Manky's new Reliant trike.

[TwistedPatience]

How much Draken ? could do with a pair myself, if cheap enough.

[Manky Monkey]

They were about 40 quid each from Dracken's original supplier.

[Manky Monkey]

The axle clamps are sorted, just need to weld the corresponding tabs to the axle tube then go buy some more tube for the actual struts.

[Manky Monkey]

This evening I made a start on the battery/electrics box.
On Flap's trike we made two equal sized boxes, one either side of the frame, joined over the top of the prop shaft. I can't do that though because my exhaust fills that space on the left hand side. So I've got to make the biggest box I can in the available space on the right. This needs to hold the battery itself, plus the starter solenoid, the fuse box, the ignition switch, a couple of toggle switches & maybe some relays. It's gonna be a tight fit. The various components also need to be accessible -the fuse box, for instance, needs to be somewhere I can easily reach it should one blow. The MSVA regs also say the switches shouldn't protrude beyond the line of the frame, unless they're foldable or guaranteed to snap off in the event of a collision. So I think I'll mount the toggle switches, (hazard warning lights, sidelights & radiator fan), on the rear facing side of the box & maybe the ignition in a recessed tube or panel on the side. I might hardwire the fan so it's running all the time, but the sidelights have to be operational independantly of the ignition -ie, when the ignition's switched off, presumably so you can park on an unlit road & show sidelights.
The sheet of 2mm steel plate I thought we had turned out to be 3mm but will do the job. It will sit on mounting tabs, rather than hanging from brackets, so the extra weight isn't a problem. Tonight I hacksawed out the bottom panel, which has a slight fold to follow the line of the frame, plus the front facing bit. The side & top will probably lift off in one piece to give access to the battery & the rear facing panel will be removable to access the fusebox. The finished box will be powdercoated black.

[TwistedPatience]

You can do it Andy, 4 months at the rate your going and you should be done. Is there anything you need that I can machine up for you?

[Manky Monkey]

3 months & counting. I don't know how long the whole MSVA registration process takes so want to be up & running by the start of April. Thanks for the offer matey. I'll shout if I think of anything!

[Manky Monkey]

It'd make more sense to make the whole side panel removable wouldn't it, rather than part of it plus the rear facing bit. I'll have to weld a lip all the way round the opening to attach the removable panel to. That'll need to be about half an inch wide, which'll make getting the battery in & out very tight. I never seem to have enough room for a decent sized 'leccy box.

[Manky Monkey]

Right. Box made.
I've decided to have the whole side as a removable panel, so I'll create a lip around it that'll push over the edge of the box, then secure it with 6mm button head allen bolts, screwing into captive nuts welded inside the box. That'll give me the maximum sized opening to get the battery in & out.
I'd thought of angling the front panel forwards to follow the line of the frame upright, but when I tried it, it just looked wrong -it created a very sharp sticky out front corner. It also would've filled the space below the curved gusset that I plan to use for the remote reservoir for the brakes, plus blocked access to the gearbox filler plug. So practicality won over form & I settled for a square sided box.

[Manky Monkey]

The various panels were measured up & copied onto 3mm steel sheet, using my best Blue Peter paper templates. Everything was spot welded together & checked for squareness before lots of short tacks were added, rather than long seam welds, to minimise heat distortion. Rather suprisingly the finished bullet proof biscuit tin sits perfectly flat & level.

[Manky Monkey]

Welds sanded back. I made perfect razor sharp corners but this is going to be powdercoated & the coating doesn't like sharp edges -it tends to bleed away from them, so I rounded them off with a hand file.
Hopefully enough room to fit everything in. The ignition switch will be in the removable front panel so it'll need enough extra wire to allow the panel to lift clear of the box, or preferably a multi pin plug so it can be unplugged. The bottom of the box isn't bowed out of shape, it kicks up slightly to follow the line of the hardtail.
Sorry about the scruffy workbench -I used the steel sheet I usually stand stuff on to photograph it to make the box!

[Manky Monkey]

I've also welded the tabs to the axle for the mudguard mounts to bolt to. I could only reach the top face of them though so the heat of the weld has pulled them upwards. Once everything's stripped down again I'll weld the underside & knock them down square with my favourite hammer while they're still hot, then radius the corners.

[Manky Monkey]

So. The story so far.

[ByzMax]

Manky!

The switches can protude from your leccy box as the sharp edge/protrusion test is done with you sitting on the trike so will not cause a problem!

 

[spanners]

hi manky is that little battery big enough for the pig lump??

[Terrortubby]

Thats a nice little frame MM. It looks even smaller than ours, bit of a squeeze getting some of the bits in mind.