Tazet's Trike project :)

[tazet]

While Manky had welder in hand he also welded the engine mounts for my frame which consist of 12mm nuts and washers welded onto the top of a tube to form a captive nut. Later we'll cut them down to length.

[tazet]

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[Manky Monkey]

Jeez, that welding looks 'orrible! They'll be fine once we've run a sanding disc over 'em, honest.
Note the obligatory burnt tartan fleece! Standard welder's issue.

[shabby]

madron got one just like that  lol

[Manky Monkey]

Another small disaster today.
Took the shortened & welded up driveshafts to SaddleBags' works to get the new bearings pressed on & found we've shortened the wrong shafts.
Bugger, bugger, bugger.
When we took the axle apart the shafts were chucked on a shelf with another spare pair. Just assumed they were the same size. They weren't. One pair are metric, the other imperial. We've shortened the wrong ones. I'm now stuck with imperial driveshafts & metric axle casings. I've got the right size bearings to fit the axle tubes, but the ID is too small to fit the shafts.
I know I've got a spare pair of axle tubes sat in my garage in Basingstoke, so will see what size they are tomorrow. If we're very lucky, they'll be imperial & I can get the shortened tubes pressed back out of the diff housing & replace them.
If not, I need to find someone who can put the lumpy, welded up driveshafts in a lathe & turn the bearing surface down from 1 inch, (25.4mm), to 25mm. Need to do it very soon though cos I need to get the basic frame built for the Basingstoke transport festival next weekend & need the axle on it's wheels to do it.
I also need someone to turn the raised centre of the Reliant hubs down to fit the Vauxhall Nova discs. Can anyone help? Willing to travel to get these jobs done in the next couple of days.

[VALLEYSBOY]

really sorry to hear that manky   i aint got a lathe or id help you out sorry

[Mr_G]

Any other weekend than this one or the next two I would have been happy to help chap, could have popped in to work and used the lathes in our work shop.  Hope you find someone to help you out real soon so you can go to the festival, Good luck.

[texon]

Another small disaster today.
Took the shortened & welded up driveshafts to SaddleBags' works to get the new bearings pressed on & found we've shortened the wrong shafts.
Bugger, bugger, bugger.
When we took the axle apart the shafts were chucked on a shelf with another spare pair. Just assumed they were the same size.


Sorry to hear that Manky I am surprised you had any spare shafts after Ron n Shabby visited they must have been well hid hope you get sorted m8

[Manky Monkey]

Ta daa! 
Sorted.
Thanks for the concern guys. Had a very long day yesterday, running about trying to sort things out, & was feeling very p*ssed off by the time I posted.
A fresh day & everything seems slightly less disasterous.
Paid SaddleBags another visit after work this afternoon. I've seriously outstayed my welcome there! Used up every possible favour & SB's a very busy guy. So I put on my best puppy dog expression & pleaded -We broked it. Make it mended -pleeeease. 
The man's a true star. Had a phone call at 9.0.clock this evening to say he's machined down the Imperial driveshafts to take the Metric bearings & pressed them on. Plus he's machined the hub centres to accept the Vauxhall discs. Payment? A couple of MMMotors mugs for the workshop. SaddleBags, I think I love you.  A thousand thanks for rescuing us from the doo doo yet again.
Next job is to find some half inch wheel studs & press them into the hubs. Standard Reliant studs are 3/8" , (the vans might be 1/2"), but as we've got such wide wheels on Taz's trike I thought we ought to beef them up a bit. Onwards.

[Mr_G]

Glad you got it sorted, Saddlebags, the hero once again lol.

[andbolt0]

dear mr manky with regards to the wheel studs  i could not find any to suit my reliant disc conversion anywhere  by chance iwas at our local trailer dealer (indespension) and they have all sizes in bags of four or five  and alot cheaper than what i had  seen elsewhere hope this helps  cheers and good luck andy

[madron]

i use metro wheel studs for alloy wheels fatter and longer than reliant

[Manky Monkey]

Studs bought & fitted now.
I use "Speedshack" in West Drayton, London. A proper old fashioned car spares place. A tiny little unit hidden away in a corner of the High Street, but stuffed to the rafters with all manner of wheel & tuning related stuff. Can't remember the owner's name but he used to drag race a Rover V8 powered mark 2 Escort. They know their stuff. Find 'em in the Links for Commercial Purposes bit of the forum. They do mail order but I'm in a hurry to get Taz's axle back together so we can start on her frame, so I drove up there after work this afternoon.
Bought 8 12.5mm wheels studs, plus a pair of 1 1/4 inch wheels spacers, the same as I fitted on my own trike, plus 8 chrome wheel nuts. Came to about 40 quid. The spacers are necessary to space the wheels away from the brake discs so we can squeeze the calipers into Taz's super deep dished steel wheels. I called at Loony's workshop on the way home & drilled out the Reliant hubs to 13mm then whacked the studs in. They have a 13.5mm splined end which would normally be enough to hold 'em, but we have to grind the corners off the hubs to fit inside the Nova discs. Because they're bigger studs, that didn't leave a lot of metal around the outside edge of the studs, so we put a spot of MIG weld on them just to make sure.

[Manky Monkey]

Grinding the corners off the square Reliant hubs lets them drop neatly into the recessed back of the Vauxhall discs. The raised centre of the hub locates the disc centrally so it spins true -it doesn't locate on the studs. The hole in the centre of the disc is smaller than the raised centre boss of the hub, so SaddleBags spun it down to size on the lathe -much easier to do before you put the studs back in.

[VALLEYSBOY]

Wow that is tight are yers as tight as that ?