Any Excuse

Im getting some space organised now in the garage. when you actually lay out the parts - there isnt really very much to this project. Ive now got it all in line. Wheels on the rear axle, axle aligned with gearbox/engine, and engine aligned with front end held up by a cross brace of wood... and its looking good. its definitely going to be low.
If the project had to finish here and now I'd be satisfied :-)

The trouble with working in a poky garage in a poky house is that in order for other life to function some of the garage space is compromised as storage space for things like cans of decorating paint and freezers for keeping stuff in that wont fit in the one in the kitchen (- what sort of stuff wont fit in the kitchen freezer?? dogs? shopping trolleys? a boat?) and so I am lumbered with a freezer unit in my garage. However, I have the enviable powers to turn shit into gold, and the crappy circumstance of having a domestic appliance in my way for most of the time does give me the excuse to slip out into the garage more regularly than i might normally be allowed to; Everytime the wife needs something from the freezer in the garage, i jump to volunteer to get it for her. And when im in there I simply cant help myself from sitting in the saddle (patio chair) grasping those handle bars and imagining myself riding like the wind. it brings a smile to my face every time :-)

It does take a bit of explaining sometimes as to why it takes me 20 minutes to find the oven chips, but even the most fleeting of visits to the garage can be just as exciting - Just seeing the shape of the 45 degree raked front forks through the frosted garage door window makes my pulse race!

its all fun - however you describe it

The Americans. What are they like? Not only do they think they invented the custom chopper genre, but they seem to think that they own the English Language and as such can simply add new words whenever seems necessary. Take for example the process to have ideas - what verb would you use to describe this?..... "having ideas"? :-/ Not good enough for the Americans. Some bright spark decided that it needed a word of its own and coined the phrase "IDEATION" Oh Puuurlease!
And then I stumbled over another made up american verb - but this one I liked. I was reading a motor bike magazine and was particularly attracted to an article about a beaten up 1923 Indian Scout - it looked fab, as if it had just been dragged from a barn where it had stood for 60 or 70 years, but I was amazed to read that the bike had been lovingly restored with a sympathetic respect that retains the "dignity of its age" ...... and this process, they called "RUSTORATION" - Brilliant! :-)
And this made me wonder if I could get away with a rustoration of my reliant engine and rear axle? Are caked-on oil and corroded diff cases indicative of the dignity of a 23 year old reliant rialto?
And so this all ties up nicely with a word invention of my own (or was it TVOR's) many years ago when after crashing the car there was nothing other to do than rebuild it with the respect that retains its "dignity" and acknowledgement to the awful damage that rolling the Renault 4 twice into a field creates - and so "RENAULTVATION" was born
(By the way that dent seen in the picture on the front wing/bonnet was not the result of rolling the car - that was a different accident after the renault had been renaultvated - hmmm not very good drivers are we when were 18??)

Its big and its hard and its between my legs..... shame it doesnt work

So now I can see things a bit better for what they really are, I am starting to rethink the finish of this Trike. Maybe I dont need to disguise corroded parts with hazard paint, though I'm still of the mind that loads of chrome isn't going to be right (too cliche and too expensive).
I am not ashamed to say that before i finished in the garage tonight I placed the engine/box on a little platform, grabbed a patio chair and sat for a moment or two with my legs astride my semi clean power unit.... and it felt good! and it felt particularly good because it was a real engine, not a peice of glitzy show metal. It made me think that actually I'd quite like the mechanics to look like a real engine as if lifted straight from the car (though I'd have to strip back all that damn water piping). The cast alluminium / iron bits all look great when wiped down.... it kind of feels ready-for-work-no-nonsence-like. Contrast this with a swoopy glossy black frame and i think we are creating art!

As I struck the pose, my thoughts were reinforced that this needs to be a low machine. I read about a bloke the other day who told the builder of his bike (the "builder of his bike"! - what a light-weight) that he didn't want to sit ON his bike, he wanted to sit IN his bike, and this really resonated with me. I want to get very close to the hot whiring bits. I want to have to lean over this engine while riding it (note to self - dont wear a tie on Trike days....... probably for a number of reasons)
And as I sat there on my plastic patio chair I wondered about 2 other important features....
1. The Radiator. I had thought I wanted it round the back (like some builders do), and i rather fancied the spinning fan blade out front looking menacing...... but now im wondering that if i want the engine lump to look no-nonsence - ready for work, then maybe the rad on the front might not be so bad (especially if it had a cool mean grill) - I'll sleep on the idea
2. The Propshaft. I had plans to remove the propshaft completely (despite some people saying a hard coupling would break something) in order to keep the distance between rear wheels and headstock to a minimum. however now im begining to think that Im going to need a little bit of space in there for legroom and to keep me me in a low riding position
All in all a great night in the garage, and now at least i can drag the bits about to do some rough layouts without getting myself covered in oil!

Clean hands, clean engine

First of all - 3 cheers for Swarfega-heavy duty, Swarfega-Protect (Multi-purpose pre-work hand cream) and Gunk-engine degreaser. What fabulous inventions they are and what a wonderful job they made of not only my engine, but my hands too.
I finished work early today with the intention of doing something on the project in the hope of catching up on some lost time due to all sorts of other distractions (work not being the least of them) - and still I kept being interupted by work and chores. Time was slipping away and i was getting stressed - I so desperately wanted to get into the garage. In the end I simply had to say NO to any other interuption - I went into the garage without my phone and dived straight into the job. I should have tidied up a few things in there first, but that just seemed like more stuff in my way to actually getting something done. If TVOR had been in the garage with me, it would have driven him nuts as i clambered over packs of lamminate flooring and bags of plaster determined that nothing was going to stop me getting on with something I wanted to do. And I did get done what i wanted to get done. Ive given the rear axle and the engine / gearbox an intial clean up.
But before I talk about the engine and diff, we should take an important lesson here..... if you want to do something - you have GOT to approach it with determination and focus. There are so many distractions (welcome and unwelcome) and obsticles that seem to stand in our way to making progress, and we simply have to keep driving forward. If id have stopped to tidy the garage, or answer some email, or help the kids, or chat with john when he came round, I wouldnt have any progress at all.
I have come to belive that actually anyone can build a trike, The mechanics aren't that difficult, its just that only a few people, who in the face of distraction or lazieness, have the ability to keep pressing on.

So with the help of a blunt screw-driver (for scraping off some of the really thick stuff) an old stubbly paintbrush and some GUNK (not as much as you might think) i got to cleaning down the diff and engine..... and I was very pleased with the results. The diff is not nearly as bad as I thought it was - what i took to be corrosion pitting seems to be the natural casting surface! It has some paint on it and that needs to be wire brushed off, but otherwise it looks much better already - though i am a bit concerned as to why it had so much oil and crud caked on it - leaking diff / propshaft seal?
And the engine is far from being properly clean, but at least i can walk past it now without fear of getting oil all over my trousers.
I was left with a prediciment - what to do with a couple of gallons of gunky oily water emulsion? Well what could I do? what would you do? It was dark, the neighbours were inside, and maybe it'll rain tonight to help wash it away :-/

coming at it from a different angle

So Hughie met Barry, and Barry is an expert. We should always be interested in what the experts have to say, there is so much we can learn from them...... but there is ONLY so much we can learn from them. As much as expertness can enlighten us, it can also stiffle us. With great expertness comes deep and narrow thinking. I havent met Barry, but I am sure he is a great guy - and anyone who has built 20 trikes is bound to be a great man. However, when he told Hugh that he didnt believe that you could build a great Trike for a grand, I wondered if he was being visionary enough.

I have to admit i was thrown off balance for a couple of days. Maybe i had bitten off more than i could chew? maybe i was being naive or idealistic? Maybe i couldnt build a great looking trike within my budget? and as i flicked my custom bike magazines, it certainly does look like they have had a lot of chrome and slick paint jobs done on them to make them all look so....... well actually, when you look at the bigger picture..... they all look so..... so much the same! When you start to analyse the features or concepts of all these fabulous machines, the majority do seem to be working to formula. It feels like people are trying to create a better version of what is in vogue. Not many seem to be interested in creating something new.
Of course i want my machine to be aesthetically pleasing, if not beautiful, if not awsome...... but PERHAPS, i dont have to do the finish and detail to the normal formula of shiney and sparkly.

Ive been incubating this thought, and i havent concluded my thinking yet, but I have a seed growing inside that i am warming to..... I dont want to make any decisions on this yet - it is niether a good idea or a bad idea, but i'd like to let it sit in my mind for a while doing nothing until the time is right to make a decision........ the components i have for this trike are not in a condition that i can easily and cheaply polish, nor can i chrome many bits. The frame and proportions are all in my control (and i am a fool if i dont make the shape beuatiful) but the finish might take time and money that i can ill afford. But what if i turn the "finishing formula" on its head and say "lets do this different to all the shiney glitzy look alikes in the mags" maybe it could be cool as Matt black with details in hazard day-glo orange...... dont judge the idea..... just imagine for a while a black rear axle and bike frame and a day-glo orange diff and fuel tank.... dont judge it. There are, of course many other details that need to be thought about, but not yet..... just let the image rest in your head for a few days :-)

From wind-in-my-sails to hole-in-my-hull

Im getting down to the nitty gritty now, the dirt and grime, the reality of the reliant. Until now ive been enjoying the dreaming and the humping and grunting of the rough bits, but now im starting to get down to the details, im seeing things a little differently.

Hughie sent me some photos of a reliant trike for sale on ebay - ooh its lovely. Look at how shiney that diff and axel is - it is an inspiration to all us novice trike builders. So imagine my disapointment, when i finally got down on my knees to have a close look at my own diff.
OMG, look at that corrosion and pitting! theres no way im going to see my face in that.

Maybe its going to have to be a rat-trike afterall

Airfix for Men

Its only a small garage, but then its only a small project. Now that ive got the chassis up off the floor and ive tidied up a bit im starting to see the wood for the trees. Actually, when its laid out like this it looks just like a grown up airfix kit - how difficult can building a trike be?

Im definitely going to have to get me a ball joint breaker - I have got the steering and front suspension assembly on ebay at the moment and its currently running at 21 quid / 4 bidders / 4 days to go - trouble is i cant seperate it from the chassis yet.

Liberated

Me AND the engine :-)
Ive worked hard this weekend to get all chores done so that i could get a good half day in the garage - and boy did i enjoy myself. With a bit of grunt, ive got the engine and rear axle out. Just in case anyone is interested, I can just about lift the engine/gearbox lump on my own, and I can carry the chassis on my own.... and thats what makes this project so great - you dont need special facilities to do anything..... correction - a ball joint breaker would have been useful.
I was wondering about using the chassis as an alignment / welding jig for the trike frame, but actually its such a huge and awkward shape, ive decided to get rid. Ive got it on ebay for a tenner (if it doesnt go, then its rag-and-bone man for it) ive also go the front suspension, steering stuff, heater matrix, towbar and fuel tank on ebay to try and recoup a bit of cash. Which reminds me, it wasnt until i'd dropped out the fule tank that i realised how much petrol was in it.... i managed to get 15 litres out of it which i put straight into the wifes car - that must be worth nearly 15 quid..... ive got my fingers crossed that i havent also put rust and water into her car too :-/

frame thoughts

the frame shape is playing on my mind and pencil. The shape is going to be very important. I have 3 key design goals

1. Short wheel base (better defined by Hughie as short distance between rear wheels and headstock - obviously as long as possible forward of the headstock ;-)
2. Low riding position
3. Flowing lines (no angle iron v-cuts for for this work of art)

Of course this all has to fit within the one grand budget and be completed for next summer.