Ian

Thanks Richard, the tank isn't perfect but I'm quite happy with how it looks..
 
Not much to report, since the below pic's were taken the exhaust has been painted, wrapped to tray and keep the heat in.. Oh, and installed
The final bit's of wiring have been done..
Clutch, rev counter, choke and throttle cables installed..
Rear drive shaft joints have been greased up and the gators fitted.
A front gator was replaced as it had split..
One brake pipe moved as it was rubbing on a rear wheel!
 
Jobs left to do..
 
Move a brake pipe as its hitting the exhaust!
Make and install a chain guard so no body parts are sucked in and chewed up...
Finish making a lid for the battery box..
Check oils.
Fill the cooling system..
Put some petrol in the tank.
Connect the battery..
Turn the key..
Hit the start button and see what happens.. 
 
If all goes well, then make a quick video followed by putting MadTrax up for sale...
It's been a fun project, but the time has come to move on the the next mad project.... Oh, and the money from the sale wouldn't hurt
 
Anyway, have some pic's 
 

 

 

 

 
 
The AA van wasn't anything to do with MadTrax, I just thought the yellow would make some nice contrast in the photo
 

 
 
Oh.. I had to drop in the workshop Saturday only to find NIgel had given MadTrax the horn!! 
 

Morning all, well the MadTrax build (or should I say rebuild) has been flying.. Not quite finished yet but not far off
 
Lot's of parts have been painted and bolted back on to the frame..
 

 
 
A pile of painted parts..
 

 
 
The finish on the fuel tank isn't perfect, as is the way once the top coats go on you can see all the missed bits!!
But overall I'm happy with it..
 

 

 
 
I needed to do a few bit's before the O/S footrest thingy could be bolted back on, one such bit the the 90'd drive in the photo.
The big bolt sticking out the top is the breather.. The trouble is I'm running the unit upside down!
So the big bolt was replaced with something smaller and oil tight..
 

 
 
To stop the drive from blowing oil out through any/all the gaskets I needed to put a breather back in..
This bolt on the bottom (although it's now the top) goes through the casing, so it was drilled and tapped to fit a grease nipple..   The nipple was drilled out to remove the little ball bearing and spring thus making it a breathing nipple??    Handy for putting a bit of pipe on
 

 
 
Not much left to bolt now
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
To finish off this update, here's the latest video.. enjoy
 
 
 

Hi Norm, I know which plastic toy snakes your talking about, the ones with lots and lots of bendy joints.. Used to have one a a kid..      And yes I see why the exhaust reminds you of one..
You were lucky with the adder, that could of hurt a bit!
 
 
Hi John, good to see you back... I'm also struggling to find forum time at the mo.. Why does life has to be so busy???
The finished product isn't too far away now as you will see.
Glad you liked the camera motion thingy, it's gets some more use in the next video
 
 
For a few days there wasn't anything I could do on MadTrax until the paint I had ordered turned up, so.....

I had a bit of a tidy and clean up in the lathe corner of the workshop.
The white doored paint cupboard came out from the corner behind the lathe and now lives in a place I can actually reach it.
 

 
 
The "lathe shelf" now looks a lot neater and emptier..
 

 
 
As most of the smaller tools now live in this labeled cabinet..
 

 
 
And to finish off the lathe got a much overdue clean up..
 

 
 
Finally last weekend my long awaited paint turned up, so Monday was paint the frame and engine day 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Which made Tuesday "get the engine, transfer box and rear end in" day.. A bit thank you to Rob for all your help with this.. Ta muchly mate..
 

 

 

 
 
More parts bolted back on the frame, most of the front end..
 

 

 

 
 
A "few" freshly painted parts hanging about the place drying..
 

 

 
 
And that is where the rebuild has got to as of yesterday..
 
To finish off this update have a couple of videos..
 
Enjoy
 
 
 
 
 
 

Thanks Norm 
 
Morning all, more progress has been made which is a good thing..
 
A pile of cleaned and primered parts stashed under the bench waiting for a top coat..
 

 
 
The rest of the suspension components were buried under a bench behind the engine, so of course the engine had to come out..
Might as well plonk it on the bench and have a look..
After cleaning the engine didn't look too bad, only a small bit of paint has come off..
Unsure it needs repainting at this point.. Will have to think on it.
 

 
 
I also made a start sorting the radiator out..
 

 
As you can see a lot of fins need straightening out.. it's one of those jobs that gets done a bit at a time sitting at my desk with the heater blowing at me
 

 
 
The exhaust system has been cleaned up and any pin holes found (each section was pressurised to find any leaks) and welded up..
 
Just for a laugh I thought I'd bolt the exhaust on to the engine to have a look...
 
It looks rather mad
 

 

 

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 again..
 
 

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.
 

 

Hi Guy's, sorry it's been a while since the last update..
Life has been a bit er.. busy.. And being "on call" for a month waiting for grandkid No 11 hasn't helped..
 
Anyway...
 
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
 

 

Morning 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 nwe 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..
 

 
 
That's all the photo's I have for now. I have slowly been working from the back forwards and have now reached the point where I just have to finish off bit's infront of where the engiine should be..
 
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!

Morning all, a long overdue update for you all...
 
I have been thinking about the suspension, but for a machine who's main roll in life will be to smoke the rear tyres/tires away, I'm not 100% sure it's going to be needed.
with the low height I need there also wouldn't be any real suspension travel, maybe 2-3 inches!

Also no suspension would make the build a tad easier!!

My current thinking is something I saw on a racing mower which I am told works very well and saves a lot of back pain!!

From the front it's hard to spot..
 

 
 
A bit of a give away at the back though
 

 

 
 
Anyway, I'm not quite at that point in the build yet, but not the far off..... Yes work has finally started on Project Wheel-Vo

I havn't quite finished my MadTrax quad build yet, but I had got to the point where I needed a few bits to finish it but no cash to buy them.. (Ordered this morning by the way)
But MadTrax had reached the point where it could come off the bench... And as the bench was empty of course I needed something to put on it

Engine, trans, a few wheels and the bonnet plonked in place..
 

 

 
 
Although the look is rather grin worthy, there are a few problems such as the bonnet is too short, too wide, and not long enough to not onlt fit over the engine but also cover the radiator, intercooler and tran oil cooler!
Sooo best add 12 inches to the length and 4 inches to the width..
 

 
 
At this point I am not sorting the bodywork out, I just need to stretch things a little until Wheel-Vo looks right hence all the random bit of tube and box holding the bonet together..
 

 
 
The fender pan got a bit of a stretch as well..
 

 
 
"Now with an added Nigel" to help you work out the scale..
 

 
 
This is a good point to drop in a video as it kinda covers all of the above.
 
 
 
What it doesn't cover is the fender pan getting lengthened a bit..
 

 
 
Seeing the fender pan just resting on the top of the tyres was bugging me, so to get it to stay in the right place and height it gained some legs..
 

 
 
Only one thing for it... Get the ladder out and climb aboard to see how it feels..
The view down the bigger bonnet from the seat is amazing.. You will see it in the next video..

Yes the seating postion looks a bit high, the middle of the fender pan will be chopped out and lowered to get the seat and my vast weight lower..
 

 

 
 
A couple more pic's without the fat bloke...
 

 

 
 
And that's as far as the build has got, the next job is to copy the fender pans lead and makes some legs/stands to hold the engine/trans in the right place and screw it down to the bench.
I still need to tweak the panels around a bit, but I'm not that far off of thinking about the chassis..

Thanks Richard, the tank isn't perfect but I'm quite happy with how it looks..
 
Not much to report, since the below pic's were taken the exhaust has been painted, wrapped to tray and keep the heat in.. Oh, and installed
The final bit's of wiring have been done..
Clutch, rev counter, choke and throttle cables installed..
Rear drive shaft joints have been greased up and the gators fitted.
A front gator was replaced as it had split..
One brake pipe moved as it was rubbing on a rear wheel!
 
Jobs left to do..
 
Move a brake pipe as its hitting the exhaust!
Make and install a chain guard so no body parts are sucked in and chewed up...
Finish making a lid for the battery box..
Check oils.
Fill the cooling system..
Put some petrol in the tank.
Connect the battery..
Turn the key..
Hit the start button and see what happens.. 
 
If all goes well, then make a quick video followed by putting MadTrax up for sale...
It's been a fun project, but the time has come to move on the the next mad project.... Oh, and the money from the sale wouldn't hurt
 
Anyway, have some pic's 
 

 

 

 

 
 
The AA van wasn't anything to do with MadTrax, I just thought the yellow would make some nice contrast in the photo
 

 
 
Oh.. I had to drop in the workshop Saturday only to find NIgel had given MadTrax the horn!! 
 

Thanks Richard, the tank isn't perfect but I'm quite happy with how it looks..
 
Not much to report, since the below pic's were taken the exhaust has been painted, wrapped to tray and keep the heat in.. Oh, and installed
The final bit's of wiring have been done..
Clutch, rev counter, choke and throttle cables installed..
Rear drive shaft joints have been greased up and the gators fitted.
A front gator was replaced as it had split..
One brake pipe moved as it was rubbing on a rear wheel!
 
Jobs left to do..
 
Move a brake pipe as its hitting the exhaust!
Make and install a chain guard so no body parts are sucked in and chewed up...
Finish making a lid for the battery box..
Check oils.
Fill the cooling system..
Put some petrol in the tank.
Connect the battery..
Turn the key..
Hit the start button and see what happens.. 
 
If all goes well, then make a quick video followed by putting MadTrax up for sale...
It's been a fun project, but the time has come to move on the the next mad project.... Oh, and the money from the sale wouldn't hurt
 
Anyway, have some pic's 
 

 

 

 

 
 
The AA van wasn't anything to do with MadTrax, I just thought the yellow would make some nice contrast in the photo
 

 
 
Oh.. I had to drop in the workshop Saturday only to find NIgel had given MadTrax the horn!! 
 

Thanks Richard, the tank isn't perfect but I'm quite happy with how it looks..
 
Not much to report, since the below pic's were taken the exhaust has been painted, wrapped to tray and keep the heat in.. Oh, and installed
The final bit's of wiring have been done..
Clutch, rev counter, choke and throttle cables installed..
Rear drive shaft joints have been greased up and the gators fitted.
A front gator was replaced as it had split..
One brake pipe moved as it was rubbing on a rear wheel!
 
Jobs left to do..
 
Move a brake pipe as its hitting the exhaust!
Make and install a chain guard so no body parts are sucked in and chewed up...
Finish making a lid for the battery box..
Check oils.
Fill the cooling system..
Put some petrol in the tank.
Connect the battery..
Turn the key..
Hit the start button and see what happens.. 
 
If all goes well, then make a quick video followed by putting MadTrax up for sale...
It's been a fun project, but the time has come to move on the the next mad project.... Oh, and the money from the sale wouldn't hurt
 
Anyway, have some pic's 
 

 

 

 

 
 
The AA van wasn't anything to do with MadTrax, I just thought the yellow would make some nice contrast in the photo
 

 
 
Oh.. I had to drop in the workshop Saturday only to find NIgel had given MadTrax the horn!! 
 

Thanks for your kind comments lads, it’s a tough time for me as I miss her so much.

Good work Ian. Like the Tank finish
 

Morning all, well the MadTrax build (or should I say rebuild) has been flying.. Not quite finished yet but not far off
 
Lot's of parts have been painted and bolted back on to the frame..
 

 
 
A pile of painted parts..
 

 
 
The finish on the fuel tank isn't perfect, as is the way once the top coats go on you can see all the missed bits!!
But overall I'm happy with it..
 

 

 
 
I needed to do a few bit's before the O/S footrest thingy could be bolted back on, one such bit the the 90'd drive in the photo.
The big bolt sticking out the top is the breather.. The trouble is I'm running the unit upside down!
So the big bolt was replaced with something smaller and oil tight..
 

 
 
To stop the drive from blowing oil out through any/all the gaskets I needed to put a breather back in..
This bolt on the bottom (although it's now the top) goes through the casing, so it was drilled and tapped to fit a grease nipple..   The nipple was drilled out to remove the little ball bearing and spring thus making it a breathing nipple??    Handy for putting a bit of pipe on
 

 
 
Not much left to bolt now
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
To finish off this update, here's the latest video.. enjoy
 
 
 

Morning all, well the MadTrax build (or should I say rebuild) has been flying.. Not quite finished yet but not far off
 
Lot's of parts have been painted and bolted back on to the frame..
 

 
 
A pile of painted parts..
 

 
 
The finish on the fuel tank isn't perfect, as is the way once the top coats go on you can see all the missed bits!!
But overall I'm happy with it..
 

 

 
 
I needed to do a few bit's before the O/S footrest thingy could be bolted back on, one such bit the the 90'd drive in the photo.
The big bolt sticking out the top is the breather.. The trouble is I'm running the unit upside down!
So the big bolt was replaced with something smaller and oil tight..
 

 
 
To stop the drive from blowing oil out through any/all the gaskets I needed to put a breather back in..
This bolt on the bottom (although it's now the top) goes through the casing, so it was drilled and tapped to fit a grease nipple..   The nipple was drilled out to remove the little ball bearing and spring thus making it a breathing nipple??    Handy for putting a bit of pipe on
 

 
 
Not much left to bolt now
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
To finish off this update, here's the latest video.. enjoy
 
 
 

Hi Norm, I know which plastic toy snakes your talking about, the ones with lots and lots of bendy joints.. Used to have one a a kid..      And yes I see why the exhaust reminds you of one..
You were lucky with the adder, that could of hurt a bit!
 
 
Hi John, good to see you back... I'm also struggling to find forum time at the mo.. Why does life has to be so busy???
The finished product isn't too far away now as you will see.
Glad you liked the camera motion thingy, it's gets some more use in the next video
 
 
For a few days there wasn't anything I could do on MadTrax until the paint I had ordered turned up, so.....

I had a bit of a tidy and clean up in the lathe corner of the workshop.
The white doored paint cupboard came out from the corner behind the lathe and now lives in a place I can actually reach it.
 

 
 
The "lathe shelf" now looks a lot neater and emptier..
 

 
 
As most of the smaller tools now live in this labeled cabinet..
 

 
 
And to finish off the lathe got a much overdue clean up..
 

 
 
Finally last weekend my long awaited paint turned up, so Monday was paint the frame and engine day 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Which made Tuesday "get the engine, transfer box and rear end in" day.. A bit thank you to Rob for all your help with this.. Ta muchly mate..
 

 

 

 
 
More parts bolted back on the frame, most of the front end..
 

 

 

 
 
A "few" freshly painted parts hanging about the place drying..
 

 

 
 
And that is where the rebuild has got to as of yesterday..
 
To finish off this update have a couple of videos..
 
Enjoy
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hi Norm, I know which plastic toy snakes your talking about, the ones with lots and lots of bendy joints.. Used to have one a a kid..      And yes I see why the exhaust reminds you of one..
You were lucky with the adder, that could of hurt a bit!
 
 
Hi John, good to see you back... I'm also struggling to find forum time at the mo.. Why does life has to be so busy???
The finished product isn't too far away now as you will see.
Glad you liked the camera motion thingy, it's gets some more use in the next video
 
 
For a few days there wasn't anything I could do on MadTrax until the paint I had ordered turned up, so.....

I had a bit of a tidy and clean up in the lathe corner of the workshop.
The white doored paint cupboard came out from the corner behind the lathe and now lives in a place I can actually reach it.
 

 
 
The "lathe shelf" now looks a lot neater and emptier..
 

 
 
As most of the smaller tools now live in this labeled cabinet..
 

 
 
And to finish off the lathe got a much overdue clean up..
 

 
 
Finally last weekend my long awaited paint turned up, so Monday was paint the frame and engine day 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Which made Tuesday "get the engine, transfer box and rear end in" day.. A bit thank you to Rob for all your help with this.. Ta muchly mate..
 

 

 

 
 
More parts bolted back on the frame, most of the front end..
 

 

 

 
 
A "few" freshly painted parts hanging about the place drying..
 

 

 
 
And that is where the rebuild has got to as of yesterday..
 
To finish off this update have a couple of videos..
 
Enjoy
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hi Norm, I know which plastic toy snakes your talking about, the ones with lots and lots of bendy joints.. Used to have one a a kid..      And yes I see why the exhaust reminds you of one..
You were lucky with the adder, that could of hurt a bit!
 
 
Hi John, good to see you back... I'm also struggling to find forum time at the mo.. Why does life has to be so busy???
The finished product isn't too far away now as you will see.
Glad you liked the camera motion thingy, it's gets some more use in the next video
 
 
For a few days there wasn't anything I could do on MadTrax until the paint I had ordered turned up, so.....

I had a bit of a tidy and clean up in the lathe corner of the workshop.
The white doored paint cupboard came out from the corner behind the lathe and now lives in a place I can actually reach it.
 

 
 
The "lathe shelf" now looks a lot neater and emptier..
 

 
 
As most of the smaller tools now live in this labeled cabinet..
 

 
 
And to finish off the lathe got a much overdue clean up..
 

 
 
Finally last weekend my long awaited paint turned up, so Monday was paint the frame and engine day 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Which made Tuesday "get the engine, transfer box and rear end in" day.. A bit thank you to Rob for all your help with this.. Ta muchly mate..
 

 

 

 
 
More parts bolted back on the frame, most of the front end..
 

 

 

 
 
A "few" freshly painted parts hanging about the place drying..
 

 

 
 
And that is where the rebuild has got to as of yesterday..
 
To finish off this update have a couple of videos..
 
Enjoy
 
 
 
 
 
 

NICE!!!!! I love everything about it. Been "out of the loop" for a bit since work takes up too much time but it's fantastic to come back and see this stuff. Can't wait to see the finished product.
Ian, you're getting pretty good at that video stuff and that camera motion thingy was a really cool effect.

The right hand side reminds me of one of those plastic toy snakes. Nearly picked one up of the steps leading to the farm house one summer, many moons ago. As I bent down to get hold of it, I suddenly realised it was an ADDER, basking in the sun.

Thanks Norm 
 
Morning all, more progress has been made which is a good thing..
 
A pile of cleaned and primered parts stashed under the bench waiting for a top coat..
 

 
 
The rest of the suspension components were buried under a bench behind the engine, so of course the engine had to come out..
Might as well plonk it on the bench and have a look..
After cleaning the engine didn't look too bad, only a small bit of paint has come off..
Unsure it needs repainting at this point.. Will have to think on it.
 

 
 
I also made a start sorting the radiator out..
 

 
As you can see a lot of fins need straightening out.. it's one of those jobs that gets done a bit at a time sitting at my desk with the heater blowing at me
 

 
 
The exhaust system has been cleaned up and any pin holes found (each section was pressurised to find any leaks) and welded up..
 
Just for a laugh I thought I'd bolt the exhaust on to the engine to have a look...
 
It looks rather mad
 

 

 

Thanks Norm 
 
Morning all, more progress has been made which is a good thing..
 
A pile of cleaned and primered parts stashed under the bench waiting for a top coat..
 

 
 
The rest of the suspension components were buried under a bench behind the engine, so of course the engine had to come out..
Might as well plonk it on the bench and have a look..
After cleaning the engine didn't look too bad, only a small bit of paint has come off..
Unsure it needs repainting at this point.. Will have to think on it.
 

 
 
I also made a start sorting the radiator out..
 

 
As you can see a lot of fins need straightening out.. it's one of those jobs that gets done a bit at a time sitting at my desk with the heater blowing at me
 

 
 
The exhaust system has been cleaned up and any pin holes found (each section was pressurised to find any leaks) and welded up..
 
Just for a laugh I thought I'd bolt the exhaust on to the engine to have a look...
 
It looks rather mad
 

 

 

Looking good. Ian.

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 again..