Ian 2,417 #176 Posted October 24, 2018 On 10/17/2018 at 10:30 PM, Anglo Traction said: Reminds me of a skeletal version of a House Robot from the Wars......Dead Metal-ish . Regret not being able to pay a visit yet Ian. Hopefully in the near future. 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.. 4 meadowfield, Stormin, Alan and 1 other reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cub Cadet 613 #177 Posted October 24, 2018 Really nice work! The camera panning jig thingy is awesome! 1 Ian reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ian 2,417 #178 Posted October 30, 2018 On 10/24/2018 at 10:10 PM, Cub Cadet said: Really nice work! The camera panning jig thingy is awesome! Thanks Ewan, the CPJT makes it a lot more fun and interesting than just having the camera on a tripod.. 1 Cub Cadet reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ian 2,417 #179 Posted December 19, 2018 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! 3 Cub Cadet, Stormin and Alan reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stormin 4,458 #180 Posted December 19, 2018 Wouldn't look out of place in an art exhibition. "Frame Of Toil ." 1 Ian reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ian 2,417 #181 Posted January 16, 2019 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 3 Alan, Cub Cadet and Stormin reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ian 2,417 #182 Posted January 16, 2019 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. 3 Alan, Cub Cadet and Stormin reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ian 2,417 #183 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 again.. 3 Cub Cadet, Stormin and Alan reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stormin 4,458 #184 Posted January 16, 2019 Looking good. Ian. 1 Ian reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ian 2,417 #185 Posted January 23, 2019 On 1/16/2019 at 2:56 PM, Stormin said: Looking good. Ian. 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 3 Cub Cadet, Stormin and Alan reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stormin 4,458 #186 Posted January 23, 2019 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. 1 Ian reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wallfish 698 #187 Posted January 24, 2019 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. 1 Ian reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ian 2,417 #188 Posted February 5, 2019 On 1/23/2019 at 2:25 PM, Stormin said: 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. 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! On 1/24/2019 at 11:52 PM, Wallfish said: 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. 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 4 Alan, Cub Cadet, Anglo Traction and 1 other reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ian 2,417 #189 Posted February 13, 2019 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 3 Stormin, Cub Cadet and Alan reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Anglo Traction 1,016 #190 Posted February 17, 2019 Good work Ian. Like the Tank finish 1 Ian reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ian 2,417 #191 Posted March 13, 2019 On 2/17/2019 at 2:23 PM, Anglo Traction said: Good work Ian. Like the Tank finish 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!! 4 1 Alan, slf-uk, nigel and 2 others reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
