The journey begins

[andyp57]

Day 4:
Today saw the last of the *!***?# wishbone bushes fitted. With those out of the way I feel we can start having some serious fun. The sealant is dry so we've flipped the chassis and trial fitted the front arms and shocks. The bits and bobs Scott put in the box are making sense now

Here's where we are now:




The weekend is here and with no other plans afoot, I'm hoping to make some headway. More Tomorrow ;D

[andyp57]

Day 7:
Good grief! It's only been a week since we picked the kit up and it's storming along. We haven't hit the target of putting it on it's wheels at the weekend for good reason. When the wheels went for Powder coating, they took the bearings out and I've decided that now is as good a time as any to put brand new ones in. They are on order and as far as I can tell, should be with me tomorrow.
This weekend, we've been assembling the front suspension properly and fitting rivnuts to hold the radiator and fuel tank in, clipping the main hydraulic feed from front to back for the rear brake and assembling the steering column / handlebars. Also, the engine mount, which is a single bar on the donor, has to be cut to fit in two sides for the chassis. This proved easier than I had reckoned apart from a strange thread on one of the retaining bolts. Probably going to rethread this one with an M12.
Here's some photos of the machine thus far:
Right Front

Left Front

Steering

Radiator

Tank

Engine mounts

Rear Suspension

Master Cylinder positioned

The Engine, Ready to fit

[andyp57]

Day 9:
With a very speedy delivery from wemoto.com of the required 2 sets of wheel bearings and seals (They even rang me to make sure I wanted 2!) the front wheels were fitted yesterday along with spacers and a little effort today saw the engine 'jury' fitted and the trike now stands on its own three wheels! Whilst in the workshop I also trimmed the seat down to length and this now fits beautifully.
Now with all the 'heavy' stuff fitted and trimmed to shape I'm about to work with some of the more fiddly items. An order to Car Builder Solutions has been dispatched and tomorrow I will start looking at the hydraulics. If I can work a system at a time I'll be happy. Brakes first, fuel next then leaving the electrics till last (as I really don't like that part). Now to today's photos...
On its wheels!

Engine fitted

A happy man!

[Scott]

Well done Andy,

It's looking great thanks for the detailed build thread, I see plenty of members are following it closely,,
Look forward to seeing more,

Scott

[Stiggy]

Good work gents!!

[andyp57]

Thanks for the great comments and encouragement gents.
I've had a 'thinking' day in starting the hydraulic system and have come to the conclusion that I will 'redo from start' with made to measure flexi hoses outboard of the chassis and clipped copper pipes within.
To this end, I've drawn myself a simple diagram:

which will drive the shopping cart. I've already got most of it so will be ordering the flexi lines from Earls today and start clipping the copper pipes in readiness.

[Scott]

Looks like a good plan Andy, I would be tempted to use rubber tube as feed from reservoir to master cylinder as its larger dia for better flow for bleeding etc!!

Scott

[andyp57]

Yes, I'd already planned that but forgot to change it in the diagram. On a side note, the custom brake hoses I ordered from Earls yesterday arrived this morning! Excellent service and exactly to spec.

[nigel]

I'm following this thread with interest, keep up the good work, looking forward to your next progress report.

nigel

[pete]

i wonder if if you might have brake balance problems feeding one front brake and rear off the same line .i would perhaps run the switch and rear brake together. have you any idea how much you might spend on this project .
Pete.

[andyp57]

I had thought of that but as they are all effectively powered by the same line, as long as the system is free of air, I don't think there would be a problem. I'm obviously willing to change it somewhat after testing it but there is precious little space under the hood for complex routing.

I've been a little at a loose end over the weekend due to a mislaid order for hydraulic bits (Not CBS fault but it got scanned in at depot and not been seen since!) so I made a start on the brake lines but ended up fitting the fuel pump and filter then cutting some of the fibreglass shells so I can check for clearance etc when it's all together. The more observant of you may well have seen the panels in the background of some of my photos so it shouldn't come as too much of a shock to see the brightness of the beast with its clothes on!

More detail to come when I get the stray parcel ;D

[nigel]

Woooowww its coming together really quick now.

Great Job

nigel

[andyp57]

Quick update:
The parts have arrived from CBS ;D so I have everything (I think) to complete the brake system. I've been away on business and going away for the weekend so my aim will be to have the system done, filled and tested by the end of next week. With that and fuel done, it will be time to attack the electrics!

[andyp57]

Well it's been a few days since I managed to get anything done but tofay I've cut, flared and routed the front hydraulics. It all seemed to be too easy but as long as it works and doesn't leak I'll be happy!





Now pondering on where to fit the reservoir but in the mean time I'll get on and see if I can route some cooling system hoses.

[andyp57]

Radiator won't fit!
Well, that's what I thought until I emailed Scott who very quickly checked on the prototype to find the fan had to be relocated toward the bottom of the radiator. (Thanks Scott. That had me scratching head for a while there!).
Here it is in its original position:

And here is where it's got to be in order to stop fouling on the engine:

A little fettling with some aluminium strip and carving an obstructive mounting lug off soon had it firmly where it needs to be:





Whilst off I took the opportunity to give it a gentle spray of Black and when dry, I'll get it bolted back in place and start looking at the pipework.