Stigian 1,234 #76 Posted May 16, 2018 I have been mostly spending a lot of time at the lathe turning down this, boring out that, and trueing up the other. Not that many photo's but this was quite interesting to make out of two parts and a bit of welding. It's not quite finished in the photo, only a bit of tidying to do.. A bored out sprocket is a nice tight fit on the shaft. Not the fun part, making the 90'd drive thingy fit in not much space.. It's in there somewhere! This view might help to see what's going on. The plan was to fit this sprocket to the shaft that comes from the Honda gearbox.. And put this bearing at the end to hold things steady.. The trouble is, not enough space, the drive shaft to the front takes up a fair bit of space too! Soooo... The plan now is to mount this bigger bearing a lot closer to the gearbox case and fit the sprocket on the end only much more forward than it was.. Of course I don't have a bearing holder for the bigger bearing! So a bit of thick steel slicing.. Cut's well for a £10 power saw An almost flat plate. Flat and mostly bored out.. Where were we? Oh yes, making a bearing holder.. Some more turning later and half of the bearing holder was just the right size, a nice tight fit that will need gentle press pressure to push it in. No idea why these photo's are being turned sideways when I upload them, but anyway here's half the bearing holder and a blank other half. Both sides done. The four holes in each half are there so the bearing can be punched back out the holder should needs be.. Time to fit the bearing... Almost.. As the holder will have to be taken on and off MadTrax many many times, and a bit of drilling and grinding going on, rather than fit the bearing and risk it getting full of nasty stuff I made.... This fake bearing With a little bit of trimming to the inside half of the bearing holder a test fit was in order.. It's rather tight on one of the engine mounts, but it fit's Looks like the sprockets can be made to line up Now the big one... Will the shaft from the transfer box to the front fit without hitting anything and how tight will the UJ angles be? It fit's and the UJ angles are well under 33'degrees, if I remember right the rear UJ angle is about 12'D and the front is a tad over 20.. Much better than it used to be It's tight but there is plenty of clearance The bearing holder was drilled and a tapped so the two bit's could be bolted together.. A clean up on the lather later and the bearing was pressed in.. I couldn't of been happier with the fit of the bearing Fitted.. Just out of view behind the holder is a couple of tack welds just to hold the holder in the right place.. and yes the spocket is free to move at the moment as I don't know quite how far up/down the shaft it needs to go. Now onto the fun part.. Getting the 90'd drive in the right place.. Which is where the bit of angle that is bolted to the drive will come in handy. If you look behind the air filter you can just see 3 more bit's bolted to the drive case.. The go up and get clamped to a couple of bit's of box.. This will hold things steady and give me enough adjustment to adjust it's postition. But before I square the drive up I need to make the last bit of the drive puzzle and fit a sprocket and bearing to the hollow shaft that's coming out of the drive.. That should keep me busy tomorrow 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sparky-(Admin) 19,543 #77 Posted May 18, 2018 Some incredible fab skills you have there! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stigian 1,234 #78 Posted June 27, 2018 On 18/05/2018 at 6:50 PM, Sparky said: Some incredible fab skills you have there! Thanks Mike, I'm just learning as I go along.. Every project has to have new challenges, for me it's what makes the builds so much fun.. Solving problems and learning new skills as I go along Well, morning/afternoon/evening all. It's been a while since I updated this as pulling apart a Volvo had been taking up most of my time.. Making bits on the lathe for MadTrax has taken a while as well.. Anyway.. A shaft was needed to slide over the splines on the 90 degree drive thingy to get the power out the same side as it need to go in the transfer box.. Here it is on the lathe. The shaft with the splined bit pushed tightly on the end.. Just needs welding up then back on the lathe for the final machining. That looks better, turned down to size ready for a bearing on the end.. But how to hold it in the right place for making bearing mountings as we all know splines always have a bit of play in them? This will do the job Slid over the shaft.. Once it is tack welded to the flat plate behind it will hold the shaft steady... I hope that makes sense? Now another fun bit.. A long long time was spent getting the 90 degree drive in exactly the right place.. No mean feat considering it had to be right in so many planes! To make sure it stayed put, the tempoary mountings (bit of angle) were temporarily tacked in place.. In the above photo you can see the square bit of plate bolted to the end of the 90 degree drive thingy... Well, it didn't stay square for long.. Ok, it's not perfectly round, but that's not a problem as you will see. But what to fit it in?? A bit of this 5 1/2 diameter pipe will do Yes I know it doesn't look that safe, but due to the weight of it, it wasn't going anywhere.. A 2 inch bit of pipe with both sides faced off on the lathe. The lip I cut on the round plate makes it a perfect fit in the bit of pipe. Plonked on to have a look.. A lot of welding later including 3 long runs inside and I don't think the plate and pipe will be parting company anytime soon As much as I would of liked to weld the big pipe into the frame to make it all very strong, I wouldn't be able to get the transfer box out if I did! So I have made up some curved mounts which you will see in the next update.. But while I was at it I thought it maight be an idea to bolt a few bits in place to check everything still fitted.. With a bit of trimming and a lot of strengthening the bearing block can be made to fit flush on to the n/s foot rest which keeps things neat and tidy, but the footrest will need a lot of extra strength added. I did at one point think I would have to widen the foot rests as the chain, sprocket and bearing would take up so much space.. But with the bearing mounted flush the chain and sprocket hardly poke through at all, also the 90 degree mount only takes an inch or so foot space away from a bit of the footrest that doen't feel a natural place to put your foot anyway.. So no widening needed, just a bit of extra mesh to go over the chain.. Oh, I do have some much better looking mesh to replace the rather tatty looking mesh thats fitted already, A view of the back.. The chain needs to lose a link and a half and there is plenty of space to put a chain tensioner. Good news with the o/s footrest as well.. The drive shaft that goes to the front now takes up so little space (much closer to the engine etc) that all I need to do is put a cover over it so it doesn't try and grab my boot laces as it spins.. Plenty of space to mount the barke pedal as well And that is where I have got to on this build as of yesterday.... We shall see what progress Thurs/Friday brings as I want to spend next Mon/Tuesday having a play with Project Wheel-Vo 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elcamino/wheelhorse 9,045 #79 Posted June 27, 2018 Watching your work is like taking an engineering class with out have a clue how you arrive at your solutions. Waiting for the next show and tell on this projects. Cheers from Colonies 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stigian 1,234 #80 Posted September 26, 2018 On 28/06/2018 at 12:50 AM, elcamino/wheelhorse said: Watching your work is like taking an engineering class with out have a clue how you arrive at your solutions. Waiting for the next show and tell on this projects. Cheers from Colonies Hi Jim, I think by solutions are based on what bit's/parts I have about the place, and working out a way of making them all work together.. Not sure that has helped? Well, long time no update. Sorry about that. It's been a very very busy summer that has not really given me any spare time to do anything including forums and even YouTube! So what has been happening at the workshop has been happening at a slow pace, I have been taking photo's and videoing the action, up until a week or so ago I've not had any time to do anything with the footage! Having got the 90 degree drive thing in the right place, it needed to be mounted strongly. The curved brackets were made by welding on end to the large bit of thick wall pipe and beating it around with a large hammer while it was still hot from welding.. I thought I had some photo's of that stage but I can't find them! As you can see it's all only tacked in place at the mo, it will only get fully welded once I know the transfer box etc can actually be removed from the frame! In theory they should, but you never 100% know for sure until you try.. A thrid mount will be going down to the frame but I couldn't work out exactlly where until I had made and mounted a strengthening plate that runs between the frame rails.. Of course I did not have a large enough thick enough bit of steel plate, so I had to make one.. Missing a few photo's here but I had to slice up a Wh 312-8 fuel tank/fender pan mount for the steel.. Clamped down ready for welding. Leaving a big enough gap to fill with weld. Weld won't stick to brass so a brass plate was clamped to the underside.. The black bit is ally which works as well, it just burns away a lot faster.. Welded, shaped and roughly put in place. To mount the plate I knocked up four of these captive nut brackets. In order to center punch the flat plate in the right place for dilling I drilled a hole though a spare bolt that was only just big enough to get my punch in.. It makes sure the punch mark is in the center of the capive nuts. Brackets tacked on. Lot's of chopping and welding later the plate now has some strengthening holes including one just below the odd shaped tube and bit of box 90 degree drive mount so a ratchet can be used to bolt it on.. A pic from the other side with the third tube mount tacked in place. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stigian 1,234 #81 Posted September 26, 2018 With the above done the time had come to mount the bearing that holds the shaft out of the transfer box up. Here it is roughly in place, the foot rest thingy still needs a little trimming at this point. The next four photo's were taken from video footage I took quite a while back, but they are handy for showing a part I had to make. The end of the shaft in the TB has splines which as we all know have a little play in them. To hold the shaft in exactly the righ place I make up this collar/sleave/thingy.. Which slides over the shaft and when flat against the plate hold the shaft in the right place. Skipping forward in time again the collar/sleave/thingy has been tacked in place. Once the bearing is mounted it will be removed. The old steel mesh was removed from the foot rest (I have some new mesh which matches the exhaust guard) and a nice strong bearing mounting plate welded on. Oh, the top tube has also been sliced off and welded back on with a nice strong steel bar inside for extra strength. A view from the back, I need to get a half link to shorten the chain and make a tensioner thingy. One thing I was worried about was how much the chain would stick through the footrest... As you can see it doesn't stick though at all.. Me happy with that And that is where I have got too, with a bit of luck I will have more time next week to spend at the workshop.. Quite a hard thing to photo if you don't have a clear different colour background! I have fitted the Quadzilla brake pedal, it was originally a flat plate that was bolted to all sorts of places to give it strength. As I couldn't do that I had to box it in. Here's the other side. Brake cylinder bolted on. The whole footrest/brake pedal mount thingy bolted back on. The rubber hose to the reservoir will sit just under the steel mesh when it's put back on. The pedal looks like it's lying almost flat, but it's in the right place if you pivot your foot on the end of the footrest which is where your feet naturally fall I will make a shield that uses the cylinder bolts to add so side protection to the cylinder.. Starting to look a bit busy with the exhaust and driveshaft plonked in place, the propshaft guard will take up a bit more space as well. Time wass still lacking at this point but I made a good start on the transfer box to from diff drive/prop shafts. I've not taken many photo's and even less video footage as I just wanted to get bit's done while I had the time. Holding a small shaft in place to measure up and work things out was a right pain until I quickly made this "bit of tube welded to box" which holds the shaft in the right place. The shaft to the front has been extended and made a slightly bigger diameter to fit the new UJ.. I've not welded the shaft up yet just in case any adjustment is needed. Here's one of the bearing brackets I made up.. Think it's going to need a lot of trimming now everything is a lot closer to the engine.. And for those of you that need a video fix, here's Part 23 of the build. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stigian 1,234 #82 Posted September 26, 2018 I hope you all enjoyed that.. So where were we?? Oh yes, mounting the bearings that make up part of the drive system to the front. The original mounts were trimmed back until only the plates with captive nuts were left. Here they are bolted to the back of the bearings, ready to be tacked onto the frame. The random bit of angle is there to keep the tops in line. And without the bearings, just tacked on. A bit hard to see in the next two photo's, the bearing mounts now have extra strength with gussets added.. As ever not fully welded in these pic's. The front er... prop/drive/transfer shaft thingy has been welded up, I will be adding some extra rows of weld "just in case" and to tidy the shaft up a bit. The other end is fitted in place with a tight fitting roll pin. Oh, if your wondering the shaft does look like it's running true One last thing to do before the drive system is finished... Attach all the sprockets to the shafts.. Starting with the first and second in line there was a bit of lining up work to do.. Here's No 1. A close up and you can see the chain wants to bend to the right or forwards if you will. A bit of extra space between the chain and bearing holder would also be nice.. At the other end of that chain things were also a bit tight between the chain and bearing.. To solve the problem this part came back out for a bit of turning so the sprocket could be moved away from the bearing. Before welding the sprocket onto the shaft (no space for a roll pin) Rob started toasting all of it.. As both the sprocket and shaft thingy were very cold, both were heated up so the cold metal wouldn't just suck the heat out of the weld. The 90 degree drive thingy out.. A big moment as it means everything will come out of the frame.. Phew lol While the drive system was out I was able to do a bit of extra welding inside the frame, as some bit's were only tacked together at this point.. For some reason I forgot to take load of pic's of the next stages, so the photo's might seem a bit random.. This bearing holder needed a few mounts.. Two mounts this side.. Making the mounts for this inside was more interesting, I also had to make lower mounts for the big blue bearing.. No photo's of this done but you will see it in the next video. Chain half links and a sprocket turned up, this is part of the chain tensioner, so the sprocket was bored out to take a bearing each side. The transfer box idiot light switches were removed as the exhaust would melt them also they are not really needed. A couple of ally blanking plates blocked the holes back up. The finished chain tensioner thingy.. I think a 30mm bolt head is about the right size and in no way oversized I think now's the time to drop in Part 24 of the build videos.. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stigian 1,234 #83 Posted September 26, 2018 A bit more work on the fuel tank was done, mostly welding up the odd hole I had missed. There's one! One or two on the underside as well. Not all the holes were that obvious, but putting a little compressed air into the tank made them easier to find.. Some bit's were just welded up to tidy them up. The exhaust system got the same treatment.. Find the holes and weld them up.. Finally the build had got to the "see if the drive system worked" point of things... Sooooo...... Which left only two things to do.. No 1.. Quickly give Madtrax some brakes.. Quickly as in back brakes only.. No 2... Get MadTrax off the bench and go for a test drive.. 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elcamino/wheelhorse 9,045 #84 Posted September 26, 2018 That is a bit of all right. Cheers from across the pond. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stigian 1,234 #85 Posted October 30, 2018 (edited) On 9/26/2018 at 11:12 PM, elcamino/wheelhorse said: That is a bit of all right. Cheers from across the pond. Thanks Jim, also from across the pond With the test drive done, MadTrax needed to go back up on the bench for final welding.. Pictures of the stripdown would be boring, so have a fun video instead The stripdown should of taken a day at the most, but when everything is being video'd using my Camera Panning Jig Thingy, one day gets stretched to five! With the frame stripped down I could make a start on the final welding.. Well, almost The last couple of bit's of "made out of a cheap office desk" Quadzilla frame were bugging me.. The only problem was important bits such as front suspension lower mounts and front diff mounts are made out of one big plate that's welded to the Quadzilla frame.. And it's kinda important to make sure these mounts stay in the same place. So after a lot of bracing including something to hold the said plate in the right place, the lower front got the chop! Would you look at the rust in that! At some point during the build the bit of tube that these two bit's of desk are attached to was welded in not quite where it should of been.. In other words it looked pished but wasn't noticable until everything had been stripped from the frame! Cleaning the suspension plate of the left over bit's of rusty desk took a while, here's the plate bolted back on where it should be.. A bit of space to fill to connect everything back up again.. A lot of new thick wall tube has gone back in the front, but I still keep forgoting to take any photo's! Edited October 30, 2018 by Stigian 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elcamino/wheelhorse 9,045 #86 Posted October 30, 2018 Just waiting for the finished project , so we can see the Volvo Horse . 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stigian 1,234 #87 Posted January 16, 2019 On 10/30/2018 at 7:16 PM, elcamino/wheelhorse said: Just waiting for the finished project , so we can see the Volvo Horse . I'm with you there Jim, I can't wait to get started on Wheel-Vo, just need to get this one done and sold first.. Afternoon all, long time no update! Progress has been rather slow, a lot slower than it should be, but life, illness and having a workshop full of wood tools (don't worry, I havn't given up on metal and turned to wood, most of the wood tools have gone now) has slowed things down. Life on MadTrax has been grind, weld, grind, weld, chop some metal off, weld new stuff in, grind, weld..... you get the idea. The frame has spent most of it's time on one side or the other and even upside down at times! I think in this photo I was adding strentghening to one of the transfer box mounts on the frame. A lot of my "earlier" welds on the frame were done before my Murex Mig welder had an overhaul and a new gun... And it showed on the welds! So a lot of time has been spent grinding out bad welds and replacing them with good welds like this. The pressed steel rear suspension uprights had the outside boxed in a long time ago, the inside has been done now.. Cleaned up with a touch of red oxide.. You may remember this orrible bit of Quadzilla frame that was at the front.. Well, it has been cut out and replaced with some nice tube to match the rest of the frame.. Looks way better A couple more views.. The engine guard has come in very handy when the frame is the right way up, it keeps the frame upright and makes it very easy to turn around on the bench.. On the next build I will try and fully weld up everything as I go along... I've had to do so much "finishing" welding and grinding it's quite soul destroying! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stigian 1,234 #88 Posted January 16, 2019 (edited) The frame now looks like this with all welding finally done (have I said that before?), and a coat of red oxide in the right places.. Yes the bit I missed at the front has been done You may notice a few bit's of metal bolted to the frame.. The bit's of metal happen to be foot rests and anything that sticks through them or near them.. This is the O/S.. Now skinned with some strong steel mesh and given a squirt of the red stuff. The N/S foot rest thingy taking shape, it also has to hold a a small guard so your legs can't get pulled in by the rotating driveshaft.. Never fun! That should do the trick A few parts have been cleaned up and given a coat of the red stuff. This plate which bolts in the base of the frame to add some extra strength and protection has a lip welded on each end just to make sure it's strong enough for the job. A couple of captive nuts welded in the top tube of the frame.. Yes I did re-weld the top nut once this photo was taken. The captive nuts are for bolting this bracket on which also bolts to the top of the engine and is quite handy for holding up the coils The time had come to sort out the only bit of bodywork on MadTrax, the fuel tank.. At some point I welded on an extension to the back of the tank so it filled a gap left below the seat.. Of course this all now needed to be tidied up, so que the body body filler! Looking a bit rough here still.. Lots of fillering and sanding later I gave it a squirt of white primer as it's all I had that wasn't red oxide primer! A careful rub down with 800 grade wet 'n' dry later the tank was then hit with 3 heavy red oxide coats... Once the paint had fully hardened it was them flattened back with 1500 grade wet 'n' dry to get it ready for the top coats. Carefully plonked on the frame along with the seat to have a look... Me likes As it turned out the frame was the only "out of the way, nothing can get dropped on it" place I had to store the tank, so a sheet was put over to keep the dust at bay.. Yes I need to adjust the filler cap. Edited January 16, 2019 by Stigian 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stigian 1,234 #89 Posted January 16, 2019 With the tank and frame stored out the way I had some space on the bench to fill up with parts that need cleaning and painting. A wire brush on a drill came in handy for cleaning off all the years of crud. It leaves a slightly bright but rough finish which should dull down with age. The transfer box. Front end. Rear end complete with mounting brackets A front suspension strut in need of a de-fur and clean up. A fury front hub.. And a cleaned up rear hub More wire brushing and painting.. At least the calipers clean up really well And that folks is about where I'm up to at the mo with this build.. Silly season has left me a bit skint but hopefully I can get some paint next week and start getting this beast of a machine back together 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pullstart 59,719 #90 Posted January 17, 2019 I’ve been wondering what you’ve been up to Ian, good to see your progress on the bike! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites