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Stigian

Project "Why Not"

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Stigian

Looking better all the time. Keep up the good work.  :)

 

Thank you very much Sir :thumbs:

 

 

 

I've just read this thread from the beginning and its amazing, completely mad but who cares about that. I almost built a trike a few years ago, plan was to use an old Moto Guzzi lump. This build reminds me of it.  :cool:  Can't wait to see it finished.

 

Thanks Horse46, yeah it is a bit of a mad build but that's what makes it all the more fun :D    I bet your thinking about fitting an old Moto Guzzi lump in a Wh now :lol:

 

 

 

Looking Good.

 

Thanks Fabricator.

 

 

Morning all, the tale of Why Not's chassis continues with some more metal being added on Monday..

 

The front of the engine cradle had some mounts welded on, the small holes need to be drilled out a bit so I can weld some crush tube in, then they will be ready for bolts.

 

WN270_zpsa54da19d.jpg

 

 

A couple of diagonal strengtheners.

 

WN268_zps89c8f075.jpg

 

 

This small bit of box will be the front body tub mounts.

 

WN269_zps13c96236.jpg

 

 

I think the chassis is starting to look quite good now biggrin.png

 

WN272_zps4f8bbbe1.jpg

 

WN267_zps9ebbf674.jpg

 

 

Which has got me around to thinking that's it's about time I got the axle narrowing finished and narrowed the axles...

 

WN273_zps02b399a9.jpg

 

 

Which is why I spent a lot of yesterday getting my lathe all bolted down and up and running biggrin.png

 

WN274_zpsfd6c27de.jpg

 

 

Cutting/cooling fluid is pumped from this Ford screen washer bottle as it has been for years..

 

WN275_zpsf4317903.jpg

 

 

But this time the pump is powered by a model railway controller thingy, ideal for changing the speed of the flow thumbup.gif

 

WN276_zpseb7945a5.jpg

 

 

If all goes to plan tomorrow I might even get both axles done....

 

 

But to tide you over here's my latest "Why Not" video..

 

 

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Stigian

Well chaps, no going back now biggrin.png

 

WN277_zps63f529e0.jpg

 

 

To stick the axles back together, I starting with a bit of notching.. Like so..

 

WN280_zpsafb102e5.jpg

 

 

Not quite the perfect fit but better to notch out not enough material than take out too much at this stage..

 

WN281_zps0a7fd831.jpg

 

 

Using one of the old fashioned thick cutting discs as a grinding disc I could remove a little metal at a time and keep it flat..

 

WN282_zpsc39f97ec.jpg

 

 

Until I had a perfect notch.. The overlap is 1 inch by the way..

 

WN283_zps9571318a.jpg

 

 

That's a much better fit thumbup.gif

 

WN284_zps4236d7e4.jpg

 

 

To make sure the welds had something to really bite into and fill up all the edges of the joins very deeply V'd.

 

WN285_zps1061795e.jpg

 

 

Time to start welding, but it wasn't me who did the welding!!  As Nigel's boy Karl is a coded welder and he happened to be about today I asked him if he would be kind enough to weld my axles up for me.. And a grand job he made of it too.. Thanks Karl thumbup.gif

 

WN286_zpsf47efc3f.jpg

 

 

A finished pair of half shafts biggrin.png

The plan was to shrink fit some sleeves over the join but as Karl knows what he is doing with a welder and the extra heat caused by shrink fitting then welding a sleeve could well weaken the shafts, the sleeves will be staying off..

 

WN287_zpse02fdac5.jpg

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km3h

Wish I had both your skill and imagination. Great job.

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Stigian

Wish I had both your skill and imagination. Great job.

 

Thanks Nick, the skills you can learn but imagination is down to you.. Just look around for inspiration, there are plenty of wonderful machine's here at RS to get the brain cells going :)

 

 

The latest Why Not video for you all.. :thumbs:

 

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JC 1965

Well as usual Ian it looks great so far. can't wait to see more. You have some amazing skills.     :thumbs2:

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prondzy

very nice project! I know you didn't want to modify the tins in the beginning but seeing the angle of the frame in front of the radiator to the hood rails it would look pretty cool to notch out a small angle in the hood and make the grill stand at an angle more so it looks like an upside down freight train or the profile of a 7.  just my two cents. keep up the good work

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Stigian

Well as usual Ian it looks great so far. can't wait to see more. You have some amazing skills.     :thumbs2:

 

Thanks Jerry :thumbs:

 

 

 

very nice project! I know you didn't want to modify the tins in the beginning but seeing the angle of the frame in front of the radiator to the hood rails it would look pretty cool to notch out a small angle in the hood and make the grill stand at an angle more so it looks like an upside down freight train or the profile of a 7.  just my two cents. keep up the good work

 

Funny you should bring this up, I was looking at the front of the hood the other day and thought it looked a bit upright and not as mean as I had in mind!

 

Looking at this photo there is enough space between the front of the hood and the engine frame to "lean" the front of the hood inwards at the bottom...

You have certainly given me something to think about :thumbs:

 

 

Duels anyone? biggrin.png

 

WN288_zps62139742.jpg

 

 

Maybe not... A bit too much laugh.png

 

WN289_zps3d83e468.jpg

 

 

Progress has been made although it's hard to tell from the next photo.. The axle has been put back together, diff and half shafts installed.. The axle can now be unbolted from the chassis, and the axle mounting place on the chassis has had some reinforcing..

I really need to take some photos!

 

WN290_zps2b808dc2.jpg

 

 

One thing I always pride myself on is doing everything "In house" or even "In workshop", partly because it's nice to be able to say "I made that", and partly because I'd rather spend time making something than part with money biggrin.png

So with that in mind yesterday I finally came up with an accurate, safe and strong way I could convert a Wh rear wheel with it's 5 bolt 4 1/2" PCD..

 

WN291_zpsd16cd460.jpg

 

 

To fit the Reliant's 4 bolt 4" PCD

 

WN292_zps732daa20.jpg

 

 

I found this nice length of thick plate hiding on the bottom of a shelf in Nigel's "Handy scrap metal" store.. (Thanks Nigel thumbup.gif ) which is enough to make 2 wheel centers from.

 

WN293_zps1ae1d337.jpg

 

 

Let the lathe work start biggrin.png

 

WN294_zps659443e5.jpg

 

 

The bad news is this steel is rather hard so it's going to take quite a while to turn each wheel center!

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stevasaurus

Just re-read this thread and caught up, Ian...what a great read Mate!!  :)

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Stigian

Just re-read this thread and caught up, Ian...what a great read Mate!!  :)

 

Thanks Steve, here's a bit more for you to read :D

 

 

Even though I have not posted anything about Why Not for a few weeks work has slowly been happening..

When I left off at the end of the last update I had just started making new wheel centers.. Like so smile.png

WN294_zps659443e5.jpg

Which eventually turned into this...

WN301_zps9678e303.jpg

WN300_zpsafe1e25b.jpg

The raised bit is a nice tight fit in the center of the wheel which means the new wheel center is centralized in the center of the wheel biggrin.png

WN303_zpsb7c76d21.jpg

And from the outside it looks like this.. Please note the widened wheel rim was used for photographic purposes only and won't be going on Why Not..

WN302_zpse78d8d97.jpg

Bolt holes drilled... The extra two holes were the result of me making a jig out of ally to drill the holes accurately.... The trouble with ally is it's rather soft to use as a jig and one of the new holes ended up a couple of mm's in the wrong place!

WN305_zpsc515b5af.jpg

Time to break out the welder.. Lot's of tacks to stop it moving with heat..

WN306_zps5dd04415.jpg

Fully welded in.. A mixture of neat strong welds and not quite so neat but still strong welds biggrin.png

WN307_zps4d543d4a.jpg

The blackish ring seen on the inside shows good heat penetration..

WN308_zps03d8e483.jpg

Next up was to remove the old wheel center...

WN309_zps87aed449.jpg

Once it was cleaned up you could see the join between the new wheel center and the old metal, so I carefully ground out a V along the join and....

WN310_zpsbe440849.jpg

Back filled the V with plenty of weld biggrin.png

WN311_zps89d936ee.jpg

With the welds and the raised center carefully ground down to make it all smooth and level..

WN312_zps02ea02dc.jpg

I could finally bolt a Wheel Horse wheel to a Reliant rear axle biggrin.png

WN313_zps9b0254bc.jpg

WN314_zps94a3f565.jpg

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19richie66

NICE! Guess thats one way of doing it. Keep going.........

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Stigian

NICE! Guess thats one way of doing it. Keep going.........

 

Thanks Richie..

 

The second rear wheel is almost done, it just needs the welds tidying up a bit with the grind.. A slight change of design with this wheel center, I made sure I didn't have as much this time to grind out the center :)

 

WN316_zps91b14bd7.jpg

WN317_zpsb01cd51f.jpg

 

 

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Stigian

Morning all, more progress has been made but once again things are happening much slower than I'd like.. But such is life eh..

 

Both rear wheels have now been converted to the 4 bolt Reliant pattern which is a big step forward..

With both rear wheel bolted on I could finally get an idea on wide Why Not's rear end is..

 

WN323_zps62763f13.jpg

 

WN321_zpsd4e23431.jpg

 

 

Best have a look at the front end now.. as I plan to fit disc brakes to the front I need a pair of wheel hubs and wheels that will fit....

So out came the grinder to cut the centers out of a pair of wheels that Doug kindly sent me..

 

WN318_zpsd4b79bea.jpg

 

 

The wheel centers came with a handy strengthener plate welded inside..

 

WN319_zpsd3fc4afb.jpg

 

 

A very handy strengthener plate as it turned out as it's the perfect fit inside the front wheel.. 

 

WN320_zps59f8c779.jpg

 

 

But it was only when I put the wheel center in the lathe that I noticed quite how much the manufacturing process had warped the wheel around the center and bolt holes.. No matter how much I tried it would just not sit right/central in the lathe!

 

WN324_zps1c3b3e5d.jpg

 

 

Time for plan B.... Make my own wheel centers..

 

WN325_zpsea34f85e.jpg

 

 

Here we go again, more time at the lathe... It's a good job I find it relaxing :D

 

WN326_zps6207f6e6.jpg

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Jparkes43

like it ian, good to see even little bits happening, she is wide but that will held will some stability

 

james

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prondzy

Looking good!

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JC 1965

Great progress Ian, I love the look of this project. Can't wait for the next update. Thanks so much for the videos. Thanks for sharing.      :thumbs2:

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Stigian

like it ian, good to see even little bits happening, she is wide but that will held will some stability

 

james

 

Thanks James.. Yep the extra width will help with stability which can only be a good thing :)

 

 

 

Looking good!

 

Thank you Sir :thumbs:

 

 

 

Great progress Ian, I love the look of this project. Can't wait for the next update. Thanks so much for the videos. Thanks for sharing.      :thumbs2:

 

Thanks Jerry, here's the next update to keep you going...  I hope to have enough video footage tomorrow to string another video together, so keep ya eyes peeled for the next vid maybe Wednesday..

 

 

Not much to report, I have made a rather big washer..

WN327_zpsc0e76338.jpg

Which will become the new center for this wheel..

WN329_zpscd71731f.jpg

Which with some holes drilled will be able to bolt on the new front wheel hubs.. Here's one of them in it's "before being cut up" state..

WN328_zpsdf6f967e.jpg

This wheel won't be fitted, but while I had it to hand I thought it would be too good a photo opportunity to miss biggrin.png

WN330_zps4ba6f7cc.jpg

 

 

It's not a JD wheel, it was just painted the wrong colour at the factory biggrin.png

The time had come to cut one of the centers out... The wheel is slightly too large to fit on my lathe, but it will fit on Nigel's lathe with a few tweaks..

A bit of chain drilling and chisel work later..

WN331_zps1f78ed13.jpg

The inside of the wheel had some extra cutting to make the hole a little larger..

WN332_zpseb73556b.jpg

And on the lathe the wheel went.

WN333_zps5adf3392.jpg

The inside taking shape.

WN334_zps0d5892e3.jpg

A few hours later...

WN335_zps1f65ab1d.jpg

And to finish up this small update, a groove being cut in one of the new centers. This will center the new center in the rim thumbup.gif

WN336_zps334ea068.jpg

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Stigian

Evening all, a bit more progress today with one of the front wheels almost finished..

 

Two new wheel centers, can you spot which one is finished? :)

 

WN342_zps92142745.jpg

 

 

It slots into the wheel like so from the inside.

 

WN343_zps9d796fd5.jpg

 

 

And looks like this from the outside..

 

WN345_zpsf1395f1c.jpg

 

 

A close up for you.. I couldn't be happier with the fit :D

I need to grind a V shape into the two parts of the wheel to give me something  to fill full of weld.. Once the weld is cleaned back you won't know it's not original.. Until you look at the inside of course :lol:

 

WN344_zps42765b48.jpg

 

 

The wheel is a nice tight fit on the wheel hub..

 

WN346_zps8e2d7dca.jpg

 

 

I have also been thinking about the front brakes.. There is just enough room to get a Kwakasaki Gpz 305 caliper and a small brake disc inside the wheel, though I have a feeling I might need to make my own brake discs!!  Has anyone ever tried it and did they work?

 

WN341_zpsd71c2870.jpg

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Jparkes43

some nice progress, erm i dont see why you couldnt make your own disc i mean how hard could it be :) or could you just mill down the original caliper?

 

james

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Horse46

I have to keep checking I'm not on Brit chopper when I read your posts Stigian, this is the kind of bonkers I used to look forward to reading when I was into building choppers!

 

I've never made my own discs, I always found stuff that could be made to fit, however I thought about it for at least a minute and then and idea sprung forth  :idea:

 

MAYBE, ok it's a big maybe, but a REAR motorcycle disc might work, they are much smaller in diameter, and some of the older types have a bit more centre to them, which could help for making new holes ?


some nice progress, erm i dont see why you couldnt make your own disc i mean how hard could it be :) or could you just mill down the original caliper?

 

james

I'm not sure James but they may have to be a certain steel or treated for extreme heat? I could be wrong as well lol.

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Horse46

I was thinking you could make one of you wheel centres and bolt weld?? to the centre of a disc like this ( if it was small enough to fit) just an idea of course, not really thought ot out properly, but who knows food for thought.

post-14145-0-18902800-1421865968.jpg

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Jparkes43

yes but i was thinking if you made one it wont be vented (yes you could slot and drill it) but not vented and at why not speeds that might be a problem? because it will over heat?

 

james

 

but ive never tried to make one i mean you could try!!

Edited by Jparkes43

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Horse46

Of course James, what am I thinking, its a tractor, speed isn't going to be a problem.......Stigian?? :auto-layrubber:

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Jparkes43

Of course James, what am I thinking, its a tractor, speed isn't going to be a problem.......Stigian?? :auto-layrubber:

ha ha ha, its only 10MPH isnt it  :P

 

james

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C-101plowerpower

ha ha ha, its only 10MPH isnt it  :P

 

james

add another 0 :ychain: 

Ian why not use a chute like top fuel dragsters?

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Jparkes43

This.

 

s1_1_zps9cce1ebc.jpg

 

james

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