Ian

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
 

 

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
 

 

Wouldn't look out of place in an art exhibition.  "Frame Of Toil ."

Morning all, no progress has been made on Wheel-Vo at all in quite a while, all the parts have been carefully stashed away until I get MadTrax finished, but some thinking has been happening..
 
The nice slot mags that came from a CX trike a long long time ago were dug out to see how they looked..
Me rather likes
 

 

 
 
To get the wheels to fit the Volvo axle I'm going to have to make a pair of wheel adaptors as the PCD on the wheels is a lot bigger than the Volvo PCD..
The trike the wheels came from was running (we think) an Escort rear axle using these adaptors to get the wheel to fit!!!
The thought of putting any power through these is scary to say the least!!
 

 
 
But as luck would have it I did make a start on a pair of wheel adaptors to fit these very wheels onto Project Why Not which saves some work although there is still plenty of lathe time needed to finish them..
 

 
 
When I start back on this project the first job is to tempoary widen/lengthen/make a bit taller all the panels until the "upscaling?" looks right and of course the engine and other bit's are covered by the bodywork..
Then I can start measuring for a chassis and try to work out how to get suspension under the thing..
 
No suspension (like Why Not) would be easier, but Why Not gave my body such a hammering that I don't think plonking a cushion on seat would be enough
 
 

Morning all, no progress has been made on Wheel-Vo at all in quite a while, all the parts have been carefully stashed away until I get MadTrax finished, but some thinking has been happening..
 
The nice slot mags that came from a CX trike a long long time ago were dug out to see how they looked..
Me rather likes
 

 

 
 
To get the wheels to fit the Volvo axle I'm going to have to make a pair of wheel adaptors as the PCD on the wheels is a lot bigger than the Volvo PCD..
The trike the wheels came from was running (we think) an Escort rear axle using these adaptors to get the wheel to fit!!!
The thought of putting any power through these is scary to say the least!!
 

 
 
But as luck would have it I did make a start on a pair of wheel adaptors to fit these very wheels onto Project Why Not which saves some work although there is still plenty of lathe time needed to finish them..
 

 
 
When I start back on this project the first job is to tempoary widen/lengthen/make a bit taller all the panels until the "upscaling?" looks right and of course the engine and other bit's are covered by the bodywork..
Then I can start measuring for a chassis and try to work out how to get suspension under the thing..
 
No suspension (like Why Not) would be easier, but Why Not gave my body such a hammering that I don't think plonking a cushion on seat would be enough
 
 

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, 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, no progress has been made on Wheel-Vo at all in quite a while, all the parts have been carefully stashed away until I get MadTrax finished, but some thinking has been happening..
 
The nice slot mags that came from a CX trike a long long time ago were dug out to see how they looked..
Me rather likes
 

 

 
 
To get the wheels to fit the Volvo axle I'm going to have to make a pair of wheel adaptors as the PCD on the wheels is a lot bigger than the Volvo PCD..
The trike the wheels came from was running (we think) an Escort rear axle using these adaptors to get the wheel to fit!!!
The thought of putting any power through these is scary to say the least!!
 

 
 
But as luck would have it I did make a start on a pair of wheel adaptors to fit these very wheels onto Project Why Not which saves some work although there is still plenty of lathe time needed to finish them..
 

 
 
When I start back on this project the first job is to tempoary widen/lengthen/make a bit taller all the panels until the "upscaling?" looks right and of course the engine and other bit's are covered by the bodywork..
Then I can start measuring for a chassis and try to work out how to get suspension under the thing..
 
No suspension (like Why Not) would be easier, but Why Not gave my body such a hammering that I don't think plonking a cushion on seat would be enough
 
 

Thanks Ewan, the CPJT makes it a lot more fun and interesting than just having the camera on a tripod..

Really nice work! The camera panning jig thingy is awesome! 

Hi Richard, hope your keeping well..
Robot Wars eh... It's been a long time since I last watched it... Is it still going?
The last time I heard anything about Craig Charles he was/is doing a Funk and Soul music show on BBC 6 Music!
 
Not that I have anything against a bit of Funk you understand 
 
It would be cool to catch up with you again Richard, no rush whenever is good for you
 
 
Now for a fun video
 
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 forgot to take any photo's yesterday..

Hi Richard, hope your keeping well..
Robot Wars eh... It's been a long time since I last watched it... Is it still going?
The last time I heard anything about Craig Charles he was/is doing a Funk and Soul music show on BBC 6 Music!
 
Not that I have anything against a bit of Funk you understand 
 
It would be cool to catch up with you again Richard, no rush whenever is good for you
 
 
Now for a fun video
 
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 forgot to take any photo's yesterday..

Hi Richard, hope your keeping well..
Robot Wars eh... It's been a long time since I last watched it... Is it still going?
The last time I heard anything about Craig Charles he was/is doing a Funk and Soul music show on BBC 6 Music!
 
Not that I have anything against a bit of Funk you understand 
 
It would be cool to catch up with you again Richard, no rush whenever is good for you
 
 
Now for a fun video
 
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 forgot to take any photo's yesterday..

Hi Richard, hope your keeping well..
Robot Wars eh... It's been a long time since I last watched it... Is it still going?
The last time I heard anything about Craig Charles he was/is doing a Funk and Soul music show on BBC 6 Music!
 
Not that I have anything against a bit of Funk you understand 
 
It would be cool to catch up with you again Richard, no rush whenever is good for you
 
 
Now for a fun video
 
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 forgot to take any photo's yesterday..

Thanks Norm, it's good to have it driving after all this time. 
 
Soooo, what does it drive like?
 
Well, very good as it happens.. MadTrax feels very stable and planted with not even a hint of "it's going to topple over"  
Oh, and it's fast... In high ratio of course..    Trying to work out the gearing is impossible, so I'm going to guess it will top out about 80mph..
Not that I fancy doing that sort of speed on a quad of course 
 
Off road it's just as good, it feels almost unstoppable.
Rob and I were testing it by driving across deep ruts back and forth..  Eventually it started spinning the rear wheels, flick the switch to 4x4 mode and it pulled it's self out straight away..
 
Amazingly despite the testing abuse nothing broke!  Me happy with that 
 
A few minor little problems to sort..
During the off road testing MadTrax did get rather hot, in a "needle in the red" sort of way!
Part of the problem was an airlock in the cooling system, of course the highest point is where the temp sender is!
As the water level in the expansion tank is no longer dropping I guess all the air has gone out the system..
 
The other part of the problem is while riding MadTrax, the engine is at high RPM but the quad isn't moving that fast to push cold air through the rad..
So I have got an extra cooling fan to fix to the outside of the rad, it should help things out..
 
One thing the engine is doing that I wish it wouldn't is it's running very rich!
The carbs have already been cleaned out, so a bit of carb tuning and balancing will be done when MadTrax goes back together..
 
I did try and get some off road video footage, but for some reason I was having a bad camera day and didn't notice the camera was already recording..
So when I hit the "start recording" button to film the action, I was actually stopping recording!
The end result was I had mostly footage of "the bits inbetween" rather than the action!  
 
No photo's other than this screen grab of MadTrax ripping up the grass.. The smoke is from the over fueling!
 

 
 
MadTrax is now back up on the bench ready to be pulled apart tomorrow or Friday.
Lot's of bit's to be "fully welded up", and painted.

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..  
 
 

Morning all, not sure if anyone is still reading this, but if you are thanks and here's a rather large update for you.
 
Starting with a video in order to try and keep things in order..
 
 
 
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..
 
 

Your doing a great job there Chris, from a pile of rusty parts to someting far more red and shiny
 
I snowblower has always been on my want list, but if the past 6 odd winters are anything to go by, I'm not sure Hawkhurst would get enough snow to need one!

Next job is a rusty drive pulley, I've managed to find another but the centre needs changing.

Didn't get much time today but here's the latest.

Fitted the new bearings and cleaned out the axle tube, greased the axle shaft and put some oil in the tube just enough to coat the bear metal bits for protection then assembled it.
The auger runs nice on new bearings.

Beautiful sunny day down in the Deep South, do you want to see my red bits,