Project "Why Not"

[Stigian 1,234]

Thanks James

 

 

I wish I had more of an update for you all, but last week a busy week dealing with a "not so" Merry Tiller!!

But I have managed to get some of the steering done.. Starting with bolting on one of these Wheel Horse steering thingys.. My brain is not with it enough to work out what the correct name for it is!




The other end need to be connected to this Bolens rotovator 90 degree box... Sorry Chris, I've decided to use it now.




As it happened not only was this wheel center (cut from WN's front wheel) a perfect fit over the bar that's part of the steering thingy..




But once cleaned up on the lathe it was also a perfect fit on the 90 degree drive box thingy




The only problem was it looked like this!




So the next day I made another one! The bottom one looks a lot better




90 degree box thingy bolted in place.. The steering UJ thingy goes up to a shaft, which...




Goes through this bearing and out through the top of the dash.. Sorry about the bad photo's.. I was tired and the cameras auto-focus wasn't playing ball!




I have also made a start cleaning up the rear wheels...




As I have a pair of new 24x9.50-12 grass tyres waiting to be fitted

[Pullstart 59,537]

I think thingy is a universal language Ian, no worries on this side of the pond!

[RedRanger 1,468]

I think thingy is a universal language Ian, no worries on this side of the pond!

I totally understood as well.  

[Stigian 1,234]

I'm glad you both understand the "thingy" language

 

 

Despite being busy with Why Not for the past couple of day's I've not a great deal to show for it..

Have a better photo of the steering column and the UJ's.




A new more sporty steering wheel has been fitted.. Don't worry, the badge in the center will be going and replaced with something more in keeping




What has been taking a lot of time was cleaning all the rust and old paint off the rear wheels so I could fit the new bigger tyres.. I think it's one of those jobs we all hate, but it's worth the effort










I've no idea what this came from, Nigel had had it for many years.. But it does make a great gear shift lever.. Just got to work out how/where to mount it and figure out a linkage..

[nappypappy 98]

Wow such nice work....looking forward to see it running.

[C-101plowerpower 1,605]

Wow such nice work....looking forward to see it running.

 

there ya go

[Stigian 1,234]

Well, it's been an er.. interesting few days!

Things started well with a frame being made to add some strength to the fender pan.. This frame will be welded to the pan and some extra cross members put in for the seat to bolt to, once I get a seat that's not got and splits in it!




And then the rose joints I ordered for making steering arms turned up in the post.




So I set to, cutting up some thick metal..




A quick mock-up later to check that the steering would work.. And this is where a slight mistake was spotted... Can you spot it?




Turn the steering wheel to the right....




And the wheel hubs turn to the left!!! I think "Oops" is the correct word




As I said... An interesting few days

 

 

I need to do a few tweaks but the steering is now sorted... It even steers the right direction

[nappypappy 98]

You moving right along....great work.

[Pullstart 59,537]

wow, even with controls not quite sorted out... I'd be at the helm trying to point in a somewhat safe direction and firing that bad boy off!

 

like my big brother pushing me down the hill in the radio flyer  

 

congrats on the progress stig

[Stigian 1,234]

You moving right along....great work.

 

Thanks. It's getting there..

 

 

 

wow, even with controls not quite sorted out... I'd be at the helm trying to point in a somewhat safe direction and firing that bad boy off!

 

like my big brother pushing me down the hill in the radio flyer

 

congrats on the progress stig

 

That's why I've not done the prop shaft yet

 

 

Well, the steering saga continues.. But not for much longer

Although the steering kinda worked, it had two main problems.

One of them was the Ackerman angle thingy, being not quite right.. A play with moving the track rods a bit higher got it better..

But the main problem was all down to the gearing in the 90 degree steering box thingy.. Lock to lock was only an 8th of a turn of the steering wheel, which of course made the steering very heavy!

The only other 90 degree box thingy I have is this odd shaped, very heavy and totally unsuitable for the job final drive from the Honda SilverWing which donated it's engine to a higher cause

So a bit of a rethink was needed..

This steering arm was made from 3 bit's of 6mm thick steel..

It fit's here, under the left hand steering pivot hub thingy.. It's on tacked on in this photo..

The steering box thingy was rotated 90 degrees to the right, tilted 90 degrees to the left, reunited with it's original base, and bolted to the flat grey plate that was moved from under the chassis rails to above... I hope you followed that

If you did manage to follow the above then you will of guessed by now that Why Not is going lever steer

A rather long rod connecting both sides together..

Lock to lock is now a tad under half a turn of the steering wheel which is much better and the steering turns much easier.. Which is nice

I think I may well move the connecting rod bit's to behind the hubs which will stop them getting bent should a tree ever be foolish enough to get in the way

Oh.. And the steering column needs to be shortened

[19richie66 16,877]

Awesome update. I wish I could get my honey do's done so I could get cracking on mine again. One question though. If you move the tie rods behind the hubs, wont your steering be backwards again? Looks great though.

[Stigian 1,234]

Thanks Richie   It will still steer in the right direction with the big connecting rod behind the axle, it will just look neater.

[Horse46 512]

Wow Ian that is looking amazing, I have one question though.

How many people does it take to lift it off and on the table, it must weigh a fair old bit now?

[19richie66 16,877]

Ah yes..... Too early in the morning to pay attention. The drag link and steer arm stay the same. Carry on

[Stigian 1,234]

Wow Ian that is looking amazing, I have one question though.

How many people does it take to lift it off and on the table, it must weigh a fair old bit now?

 

It's not too bad.. Two people can get it off the bench, but three is easier..

 

 

 

Ah yes..... Too early in the morning to pay attention. The drag link and steer arm stay the same. Carry on

 

Carrying on

 

 

A bit of an update for you chaps, as you know he steering is finished, so here's a photo for you.

The connecting arm has been moved to behind the hubs which makes the front end look neater and a lot less danger of a tree or something bending it

Yes you are seeing right, that is a fake leaf spring on the front.. I will make one out of thicker metal strips just for the Hot Rod look. The fake spring mounts will also add strength to the outer edges of the axle where the big rose joints bolt onto..

Not sure if the front hitch will be staying or going, it adds to the Wheel Horse look and could be handy for fitting weights onto to keep the front end down should needs be

Those with sharp eyes may of noticed a two extra somethings in the above photo, this photo might help a bit more..

The clue is, it's the thing just in front of the rear wheel..

Yep, WN now has an exhaust system. Here's the right side mount .

The left side needed a step to clear the steering rod thingy.. The step will be made to look a lot neater as it will be on show..

Two foot plate thingys chopped and welded together to make a wide one. The strange cut out needs to be filled, but I might need that hole for the pedals so it can stay for now.

And the view of WN which always makes me grin like a Cheshire cat on happy pills

[nappypappy 98]

Hope to see a test drive of that soon.... very very nice work.

[Stigian 1,234]

Thanks Nappy

 

Not much to report, the left side foot plate thingy is taking shape. As you can see it needed quite a bit of extra metal to get it to the right shape.

 

 

 

And a slight change of plan. The frame I made to be welded under the fender pan is now being welded to the chassis.

 

 

 

 

And the latest Why Not video for ya all..

 

[Stigian 1,234]

Well, I've not managed to get much done this week due to a mixture of illness, visitors and having carpet fitted at home..

 

Both foot plates are now bolted down, I found some bike mounting brackets with captive nuts which came in handy and are much more fun to use than drilling through steel box..

 

 

 

 

This bit of box does not carry any weight and is only there to stop the top of the foot plates from vibrating.. I will add a little bit of bracing though.

 

 

 

Here's something to make you laugh, it did me...  I ordered some air filters which arrived yesterday... I may of got my sizes wrong!

 

 

 

 

The hood stand has had a couple of bit's of box welded to it.

 

 

 

Which along with a couple of hefty mounting brackets has put a lot of strength into it, no longer does it wobble when the steering is turned.

 

 

 

The n/s foot plate has been fully welded and ground down.. I did for a while yesterday think about having foot gear change and a suicide clutch, but decided I'd rather have both hands on the wheel when the clutch is dropped at 9000rpm

 

 

 

This is the mount for the suicide shift made for a bit of thick steel and a cut down bike swing arm bolt..

 

 

 

Shifter mounted and the linkage worked out, though you will have to wait until the linkage is done before you see it.

 

 

 

The fender pan has been bolted down, but I thought a photo of 6 bolts would be boring so I didn't take a photo..

 

And to finish off this update, I needed to work out where the pedals would go so I climbed aboard, at which point Nigel wandered (not waddled ) in and grabbed my camera

 

 

 

[19richie66 16,877]

I'm hangin' by this thread.......... So cool.

[nappypappy 98]

I hope he gets that out soon for a test run....nice work..

[Pullstart 59,537]

Reading up on Stig's crazy updates is one of the many reasons I frequent red square.  Glad to see you're back in the saddle after a down week, great progress as usual!

[Horse46 512]

Lovin yer work Mr Stigian 

 

If I had a say in where the exhaust were routed, I would have had stacks each side 

 

Well, maybe? 

[bmsgaffer 2,043]

I forsee some melted soles in the future!

 

I am looking forward to you burning the tread off them turfs!

[mels 174]

This IS a smokin build.  If I had the means, I'd try to stuff an old slabside shovelhead engine in something like this!

[Stigian 1,234]

I'm hangin' by this thread.......... So cool.

 

Thanks Richie.

 

 

 

I hope he gets that out soon for a test run....nice work..

 

A test run may be as little as a month away... But don't hold me to that

 

 

 

Reading up on Stig's crazy updates is one of the many reasons I frequent red square.  Glad to see you're back in the saddle after a down week, great progress as usual!

 

Thanks Pullstart, happy you like my crazy updates      Yeah, last week was one of those weeks, but so far (ok, it's only Monday) this week is going rather well.

 

 

 

Lovin yer work Mr Stigian 

 

If I had a say in where the exhaust were routed, I would have had stacks each side 

 

Well, maybe? 

 

Thanks mate. I did think about stacks but that would of given WN a tractor puller sort of look rather than a Hot rod sort of look which I'm aiming for.. Also I'm not sure my ears would take too kindly to a pair of stacks ;lol:

 

 

 

I forsee some melted soles in the future!

 

I am looking forward to you burning the tread off them turfs!

 

 

Soles should be alright as long as you don't stand or rest feet on the pipes.. I could always put some polished ally heat shields on if needs be.

Burning the treads off sounds a fine idea to me

 

 

 

This IS a smokin build.  If I had the means, I'd try to stuff an old slabside shovelhead engine in something like this!

 

I like your thinking.. Shovel Horse has a good ring to it

 

 

Well chaps, WN now has a fully working suicide shift.. Working out the linkage was quite easy, making it all fit between the chassis and steering rod was not so easy..

Your have to wait til the next video to see it in action I'm afraid, but here's a few photo's to give you an idea.

 

Pulling back on the shifter pushes the rod at the base forward..

 

 

 

Which pushes on the top of the L shaped pivot thingy and thus causes the next part of the linkage to be pulled down..

 

 

 

Which pulls down on on the cut down bike foot shifter and thus you have 1st gear.. I'm sure you can work out how to get the other 4 gears

 

 

 

I've no idea which model Wh this pedal came from, but it makes a great clutch pedal..

 

 

 

By sheer luck the Honda's clutch cable couldn't of been a better fit.. With the cable routed over the top of the engine, the end that need to be connected to the pedal ends up about here.. That should make it very easy to connect