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I didn't remember to
take pictures before I started cutting. These are the first pictures of
the chop.
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These are some of the
leftovers. The first thing I do is chop the top so I can have some room
to disassemble the parts I'm going to sell. Lots of the parts can be
sold for $10-25 or more to help finance the build.
pict5157.jpg
This torsion came out
of another bug. I'm using it for a trailer, so I cut off the shock
mounts, gutted the brake assemblies, and anything else to cut a few
pounds.
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I have to finish the
trailer before I get any further into the trike project. I can't leave
it unfinished or it will never get done. Here is the torsion with the
tongue attached.
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Now the trailer is
mostly complete. Just need to finish up the wheels to match the trike.
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I started the front
half of the frame. It is 41 inches along the bottom, 20 inches up, and
32 inches on the diagonal. I didn't just make these numbers up. I laid
a wood 2x4 on the torsion above, leveled it off, sat my seat where I
wanted it and checked where my feet went. That point is the inside of
the 90 degree angle. I don't trust my welding, so I took it to
a fab shop. they charged me $60 for materials and labor to assemble
this part.
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Here it is sitting next
to my first trike. You can see the rake is much less. The diagonal bar
is at 35 degrees. That makes the
rake at the square cut end 35 degrees also. What an easy way to set the
rake.
I will be using stock hydraulic forks this time around. The
first one has about a 45 degree rake and a 12 over front end.
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The new frame is a lot
shorter too. The first one comes out 45 inches to where it turns up.
That makes for a 10.5 foot wheelbase and 14 foot trike, from nose to
tail. This one is 12 inches, measured along the top.
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Here is my "new"
tranny. After pressure washing 1/2 inch of crud off of it, I rebuilt it
with a $.99 can of flat black.
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This is the torsion for
the trike. I still have to cut it back a little more. I will cut it to
the body mount strap right in front of the torsion.
I had to pressure wash the same 1/2 inch of crud off of it to. Then I
treated it with phosphoric acid to kill the rust. I will need more than
one can of flat black here.
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Here we have the
torsion cut back and painted. It is ready for welding to the front end.
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One more shot of the
mid section of the frame.
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The newly cut front
end. Still some cleaning up to do.
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Everything piled up
together. The shape of things to come.
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I went from a 10.5'
wheelbase to a 6.5' wheelbase. We have the limo and the mini.
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For those of you
needing inspiration, 11 days from bug to sitting on three.
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Sat the tranny in
place to see how much I needed to take
off the 1/2 inch plate used to mount the front end. It is probably
easier to do before welding, but I had the main frame professionally
welded, and he was ready to start before I was. Anybody want to guess
what color this one is going to be?
pict5251.jpg
Picked up these
buckhorn bars to have something to push it
around with. Good thing, too. The front end I used has bars that are 1
inch through the risers, and then immediately drop to 7/8. I probably
would not have noticed the 1" section and bought some 7/8" bars.
pict5252.jpg
Cut a deep V into the
plate. It wasn't as hard to cut as I
thought. Only used 5 cut-off blades in the grinder. I took the
manifolds off and pressure washed the engine. I took the rockers off to
keep water out of the engine.
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Hung the motor off the
back to dry. Since I don't have an
engine stand, I'll probably paint it there, too.
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I painted the motor
and have most of it put back together.
I'll probably fire it up this weekend. My master cylinders and slave
cylinder came in today, so I'll start working on the pedals and
figuring out the seat(s).
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My 18" apes came in. I
mounted them and started on the
floorboards. I used 22 gauge steel. Not nearly thick enough. What was I
thinking! I made some patterns and am having some 1/8 or maybe even
3/16 or 1/4 cut at the machine shop. The larger sizes are to add more
weight on the front end. I'm testing a silver/red color scheme. Thanks
for the idea, Dom.
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Here are the new 3/16
floorboards. Much more sturdy than the
22 gauge.
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Another shape of things
to come picture. I'm thinking of
using tool boxes as saddlebags.
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The beginning of the
seat/bumper framework. Drilling holes is not my favorite thing. I spent
1-2 hours drilling 2 holes in 1/4" steel. I must have changed 20 bits
to get to a 1/2" hole. Then I realized I needed 2 more and had to do it
again.
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A friend mentioned using the stock VW tank. It drops
in
almost like I planned it. Just need to add a 4" raised section to the
bumper to level it off. The seat is now 36" off the ground. At first I
thought it was too high, but the rear seat on my other trike is at 28",
and I consider it too low.
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The new tank idea caused me to rethink some of my
plans. I
cut the tracks out of the VW, and used the bottom of the sliders to
make my seat adjustable. I added some framework for a raised floorboard
(currently white cardboard) for the passenger.
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I finally got around to working on it again. It's been
3 months since I mounted the front seat
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I used the seat tracks and rails out of the bug to
make the seat adjustable
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Here is the seat tilted up. Makes it a lot easier for
the passenger to get on and off.
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Today I mounted the rear seat. I decided trying to use
the stock tank was too much trouble. I might plan it differently and
try again someday
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This is how it sits today
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I got back to work finally. Here are the new brake and
clutch pedals
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I made this big sissy bar to mount the tank on.
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Here you can see the rear of the sissy bar.
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Now we have the tank mounted and the rear supports for
the bumper. The supports bolt on so the engine can be removed.
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I found these great big saddlebags on ebay. They will
add a lot of storage.
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I think I'll put five taillights, four on the bumper,
and one at the top of the sissybar.
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This fairing was on my old trike when I bought it. I
think it goes well here.
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These will be armrest/saddlebag mounts.
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Here are the lower taillight mounts. I still have to
figure out the upper one.
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I painted the rims today. Hmmm...Maybe red would look
good.
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Close up of the brake pedal and master cylinder. I
think I
might have to redo the pedals. I don't think you can push down with
enough force. We'll see.
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Close up of the shifter and the clutch master cylinder
pict7251.jpg
Got the new rubber on the rear. I hoped to get more
done
today, but spent all day trying to get the shield clean. It had clear
overspray all over it that would not come off. I got it so clean you
can't even see it.
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It looks like three steps backwards, but this is the
frame
stripped down and painted. I coated the whole thing with por 15 and
then 2 coats of bedliner in a can.
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Here is the upper frame getting ready for paint. After
this was taken, the paint didn't harden all the way and bubbled up. I
had to grind all of the paint off and redo it.
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Got a lot done today. All the color is on and most of
the assembly is finished. Now for the little things - like brakes and
wiring.
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I was not happy with the stock front end. I'm building a shocker using the stock trees.
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A close up of the link and the tubes.
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The completed shocker front end. It handles and rides so
much better than the stock front end that I am going to change the
front end on the yellow trike.
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The next 4 pics are views of the completed trike.
pict0239.jpg
The completed trike.
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The completed trike.
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The completed trike.