Project "Why Not"

[Stigian 1,234]

great video Ian!

My 7 year old is watching it with me and she says "I really want to drive that thing.  do you want to drive it daddy?  not as much as me I bet"

Thanks Pullstart, your daughter has great taste in machines
I think there is a long list of people wanting to have a drive at the couple of shows I'm taking WN to this year... Maybe I should start selling tickets


 

Another creative build well done!

Thanks dude.

WN went back up on the bench something my back is very much regretting!  Even though there were three of us lifting!
So I spent that day doing some gentle paint stripping and knocking out a few dents on the front of the hood.

 

 

I managed to get a bit more done the following day, the fender pan this time. as you can see the fender pan does not quite reach the foot plates!

 

Some more recycling, this was part of a Spear and Jackson sign.

 

Two plates tacked on..

 

Both sides done and on the bench to be fully welded. As you can see a little trimming of length is needed..

 

The new metal on the front of the fender pan has now been fully welded up, mostly shaped and the welds ground down..  Just in need of a splash of red oxide in these photo's.

 

.

[Stigian 1,234]

The mystery steering box from Chris turned up.early last week Thanks mate   The mystery part turned out to be Austin A30/35, thanks for that Max if your reading this

 

 

Getting the Pitman arm off the steering box is a whole story in it's self.. Involving a hub puller, zip ties and a huge amount of heat!

Once the arm was off the splines the next challenge was getting a large nut off the shaft, this didn't quite go according to plan when the end of the threaded bit on the shaft sheered off right where the split pin holes are/were.

As the shaft needs extending a little bit this wasn't a problem.

 

So will it fit? with the aid of a pair of scissors this were looking good..

 

New and old steering box.. The box bit of the new one is certainly a bit smaller..

 

Trial fit time.

 

The box is at the right height it just needs to go back a bit or there wouldn't be any room for the new Pitman arm to swing.

 

To get the column up though the top of the dash I needed to make a hole a bit bigger, so I quickly spun up this bung on the lathe.

 

It fit's like so.. The small hole is for the "drill bit" bit of the cutter to slot into.

 

Letting the dash cool down halfway through the cut. The amount of swarf that came out was amazing!

 

A big hole..

 

With a bit of the body mount sliced out..

 

And the bottom of the dash surround notched a bit..

 

The steering box ended up right where I wanted it..

 

The steering box mount taking shape.

 

That should work well

 

The mount has now had two captive bolts and one captive nut added.. Both ends have been boxed in and the welds cleaned up, I just forgot to take any photos of it..

Likewise I have made a start on shortening the steering column but also forgot to take any photos..

I'd best remember tomorrow

[Wheel-N-It 2,967]

QUOTE:  "You may be the most watched UK celebrity after David Tennant So it's Dr. Who, Broadchurch and UKWheelHorseBloke"
For me its;
1  UKWheelHorseBloke
2 Benny HIll
3 Dr. Who
4 Fawlty Towers

[Stigian 1,234]

Thanks Van, it's good to know I come above Benny Hill
 

As promised a photo of the finished steering box mount. Only tacked on in this photo, it has been fully welded on now.

 

Time to chop the column down a bit.  The part sliced off the top of the outer column has a bush in the top so I need to reuse it.

 

I also need to graft this bit of the old steering column onto the inner bit of the new column.. The hole is for a massive roll pin that makes sure the steering wheel will never come off without the aid of a large hammer and punch

 

No action shots as I was busy getting on with doing it.. One chopped column, a little over 1 ft has gone from it's height.

 

A test fit..

 

The angle of the steering wheel has changed. A bit more upright than it was but not by much at all..

 

Working out the new Pitman arm...  Yes that is a box spanner.. But it's more than strong enough and is a nice tight, straight  fit on the steering box splines.. So why not use it

 

The new column finished and almost ready to be bolted back in.  The mounting bracket at the top bolt's in just behind the dash surround..

The new steering is now bolted in place, no photo's I'm afraid but the steering feels much improved (well, as much as I can test it on the bench) and it's now a tad over two turns lock to lock which is way better than the old 3rd of a turn lock to lock.
And I also have a bit more lock now  

With Why Not booked in to her first show in a months time, it's going to be a busy few weeks!

[Stigian 1,234]

Well, I did try to get a photo of all the finished steering in place, but my lens isn't that wide.. So have a photo of the new steering box, it looks far neater than the old box.

 

Buried behind the column is the relocated expansion bottle... Not the ideal place to get a funnel into but it's the only place it can fit..  You can also just about see part of the crankcase breather, yes it's the bit held down with the zip tie.

 

Getting a bit more pressure to the front brakes turned out to be quite easy in the end. Rather than raise the whole master cylinder as I have previously mentioned I just raised one end..

The front brakes won't lock up but they will certainly help with slowing down which is just how I want it.

 

So, with WN steering and stopping I thought it was time to make a start on the electrical side of things,,, 

I needed somewhere to put the starter button and warning lights and maybe the choke..   And I also needed a new dash plate....     I think this panel came from a WH 314-8 I bought for parts years ago..

 

That fills a hole   I just need to work out where to put the lights and starter button... That's something for tomorrow..

[Stigian 1,234]

Morning chaps, yesterday was all about metal..

 

To cover the hole that normally has a plate with an ammeter fitted I made up this plate... The curved bit covers the steering column where it pokes through under the dash.

I forgot to take any photo's of it so have a snap taken from the video footage.

 

Working out where and how to mount the ignition barrel was fun. It will go under the dash towards the left which will mean drilling a hole through my freshly made panel above..

Here's the mounting bracket next to the barrel..

 

The bracket also stops the bike steering lock pin from popping out should the key be turned the wrong way..

 

And onto today's main attraction... The dashboard..

In my haste to get it to fit Monday I ground a bit too much metal off on the bottom corners. It would of been easy to ignore the gaps if they hadn't of bugged me so much..

 

 

So... Off came the dash panel, the offending corners were cleaned up and clamped to a small slab of brass..

 

Extra MIG metal added to build the corner back up..

 

One gentle tap later the brass came off the dash.. This is the underside.. You can see where the weld picked up some dirt from the brass.

 

Some very careful grinding later and the corners were sorted

 

On a roll now 3 holes were drilled for warning lights and the starter switch, before I attacked the dash panel with this flap wheel thingy in the pillar drill.

 

The end result after a couple of coats of clear lacquer looked like brushed stainless..

 

I like the look but I'm now wondering if my airbrush paint will still be any good after 7 odd years, and if I have any fine line masking tape

[Pullstart 59,544]

nice trick building up your edges!  I've used similar when joining two odd shaped pieces and clamping them both to the brass. 

[JC 1965 1,528]

Really nice work on the upgrades Ian. I would like another video of you driving bad boy.    

[Stigian 1,234]

nice trick building up your edges!  I've used similar when joining two odd shaped pieces and clamping them both to the brass. 

Thanks Pullstart, that slab of brass has saved my bacon more than a few times when I've blown holes during welding.


 

Really nice work on the upgrades Ian. I would like another video of you driving bad boy.    

Thanks JC, more driving video will be coming over the next few weeks. At the moment it is far easier for an old fart like me to work on WN at bench height than on the ground, and there are a few bits I want to get done before she hit's terra firma again.
She is booked in to her first show 8th/9th of August and lot's of people are waiting for a drive, so I expect there will be loads of driving vids coming up


Today I managed to get the ignition barrel fitted..




Space is getting a bit tight in there!




Marking out the correct place to drill a hole through the panel for the ignition barrel was interesting to say the least, but I'm happy with how it turned out. The barrel is flush with the panel..  While I was drilling holes in that area I also fitted the choke control.




And now onto a part of the build I was dreading... Sorting out the electrics!!!
I forgot to take a photo of the wiring loom before I started but once all the old insulation tape was removed (a horrible sticky job!) I worked out which bit's of the loom I needed and which could go..

This is the removed pile, basically all the lighting, brake lights, indicator, and horn circuits.. 




The loom draped over so I could work out what has to go to where..




Starting to look a bit better, well tidier at least    If all goes to plan I hope to have the wiring done and the engine fired back up tomorrow.. Fingers crossed I didn't cut any wires I shouldn't have




And for you viewing pleasure here's the latest WN video... It's a bit of a long one so best get a drink ready beforehand
 

Edited July 16, 2015 by Stigian

[Stigian 1,234]

Afternoon guy's, loads more WN progress for you..
 

The slimmed down wiring loom is now fully wrapped up in black tape, 90% routed and plugged in..

Working out where to put the voltage regulator took quite a while.. In the end I made this bracket and welded it to the chassis. The "open" design is to let air to the back of the regulator to help keep it cool.

 

 

I also make up a couple of these..

 

Which were welded to the battery box/tray thingy.

 

Ideal for mounting the starter solenoid..

 

It's been a busy few days in the workshop, with Rural Past Times coming up I was even in the workshop Sunday!

 

The wiring was 99.9% done by Sunday lunch time, just one safety switch to fit when I get it..

So I spent the rest of the day fabricating this..

 

Now you see a mess of wiring..

 

Now you don't

 

A closer view for you.   A lot of template making time went into getting the side panel looking just right..

 

 

Speaking of templates, here's the right side template taking shape.

 

Transfer to steel.

 

Bung steel in the sheet metal folder..

 

Fold a 90 degree bend..

 

And then forget to take photo's of the other stages, so have an almost finished side panel shot instead

 

 

A top cover for the main body tub was made, and as the fender pan sits a bit lower than the body tub I made a curved panel thingy to help blend the two heights together.. It will also add strength to the front of the fender pan when it's fully welded on.

 

A view from afar..

 

Pete dropped in for a visit Tuesday which resulted in the fuel tank being removed!!

 

 

The reason?   Well, Pete had not heard WN running and as I needed to check my slimmed down wiring loom still worked and I didn't cut out anything that I shouldn't of, we decided to fire her up..

It was at this time that the leak free tank decided it wanted to start leaking, and I started to wish I had put the tank sealer in that I had bought!!

Then I had a better idea..

Unless WN's engine is warm she has always had a bit of a starting problem with fuel not getting to the carbs.. The problem is the tanks fuel tap is below the carb fuel inlet.. Even though the actual tank is above the fuel inlet and logic says that gravity will do it's thing and get fuel to the carbs through a looped pipe, gravity seems to have other ideas!

Also when I tried to drain the tank I found the vacuum side of the fuel tap wasn't working that well!

So the plan is to cut off the old fuel tap, weld the hole up and fit a new fuel outlet at the base of the front face of the tank which is the side facing you..

This will put the tank outlet above the carb inlet

The only problem is the tank was half full of fuel today, so after draining and soaking up the last dregs of fuel with a rag, I filled the tank up with a water 1001 stain remover solution...  I know washing up liquid is traditional, but I didn't have any..

All being well any fuel vapors will be gone by Thursday when I was back at the workshop next, and I can cut and weld it without fear of being blown up!

Thursday had arrived so...

The first job on the hit list was to tackle the fuel tank..  Once I had drained the water/cleaning solution out and dried the inside, I took the tank well away from the public and stuck a blowtorch in the filler hole...

I already knew from the smell of the tank there was no explosive vapors inside, but I had to try to make sure..

Nowt exploded so I warmed up the grinder and welder and set to..

The outlet pipe was welded to the inside of the new plate first, then the whole thing was welded on a bit at a time to make sure nothing warped..

 

Not the best of photo's but the tank outlet is now above the carb inlet, I just need to fit an inline filter and tap somewhere..

The welds have now had a light tidy up, sprayed with red oxide and the inside sealed up with tank sealant just to make sure it doesn't leak this time.

 

While I was waiting for the tank welds to cool I fitted an extra gauge... I've no idea what you would call it (a better photo coming tomorrow) but it's basically a vacuum gauge which has been following me around for more years than I care to remember.. So I fitted it

 

All the new panels are now painted and bolted down.. Yes I will be painting the bolts

 

I have always been a bit worried about the engine getting too hot due to not enough air getting to the radiator, so today I cut a few extra slots in the front of the bonnet..

This isn't the best of photo's and the slots do look better a little further away, but I think the extra slots need to be wider to closer match the original slots.. What do you guys think?

 

Although I won't have time before Rural Past Times to do a full paint job, I do want to get the wheels painted.. So off came the rear wheels for a bit of "hide the welds with filler" action... I'm not looking forward to sanding them tomorrow!

 

While the rear wheels are off I thought I'd take a look at the fender pan.. This join does not look to bad..

 

Until you put a straight edge across it!!

 

Lot's of loud hammer work later and it's getting there..

[Stigian 1,234]

Almost up to date now guy's..

A close up of that gauge for you.




After looking at the photo's of the front of the hood, I just wasn't happy with the way the new slot's looked... A reminder for you.




But what if the slot's were wider to match the original slots??   A quick bit of masking and a squirt of matt black paint to trick the brain into seeing wider than they are slot's and it looks much better.. So Monday the slot's will be widened and tidied up.




I didn't enjoy the filler work on the wheels at all.. Too small a space to sand easily!!   But once the wheels had had a coat of IH white paint it was worth it






I didn't plan to go quite so far with the bodywork before the shows, but I may of got a bit carried away..
The fender pan was panel beaten to get the shape as best I could before being hit with filler/bondo.. A bit more filling and sanding to go but it's almost there now..





 

Oh, and a bit of news...

 

Nigel and I were explaining to a Gent yesterday about WN and telling him that we were struggling to find somewhere to do some speed testing, and the car park is just too small..

The said Gent said, "No problem, bring it up to my place"..

[Pullstart 59,544]

thanks for my "fix" Stig, I've been waiting what I would call patiently for some news about why not!  looks great

[Stigian 1,234]

thanks for my "fix" Stig, I've been waiting what I would call patiently for some news about why not!  looks great

Your welcome Pullstart, to feed your "Habit" have some more WN stuff

 

Well chaps, I'm sick of fillering and even though it's far from perfect it will do for now..  Just the flange thingy in the middle to sort then it can be brown oxided

 

 

The slots on the front of the bonnet have now been widened.. They need a little tidy up but they look so much better for being wider.

 

And some wire mesh came my way.. It will look good sprayed mat black and tucked behind the slots

 

The other morning was like an archeological dig... Once I'd shoveled 6 inches of white filler dust away I found a bench!!  

 

To celebrate I put a couple of wheels on WN to have a look...  They soon came off for a second coat of paint.

 

The second coat of IH white lightened the wheels up, make them look less creamy..  Don't be fooled by the photo, the paint is nowhere near as smooth as it looks.

 

Oh, and the bonnet now has a mat black grill/mesh thingy

[Stigian 1,234]

Welcome to Thursday and an update from inside the workshop.... The bench WN was on ended up looking like this!!

After the struggle of lifting her off the bench last time we decided the easiest thing to do this time was to slide drag the bench to the doorway and roll her down some ramps,,,

To be fair on the bench it has put up with a lot of punishment for the past er... many years including the weight of the 6x6 being built on it..

The bench will be rebuilt a lot stronger and on castor wheels

 

I'm very happy to report that all the changes that have happened on WN have been worth it..

Thanks to the new higher fuel outlet on the tank she starts up straight away with no hassles or queasy-start..  A little choke, no throttle push the starter button and she roars into life..

I also realized that I was no longer thinking about the brakes when using then, I guess the relocated front master cylinder is doing it's job now

And now the big one.. Steering..

 

Gone is the twitchyness that was there under hard throttle while turning.. There is even a fair amount of self centering going on.. Oh, and the steering is so much lighter than what it was

The only downside was the amount of wheel turning needed to steer..

It was about 1/2 a turn lock to lock, the A35 steering box made that 2.2 turns lock to lock!!

 

This was sorted by drilling and extra hole in the drop link a bit closer to the wheel and giving the connecting rod a bend so it didn't hit the exhaust or anywhere else..

The lock is now 1.5 turns lock to lock which feels right.. In fact it now has so much lock that the front brake calipers hit the front axle on full lock, so I need to make a couple of simple stoppers to stop that happening..

 

The fender pan is as done as it's going to get before the shows, it still needs loads more work but that can wait until I get her ready for final paint.

 

I have also installed a plug under the dash..

 

Nope, it's not for plugging in headphones   It is in fact wired into the bikes stop/run circuit.    The plan is to grind out some of the plastic bit that separates the positive and negative and weld both bits together.

The idea being when it's plugged in to the stop/run circuit will be in run mode.. So if the plug is attached to the driver and the driver get thrown off for some reason, the plug get pulled and the engine stops

 

Have some photo's of  WN out in the wild.

 

 

 And for your Viewing pleasure, here's Part 17 and 18 of the build videos.
 Sorry you have to click on the links to see the vid's, if I post them up the normal way for some strange reason it changes the video links in my other posts!

Why Not Build Part 17

Why Not Build Part 18

 

[wheeledhorseman 573]

Great work Ian as always. I know what you mean about fillering (if there is such a word)?

[JC 1965 1,528]

Really great job Ian. I can't wait to see it in action. Be sure to keep us updated and keep the videos coming.      

[Pullstart 59,544]

Ian,  Any more updates I can share with my kids?  Keep up the good work!

[C-101plowerpower 1,605]

there is
 

starring Nigel, Norman(stormin), Chris(Chris sutton) and of course Ian

[Stigian 1,234]

Evening guy's, sorry about the lack of updates of late, two shows in a month has been a bit of a killer.. Long days in the workshop, get home, cook dinner, then fall asleep in front of the TV early evening!

Thanks for posting the latest video up Koen

The run up to the first show (Rural past times) was busy, the steering lock stoppers were fitted.




And a more suitable steering wheel center was fitted




The exhausts got wrapped in black heat wrap, a horrible itchy job!




To dry the heat wrap out I thought I'd go for a gentle potter about the place to heat the pipes up.... This is where I found a problem and is why under bonnet looked like this..



 

The last time I drove WN the engine started to cough and pop a bit. I thought it was just really low on fuel and left it at that..

Today the coughing and popping continued even with a full full tank, and then I found out it was only running on one cylinder!!!

With Karl's help (thanks mate ) by swapping the coils and spark plugs from side to side we were able to rule them out, which is just as well as I would not stand a chance of getting replacements before the weekend!!

So I thought I would give it a bit of a hard drive to try and clear out the problem...

2000rpm.. Sluggish..

4000rpm.. Sluggish..

6000rpm... The second cylinder kicked in and gave the engine so much power it felt like a turbo going to full boost in a second!

So below 6000rpm sluggish, above 6000rpm = Hold on

Which could only mean a blocked jet in the right side carb..... 
 

As it turned out getting the carbs off and on WN was very easy, only the fuel tank had to come out first..

Both carbs were cleaned out, the left one was spotless inside, the right one as expected had a blocked jet which was causing the running problems..






Rural Past times was a great show and all went well apart from me breaking the gear shift (it was fixed on site) and me getting very burnt as it was a scorcher of a weekend.

A couple of day later I had a visit from Stormin and The Showman aka Norm and Chris...  They both drove WN and survived




Something that I was surprised but happy to see...

I had to turn WN around to park her back in the workshop, so I climbed on and pottered down the car park.. While turning I gave the loud pedal a little blip and the inside tire chirped a little as it tends to do..

About 30 mins later I noticed a couple of marks on the tarmac!  The little chirp was in fact both  tires breaking loose!

Yes the car park was a tad damp but it gives me great hope of some smokey donuts in the future

 

It's a bit hard to see but there are two strips of rubber left in the tarmac

Life is a funny old thing at times... I swapped WN's original WH trans out with it's 5 bolt wheel fixings for a Reliant axle which is a 4 wheel bolt fitting.. Then spend loads of time converting 5 bolt wheels to 4 bolt fitting...

And now I'm about to start converting the Reliant 4 bolt to fit 5 bolt wheels back on!!     It's not as mad as it might sound you know..

Why???

Well it's a safety thing you see...  Now WN has proved herself at going sideways , the time has come to starting thinking about something a bit faster and in a straight line..

After some careful thought the chances of going sideways at high speed is far more likely on a grass airstrip than tarmac, so with that in mind something more sticky on tarmac was found.. next door as it happens

 

 

 

 

The tires have a V speed rating which means they are good up to 149mph!!   I just need to find some better tires for the front wheels now..

All of the above means I have some work to do to make the wheels fit, so this big old slab of steel was dug out to make a couple of wheel bolt converters..  I see a lot of lathe work coming up in the very near future

 

 

The shape eyed of you will of noticed a something lurking in the background of the above photo..

Yep I have bought another CX/GL/silverwing engine for doing a bit of development on.. I won't give my plans away yet (those who know please keep quiet if you would be so kind ) as I won't be doing anything with the engine for a long time yet, but I will say it should produce a bit more power than a standard CX/GL engine

 

 

 

Don't worry guys, those pipes were only put on like that for some experimentation.. I just posted the photo's to raise a few eyebrows

 

The old exhaust system certainly caught a few people eye, but for me it did have a few problems. The shape of the down pipes didn't look that good where I had to extend them, the end cans made it look like someone had just bolted on a bike exhaust in the only place iit would fit, and the cans are far to restrictive in the flow department!  Oh, and it sounded a bit tame!

 

So yesterday out came the grinder and welder for operation "cut n shut" on the old exhuast sytem that came from the CX trike that Nigel and I broke up many months ago..

For me the shape of the downpipes make it look almost like a "factory" system.. Well, as factory as you can get for a bike engine stuffed in a Wheel Horse

Both pipes need to be fully welded and cleaned up, then on with the black high heat paint all over..

Heat wrap for the down pipes and I have some honeycombe ally sheet to make some covers for the cans, put a bit of bling back..

But most important the system is a lot more free flowing, which is just what I need for the next stage..

 

 

 

 

[Racinbob 10,256]

I fell behind on keeping up with this. That's absolutely incredible!!

[roadapples 6,981]

Your attention to detail never ceases to amaze!

[Stigian 1,234]

I fell behind on keeping up with this. That's absolutely incredible!!

Thanks Bob, to be fair I had fallen behind with updating this, so your not all to blame
 

Your attention to detail never ceases to amaze!

Thanks Roadapples, I'm going to need good attention to detail as this is how she looked at the end of today!




I think this may of had something to do with it
 

[Stigian 1,234]

Morning all, my back has kinda put me out of action for a while, so only a small update as it's all I've managed.

Now.. A couple of people have told me I'm mad for making my own wheel PCD adapters and I should just buy some!!  All I can say to that is I'm making them because I can   All it's costing me is time... Lot's and lot's of time!

Starting with a slightly heavy 40mm thick square of steel. The center has been marked with a punch and a circle drawn so I know where to slice the corners off.

 

This is a bit hard to see but here's my workings out to see if the wheel PCD adapters could actually be made and the two PCD's didn't clash!

 

As always when trying to get a 4 bolt PCD inside a 5 bolt PCD somewhere two of the bolt/stud holes are going to be close!

 

They get even closer when you put a socket on the wheel nut!  If your confused it may help if I mention that the small circle next to the socket is where a stud will be for bolt the new wheels onto.

 

And the wheel nuts for the Reliant axle will be countersunk so there is no wheel/stud/nut clearance problems..

 

Once the corners were sliced off the slab went on the lathe. One side was faced off and a couple of grooves cut to mark out the PCD's before I started boring out the center.

 

Once the center was bored out I turned the slab around to start on the other side.

Just about on the size limit for my lathe here! If the diameter been a 1/4 inch wider I wouldn't of been able to get a cutting tool on to make the slab round!

 

I'm just glad that after 8 years of owning the lathe I managed to work out how to bolt on a bracket and some cogs to give me power feed up and down the bed!  It does make lathe work a bit boring but at least I only have to turn the handles half as much

[Pullstart 59,544]

It's great to see some progress Ian, best wishes for strong recovery. Back problems are no fun.

[mikekot3 92]

Very cool Honda powered Wheel horse. You are a talented fabricator and mad scientist wrapped into one.  Doc Emmett Brown from back to the future would be proud of yah.