. weld in a strip all round bottom bit so top bit drops over it. could make it slightly taller to accommodate height of battery. would look good with two identical cylinders next to each other, easy to make water tight as well.
any one see any probs

are you using a standard size battery on the trike dobber

ended up getting a bike battery zakboy, amazing how quick it turns it.could have used the one from  the 900 donor bike but put it on my vn 1500 when that one went., made a mock up in ply for box but couldn't take to it. hornet was gonna price making it in stainless. think the curves of a cylinder are way to go tho now.. got a bit of time this week so scouting for a donor extinguisher to get going.

 i think its a good idea dobber, it also makes it a bit diffrent to the standard box's will have a look when you post the pics

I like that,makes for atidy job mate  ;)

found time to do a bit again. got the new axle with the conversion done. cut all the unnecessary off. gonna chop back off chassis n start again. making it a bit longer so if hit from behind the passenger ain't the first thing hit.

got a extinguisher for the battry box n lecci bits but turned out not to be symmetrical so ditched it

got axle off n chopped off ugly mounts i made. am gonna extend the back so the passenger ain't the first point of contact from a bump from the rear. hoping to put solid bar in the frame tube then extend with same frame tube. will be stronger and solid enough to mount axlel to.
if your reading this zakboy could you post a photo of your mounting set up, maybe give me a pointer.

hi dobber, i have added some pic,s off the tubular frame when i was tacking it together if you can shape your frame at the back in a simler way this would be quite an easy way to mount your axle, as you can see i made the frame so i could insert some box section between the tube then simple mounted it with ubolts 4 in all when it was all lined up and bolted down i welded 2 to the axle to stop the axle turning at the mounting points and left the other to just bolted up makes it easy to remove and replace the axle should the need arise i also placed rubber between the mounting points on the frame and the axle to cut down on any vibration. but of course there are other ways you could mount the axle.all the best zak

 :)

cheers zakboy
            never twigged to putting the axel under the frame, looks neater. will have to stay with it on top now tho. think i may be able to shape a block to sit the axle in and run the bolts thru.  cheers

dobber, take a look at the latest photo,s on my trike build you should be able to tell how i mounted the axle on mine  :)

Hows things moving with your trike mate

i think its gone to bed for the winter  ;) ;) :D :D :D :D :D

winters when mine comes out spanners, not so many events. hows it going Dan?
got the new axle stripped of brackets a while back with the conversion on all ready to mount. guy across at the fabricator's keeps letting me down with some solid bar which I'm going to put inside the original tube frame[ where i cut the old ugly mounts off] then slot more tube over to lengthen the chassis as the passenger was the first to get hit in a shunt and remount the axle.plug weld to join... mounting it similar to zakboys with u bolts, with a bit of square box slid over the chassis tube where the axle sits,perhaps shaped for the axle to sit in

Instead of solid bar slugs, why not use tube. Slit it down its length then squeeze it up in a vice till its small enough to fit your tube.

There is a formula on here some where for working out how much to take out of tube to make a slug.

I used it to do mine and it worked spot on.I did think it was a lot to take out but no spot on.  ;)

hi tbone, dizzy. gonna use the solid bar right past the axel and to the bumper if poss. give it extra strenght if it gets hit from back. two lengths are straight, no probs there, two will need a slight bend. hope they will bend with out creasing. may need a little heat.be stronger wher ubolts mount too.

May be a stupid question but its never stopped me before, if you use solid bar slugs will it cause the tube sections near it to be weaker because the solid parts wont have the same flex?

Duno but i bet some one on here will know  :)

hollow slugs flex, better that way

i was sure before, now its all gone grey....   where I'm going to put the slugs in will push them right up to a cross piece where all four chassis bits that run back to the axle stem from so it wouldn't flex from that point anyhow. will get a close up photo later,  better to know before it gets done.    cut 4 guess once

these are the four bits to join to for the axle mount and carry on to some sort of bumper set up

Tis your decision mate, but i would still opt for tube.
You`ll get better penetration on your welds and thats what i`d be more concerned with.

hi tbone, as its my first build need all the advice out there.  why will it give better weld.? ?   am thinking because weld will not penetrate as far into solid bar... ? ?.   would the solid bar still be a good idea to slot in where the axle clamps on to stop the tube crushing? ?. .

hi zakboy, you still building one a week?.. got my last big event next w,end then will be bang at it like you.
   need to lengthen the wheelbase really so the passenger isn't the first point of impact in a shunt..          [would look odd with a big overhang past the axel to have bumper protection] unless i make it a single seat job. want two really.. still gonna be perhaps 9ft overall. the axle is on stands about where it wants to be and looks OK. just want to get the joints strong enough..

I'm certainly no expert weldist, but I was always told to ensure parts to be joined were as close to the same thickness as possible. I always use tubular slugs.

hi dobber, i think you will have room there to perhaps weld in some gussets where you join the added frame work too for extra strength, and weld in a couple of tie bars from underneath the passenger seat rails down to the added frame work

did have a couple of gusset sort of things on before i cut axle off [ page 8 of this thread] don't want to put anything from rear seat as i went for the floating look if poss zakboy.
when you join with a slug where do you actually weld.  could maybe find a tight fitting tube to do it all but its seamed so makes it hard

As MM mentioned you want to use tube slugs as near to the inside diameter as the tube you are putting it into. then the tube you put over the top wants to be the same as the exsisting frame diameter the outer tube then wants sloting along the length then seam weld into the slots

You also want to be rosette welding the slug mate.
Drill a 10mm hole through the tubes, then another one at 90deg to the first, you can also offset the distance of the holes from the end of the tube, insert your slug, weld the holes up, grind flat.
Slide your drilled tube on the other end of the slug and weld the holes up, then weld the join. dont grind the joint weld though.
As you stated earlier, you will get better penetration when welding 2 pieces of metal the same thickness. You will have (presumably) half an inch metal thickness on the joins, more than enough strength.

http://www.hondachopper.com/garage/frame_alterations/frame_alterations_1.html
heres a write up that will cover it

looking at your photo, why dont you cut off the inner tubes and weld the new bit directly to the cross tube? it would eliminate 2 of your joints.... just a thought.

good idea Pete, Christ, sometimes you need to step back a bit to have a rethink,surprised i didnt see that... could redesign a bit that way too.. that's a definite... knew there was a reason i checked in now n again.. think i may cut them off then run new ones at an angle to meet the outside ones, therefore just one long clamp on each side of axle instead of two smaller ones.even put shaped flat plate between them welded to the cross member for strength

Pete's not just a pretty damn ugly face you know.  :P
Love you really mate!

anyone got any premade clamps for sale

there a medical condition called pre-eclampsia.  ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-eclampsia ) - there is a joke in here somewhere but im to knac***d to find it - just left Euston to manchester on the train - another late finish :)

Nice to know you've taken us along for the journey Andy.
Any chance of a sandwich from the buffet car?

:) - Just got you one :)

Cheese? Didn't they have any corned beef. You know I hate cheese.  :(
It's gonna be a l-o-n-g journey.

i thought moneys ate bannana sandwich,s followed by ,jaffa cakes,   and a can of cola :D :D

Only if you're buying Mike.  ;D

O.K. i.ll buy for basingstoke festival 2012  ;)

Basingstoke have a banana festival ?

only when manky monkeys there ;) ;)

Actually, Basingstoke has the largest banana ripening warehouse in Europe, owned by Ffyfes -so there.
Interesting facts about Basingstoke:

http://www.basingstoke.me.uk/

wow a wealth of information :)

NOW WE KNOW the real reason why andy ,,,the manky monkey one,, has his postal round in basingstoke  free bannana,s from one of his biggest customers :D :D :D :D :D :D

Apparently the banana warehouse guys are used to finding hee-uge spiders among the 'nanas.

I wonder if any get all the way to Tesco etc.  That would make the news - hmmmmmm - a good practical joke maybe ?

that reminds me i may have to go to the 24hr tesco superstore in a few hours ::) ::)







 now where,s the kids old toy box with the plastic scary  8 leggers in  :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

When is the 2012 festival?

Eeerrr  2012 I fink

yep!! it`s definitely next year  ;D ;D ;D ;D

is it ? ? are you lot shure  :o ??? ???

Are you sure i thought it was after xmas.

Bunch of soddin comedians :)

should be in the events or calender some where  ??? ??? ::)

finally back on the trike after hectic summer, got somemore frame steel and had a practice making the slugs to lengthen the back. surprisingly easy to squash up and get to fit.
how long does the slug need to be and is it better to leave a gap in the outer tube so weld gets to all surfaces.

ERW tube's quite nice to work with isn't it. Can be cut & shaped quite easily & welds well too, yet makes a good strong frame when it's properly braced & triangulated.
I usually make the slugs around 6 inches long, (3 inches either side of the joint). The longer they are, the better your chances of aligning the 2 tubes, but I'm sure there must be a point beyond which making them longer doesn't make the joint any stronger. Personally, I'd say 3 inches either side of the joint is enough. I cut a length of the same tube the frame's made from, slice it down it's length & take out enough to pinch it up in a vice until it's a good, tap in with a mallet, type fit. I drill both sections of the frame, tap the slug into one & weld through the hole into the slug, (remember to file the paint off all surfaces for good weld penetration). With the slug fixed in place, you can then tap it into the second tube. I leave a gap of 3 or 4 mm between the toobs. Weld the other end of the slug through the other hole, then you can run a weld around the joint. Seemples!

that's how i did it with the same size tube. cut a bit at a time out till got it squashed to right size to bang in tight. gonna do as Pete said and cut the others back to cross piece so  a joint less.. have a late one on it tonight me thinks...

Have fun! Someone posted an equation here ages ago, to work out how much you need to cut out to reduce the tube size to fit -but I just do it by eye.

going by steelwork standards any joint, such as here, would need an "optimum" of 100mm (4" in old money) either side of the joint. When they say optimum it really means minimum., and you`re right Andy any more than that is a waste of materials coz it won`t make the joint any stronger. I wouldn`t leave a gap at all, just grind the ends to a full chamfer then they touch right at the inner part of the tube and you`ll get full penetration (ooer missus!!!) and a full strength joint.

cut off the two inside bits and fettled them smooth, cut two five inch slugs cos only have a five inch wide vice to crush them together.

drilled it with a ten mm bit for the rossett weld [ten mm big enough?],

seems straight enough, hope i have left enough length to put it in the bender so they can cross the axle straight so easier to mount. think going to end up putting stainless u bolts on still similar to zakboys system.

got more space for a battery container now, thinking of putting a cross piece in where the joints are then can put small gussets in. be a belt and braces job then. got lots of steel spare [[lend my forklift to steel worker guy across the road, free steel in return, all happy]].

Free steel? That's a result!

It`s almost a steal....................................................getting coat now........................ ;D ;D ;D ;D

nice job dobber

cheers zakboy, done some axle mounts similar to your set up, cost next to nothing so far.
       put in a cross member where the joints are and will cut some steel gussets, then cut, drilled and rounded the mount plates

drilled the plates with pillar drill, handy tool for 50 quid

will weld to tube of frame and put a bit of flat bar in to make stronger, be out of sight underneath..

will put two more tubes from the new cross member under the axel with another  single clamp and plate, running past it which will mount some sort of bumber set up along with the two outter tubes.

yes the mounting points are looking nice and neat dobber well done

Nice and neat Dobber. Just me ,but are those u bolts going to be strong enuf?
       Rod

well spotted rod, no, there just some 50mm exhaust clamps i used to set it up. will use stainless for finish.
had a late one last night on it, tacked on the plates after a lot of measuring. [dont know whats straight or not anymore]

stiffened the plates where tacked to the tube, not sure if will need a piece other side. took a while to pull joint apart, slug joint thing works well..
put back together and measured some more

put in the next bit which will run to the rear and be part of the bumper set up..
  putting a single clamp on this to the axle, came to a stop because the plate i made was 1 1/2 inch  wide and decided it would be neater with 1 inch so can weld it to tube and fettle sides so it looks like its moulded.

little cross piece which will weld over the joint caused by lengthening. leaving me more space for leci bits etc and will probably not be seen. going for uncluttered look hopefully.
 overall i have gone about 9 inch longer. wheel center from back to front is 7ft and front to back completely will be 9foot.  the low down look makes it appear longer.

You've been busy Mr D. Love the wooden frame stands  :)

gonna get a bit done today as well, hopefully.  used bits of timber just to hold it steady while putting axle on, worked well. couple of holes with hole cutter. two min job but saved a lot of hassle...
 its easier having it in my depot with all gear  lights, tools and mostly space. hats off to the guys that build outside or in garden sheds. admire the stamina to keep em going.

hi dobber i brought some genuine reliant ubolts off ebay that were used to mount the springs to the axle they aint cheep as far as ubolts go at around £6.50 each but you have the satisfaction that they are going to do the job. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RELIANT-ROBIN-RIALTO-AXLE-U-BOLT-25020-/180693117592?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item2a12262a98

cheers zakboy. going to try a local nut n bolt company  [ B and D bolts batley] for stainless first because will be on show and stainless against steel shouldn't corrode so much..... agree with you with the right ones for job thing then you know its right.

any one know of, or be interested in wiring my trike up for a few quid  along side me doing bits. want to speed the build up cos got trailers to build now and a flat to build . could be done day or evening or weekends as my winter work can be done when ever i want.
 am i right in thinking i can use the xj handle bar switches, ignition etc, still have a lot of the loom on them and can possibly get diagram off the tinternet.

set back end up , tacked together,axle sat where it needs to be. need to lengthen prop now that i had it shortened, [[[ measure once, cut twice]]] easy to mount some bumper set up to the ends now. perhaps 2 inch tube with dome ends and small lights set into it.

shaped a piece to go from out side frame one side to other, following same shape as bit forward of it. used some 2 inch ally box, clamps and bits of timber to spot anywhere that distorts

then braced it back to seat frame thus creating a box effect to get rigidity. done it just high enough to get the axle out with discs off should i need to. going to mount a bandit 1200 silencer side ways off it so it looks like its there for a reason.
   lad who works at steel place across the way dropped me 7ft of 2inch stainless tube off which was to be for a bumper but not strong enough. will do to join to manifold somehow and make a one piece exhaust  back to bandit can.

going off the idea of a tube bumper. looking for something different. perhaps utalizing something pre made..
   anyone any ideas

you have been busy dobber  ;) good man

once i get the steel n bender zakboy it don't take long to do.
   whats your opinion on the strength, the upward pressure as the wheel gets pushed up putting the pressure on the upright bit of the furthest back : arch : should then transfer down the two pieces to the next  : arch shape : [the box effect]  but the cross pieces are apx 8 inch inward.. you think it will still be strong enough. feel really solid just tacked up...

It looks fine to me dobber, i do tend to go over the top some times with overkill running your tyres at low pressure will help a lot in absorbing shock from the pot holes and uneven road surfaces beeing a bit more forgiving on the frame.... what length are we at with the trike

7 ft wheel center to wheel center and apx 9 ft from front of front tyre to the ends where bumper will end.  because its so low it makes it look longer. how much longer do the conversion ones you do end up?

Thats suprising it looks longer,thats a good length still a short trike, the xv bolt on is a little under 8 feet

Looking good there Dobber! 8)
  Mine is 2.5 metres overall length.

,mate, darth vader came with his mig and welded up everything i tacked up

made an allmighty  blunder. purposely made the box bit at the back tall enough to slide the axle out underneath in case of repair etc, stupidly never thought the diff couldn't come side ways enough to drop the end of the axle thru the middle of the frame. had to cut a section of tube out.  will have to mess with it so the section can be unbolted for axle removal. . bit like some bikes that have a section of the frame which unbolts to get the lump out.

gave the axle a clean, primer then gloss black.

D'oh! Glad I'm not the only one who makes cock-ups, creates design flaws, like that.

got the axle back on and bolted the brake bits, arch and wheel on one side.   seem to have spent more time studying this rear than i do with the local lasses ones.

it realy starts to make a diffrence once you can see paint going on  :)

sorta got that from your builds zakboy. gives you a sense of finishing something. do it with my business, sometimes take a week and do nothing but tidy and finish ongoing things. allways put all tools away and tidy at night, makes for a fresh start instead of walking in next time and thinking what a bleeding mess,.

May I make a suggestion? If you took supports from the tube you`ve put right at the back and took them forward and angled upwards to attach to the backrest, right at the bottom of the backrest, that would give you all the required strength you need, and you could also set them at the same angle as the backrest and it would keep the same lines looking from the rear.

hi cabman. that was mine and a few others thought, would make it super strong.  trying to keep it low looking at the back and not cluttered with bars everywhere.  didn't want to put anything above the axle at all, tried to work out a stiffening way under the back frame but was far too low [near floor].
               if i hadn't made the blunder of not leaving room for the diff to slide across so it could drop out underneath, therefore now having to have a removable piece in the frame i could have still  had the whole thing lower but got too far with it now...
its a first build afterall and not many folk see the design, or care  as much in detail as the builder. I'm hoping some will say  ; i like how you did that ; when i will be thinking,  ;hope they don't notice that cock up.

hi dobber just wandered what method you are going to use to lock that axle up to stop the tubes turning in the u bolts.

"I'm hoping some will say I like how you did that, when I will be thinking Hope they don't notice that cock up".

-sounds like all my projects.  :P
I'd suggest a tab from the tube above the axle down to the diff bolts, (spreading the load across 2 or 3 of them), might be the easiest way of locating it.

don`t the reliant axles have a little knobby bit that normally locates in the springs?

did you once tell me zakboy that you put a tack on one or more of the u bolts to the axle.

yes dobber its one of the last jobs to do once im sure every thing is in line and central and the props at the angle i need it at..... i just put a few welds round a couple of the ubolts

I see quite a bit on here about securing the axle/diff so it can't turn, how likely is it?

Reason I ask is my first trike which had been a running trike at least 10 years before I got it had nothing except the U bolts and was never a problem. Is there something in the way these U bolts are used or is it rare for the axle to turn?

U Bolt mounting
(http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q122/nabsim/Trike/RhRear02.jpg)

(http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q122/nabsim/Trike/LhRear03.jpg)

(http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q122/nabsim/Trike/05082007197.jpg)

Its a lot less likely with a hard tail nabsim than soft tail because of the up and down pivoting on a soft tail, i think on a hard tail its more likely to want to turn on hard braking,i know on my bolt on convertions no mater how tight or close fit the ubolts are i would not be able to stop it turning, I rode a gs850 hard tail for about 4 years with a single u bolt each side of the axle and never had a prob,....i guess its one of those thing with a new project once its finished and ready to test ride that's when you find out

Is it the diff, axle tubes or both that can twist Zac? Tubes wont be able to turn on new one but nothing stopping diff at present

If the axle tubes turn with in the ubolts its just forces the whole axle diff etc to tilt up or down depending on what you are doing on the trike at the time accelerating,braking ,etc until the uj,s on the prop are at there maximum angle and stop it in its tracks from tilting any more....... when it happens you just wander whats going on   :D

what stops the axle doing it on the original reliant set up?

spring plate,s   u, bolts,,  and centre bolt ......

dont recall seeing a center bolt when i stripped the reliant.  know what you mean mike, like the old escorts etc... had a bolt through the springs to hold the leaves together then the bolt head sat in  a hole on the plate welded on the axle.

sorry to keep pinching your thread dobber but it may be useful to you to

If I am using the original spring plates on the axle tubes as one of the frame attachment points is this sufficient then? I know the axle tubes wont be able to turn but is that going to hold the diff as well?

no prob, nabsim,that will hold.....yes sorry for taking over your thread dobber  :)

all info graciously absorbed.
               if the spring plate is still welded to the axle and the trike chassis bolted or welded to that ,then i would concure with zakboy that its plenty strong enough.
I was going to try use the plate origionally on mine but the angle was wrong. It meant the diff would be pointing upward and i needed it straight. but could have put steel spacers or done something to the chassis to make it line up straight.
       moving on, when i line the axle center up with the gearbox would a lazer sat behind the axle running down the center of the diff, middle of the prop and onto the gearbox end work?

Are you stressing the axle mounting it like that? The tubes are quite thin into the diff housing I'd be worried !

I may not be understanding whats being said here,but surely its mounted in the car on those perches ,so should be ok?

Think the laser will do the job just fine Dobber the fin or rib on top of the diff will be the center of the axle if i remmember correctly....... presuming every thing else is running straight through to center of your front wheel when straight

Hardtail?

i think steve has a point on a hard tail trike it will be prone to a little more stress unlike the car witch has the springs to absorb some of the stress

Ive been drawing and redrawing my design for weeks now, softail and hardtail. 

One thing is sure, the neared to the wheel you can get a fix, the less leverage there will be on the shaft end at the diff. 

The diff should not be experiencing much vertical strain at all when you go over a bump if the load on the axle is transmitted to a fixing vey near to the wheel. As far as i can see, the fixing from the frame to the axle will become a fulcrum, so an upward load from hitting a bump will translate into a downward load at the diff, and vise versa.

There is no reason on a hard tail that the tube ends at the diff can't also be attached to the frame is there?  From what I have seen this is just overkill though.

This is, if I recall my school days aghem..... a long time ago.. a couple.  And as we were taught, "Every couple has its moments"  ;)

I have over 7 inches each side clamping the axle tube after the spring bracket thingy i want no movement at all.. I also wanted a good few inches to weld my frame to as I have the same as mr manky. Ever considered the weight of the diff bouncing up and down full of oil if it's supported only at the wheel end? Ummm rhino trikes also mentioned loads of trikes snapping half shafts and the tubes cracking the diff housing all scary stuff... Copy a tried design that works my two cents :) be safe...

I like a bit of over kill,i believe rhino, remake the tubes on there reliant axle,s with thicker wall tube

Steve, that's a good point.  Would that not be the same for the original reliant, which was fixed to the chassis by the springs and the shock slighly inwards from that?

Maybe someone knows enough maths to work this out. I don't :)

Maths....AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

i do its somthing like a=c+9% of b/2   bacically make it as tough as you can ;D

If you look at the pics of the frame to axle mount on my original trike you will see that mounted to the axle tubes with just 2 U bolts each side towards the hubs. The new one has 2 bolts through the spring mount each side approximately the middle of the axle tubes and then a single U bold further towards the hub each side. I would have thought this is a lot stronger than my original?

started making a removable piece to bolt in where i had to cut out to make room to make the axle removable. cut a bit of solid bar then squared  off for the last inch, slotted it in the  frame tube .

welded it up then fetteled it smooth,going to drill a 8mm hole in it. will do the same to the other end then a matching piece of solid bar with a threaded hole in which will bolt in to place.

made another big mistake today,
          went and ordered the stainless braided brake pipes today, one nearly 5ft from landy clutch master to first caliper, double banjo and another 4 1/2 foot over to other caliper.   never asked the price, thought cant be that dear.. 20, 30 quid perhaps. can take it out of young uns new shoe money.. had to sit on the shop floor, 75 quid..  the guys were very nice and made them there and then tho.
    young uns feet will hurt after walking to school in braided hoses...

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Learnt your lesson about not asking the price first now haven`t you  ;D ;D ;D ;D

75 pounds,i used to go to my local motorcycle shop and make them myself,
it used to cost me about a tenner for 2 hoses 2ft long,
 the price of stuff is going through the roof,

I run out of MiG gas today i use Adams gas,we have some agents in wales now so i rings this guy tonight
and asks if he can supply me gas,yep no problem but you will have to collect ???50 mile round trip,
How much is the gas i asks,the first and last one i had was £40 deposit and £29 for gas,£44.80 he says
for a 91b refill. :o i have just arranged to get a 471b bottle of cougar 5 £67.

started on the caliper reseal last night. didn't realise how many moving parts inside. struggling to get the circlip back inside the main pot while compressing the spring with the cover over it. also got a seal left and dont know where it goes. had the whole thing stripped to the bones.  could be for a similar model that the kit fits.

had a go at some shaped gussets but in the end thought it looked better with simple curved ones

just found a really good how to guide with photos on google. know where the seal needs to go now.

 ;D Got a link for that guide mate?

What gauge cardboard were you planning in using? The stuff in the pics don`t look anything like strong enough  ;D ;D ;D ;D

was too thin to weld cabman, cheap chinese carboard.

got calipers resealed and bit of oxide on..

found a tool for changing grinder disc was ideal for screwing pistons on n off. welded a bit of leaverage to make it easier. second tool was to get amp out of the dodge ram. took our kid a hour n half to get last bolt out from under the dash.

was told a while ago by mm i think that the brake push rod  between pedal and master may need a stiffner, def does.

got calipers on and stainleess flexies, quick bleed and instant pedal. left it pressured up with aid of a stick. see what its like in morning...

just need to smarten route up of the flexies

tried the cable tie way to tension the spring in the caliper... turned out the better way was to put a socket over the spring case and clamp it whilst using 2 butchered screwdivers as a makeshift pair of circlip pliers

Those calipers look tasty

cheers andy, often thought about putting laquer over red oxide, like the matt effect.

need a smarter way of clipping cables up.

you need some of these mate
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5-x-13mm-RUBBER-LINED-METAL-P-CLIPS-FUEL-HOSE-PIPE-1-2-/250584557872?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CommercialVehicleParts_SM&hash=item3a5800e930 (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5-x-13mm-RUBBER-LINED-METAL-P-CLIPS-FUEL-HOSE-PIPE-1-2-/250584557872?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CommercialVehicleParts_SM&hash=item3a5800e930)

new extended lenght, been that long i cant tell now.. the trailer bed its sat on is 10ft as a guide..

it looking good dobber. any chance of turning the lights on when you take any more photos.  ;) .have you tried the brakes out with those s/s brake lines

put new battery's in camera terry, when flash's on now the whole screens blank white. don't know what to do with it.
brakes work but rods too long and flexing, got some thin apx 5mm stainless rod  I'm going to replace the threaded bar with, running it through some tight fitting fuel pipe which in turn will go through stainless tube fixed to the frame. will try maybe fitting a grease nipple on it so the rubber fuel pipe slides easy in the tube.

took engine out today for a clean up and some new basic gaskets

cleaned with wire brush in grinder and degreased.

wanted to get it oil tight before committing too much cos not sure how it runs

hi dobber that is looking good on some of the reliant axles have clips that blend in to axle dont know if they would do for the braided but might be worth a try iv got two if you want them
al

struggled to get engine in even though i cut off the left foot peg mount and made it a bolt on job. took engine back out and the box, bolted them together then it allmost fell back into place. stripped the distributor and painted the vacuum bit and the clamp, polished up the ally, came up nice

gasket set was quite extensive, dont know where half of em go.
ordered 500 mm of 8mm stainless rod, shaped one end to match the land rover clutch master cylinder pushrod end by welding on a nut then grinding into shape, threaded the other end with 8mm, [not easy with stainless]. screwed it into the threaded elbow [off a gas ram] which bolts into the fj brake lever. all working, no welded joints and the rod doesn't flex now

.next job was to make removable bar for getting the axle out. came for nothing with stainless rod because email was over looked. shaped it to match frame the drilled and tapped it to take 6mm stainless allen bolts

Dat's a purdy engine. I've always fitted the engine & gearbox as one unit. It's light enough to manhandle in & out of the frame on your own & if you try to split the engine & box in situ, you'd have to allow enough room at the front of the frame to pull the engine forward, clear of the clutch. Fitting them together means the frame can be a tighter fit around them.
Looking tidy Dobby.  ;)

made a start with handbrake, pair of new cables for 25 quid delivered. took off the reliant plastic wheel and made a compensator / mount set up. put the vw adjusters into it. outer cables fit straight into reliant holes. shortened one outer cable and both inner ones. fed them through the vw calipers and now need some strong solderless nipples to set inner cable in hand brake arm on the caliper.put a small one i had on one side and works ok but need something more permenant.
 anyone know of any strong ones on the market... or other ideas
photos of it all on tomorrow.

Try:-   http://www.trialsbits.co.uk/index.php?cPath=65_71&osCsid=s1o4fe7rq04ognbphdmaqkdlb4

thanks fellas.
made a compensator that takes the vw handbrake adjusters that hides under the reliant plate

bit of paint on and fitted into place. the two bits of angle the cables fit in swivel as well as the piece they are bolted to. welded the heads of the bolts to make it easier to get together.

handbrake now works fine first go. be a bit akward adjusting it but only once in a while so no prob.
  found the standard end can off my 1200 bandit, guy lets it pass with race can on now so gonna put it across the back of trike solid mounted with a flexi taking a straight stainless 1 1/2 inch tube straight to front then a flexi to manifold.

Looking good Dobber 8)

coming together nicely :)

noticed the new oil filter was about touching the foot peg mount so cut the mount and shaped it. bit of fresh paint on. now it can screw on and off with out moving anything. manage to put a hole in the filter, never even had oil pumped thru it yet

all back together. hours work but dont look any different. would have worn thru eventually.

shaped the end can mounting, will cut hole in the center when get the joints and bends.

took the stainless tube off the back which was to be a bumper but looked a pig. put the same tube as the frame on and will put a shaped top on when i borrow the bender tomorrow..
 could be tempted to leave the very back with just the inch tube and put a number plate mount to one side and a  lights on the ends.

su carb all stripped, not too many parts in the restoration kit. going to polish what i can whilst in bits as easier to get to a lot of nooks n cranny's.

mate came round yesterday with a few pairs of bars, tried a few and decided these were best

different view.. ther a lot higher so looks less clutered and a lot more comfortable.

had an hour before the pub on the carb before restoration kit

enjoy the polishing, stripped it down with a few photos so can maybe get it back the same without spare bits. used the power file with a gentle belt to remove a lot of the casting marks.

whats the 3rd bit from the left do                           :D :D :D :D :D

aint a clue mike    last thing mate in pub said was " dont be thinking you can put it back together  between bites of your take away"

Impressive bit of polishing! I've never been able to get stuff that shiney.

Impressive bit of polishing! I've never been able to get stuff that shiny either,
would you mind telling us your secrets on how to polish

i bet he gets the ,,missus,, to do it  :D :D :D :D

You should have seen the way my misses kicked off when i told her i was going to have a go at building a trike never mind asking her to do a bit of polishing  :-X ;D

lots of pride going in to this dobber,..... looking very tidy

cheers fellas,
 dam sight slower than your builds zakboy, seem to allways be waiting for stuff, that's why i do a bit of polishing in between.
 polishing was a case of buying a few 8inch mops, learned theres hard n soft and wax for each one. got some of the big scotchbrite type mops which are great for cleaning and getting bits of paint off. some abrasive ones for the drill which take deep scratches out.  self taught really. 8 inch grinder on a pedestal, main fault is i mounted it close to the wall to save space and it gets awkward when doing bigger stuff. once saw a clip on American hotrod where they polished some wheels in a rush, the guy put an immense amount of pressure on it which i tried and it worked. grinder gets a bit warm tho. know theres guys on here that are in the know with professional polishing.

Theres a lot more work in custom frame projects dobber,I'm a purely a bike trike man my self picking the right bike gives me the right seat height and rake and trail before i start saving on a lot of work, i tend to get most of my parts before i start then just get stuck in to it..... but saying that its not always been about bolt ons  :)

got carb back together, kit came with a leaflet on how to set it up.
with tbones help on here im starting the wiring tonight. hoping for a call from bd6,s contact, see how that goes.

That looks SO nice

Tis a thing o' beauty is that.

i could polish things , any things up and sit em as a work of art, often thought a polished v twin lump would look great as a feature in any room.

nice work sir  ;D

used to have a pre unit triumph polished and in the living room but the ex didnt like it...... thats why she's the ex lol  ;)

I didn't realise SU carburettors required mobile phones attached to then for them to operate,....so that's what I've been doin' wrong all these years,...mutter, mutter....

got it connected t tinternet for tuning, bit like them ham,s in fomular one.

You never heard of mobile mechanics?

got the carb back together and a pancake job off the tinternet, fitted, choke went well on a natty little bracket bolted thru air filter, chromers just rang me to say brackets  for throttle are ready so by end of day will be wired, carb done, throttle and every thing. push the button and should go.
 would like to film it, engine hasn't run properly for 20 year or so.

had to extend the front brake flexi from bars to splitter as put the longer ape hanger [  ? ] type bars, took top off master cylinder and was full of crystal like stuff, [ sold to local smackheads for a score]. under the cover thing was clear tho

took the trike off the build trailer / bench today for the first time since i started the build. sat it on the floor and got a proper shock, it looks tiny and seems to be sat really low. didnt have time to study it as having a big tidy up and repainting the floor ready to do the 4 letter word "work"

im a heavy large basta person so make it look even smaller

well its been nearly 12 months since you first aired this on the forum dobber and we saw the first pic and for this kind of build you have done realy well in that time, its come on leaps and bounds and i realy like the look of this a lot  :)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/270356234136?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
what would this look like for headlights and indicators,  in plain black to match guards and seats. could hide horn and wiring behind it.  or too plasticy [real word?]

cheers zakboy. not too small maybe?
 did have a month on it before i started the thread.  but did three  month or more without touching it in summer

I think she`s got a nice stance to her, only thing i would do is move the seat forward a touch.
Yuk! to the fairing...but thats just me.

seat will move easily, could even adapt car seat runners for it but the gear leaver is still sat between your legs, perhaps heat it up and bend it forward a bit. does any one know if the gear leaver can go the otherway so it bends to the right not the left. or have i put it in wrong way and it should favour the rightside anyhow which makes sense in a righthand drive.
 think you may be right t bone on the fairing. maybe i was more thinking of a quick fix as cant find a chrome headlight wit a single bottom mount anywhere.

no i dont think it looks to small dobber, i like the rake as well not to much should give you a good ride

My thoughts too -the bars & footpegs would be too much of a stretch for me, but then I like bikes with flat bars cos I like to stretch to them -the point is, if you're comfortable on it, it's right.
Lookin' good mate.  ;)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/270458560028?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2648
ordered one of these a few days ago, just couldnt seem to find anything so will give it a try.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/130613654251
got these through the post today, thought if no good could put them on a trailer. having a stainless mount which covers the back and sides made. extreamly bright and got the right markings.

waiting for the marker lights. alloy so can polish them to death, should be easy to mount.
also calling at wakefield radiators to price up a custom made rad as cant find anything slim enough for space i have or nice enough.  do i have to have a fan with engine exposed or will rad and air do the job              http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/360426310171

Thats looking good dobber, certainly not too small. I would move a bit closer if it was me as well. My gearlever was cut just above where it goes in the box, welded to go straight out the left side then cut and welded again to go up. On the old setup this put the lever slightly behind and below my bum. Actually was quite comfortable and worked okay once I got used to it but it does give extra slop. I know some people who have done similar have had problems with it jumping out of gear but it never happened on mine.

I have seen some very nice alternatives on here to get a linkage out the side though

Think you will need a fan dobber especially when your getting stuck in traffic and that kind of thing its suprising how quick you can over heat when stood still just ticking over

Hey Dobber...just my 2p mate..............this is a pic I took a while back (not mine!) of a trike gearlever "doglegged" ,it has a spring to presumably stop it wobbling around. Couldnt find the owner to ask if it worked or not ,but worth a try p'raps? Others apparently have used a thick rubber gaiter that shrouds the ball joint area to dampen the vibration. I seem to remember Andy (Manky) told me about that one?
(http://www.rodschopshop.co.uk/photogallery/media/drag/IMG_0769.jpg)
 The lever tends to travel at a weird angle when engaging reverse,so watch it doesnt foul the frame etc. I used the Terrortuby style of shift mechanism..works a treat,but is very close to a frame tube when reverse is engaged.It doesnt bother me tho' as rarely engage reverse anyway and it doesnt actually touch the frame.
 You need to keep the lever facing the l/h side as the right hand will be on the throttle
 I also feel that the way the ball joint 'cover' is located (that half round clip thing) could do with strengthening up,so am going to put a jubilee clip round the outside of the half round 'circlip' to make sure it stays there!

Been thinking about that daft c clip thing too I got a new one and it's still crapola maybe couple of screws ? Ummm also I used a universal steering gator on my gear stick seems to work well..

I thought about screws too,but think that if drilling the hole for a s/tapper the 'neck' of the ball mounting in the casting may crack as the screw is wound in to make the thread. Best thing would be a couple of holes drilled and tapped then use small bolts(screws)not too long though! Thats why I suggested a jubilee clip (or purpose made stainless clamp?)

Great ; This forum is getting my grey cells working /
Leaving the original holes in the " C " clip alone , would welding 2 wee plates on the metal dome at 90 degrees to the original holes and drilling and tapping these plates not work ?
You could use a bigger stainless screw and just grind the last few threads off to the size of the original " C " clip ends  ?
That way you would not need to touch the alloy top plate on the box .

The dome sits in a perfect circle near the base before it starts to dome away .
A piece of tubing about 1/2 inch high would fit around the bottom as a collar .
This could be made removable or fixed and tapped as above
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You could also just weld a couple of arms to the dome and secure them to the gearbox tip cover bolts .
This has the advantage of being able to do away with the " C " clip as they are sometimes prone to popping out of the holes if the ends are tapered or the alloy is worn .
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hi nabsim, been a while. been a few said to get the seat forward but it does feel comfy now with the longer bars on. looking at putting car seat runners on the frame and bolt other to underside of the seat  [18mm marine ply]. never seen it done but, ,,,, cant be hard..
fifer,  got to keep gear change to the right as having a left hand handle bar  clutch lever [ if i get my head round how to do it].  had a working foot clutch but binned it so as to keep it more bike like.,,,cant be hard
will try a bike fan zakboy but it will have to blow air through, not suck as it needs to go in front of the rad between the down frames, again,,,, cant be hard.
got the triangle headlight today, just mounted it a bit lower down than the last attempt, thought, that cant be hard and funny enough, it wasnt. [photos tomorrow]

got the headlight mounted easily, incorperarted the brake splitter by drilling a flat  triangleish shape bar which bolts to the offset 6mm thread holes on the bottom yolk. then drilled and tapped that 6mm and bolted the splitter centerally to it then bolted the headlight through a hole above.

That workshop is w-a-a-y too tidy Dobber! ;D

Looks great. Wonder what the beam pattern will be like with a triangular lens?

yes i woundered what these head lamps would look like fitted....nice touch dobber

rodeo, just stripped it out completely and repainted all the floor red, then all the section where the toys sit grey. starting to build a 14ft spud unit monday from scratch, chassis custom made and galved to our spec then will build and fit to my neice,s spec. could run a thread on it.
havnt had power to head light yet mm, curious my self.

got the little alloy side markers thru post. tried a little steel bracket mounted from mudguard mount but didnt like it.

found some stainless rod that fit in like a bike indicator stem, cut a short bit and drilled down center with 5mm, tapped it with a 6mm thread. put a stainless allen bolt with chromedome to clamp rod into the light then drilled the guard support with 6mm hole and a short allen bolt into the end of the stainless rod. looks reall neat. 500mm from floor and 290mm from furthest outside. [took little bracket off top mount and put coach bolt back in]

hi zakboy. the whole headlamps a wierd shape. looks ok though.as said to mm will get it connected and see what occurs.

hi mate, yes i like it gives that front end a nice touch  ;)

called at the stainless shop today to pick up some gear and got the owner to bend me some plates to mount the rear led lights and protect them from spray from the rear wheels. mount them tomorrow hopefully and more photos.

.cut a bit of flat bar to weld to the rear bar / bumper to mount the light box to. drilled it 5mm and tapped it 6mm then drilled the box to fit to the bar

.tacked the bar on then bolted the box to it with two flat head type allen bolts in stainless so should be good for all the spray from wheels

,needs a bit of shape to it. looks too square compared to curves on the rest of the machine

marked round a paint tin to get the curve then used cutter and then grinder to shape

.got some stainless arc rods to weld corners then grind and polish it all up. will drill a hole below the light and feed the wires through the frame then back out as far up the frame as i can.

lights are looking good Dobber,..... your craking on with this now mate you cant be to far away with finishig this now can you

big problem now zakboy is getting the hand clutch lever sorted, got to admit iv been putting it off......  exhaust and rad will be easy enough. got to have some sort of flexi on exhaust or can i redo engine and box  mounts solid and have solid exhaust.  "discuss"... thinking of having a curved stainless plate round top of yolks and mounting some warning lamps in with a built in side lamp facing forward. would cover up ignition block now head lamp lot lower down.

Are you puting the clutch leaver on the bars or maybe thinking of puting it on the gear stick

love to put it on gear lever but sounds hard. was driving a automatic in Florida which had a release thing on lever to select, [squeezed it to allow gear change] felt really good. thought then it would be a nice idea. is there away to do it with an electric motor driving hydraulic fluid set up with a  variable switch.   perhaps?

not sure about the hydraulic type set up, it doesn't seem that it should be difficult with cable or cable and rod but its one of those jobs you need to be in front of the trike to see the easyest and best way to do it unless I'm over looking some thing...... i think it would be better on the gear leaver be course you only need to use one hand to do two things pull the clutch in and change gear

custom made would probably be easier than trying to adapt the front lever.
anyone seen it done?.

its basicly just a leaver like you would have on your bars with a cable

Dobber, when I was looking at this a while ago Thunderace reckoned a 12 volt servo motor would drive a hydraulic master cylinder no problem. You really need to do this with lever on shift cos I want to pinch your idea when you have done it ;)

thought about it nabsim and concluded that setting off with one hand on the bar [has to be right because of throttle] could be a bit suspect especially if you set off a bit sharp..
 gonna stick with the hand lever. interested in what you said, hows that work.  got to be my next job. only that and exhaust to do.

Am I being thick here, but if the clutch is on the bars, surely you'd need a third hand to change gear???

One hand, throttle, one hand clutch, one hand gear change?????

hi clive, if you have the clutch on the gear stick when you set off you would only have your right hand on the bars [throttle] left hand would be releasing the clutch on the gear lever. with a clutch on the handle bar like a bike you would engage gear with your right hand while holding clutch in with left and holding bars then right hand on bars [throttle] as well as left [clutch] for setting off as opposed to one hand on bars when setting off if clutch was on gear lever..

Oh that sounds interesting Dobber. Mine have all had clutch on left foot not on bars. I do have a fancy twin lever setup but unfortunately the seals leak so cant use it at the moment. I was going to have clutch and front brake on that on the right hand, rear brake on left foot and hand change.

Thunderace made the electric servo with switch on gear lever sound real easy I just never got to try it :(

How are you going to change gear wile on the move,(throttle operation).
Sounds like it will be hard work.

The clutch leaver would have to be on the gear shift, if its a must to have a hand operated clutch on the bars then you would need to have your accelerator on a foot pedal perhaps next to your foot brake like on your car

is it a legal thing?   i can change gear with right hand as you dont need the throttle working while you change gear.
clutch is allways on the left on a bike [except early stuff].
pull clutch in while leting go of throttle to change gear, hand back to throttle as other hands letting clutch out.

Its OK while your pulling off  but once your in motion and gaining speed and going up and down the gear box you don't really one to be taking your hand off the throttle i think you use the throttle more than any thing to keep  momentum if thats the right word....... your constantly throttling on and off the power, so i think your hand needs to be on the throttle most of the time

know what you mean zakboy but  you wouldnt need to use the throttle while the clutch pulled in and changing gear.. thats the only time your hand wouldnt be on the bars.... only when in a gear would you need the power. [thinking  a foot clutch would be easier to make tho.
 has any one else got handle bar clutch?   curious now.

dobber  ,I can see where you are coming from but I have to agree with the comments that it is not practical .
You need to have throttle control all the time especially when approaching a corner / junction .
You would have to pull the left handlebar clutch lever in fully then let go the throttle .
That action drops the revs and wipes of some speed due to the time it would take you to reach the gearlever on the right hand side of the trike and change gear .
You then have to reach back to the throttle and try and get the revs and the clutch balance to get feed back in ; All time consuming .
Whereas if you have the foot clutch it is only a matter of keeping your throttle controlled as per normal with your right hand , reaching down with your left hand to the left mounted { or central } gearlever , and dipping the clutch then easy to feed clutch in as per normal while reaching back to the handlebar { or to wave at the beautiful female admirers blowing kisses to you from the pavement  ;D ;D ;D }.
The Reliant box is usually a very sweet changing box and it is easy to do clutchless changes if required .

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Are your front bakes operated buy your right hand,If so things would not only be difficult but dangerous,
You need to keep the brakes covered at all times.

If you definitely want it on the bars you could look at something like old scooters used to have (if my memory is correct). Right hand lever was clutch and the whole lever/grip assembly turned for throttle

i think on some of the old scooters vespa etc the clutch was on the left but i think that had the twist grip type gears on it as well, but been many moons since iv been on an old type scooter so i may be wrong

More likely for me to have it wrong Zac but it should be doable to have it on the right

Just my 2p's worth..............I have twist grip throttle on the right hand,clutch left foot,brakes right foot,gear lever(under seat) left hand. Took a bit of remembering not to put right foot down to accelerate! I did a couple of times ,but in effect was braking and trying to pull away at same time,it was like a bucking bronco! (I did say BUCKING! ;D) Joking aside ,the biggest problem I find is letting go of the bars with the left hand to change gear. Its ok from 2nd to 3rd,cos the forks are sort of balancing themselves as the speed increases,but 1st to 2nd takes a lot more control of the bars with the right hand.I tend to quickly go from 1st to second ,as I suppose you would in a car,so that I get that bit out of the way and I can concentrate more.This incidentally is why I havent yet taken a pillion passenger,as I need to practice first.
 Another problem I realised as I was building the clutch system,was that I would need a nice light,smooth  clutch operation,and I took quite while to get it right,altering the pivot points etc. If the clutch takes too much pressure to push down(in my case ,left leg) ,then I reckon you would tend to move your body a bit to the left to assist your leg in dipping the clutch,therefore your right hand would pull toward you causing the steering to wobble.
 I reckon Dobbers idea would be a bit of a handful(pardon the pun  ::)

Glad I wasn't being thick!! ;) ;)

Nice analysis  :)
Smooth clutch = More relaxed Riding  :)
Just a wee pointer for First time builders of the Reliant motors ;
If you have the earlier clutch with the Carbon thrust washer then you have to set the adjustment at the end of the clutch actuating lever to approx 1/16 inch free play  .
If the thrust bearing is allowed to rest on the clutch as you are riding , then it will not last as long and you will have to keep adjusting the biting point .
However , if you have the newer roller bearing thrust then it must be just resting lightly against the clutch at all times  or you get chatter .
On the Reliant cars this is taken care off by having a spring looped from the clutch lever arm
rearwards on the Carbon thrust bearing type and the other end hooked on a lug at the gearbox rear mounting
and the spring goes forwards on the roller bearing thrust type clutch which hooked onto the engine plate between the gearbox and the engine

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.at a  loss now

Zakboys reply was correct. The old scrots had a clutch and gear lever on the left hand handlebar. The whole assembly used to turn.....easy peasy me thinks.

decision made,
        left foot clutch. be easier to do any way. did have one on early in the build but didnt like it. 
         any one know of or got a pedal set up for sale that i can bolt on and if i put the clutch arm to the other side of the box is it poss to make a rigid link as opposed to cable.
              also, asked before, can the engine and box be solid mounted so i can have a one piece solid exhaust.  would just take the bobbing out and put a thick bolt with spacer in place which will keep the same height / position. just in the process of wiring the triangle head light and led rears, photos tonight.

All my Reliants have been solid mounted on both engine & gearbox Dobber. Never had any problems. I usually rubber mount the exhaust tail pipe but I don't know why really. My first Reliant used the original clutch cable curved around the front of the engine to the left foot clutch pedal. Then I realised the clutch arm could be reversed & every one since has had the clutch arm on the left, connected to the pedal by a rod. Much simpler.
You could probably find a set of second hand sports bike rear-set footpegs & pedals at a breakers, or on Ebay, that'd solve your pedal probs.

My on-going trike build. Been around about as long as this site's been running, (6 or 7 years now). It's almost finished.
This one uses a solid stainless rod connecting the clutch pedal to a Girling master cylinder with a short hydraulic hose connecting to an Austin Mini slave cylinder mounted on the frame upright, which pushes the clutch arm from the back. I wanted a tidier set-up & originally planned to have the pedal pushing directly into the m/cylinder, with the linking hose hidden inside the frame tube, which would do away with the rod. I'll probably still do that -when I eventually get back to working on this.

Currently sat in a barn, alongside the missus' muscle car, awaiting the time & money to finish both.

that pedal looks good, could do the same type with a rod pointing upward  on the inside that has a link and rod going straight to the clutch arm. to swap the arm is it a simple grind off and reweld on other side without taking the box out?

Yup, I've built several with a cranked arm that bends over the top of the frame tube to pull the rod from the inside of the frame line. Flap's orange trike used a pedal on a shaft that ran through a tube welded under the frame with the upright arm on the other end.
Yeah, no reason why you couldn't grind the arm off & re-weld on the other side, but easier to drop the box out & dismantle the arm. The clutch thrust bearing's held by 2 small roll pins. Tap them out then slide the arm out of the box & refit from the other side.

didnt think of that presumed the rod would be sided. got to take it out as got oil leaking from between engine and box, presume its the seal on the crank.

Either there or from the front of the gearbox. Both are fairly common.

Fifer...I didnt see a return spring on the reliant when I stripped it,but remembered from my A35 days that there was one to hold the thrust back off the pressure plate. I believe that the a35 manual says there should be 3/8" play at the pedal (in an ideal situation with no worn linkages,which incidaentally the A35's were prone to !!)  . I put a return spring from the bottom of the clutch arm(moved to l/h side) to a bracket on the g/box x-member,dead in line with the operating rod to the pedal. I searched my boxes in the garage and found a longish spring that would pull the arm back,but with not a lot of pressure required to pull it,so this also helped the  'soft' clutch operation. I think the spring was from an Angle Poise desk lamp!
 Dobber...If you do swop the arm to the left,those roll pins can be a right barsteward to get out mate.

wired the triangle head light up today.  looks good and actually has a triangular beam. dont know what i was expecting but still surprised me.

started to wire up the rear lights, got one side done and run out of wire. drilled the frame and fed the wires through using a piece of inner cable that zakboy sent me donkeys ago, thanks again zakboy.

probably have to blank off the number plate lights that shine downward. also because there led will have to put a resistor in to make them flash. the bit between the top, indicator light and bottom brake and tail is just the reflector bit.
  could do to get a pair of chrome front indicators with stems if any one has any for sale. bought some trail bike types for a tenner but were angled wrong and plastic

lights look cool dobber  :)

Obviously, the wires should be protected by rubber grommets where they pass through the frame tubes.
That beam pattern's weird!

is it E marked it dont look right  ???

hi m/m . when im all done i gonna strip the bike completely and do some gussets and more welding. then put it back making sure every details done. makes this sorta a dry run. will rattle can it with a top coat, tidy the loom etc
 lights got the right marks terry, checked before i bought it [i think] looks good in the flesh. same with the back led,s...
proper weird pattern tho, looks like an insignia, like a startrek com badge. may put it as a tank emblem

Never thought about using that to get a light action clutch  ;D

Dobber , to add to Rodeo,s post ; when you do get them out , after replacing the roll pins , insert a splitpin through the middle .  The roll pins have been known to shear and this mod gives them a wee bit strength
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proper weird pattern tho, looks like an insignia

Worked for Batman!

terry , had a gander today and couldnt find the marks. do they have to be on the glass

It may not be E marked dobber and dose not have to be..... but it  has to meet the same standard as an E marked lamp for msva

after trying to swap the clutch arm on the gearbox to the left i realised i was flogging a dead horse, front and back seals leaking, gasket on rear bit gone and one of the mount threds knackered.  called my mate to see if he had a box for sale, as said on other thred he had a recon, never used. swapped him for a gas bottle.
   carbon bearing was well goosed so got one from the reliant guru at pennistone.

found the xj donor bike gear lever today, think it will make a nice little foot throttle. as said in the other thread, now going with a car type set up and cleaner looking bars [no twist grip or leavers]

had a hour on the clutch last night with the  dual control lever from bd6.
       using the bits that came with it, i made the inner bit line up with the clutch arm using a 8mm elbowwhich will take threded bar

mounting the lever off the removeable footpeg mount [for taking engine out]
cut off the cable eye thing..

.made sure it clears everthing first

once i sussed it welded up the bends and weighed up the pedal length

cut down the pedal and welded back together. the clutch works, tested with starter motor putting it in gear but when pushing the pedal which is mounted to the frame which pulls the clutch arm the first bit of movement pulls the engine and box forward  10mm or more before working the clutch. could the pressure plate be buggered judging by the odd wear of the release bearing show in earlier photo compared to new one.

how could it drive with the bearing this bad when it was a car anyhow.

Do you mean that it physically moves the complete engine /gearbox unit ???  :o
You should be able to push the clutch operating lever with a wee bit of force with the palm of your hand

Is it a clutch with all the springs in a circle or the diaphragm one with the fingers ?
Look directly 90 degrees onto the side of the box and imagining it is a clock face you are looking at .
Imagine that a line drawn from the middle of the gearbox clutch lever arm pivot at the top is 12 o,clock and a straight line to ground is at six o,clock , what position is the clutch lever arm at if it was pulled forward resting against the clutch without your new rod fitted  .
Have you set the free play at the end of the clutch lever arm to 1/16 inch and fitted the hold off spring to the rear of the clutch lever arm ?
Some clutches have different bite points . Some are right at the top of the pedal and some are about halfway down the stroke 
The borg and beck clutches tend to be very fierce and are often described as being on or off with no leeway in between :o .
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Nice tidy job on the pedal dobber

Dobber,what are you going to do with the route of the exhaust downpipe?

Fantastic I'm re-doing mine like that... nice

cheers for the comments fellas,  for the first time when i was putting the pedal on i though this is never ending but when Dan, [bigdog6] pulled up on his  today it got me back on track.
plenty of room to get the exhaust round rodeo, now I'm to remove the rubber mounts and put on solid I'm hoping to get the exhaust in one piece.
   yes fifer, when i work the clutch the engine and box move forward on the rubbers but the clutch is working. the arm i would say rests at 5.30 position. got to be the pressure plate?

If they are standard Reliant rubbers { Engine Front & Gearbox back ?? } then you maybe have some of the bad batch of very soft rubbers which were produced and sold before they were re-sourced .
Landrover mounts cure that , albeit with a little modification  ;D

Might the rod you have made not be applying some outwards or inwards leverage to the clutch actuating arm pivot point at the top causing it to jam slightly thereby pulling the engine forwards What time is it when the clutch is fully used ?
With the rod you have made removed , Have you tried just pushing the bottom of the clutch actuating arm with the ball of your hand to disengage the clutch and see if the engine moves then as well ..
If it does not and is free then that would point to the foot mechanism applying some sideways force and momentarily locking the pivot point .
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All the above might just be verbal diarrhea and the clutch pressure plate has lost some of it springiness  :-[ ;D ;D ;D
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shouldnt the rubbers have cups over them to prevent much movement?

The cups were only fitted on the front engine mounts and not on the gearbox .
The caps were possibly to stop oil getting onto the bushes as well as clonking the fan  against the radiator .
The metal covers were the first things I launched in my spaceship to Mars just to get the Martians wondering " What the flark are these for " . ;D ;D ;D
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I have ran all my Reliants since the late 1960,s without them and never had an engine move
{ Other than the hundreds of rubber mounts which sheared the metal from the bonded rubbers  :o}
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i see, i got told they were to prevent too much movement and stop the rubbers shearing, i never had them, when mine went, i replaced em with something bigger off something else

Yep , Landrover mounts work well  ;D ;D
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checked the rod for that  fifer. drilled out the hole so not tight, power filed the edges and put a loose spacer so wingnut wasnt jaming.  not sure i can push the arm by hand. really stiff.
 going for solid mount anyhow so would like to suss it first.

right,,, back on with this after it started pouring oil out. thought it was the rear oil seal but when i replaced it sussed it was the sump. changed the front seal as that was def leaking. took the sump off, cleaned it up and knocked the bolt holes down a bit which looked raised. cleaned the gasket with petrol and the block then put gasket seal on as well for a belt n braces job.

used the crane thing i have which runs across the depot on beam monkeys to put the engine and box back in. didnt think it would work in the past but made it proper easy.

when the steel guy asked to borrow the forks i got into him for some steel to change the mounts to solid and he gave me these to try.  very solid nylon bushes with a 8mm thread down the center. put two together ,cut one down with the chop saw  so the two were  the same length as the original mounts.quite handy if you need to lift or lower the engine height.. they have a coller type thing at one end.

all back in and mostly built up. couldnt put oil in in case it leaked again and spoilt my night out... need a break with it to get interested again.

Looking super clean now Dobber.

what colour scheme are you going for on the frame and tins??

hi bandit,  theres a photo of a bike i did on page two of this thread which is what i was gonna do the trike in. not sure now, just want to get it drivable. may get a lot of white powder coat on the engine tho.

.............IT RUNS..................


 15 month or so down the line i finaly fired it up. sounds ok. cured the leaking sump and rear seal but the front ones still leaking with the new seal in. had the pipes to and from the fuel pump the wrong way round, was trying to pump fuel out of the carb.
 started to mount the r6 radiator , not a lot of room.
 any one know what the crack is with the pipes. got the main in and out but whats the other smaller one for and the two little ones. the overflow one is tucked under the cap

Great Stuff  :)


I take it that you fitted the timing pulley before tightening up the timing cover bolts so as to centralize the cover around the pulley . :)
If Yes , Remove the timing pulley and have a look for wear where the seal rubs on .
If worn , you might need to fit a Speedi Sleeve or get another pulley in good condition .
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put the pully on first then nipped the bolts up.
  saw the sleeve thing. how do you measure to fit or can you just say its for a reliant  pully.

I think the pulley journal measures around 35mm diameter
If So then Part Number CR 99139 , which fits from 34.92mm to 35.08mm , should do the trick

Info at

http://www.skf.com/portal/skf/home/products?maincatalogue=1&lang=en&newlink=4_5_4

Suppliers info at

https://sites.google.com/site/fifersrelianthintsandtips/specialist-parts-suppliers/directory-of-specialist-part-suppliers/speedisleeves
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cheers fifer, on the phone Monday morn to them. got oil from the back again, just before i kicked its sorry ass i traced the trail. was coming from a corner of the rocker and working its way down.  i apologised to it immediately.
made a bracket for the rad using the rad mounts. then centered it and tacked it on.[ made sure i could get it off, not like the axle]

tight but does nt foul any where

made a bracket for the bottom, again using the rad rubber mount.
 now im late for work.

How you going to link thermostat to the top inlet?

Are you going to be able get the fan on

fans gonna go on the other side and blow not suck, according to dan the fans rarely needed with his [same engine and rad]. 
the top hose i was going to cut the neck of the stat housing and reweld in the position best suited, also take the rad to wakey radiators and see if he can reposition the outlets but not 100% neccessary.
            whos gonna start the list of why i can not.  [like the whole build, do now think later]

bit dim i know but does the top engine hose have to go to top of rad or  don't it matter as long as it flows through?

yeah top to top, the old water pump would be sweating its pully off trying to force the water bottom upwards. i thought about cutting the neck of my thermo housing to get better positioning,i dont want to have to use the flexi hose stuff

thought bout cutting it then machine up a little sleeve to slot over both ends. could be extended then if needed.. did you check the color thing  bandit?

i did yeah its near as dam it opposite to mine black frame bit brighter lime green tins. but to be onest i like it your way round green frame black tins go for it,it will look a totally different trike in paint compared to what youve been looking at the past few months. are you powder coating the frame?? i havnt and regret it abit now, so i will be, when i brake it down next winter as its already a few chips. :(

been tolds its best if the pump outlet goes to the top of the rad. took the r6 one to the rad shop to get it adapted, as it happens the ally ones are hard to rework. ended up with a very similar size one  brand new and the guys putting the in, out and filler just where i want for 50 quid all in.
 also today got the front pully seal, collar thing, the most expensive metal per gram ever. really easy to do and seems to have worked.

I've not heard of a Speedi Sleeve -is it literally a sleeve around the pulley shaft to take up the difference between it & the rubber seal?

Im not too sure on the Powder coat VS paint thing. Mines painted and has got chipped(very fishy ;D),dropped the spanner a few times! but its easier to add brackets etc then touch up?

Basically yes , but more to repair a Grooved / scored / worn Shaft .
Used on any shaft which has a seal running on it gearbox output etc
Download the PDF file on Speedi Sleeves from the link at my website
http://sites.google.com/site/fifersrelianthintsandtips/specialist-parts-suppliers/directory-of-specialist-part-suppliers/speedisleeves

.
.

so simple m/m. took pully off, cleaned it with a brillo. grove was really plain to see but only when you properly look at it. bit of gasket sealer on then tap it on with a cup thing that comes with it. slackened bolts on timing cover, slot pully on .nip it all up. literally a 5 min job. cured it.

Are you using the other foot peddle on the other side ?

expensive, but they work very well, use em at work regular,
great for the axle input on a reliant
http://www.bearingboys.co.uk/Speedi_Sleeves__Shaft_Repair_-3289-c?gclid=CJDd88nT-K4CFQ1lfAod-mBRxg

(they can be got cheaper than that link though)

third radiator fitted today, not all together tho. also made a bracket to mount the fan and the front indicators. hose fitted quite easy.

keeping the indicators low

moved under its own power today, only a few yards in a straight line but its a start.

Woo hoo! Another one lives again!  :)

Congratulations Dobber - a huge miestone :)

Great news  , Dobber :) :)
.
.

it lives and breathes,      breathes too much actually.      stunk a bit when i left the garage cos no exhaust and fuel in a can sloping everywhere.
        its the kick up the rear i was after...
    ought to put it on the truck and bring it to the basingstoke meet as an ongoing project. [ have to google where it is first]
 had a passer by shouting up the depot through the fence asking questions earlier, said it looked like a big engine.

(they can be got cheaper than that link though)
 thought it was a bit pricey digger. bit of desperation to get it done made me grab first solution.

well done dobber that 2 beeing revived in a week  ;D ;D ;D

Nice one Dobber,will give you the incentive now!

Come & join us at the Basingstoke show Dobby. It's in Hampshire, a mile off junction 6 of the M3, about 30 miles West of London.
We always encourage you lot to post build diaries of your projects, cos, although you may not think so, you're inspiring & informing the next potential builder. That guy asking questions might well be thinking I'd love something like that but I wouldn't know where to start.
Well done mate.

not touched this for a month now, not surprised they go on for years,
bought a down pipe for 18 quid to get going on a temperary exhaust,
tacking it together with arc which isnt the best way.
cut a slug to join the bits but think maybe it will affect flow.

the joints with the slugs are neat and went a bit easier than i thought to say my mind wasnt on it 100%.
fairly close to the frame and a few componants but just want to see a result.

.

good to see you back on it dobber, i made a cut and shut exhaust they look s**te all welded here and there so i got 5meters of black exaust wrap for a tenner off ebay its tidyed things up perfect ;)

Similar shape to mine Dobby. Reliants are never gonna be high performance motors -the joints in the system might cause a minor gasflow disruption, but I doubt it's gonna make a lot of difference really.

got exhaust toward back end of trike and surprised how quite it is.   got a 1200 bandit silencer mounted ready to mate up to it but could now be overkill.

hi oab, hoping to weld n fettle it then matt black it. in the distant future get it copied, patterned in stainless.

 think your right m/m.  never gonna be thraping it around on full knacker.

i ran just a pipe last year, wasnt that noisy, i have a s/s big bore one i made to an old norton dunstal thingy, its louder now but its still ok, theres more noise in the engine than the exhaust ;D

prob a daft ? but is it legal to run with no silencer, i see most of the choper type things just have a straight pipe from engine? my exhaust is only 4ftish with race can gifted off my brother its by no means loud but does sound nice

think it only goes by decibles. not sure on that really

99dbA for msva

measured at an angle,about 45 degrees,about 18" away from end.,and engine revving about half throttle,as I recall. The can hasnt got to be stamped as correct type ,but mustnt have summat like "for race use only on it"!

so could you bodge your throttle so it revs lower at max?

99db is louder than you think, most cars are 82 or 84 ish, its a LOT louder than that, its a logarithmic scale, not linear...
if your worried just stick a baffle in it 4 the test

I was wrong there Chewie..I think it has to be opened to 3000 rpm for the test. I just guessed mine,as rev counter wasnt working at the time.

So how do they gauge the revs if the vehicle doesn't have a rev counter?

hold on to the ht lead with a wet hand and count the number of screams per minuite :D

 ;D ;D ;D

For my truck SVA, it had to be 3/4 throttle. If you have a recognised source of info on the maximum revs of your engine, (a letter from an owners club perhaps or even the Haynes manual), they'll accept that & work out the figure from that. I had a Haynes manual ready when we went for the test, but I think they must've had the Rover V8's figures on their computer system or they took Kev's word for it, as they didn't ask.
They can clip a meter to an HT lead to read the revs if you don't have a gauge.

i was thinking of fitting a cherry bomb on mine. are they any good?

They're not exactly quiet, but can take the edge off the exhaust note, so it doesn't sound so harsh.
When we first tested my truck's exhaust with a pair of tractor silencers fitted, it registered 106 decibels. The limit for the commercial SVA test was 101db, so I made up a cross-over tailpipe system, using a pair of Cherry Bombs & an extra couple of feet of tubing, plus a couple of 4 inch long louvred motorcycle type baffles for good measure. That took it down to less than 100 decibels.

  i met a bloke with a reliant trike last year just before i started mine he had a cherry bomb and it did sound sweet wasnt over loud, i had one on a mk1 feista years ago and a bomb straight off the manifold it could be heard for miles :D :D :D ohhh the good old days, anyway i was gonna have one on my reliant trike but me bro brought a gp can for his ninja and donated his old viper race can to my trike, you can get 2 for £60 ::)

I use what I think is an original Reliant silencer box thats mated to some fairly small bore stainless pipe. It gives a really nice sound and isnt at all loud. I like it and normally I prefer loud pipes

(http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q122/nabsim/Trike/05082007195.jpg)

Have we seen pics of your trike before Nabs? Don't recognise that one.

how dare you perv at our builds without doing a write up of yours :)

That was when I first got it Andy, you have seen pics of it but it had changed from that one. Just realised, there are a couple of pics of it like that in the posting pics how 2 thing I did. Even that same pic

I didn't build it OAB I bought it as it looks in that pic. It went through quite a few changes but mainly cosmetic. I am doing some stuff but am that slow I haven't put much up at all. Will wait until I have something about done or finished. My biggest problem is I will think of something, spend ages doing it then change my mind and rip it up again. Really must get either the vw or reliant actually running round this year though.

"My biggest problem is I will think of something, spend ages doing it, then change my mind and rip it up again".

-yup, that's how I work too!

where are you dobber?? been looking at you build pics and noticed no reports of late ;)

yes Dobber not heard any thing in a while on this one, followed this one frome the start thats unusal for me on reliants,  would have thought you would be enjoying your hard work by now and ridding around on it

maybe after baisingstoke he thought "god what a bunch of d**k's......... :D :D :D :D :D

funny that no ones seen him since  ??? ???

i looked at everyone basingstoke pics a few times and never sin a full one of dobbers trike,wonder if hes felt offended in some way??

he normally goe,s to barton bike night which is a week on wednesday  but i havnt heard if he,s going this time,,

It is a busy time of year for him with the burger vans  :)

Didn't he post from Malta or somewhere or was that before Basingstoke?

hi folks, back on the trike after a long break, been checking out the posts on site. nice to see progress.
 fired up the trike and had forgot how quiet it is with the bandit can on

made the  leci box from half a fire extinguisher but now fell out with it so off it came. whats 8hr.s work when it dont look right.

the idea was ok but couldnt get  the top n bottom to stay in line. probably cos there pressed steel  and once cut apart they loose structure.

had a lot of hours in but gonna have something made.
  is there anyone making boxes from stainless or ally

looking to have a flat plate 26 inch long and 7 inch wide with two boxes , 6inch wide ,8 inch long 7 inch tall cut into it [[ 2inch under 5 inch above]] with a 3 inch gap between them for the propto run through

welcome back dobber ;)

Hi Dobber, good to see you back

Long time no read Dobber  ;D ;D ;D ;D

good to find time fellas, lost track of where i got with the job.

welcome home Dobber  :)

cheers zakboy. reckon you have probably built a half dozen more since i was last on.

No too far off the truth there  ;D ;D ;D ;D

Wasn't it Hunter who was making stainless boxes?

yes i belive he trades via ebay from time to time aswell

i beleve hornet makes s/s boxes

No it was hornet.

will give him a try cos local guys getting slow. want to get things moving again

finaly back on the trike, took out the battery box i made n didnt like, got some 5mm 316 stainless cut to shape to slot under the prop, sitting on a coupla tabs

fits nice, just clears the bracket under the handbrake plate for the cables

cut a oblong out to make a recess for the battery to sit in, on the other side gonna weld a oblong to sit the fuse box, solnoid,n flasher unit in then have a stainless box to slot over it to weather tight it

hi guys, been awhile, hows all?
  not had time to do any trike work bar sorting the battery box n lecci box i started back in october

box  lid slots over the lecci box. should polish up nice,
had a lot going off of late, some really bad some really good. looks like trikes on back burner for a good while.
 had a scan at some of the projects folk got going, looking good.

Nice to see you back mate.
Box looks very tidy. Did you TIG weld it yourself?

Nice to see you back Dobber, very nice and shiney

Glad your back with us Dobber, keep up the good work.
I suppose you'll be riding it down to Basingstoke this year :D :)

hiu mm. got the stainless guys who do the trailer work to throw it in with ajob, needs seam welding from underneath

hi nabsim, hows it going...
 pete, not a chance of getting it done for baisingstoke, bought a 1700s pub in december to turn into a house . major project. was thinking of starting a thread on it in general discussion

Hi Dobber, good to see you on. Start the build thread, I have converted 2 cottages to one house ( did everyting!), major work with steel beams, rewire,  new kitchen etc, lets have a look at what you are up to :)

.dragged the trike out last night to see if i could muster up some interest. had the battery and electric box made ages ago, had ago at mounting it. sits nice n snug

not much in the way of bits to fit in the box. mounted bits on a bid of grp so i can lift the lot out if necessary

Whey hey, Dobbers back!

very neat.

hi andy, does seem like forever. had a look for my thread, was dec 10 when started it. 90% was done straight away

drilled a hole to give a shape then slotted it and powerfiled it to take a gromet for first of wires

box lid will slide over when slotted

nibbled away with cut off disc then end of powerfile again

two mins on buffer to polish up

will try get maximum wires thru minimum holes to keep it neat

needed a earth for the solenoid in the lecci box so drilled n tapped so not having to get under it to put a nut on and off if need electrics out

put the leci bits in and shortened the earth and live to make it neater. bolted the stainless plate down with a couple of 6 mm allen stainless bolts.. the earth to the chassis is on the bolt that holds a reliant hand brake plate which is a footrest for the pillian and matches the other side which is the actual handbrake and a foot rest

That's tidy. Wish I understood electrickery.

footrests back on

view looking down without seats on and from side.. made a boll@>:s.  cant lift the stainless lid off without moving the handbrake bracket. never saw it coming... can live with it.

cant really see electric and battery bits from the side and back.
bolted the horn on and wired, need to sort some sort of console up front now for the warning lights

never done much with lecci till i started this , got a bit of advice from t bone then stripped everything to see how it worked n where wires went then did it as i went along.
need the hazard set next, can anyone recomend the simplest of the ones on ebay????

need a little advice on my build, seems iv forgotten most things.


for the indicators, does it have to be a light for the warning or can i put a buzzer thing on, got one for my cruiser which simply connects to each front indicator and sticks on some where with double sided tape, only a half inch square thing.

to wire the fan up, can it be left on permanently or do i need to have a sensor thing on the radiator, guy who made rad said he will fit it to rad if i get the sensor and the nut it screws into. what do i need n where from. also hows it wire up. got a spare fuse for it if needed.


also need some stainless u bolts for the axle, six of. at the moment it has exhaust type ones that aren't strong enough.what size is It to fit snug around the two inch reliant axle. know its not as simple as saying to fit round a two inch tube.

never thought i would get to this stage but whats the first steps to getting it legally registered.


all advice freely accepted.

the fan would need either the sensor or a manual switch that you could switch it on if needed,sensor would be best. go to you local motor factor and ask if they or you could look through the catalogue of fan switches
and find one that has on/off point's at or near the temp you want your engine to run at ie if your engine is happiest at 85 deg get a fan switch that comes on at 87 and of at say 80 .some fan switches have very big
threads so you might have to gat a boss made the right size to fit

wiring is fused live to the switch wire from switch to fan positive and earth to fan

cheers scannerzer,
would anyone know what is the temp the reliant 850 needs to run at.

Should be 82. Depending on  the current draw of the fan and the type of switch, you may need a relay.

hi old newbie,   its a R6  size radiator [custom made] and r6 fan.. looking for sensor now on ebay.
its quite possible i have the reliant sensor still , will have a look..
 mr manky, finaly got round to wiring the old jap indicators i got off you a long time ago. i have led on rear and normal on the front. they seem to be flashing at a acceptable speed. will i need a led or normal hazard kit.?

Personally , I would never fit an 82 degree stat .

The Reliant engine needs an 88 degree thermostat to run at peak efficiency .
The 82 stat will not allow the engine to get up to a good operating temperature and there is much more chance of developing mayo in the rocker cover .
.
One of the biggest causes of overheating on the Reliant lump is a blocked waterway at the rear of the block and previous owners not using antifreeze in the system all year .
The drain plug on the rear of the block at the exhaust side needs to be VERY carefully removed { It can sometimes snap off } and if coolant pours out then the waterway is clear .
More often than not you will need to gently and carefully prod into the opening to release all the hard crud .
The crud is sometimes the casting crap left behind during manufacture .
.

as regards fan switch some bmw,s and volvo,s have a thermostatic switch that screws into an m14 thread ,,its what i,v used on ,EMILY,, i researched the part numbers then ordered mine from euro car parts ,, i think it was about £12 , i,ll see if i can find the details ,,

:-[ Sorry, fifer as usual is correct. The 82 degree one is the one I took out. Forgot that 88 is the one I put in :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[

i ordered a core plug for the back of the engine today, gonna pull it out n stick the jet wash through the waterways. any thing i should take care with or watch out for?.

As you know i rebuilt my lump, including removing and refitting the cylinder liners. There was a lot of gunge between the cylinders and the block and between the cylinders themselves. If you could get an abrasive flexible wire in there and riddle it about i think you could dislodge a lot of crud.

got one of the coiled things for picking bits up in awkward places, will give it a good rumage round Andy from all the different in n outlets.
got the hazard light set up through the post today, fitted really easy. also got a oil pressure and volt meter in one unit, digital. when turned off the screen is smoked black, when it powers up it does a dance n light show then shows the voltage as numbers for a Minuit then has digital curve for oil pressure with numbers in the middle. bit gimmicky but looks good.

put it on a bracket above the starter, was easy to wire up.  the oil pressure switch is replaced with a sender type unit. problem was its too bulky and the front engine mount was in the way... cutter and power file sorted it

dont think it will weaken the mount. new sender fits now

added the wiring for the hazards and the digital display, looks really cluttered now. at some point when nearer to done i will rewire the whole thing . i will run all the wires to a more discreet point instead off joining them under the tank. trouble is you think your done then remember loads more bits of wiring..
realised today i havnt got a speedo. need advice on that one.

also tried to find which forms to download to get a vin sorted, straight away ran in to a minefield.  nearest office is a 20min ride so not as bad as some folks.
form numbers would be handy if anyone has em.

Fill in form V627/1 Built Up Vehicle Inspection Report. Add a note that you require a VIN
They will then give / send you a reference number  a VIN and form V842 that will need to be stamped by a garage or mot station, to confirm that the number has been stamped correctly into the frame.

the best office i,v found is ,beverly,, beats manchester any day ,helpfull,,polite,, correct,, and no 3hr que,s..

gonna use the one at Leeds mike, just cos its nearest and  i know that the good people in power will be helpfull, polite and quick. may even get a tenner outta their till.
found the form old newbie but seems very little of relevance in it. is it likely to come back if its not filled in comprehensively or maybe because its just for the Vin there  not  so strict..
just been through the form, gonna be a lot of blank spaces,  reg num, steering bits etc.

Yep, lots of blank spaces. :)
For mine I filled in motorcycle to trike conversion
Frame - 
Engine-
Gearbox-
Front suspension/ steering
Brakes
 rear. axle
In the notes I stated that- This is a new build using both, new and previously used components, in a new frame.

was given a coupla large ball bearings i think will weld on to the end of the rear bar [[where bumper would be]], smooth end so safe...

looking for some stainless steel ubolts to replace these temporary exhaust clamps, emailed a few on ebay n both said you cant get a snug 2 inch one to go round the axle,,, surely cant be right, any advice freely accepted...

Hi tiz true my son tyre and exhaust fitter
For bout 10 years now he said don't make them in
Stainless as under car normally so not seen. Y not stove enamel them. Should last few years with out going rusty
Gazza

If you feel that only stainless will do , try the following company ;

http://www.u-bolts-r-us.co.uk/

It looks like they also do one offs if you read and click onto the parent company website

http://www.graphskill.co.uk/
.
.

Think they might need to be a bit stronger.
Thick sheet steel (2mm min) over the axle and under the U bolt to get the correct fit and spread the clamping forces.
PM sent.

i only ever use these these there the original reliant axle ubolts


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RELIANT-ROBIN-RIALTO-AXLE-U-BOLT-25020-/180693117592?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item2a12262a98#ht_524wt_806

zakboy, do they fit snug on the axle or do they fit over a sleeve on the axle.. cant recall.. as old newbie says do i need to stiffen things up..

They do fit over a sleave dobber its about no more than 2mm thick the way you have yours set up there with the ubolt threads underneath the axle is to get a short piece of 52mm outside dia tube  if you look on ebay you will find 52mm exhaust tube in diffrent lengths all you want is enought to go under the two ubolts each side of your axle split the tube down the center to give you a piece one  for each side then put each piece under the ubolts on the top of your axle tubes then you can tack weld them on and tighten your ubolts over the top

do you mean a piece top n bottom of the left n right axle tube or just the top of each tube. will the reliant u bolts also fit over the extra tube

yes all you will need is a piece on the top of axle tube's  each side so the radius of the ubolts fits around the exstra tube

Don't use stainless, as its only that! ie. stainless, probably 316, strength wise, not nearly as good as the original high tensile "U" bolts, and the spacer/guides are good engineering practice to prevent " creep" so use those as well, coat of Hammerite will sort the anti-rust requirement out! Morrag

as ever, a font of information. thanks fellas.

just ordered the u bolts for a reliant axle,  cant find the 52 mm od tube, anyone got a link..

You could wait until you have the u bolts, then you can work out exactly the thickness required.

Make your own U bolts....form some 5mm flat over the axle tube and weld some studs/bolts onto it, sorted :)

'Tube' to fit over could be bent from some plate x  2mm thick(or whatever allows the u bolt to fit snug) .

got the reliant u bolts which are quite loose over the axle. has any one a photo of the standard bits that wrap the axle and would it be poss to refit some n get it all chromed before fitting

Sorry no pics, but its pretty much the same as most leaf sprung live rear axles.
When you say chrome, what parts are you referring to ?

the bits of tube or whatever i need to put over the top of the axle and the ubolts if poss ON.  theres quite a space between the axle and the u bolts..

The U bolt saddles should really be tack welded to the axle but I suppose you could chrome them. Easier to make them from stainless. As for the U bolts themselves, personally I wouldn't chrome, as I believe this will weaken them.
What is the inside dimension of the U bolts?

will check that O N,
  gonna have to cut two new mounting plates for my chassis, drill them so the new u bolts are 20mm further apart and weld them over the existing plates as the holes will be half over the original holes n we all know what will happen if i try drill down, be all over the place. wont harm to raise the height 6mm  [[plate between axle and chassis]]. when the forks are rebuilt i was going to try to get them extended any way to try get a little touch of the chopper look.
liked the simple clean look i had before, this is gonna look a bit more cumbersome

will also check with chromer to see if it will weaken the ubolts..
could i tack the ubolts to the sleeve i have to put round the axle,  drill the sleve, tap the top of the axle and put a stainless allen bolt through the sleeve to stop creep then i could have it all chromed or powdered.

Dobber, If the new u-bolts are 20 wider at the bolt holes,
Then they are the wrong ones,It will mean the sleeve that sits on the axle that the bolts sit on, will have to be 8mm thick.
Or am i thick,And missing something.

Just measured up an old clamp plate. U bolts should be to fit 2 1/4" diameter. Therefore saddles should be 1/8" or 3mm thick

right ones hunter, i meant i would have to put the two u bolts 20mm further apart from each other or the new holes would foul with the ones i drilled for the snug clamps i have on now.
as your looking at the photo the ubolts would be further apart and the axle sat on a new bit of plate

Never bother with such troublesome clamps myself, preferring a prefabed box welded to the axle tube with a vertical flat mounting plate to receive the trailing arms. Morrag

Like this................. no chance of it revolving, and the load spread over a larger area of axle tube, simples.. 8) 8) 8)

had to force my self to drag the trike out today as a space in the depot opened up. went to my mates engineering shop and got him to cut and hole punch two steel plates to beef up my axle mounts which were too flimsy. he also turned down the end of a piece of tube which i intend to cut down the middle and use as a spacer, load displacer under the reliant ubolts to stop the axle tubes crushing. he has all the gear, instead of drilling he just punched the holes with a 40 tonne punch. cut the plate on a machine that made it look easy like cutting a loaf
took off the wheel and mudguard to get access. loosened the ubolts on the near side and took them off the off side, while the trike is sat on axle stands i jacked up the axle and slid in the new plate. luckily  i had another mount nearer the center of the axle which makes it easy to know the axle is sat in the exact same place.

.the new plate is to sit on the old plate and weld on. made it wider so the bolts dont foul in the old holes.

when i slice this pipe in half, [[one half on the top of each tube under the ubolts]] how do i measure to mark it so it is exactly two halfs

note the ubolt nearer the diff. wasnt really needed but came in handy to keep the axle in the same position

when slitting a tube lenthwise 

i lay a lenth of angle iron down it then chalk or marker pen a line down it ,, then measure equelly each way around to find the centre on the other side then mark that.

try it and youlle find it easier then i explain it ,,

As spanners says, a vee block or piece of angle iron is perfect.
Using proper axle u bolts and is way better than the ones that were fitted Are you welding on axle saddles to resist rotation.
Standard Reliant.

got the tube cut down the middle but didnt notice that the bits we turned down to fit the ubolts were not done far enough in so had to be redone. gonna get it all put together. i intend to tack the half tube to the axle and to the ubolt to stop spinning. is there a easy way to make a saddle?
no photos as i have got grit in the camera lens by the sounds of it. second one in a short time.

You can buy saddles to fit escort axles. Not sure what dia. they are. For a light weight, low power application I would think that a couple of bits of angle welded each side would suffice. The main object being provide a flat, stable base to stop the tubes rotating under power or braking.

Hi Olds
Would you know where to get them from ?

http://www.rallydesign.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=609_681_686&products_id=4330 (http://www.rallydesign.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=609_681_686&products_id=4330)

this the sort of thing

Yep  ;D

had a few minutes free so put my new set up on one side

remembered i have to sort a clutch pedal bush or bearing out. at the mo it just has a compressed rubber bung in the middle. any ideas or can some one lathe up a bush for a undisclosed fee?

forced my self to do a bit on the trike today, put the new axle clamp on the other side then made a bracket to keep the handbrake cable in line .

the first attemp was a mile out of line n a bit bulky so made another  from flat bar

while i was at it i drained the water and took out the rotton coreplug. bit gunged up inside

cleaned it up but didnt put the new one in as im going to jet wash the system out while i can.............unless there is a reason we shouldnt.

I had that core plug blow out on one of my trikes. I was just approaching a roundabout & was suddenly enveloped in steam.

went to do a bit on the trike but the sun was out so off to tax the criuser. had a ride over to the squires coffee bar. now moved to a old pub. was packed

mounted the fan and rad properly. wire brushed with a brass colored cup in the cordless gave it a smooth enough surface to black up.. used drilled out tap washers to stop vibration. hard enough to not crush but soft enough to help with the vibration.

Just a thought of mine, is that fan going to do any good so far from the radiator :-\

  :-\ PM sent.

its a lot tighter than it looks chevy rick but also hoping to make a stainless surround to pretty it up and direct the air flow. as O N says the air needs to be funneld to the rad. think the gap from the fan to the rad is about a inch n half.

I had over heat trouble with my kit car, basically same as your set up. Old guy came by and forced cardboard down the side between grill and rad so all air was forced through rad instead of around rad. Now perfect, have made up aluminum panels, hardly ever runs to hot and fan is now only kicking in in traffic.

thats what im hoping to do.  doing it with card will make it easy to experiment then when i have it sussed get down to my mates stainless shop.

while I'm too busy to do work on the trike i thought i may get a start on the registration. any advice on my first step,

start by ordering both the v55/5, v55/4 and their guides from here
https://forms.dft.gov.uk/order-dvla-forms/

and a built up form from here
http://www.direct.gov.uk/prod_consum_dg/groups/dg_digitalassets/@dg/@en/@motor/documents/digitalasset/dg_065268.pdf

and a msva form from here
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/motorcycle-single-vehicle-approval-msva-1

get all your receipts together and keep them you will need them to send with your completed stuff to dvla

thats a start mate

wow, cheers for that twisted.
ordered the first two [apx 10 days] and printing the others.
whats the process?  you seem clued up with it.

Happened to me once after hauling a ford engine from a scrap yard for my brother lucky for me i had a jubilee coin laying around on the floor of my robin van put it in with a little tap of a hammer filled the rad with some water from a stream at the side of the road and off i went on my merry way. ;D

what if you don't have any receipts almost all my stuff was used or ebay or made

yes, i am worried about that.

get a mate to write you a reciept?

don't panic. plenty of my parts were ebay sourced to. if you got it from ebay you would have received a paypal receipt or notification that you had won/payed on collection notice, just print that off to send , its what i did  ;D. they just want to some sort of proof that its been built and not nicked. if you made your frames keep the receipts for the pipe you used. one of my receipts was for 'rolling chassis consisting of forks, frame, engine, gearbox, axel etc' printed off the computer then signed  ;) it doesn't have to be a till receipt. its the major parts they want to see not every tiny thing i think.
before sending take copies.

Beat me to it  :D
For stuff bought on ebay, print your order confirmation emails. It's better than nothing. They mainly seem interested in large items, such as engine, gearbox, axle, forks etc. Think it's mainly to stop the trade in stolen parts.

Yep, agree with the above, they were interested in major components and only scanned the smaller bits.

haven't moved the trike in over a year now, mostly due to converting this pub i bought into a house. things have slowed  a bit so got the forms i got posted out from dvla , form v55/4 and v55/5 . anyone know if there still valid and relevant? .. first thing to fill in asks for the registration number, straight away a problem, ain't got a registration number. back in the folder for another year...

downloaded V627/1 FORM. where it says reg , make , model etc does it mean the donor car?

No thats what its going to be the one we built is a turbo mangler 850

hey up Dan, hows tricks.   
just put whatever I thought on the form n posted it off to em. see what occurs.

Hi mate things good this end. where is the pub/house?

Hi guys....sent the forms off for this to dvla on 18 july, dont think im going to get anywhere with that, or is 3 month not long enough to wait  ??

DVLA can be slow but not normally that slow. They do however, tend to lose stuff ("we never recieved it") so it's worth chasing them up. Always take photo copies of anything you send them.
I take it that you are waiting for the vin number.

Everyone that I know that has don it have got a reply within a couple of weeks.
Saying that, one guy did have to send in twice as the first lot got "lost".

Defo worth a call, as I have only heard good things, including one woman that processed the paperwork whilst the guy was on the phone.

not been on for a while, bought a 42 year old  v dub bus and made me think its time to chase the trike vin up.. be dust on the forms now i guess.

'ello stranger!  ;)

HASN,T,,he died then ,,,,,

pulled the trike out to swill the engine out while the rear core plug is out, lots of white crystal stuff and a little brownish water came out. had it running while hose pipe shoved in top of rad.  went to put the core plug in and it allmost fell in, had a look today and waters freely dripping out. any ideas, do you hammer the core plug in the center of the dome to expand it,? last time i did one was a beagle  ha van.

had it running but would only run on full choke, pehaps just cold but was pouring fuel out of this pipe

may have asked before but whats meant to go on this pipe, outlet?
one right in center of photo. its on  right of carb as viewed

Thats there to suck blowby gases out of the sump on a mini - not sure if this carb is original reliant or not?
Connect it to the rocker cover and fit a breather type filler.

Problem with the fuel pouring out ,
I take it that the fuel hose is attached to the left hand pipe on the floatbowl lid and that the overflow hose is open to atmosphere ?
Photo info on hose positions at ;
https://sites.google.com/site/fifersrelianthintstips/carb-stuff/carb-maintenance/su-carb-floatbowl-info
.
Is there a gasket on the float bowl lid ?
The nylon needle in the floatbowl might be faulty and not shutting off ?
.
The float might be punctured ?
.
https://sites.google.com/site/fifersrelianthintstips/carb-stuff/carb-maintenance/carb-floatbowl-faults
.
Set the mixture as per ;
https://sites.google.com/site/fifersrelianthintstips/carb-stuff/carb-maintenance/carb-only-runs-with-the-choke-out
.
The tube at the side of the carb needs to have a hose connected to it and then connected to the rocker cover breather cap .
.

it is a original reliant, [i think] . will connect it up.
theres a screw missing from the top of float bowl which may make it not seal fifer.  does the carb rely on pressure from the rocker to run right.?

i used to blank the breather pipe that comes out the side of the carb and went to the rocker cover  then let the rocker cover breath to the atmospere via a short downward pionting tube

The tube at the side of the carb must be sealed .
It can be blanked off with a piece of hose and a bolt to blank the hose but , if you do that and leave the rocker cover breather open to atmosphere , the engine draws colder air in when you switch the engine off .
This can often cause condensation and gunge building up in the rocker cover especially if the vehicle is used for short journeys or is not allowed to get up to full working temperature ..
With the hose connected from the side of the carb from the rocker cover the carb sucks the vented air from the crankcase which is pushed up into the rocker cover to scavenge the sump .
.
Regarding the floatbowl , remove the lid complete with float and test for a punctured float and that the float shuts of the needle as per ;
.
https://sites.google.com/site/fifersrelianthintstips/carb-stuff/carb-maintenance/carb-floatbowl-faults
.
Check the float height as per
.
https://sites.google.com/site/fifersrelianthintstips/carb-stuff/carb-maintenance/carb-float-height-setting 
.
Anti flood floatbowl kit complete with viton tipped needle
.
https://sites.google.com/site/fifersrelianthintstips/carb-stuff/carb-maintenance/su-carb-floatbowl-info 
.
Carb set up tips on my site at ;
.
https://sites.google.com/site/fifersrelianthintstips/carb-stuff/carb-maintenance/carb-only-runs-with-the-choke-out
.
Did you put oil in the top of the carb dashpot ?
.
Also , if you get technical , I have made needle comparisons  so that some idea of where the needle points are weaker or richer at different throttle openings and can often be helpfull if used on trikes which obviously have varied exhaust systems .
.
https://sites.google.com/site/fifersrelianthintstips/carb-su-carb-jet-needle-spring-type-comparison-of-4-common-needles
,

cheers fifer, lot of info there. need to sort the leaking core plug at rear of engine to let the engine get up to temp.
 
cleaned and hosed what i could and ran the hose through woth it running which pumped out a lot of crap, then put in a newcore plug which went in far too easy , drips freely now, any ideas

make youre self an ,,oversize, core plug 

When you clouted the convex centre of the core plug to fit it  is the core plug centre now concave ?
There is an optimum point where the outside of the core plug has spread to the maximum .
After that point the centre becomes concave and starts to pull the outside in again therefore it does not seal .
Fortunately I have never had a cylinder head worn so bad that I have had to use a sealant but lots of owners of various makes of vehicles have used it with success .
.
.

wondered that earlier in thread about hammering the centre of the core plug. been so long since i did one,

hi folks, wanting to order some  really flexible radiator hose for the reliant engine, they need to be really short n bend easy with out kinking.,
would anyone know  what the internal size needs to be and recommend a brand.
thanks in advance.

also need one of the  3 small bolts / screws that holds the top of the carb on where the fuel feeds in. would any one know what thread size i need to ask for,
once again , thanks in advance.

Hey Andy, hows all?
could you direct me to the thread on how to stop the reliant axle spinning in its mounts ?.

Hello stranger!
Can't remember if there was a specific thread on it, but I just welded small tabs to the side of the axle clamps, with matching ones on the axle tubes. They stopped it rotating or sliding sideways in the clamp.

I notched the back clamps and welded corresponding lugs to the tubes.
No reason not to weld the back clamp plates to the axle, once you are sure the axle is positioned correctly. Just be cautious if using the original Reliant tubes as they are very thin. A couple of good tacks will do it and easily ground off if need be.

would it be strong enough to tack the u bolts to the clamps around the axle then tack lugs on the axle to stop it moving in the clamps?
also will tacking the u bolts weaken them too much as there high tensile.

Forgot that you were using u bolts. No you shouldn't weld these.
Really should weld pads on the tubes, same as when fitting an axle to a leaf spring.

im thinking of moving the radiator to the back as its a little cluttered at the front,  anyone know if i can use 22 mm copper plumbing pipe and wrap it in something heat proof wise or other options?

No problem in using copper pipe.  Solder compression olives to the ends to stop the rubber pipes sliding off. Why cover it ?

couple of places where i need to route it that may be too close  to flesh  for comfort

28mm might be better more water flow to the rear plus it may be a better size for the rad hoses

any one got a small motorcycle radiator with filler  cap to post out?   cant get anyone on flea bay to give me measurements,.  needs to be 10 inch max tall and ideally 12 wide but can be bigger.

I sent you a PM 👍😎

cheers Stinky,
 i did send off a few year ago over the paper work to be told later it was all lost and as i didnt send it recorded there was nothing i could do.  i recently had to change the body details on a pick up, from a refrigerated box to a pick up, done it before when i made a couple of car transporters, relatively easy and now i can send the forms by email so dare say i may have another go at registering this. paperwork was never a strong point.
like Andy said on the pop thread, its like being retired at the mo. one business completely shut down,other one requires very little of my attention and the local council have very kindly given me a rather easily attained grant as i have business rates on a depot i have for storage.  i do have colleagues however that are struggling so its nice to help them where possible,not easy when were not supposed to meet or travel.