Manky's Pop.

[Manky Monkey]

"Pop Browns" took my tatty old Triumph Vitesse front hubs & re-machined them to take new 12mm wheel studs in the correct pattern to fit the Hillman Minx wheels we're fitting on the front of Project Pop. As the new studs are quite close to the outside edge of the hubs, they've been bronze welded from the back for added peace of mind. We do the same thing on our trike disc conversions. The wheels will need the bolt holes opened out by about 1/2mm as they're Imperial, not Metric, but otherwise they fit. So now we can run Triumph disc brakes. Cool.
I've heard all sorts of opinions on which combination of bearings & spacers work to fit the hubs on the spindles. Probably one Triumph bearing & one Pop one, with a small spacer shim behind the inner one. I'll take a trip to the local bearing supplier next week & see what they recommend.

[Manky Monkey]

A small brainwave from Mr Lunatic.
He's been wondering how to finish off the rear corners of the Pop's cab bodywork. Although it looks a simple enough shape, the corner panels need to curve from top to bottom, as well as around from the door to the cab back, plus it would be nice if they could end in a rolled sill to flow nicely under the body.
A big job for him to achieve with only basic shaping tools.
Solution: sitting outside Loony's workshop is an old British Leyland Mini. Hmm, those front wings look almost exactly the shape we're looking for. A pair were ordered up from the local panel suppliers while we were away on our holidays & are now sat in the workshop, awaiting carving up, expert fitting. About 30 quid each. Once the Mini mounting flanges have been cut off they should have enough flex to be persuaded to fit quite nicely. Result! 

[Manky Monkey]

.

[Manky Monkey]

Another road trip today -over to Uxbridge in Middlesex, (actually only half an hour or so from us). Taz & I visited the premises of "Real Steel" to return the remote oil filter kit I bought for the Rover engine. It was bought because we thought the steering box would foul the original set-up, then we changed our minds on the steering, so it wasn't needed.
So we swapped it for this little lot. I've got a 4 barrel Holley carb & what we think is a Buick manifold, although the guys in the shop today weren't sure. I needed a way of connecting the 2 together as the mounting holes didn't line up. After a bit of head scratching & measuring, they came to the rescue with a nice shiny adaptor plate. I also bought their throttle cable fitting kit, a manual choke conversion to replace the existing electric one, a new thermostat housing, a carb rebuild kit & a Holley carb rebuild & tuning manual. Hopefully with that little lot bolted together we should be able to do a straight swap with the SU carbs currently fitted, although we might wait until after the SVA & MOT tests as the present set-up is working quite nicely. Cost me 50 quid on top of the cost of the exchanged oil filter.

Loony had a quick tot up of the costs so far the other day -probably a bit more subjective than I would be. He reckoned about 1700 quid so far, which is actually less than I expected. We always say we could build one of our Reliant trikes for about a grand if we were happy to recycle & adapt old parts, no powder-coat etc, but in reality they all seem to come to around 2 1/2 thousand cos everyone wants a pretty machine, with a certain amount of nice shiney bits & bobs. I'm hoping to build the Pop for a similar cost & so far it looks like we might just do it.

[panthershaun]

. The wheels will need the bolt holes opened out by about 1/2mm as they're Imperial, not Metric, but otherwise they fit. So now we can run Triumph disc brakes. Cool.

13 mm drill will do the job perfect 

I've heard all sorts of opinions on which combination of bearings & spacers work to fit the hubs on the spindles. Probably one Triumph bearing & one Pop one, with a small spacer shim behind the inner one. I'll take a trip to the local bearing supplier next week & see what they recommend.

either the original Pop wheel bearings or the Triumph bearings will do as they are exactly the same you just need a "top hat" machined to take up the difference in the oil seal and  to align the hub with the disc

[Manky Monkey]

I've got a complete set of new Triumph ones so will obviously try those first. So much to do! 

[ByzMax]

I think you need to stop going to shows and stuff like that and just spend your spare time working on the POP. When thats sorted or your waiting for something to arrive then get you trike done and then get Taz's Trike sorted.  Otherwise you will get......stressed...... fed up ......and you won't get anything done!  You know I'm right   

I've got to get my Beach Bastard completed and Mrs Byzmax has said she wants a Trike of her own for next spring/Summer so I will be spending all my spare time in the garage. If I give up my social life over the next 6 months I will have the Spring/Summer/Autumn off next year! 



 

[Manky Monkey]

I know, I know!!
You're so right Byz. 

[ByzMax]

Well with winter coming up you should have more time.   

[Manky Monkey]

Ha! It's never ending mate.

[Manky Monkey]

Well, we had a look at the front hubs & bearings today. I've got a set of new bearings for the Triumph Vitesse hubs, but at least one of 'em doesn't fit as well as it should. Hmm, maybe they're for a different year, or a different model altogether. Bum. No, of course I haven't still got the receipt.
We've got an old set of Pop bearings, so tried mixing & matching the inner races & outer shells. They fitted together O.K, but didn't fit the hubs.
Alright, on to Plan B. I gathered up the hubs & all the bearings & headed for the local bearing suppliers. Make these fit this please.
They took pity on me & started measuring up. They weren't too impressed with my replacement Triumph bearings, dismissing them as suitable for trolleys & barrows, but not for a high speed road car. I ended up buying the smaller outer bearings & ordering the larger inner ones.
We agreed we've got to get systematic about this build as we're running out of time. Lots of jobs are half done. So we'll work our way from front to back, finishing each job before moving on.   

[brock]

   when all else fails, make a plan 

[Manky Monkey]

There's a plan?

[Manky Monkey]

The radiator fan arrived in the post yesterday. Fits perfectly on the rad & the whole ensemble looks like it might just fit inside the standard Pop grille. 

[Manky Monkey]

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