Project "Why Not"

[slf-uk 914]

Wow, I love it. It sounds great. Firing it up must be a real boost. You are doing a fantastic job.

 

I thought you were looking over your shoulder because you heard what my wife said

 

BTW. Andrew, we must have been at the same Motorhead concert if it was the Bomber tour. 

 

Iain

[nigel 1,877]

it was a great day, ian has worked so hard on this project and he certanly had a smile on his face once the camara was switched off, and as for me i suppose its called getting older but i look like a small fat jeremy clarkson

[meadowfield 1,900]

it was a great day, ian has worked so hard on this project and he certanly had a smile on his face once the camara was switched off, and as for me i suppose its called getting older but i look like a small fat jeremy clarkson

 

Ah yes I see a resemblance, I did hear there was a fracas over food that evening, but the missus sorted it...  hows the black eye

[the showman 4,074]

Jeremy Clarkson !!! You're having a laugh

[Ian 2,417]

Wow, I love it. It sounds great. Firing it up must be a real boost. You are doing a fantastic job.

 

I thought you were looking over your shoulder because you heard what my wife said

 

BTW. Andrew, we must have been at the same Motorhead concert if it was the Bomber tour. 

 

Iain

 

Thanks Iain, yep firing her up is a real mojo booster, it's good to hear life in her though after firing her up I can't hear much

I expect your wife was saying "What the hell is that noise"? Or something along those lines

 

 

 

it was a great day, ian has worked so hard on this project and he certanly had a smile on his face once the camara was switched off, and as for me i suppose its called getting older but i look like a small fat jeremy clarkson

 

It certainly was a great day, thanks again for all your help mate :thumbs;

I don't think it really sunk in until I started to edit the video.. Then the manic grin broke out

 

 

 

Ah yes I see a resemblance, I did hear there was a fracas over food that evening, but the missus sorted it...  hows the black eye

 

Jeremy Clarkson !!! You're having a laugh

 

More like William Wollard which is better than being the first ever Top Gear presenter

 

 

Well, after getting distracted by a lathe, moving the workshop about, a random tree and making lot's of noise Thursday, I'm finally cracking on with the front brakes again and get the calipers mounted..

 

Add a bit of metal, that bit under my finger..

 

 

 

Throw in a couple of triangles to put some strength back, here's one of em.

 

 

 

Garnish with a couple of long bolts including having to drill through the kingpin pivot spindle thingy!

 

 

 

Tack welded together.

 

 

 

A fully welded up caliper bracket.. I think don't think it will fall apart in a hurry

 

 

 

One bolted on caliper, one to go..

 

 

 

 

Yes I will be cleaning up the welds at some point.. And yes the wheel does still fit

 

[meadowfield 1,900]

Tidy work

[Ian 2,417]

Tidy work

 

Thanks mate, shockingly the brake even works

[Stormin 4,458]

  Good job.

[slf-uk 914]

Great progress, I'm amassed how you got the into such a tight space.

 

Is the parachute installation next?

 

Iain

[Triumph66 1,256]

Looking forward to the next video installation.

Nice peice of engineering ingenuity Ian; as they say in the West Country 'Proper job!'

[Ian 2,417]

  Good job.

 

Thanks Norm.

 

 

 

Great progress, I'm amassed how you got the into such a tight space.

 

Is the parachute installation next?

 

Iain

 

 

Thanks Iain, yes it is a bit tight behind the front wheels...   A parachute may be something to think about at some point

 

 

 

Looking forward to the next video installation.

Nice peice of engineering ingenuity Ian; as they say in the West Country 'Proper job!'

 

Thanks Andrew

 

 

I wish I had more of an update for you all, but it's been a busy week dealing with a "not so" Merry Tiller!!

 

But I have managed to get some of the steering done.. Starting with bolting on one of these Wheel Horse steering thingys..   My brain is not with it enough to work out what the correct name for it is!

 

 

 

The other end need to be connected to this Bolens rotovator 90 degree box...  Sorry Chris, I've decided to use it now.

 

 

 

As it happened not only was this wheel center (cut from WN's front wheel) a perfect fit over the bar that's part of the steering thingy..

 

 

 

But once cleaned up on the lathe it was also a perfect fit on the 90 degree drive box thingy

 

 

 

The only problem was it looked like this!

 

 

 

So the next day I made another one! The bottom one looks a lot better

 

 

 

90 degree box thingy bolted in place.. The steering UJ thingy goes up to a shaft, which...

 

 

 

Goes through this bearing and out through the top of the dash..   Sorry about the bad photo's.. I was tired and the cameras auto-focus wasn't playing ball!

 

 

 

I have also made a start cleaning up the rear wheels...

 

 

 

As I have a pair of new 24x9.50-12 grass tyres waiting to be fitted

 

[meadowfield 1,900]

Great work Ian, steering thingy is close enough... That what I call them

[Stormin 4,458]

Quadrant?

[HeadExam 1,783]

Great piece of work, that reminds me I need to get some scrap and start practicing on my welding technique, you have that bead "thingy" going. 

[Ian 2,417]

Great work Ian, steering thingy is close enough... That what I call them

 

Thingy works for me

 

 

 

Quadrant?

 

Same to you Norm

 

 

 

Great piece of work, that reminds me I need to get some scrap and start practicing on my welding technique, you have that bead "thingy" going. 

 

Thanks mate.. Practice is by far the best way to get better at welding.. I'm getting there

 

 

Despite being busy with Why Not for the past couple of day's I've not a great deal to show for it..

 

Have a better photo of the steering column and the UJ's.

 

 

 

A new more sporty steering wheel has been fitted.. Don't worry, the badge in the center will be going and replaced with something more in keeping

 

 

 

What has been taking a lot of time was cleaning all the rust and old paint off the rear wheels so I could fit the new bigger tyres.. I think it's one of those jobs we all hate, but it's worth the effort

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've no idea what this came from, Nigel had had it for many years.. But it does make a great gear shift lever.. Just got to work out how/where to mount it and figure out a linkage..

 

[meadowfield 1,900]

That's an awesome gear lever, kinda like a what they use in wrc rally cars, pull back to go ip, push forward to drop down

[Ian 2,417]

Thanks Mark, yeah it is rather awesome gear lever.. The gear shift will be kinda like WRC cars... 1 forward, 4 back.. Bike gears but hand shifted

 

 

Well, it's been an er.. interesting kinda day!!

 

Things started well with a frame being made to add some strength to the fender pan.. This frame will be welded to the pan and some extra cross members put in for the seat to bolt to, once I get a seat that's not got and splits in it!

 

 

 

And then the rose joints I ordered for making steering arms turned up in the post.

 

 

 

So I set to, cutting up some thick metal..

 

 

 

A quick mock-up later to check that the steering would work.. And this is where a slight mistake was spotted... Can you spot it?

 

 

 

Turn the steering wheel to the right....

 

 

 

And the wheel hubs turn to the left!!!   I think "Oops" is the correct word

 

 

 

As I said... An interesting day

[meadowfield 1,900]

Oops!

Same happened on bendy, that's why the steering arm on the beetle steering box is chopped off and welded upside down

[Ian 2,417]

Oops!

Same happened on bendy, that's why the steering arm on the beetle steering box is chopped off and welded upside down

 

It's good to know I'm not the only one who does these daft things

 

I need to do a few tweaks but the steering is now sorted... It even steers the right direction

 

 

 

 

[meadowfield 1,900]

good news!

 

the only issue with putting the steering knuckles in front of the axle is it's hard to get the akerman angle right unless you have big wheels...

 

but I think Akerman angle will be irrelevant when you are sideways in a cloud of blue smoke :D 

[Stormin 4,458]

You'll need a steering guard now for when you go off road.

[slf-uk 914]

Ian, looks like I am a bit late to offer a suggestion, but I was thinking that you could put the wheel brackets on the back of the wheels at the bottom (rather than the top) and then just point your point your WH steering bracket thing down rather than up. This would only work if you have the space under the chassis.

 

Glad to see you have added a Bolens part to something as critical as the steering

 

I made the same steering mistake on a hydroplane I was racing many years ago. First race I went to leave the pits on full throttle and the boat headed straight towards a jetty instead of the pit exit. The jetty cleared of people quickly and despite my assurance that it would be fine and that I would just steer the opposite way, I was banned from the event.

 

Iain

[Triumph66 1,256]

 

I made the same steering mistake on a hydroplane I was racing many years ago. First race I went to leave the pits on full throttle and the boat headed straight towards a jetty instead of the pit exit. The jetty cleared of people quickly and despite my assurance that it would be fine and that I would just steer the opposite way, I was banned from the event.

 

That made me cracked up about you offering to steer the other way! Very funny!

[diggerjames 543]

Wow Ian that looks really smart now that the steering is nearing completion what's next on this great awesome project?

[Ian 2,417]

good news!

 

the only issue with putting the steering knuckles in front of the axle is it's hard to get the akerman angle right unless you have big wheels...

 

but I think Akerman angle will be irrelevant when you are sideways in a cloud of blue smoke :D 

 

Thanks Mark...  I do need to get the Akerman angles sorted.. Good steering would be kinda handy for the high speed runs

 

 

 

You'll need a steering guard now for when you go off road.

 

That would ruin the look Norm.. I will just have to move all the trees, people, cars, odd object to taste, that might be in the way during the drive

 

 

 

Ian, looks like I am a bit late to offer a suggestion, but I was thinking that you could put the wheel brackets on the back of the wheels at the bottom (rather than the top) and then just point your point your WH steering bracket thing down rather than up. This would only work if you have the space under the chassis.

 

Glad to see you have added a Bolens part to something as critical as the steering

 

I made the same steering mistake on a hydroplane I was racing many years ago. First race I went to leave the pits on full throttle and the boat headed straight towards a jetty instead of the pit exit. The jetty cleared of people quickly and despite my assurance that it would be fine and that I would just steer the opposite way, I was banned from the event.

 

Iain

 

It's good to know there are at least three of us here who have made a slight er.. Error whilst building steering

I did look at putting the steering quadrant thingy underneath, but there just isn't the ground clearance, only 1/2 inch at best!

 

 

 

Wow Ian that looks really smart now that the steering is nearing completion what's next on this great awesome project?

 

Thanks James.. What's next is a good question, there are lot's of smaller bit's to do now all the big stuff is out the way!

 

 

And for your viewing pleasure, here's the latest Why Not video..