Saturday, December 31, 2011

I'm at the "what do I do next?" stage

Have made some real progress with the trike.  Chassis is as done as I can make it until I get the motor located for sure.  I got it off the jig table and it's just on blocks now.  I test mounted the rear shock, have one of the front corners tacked on waiting for shocks.  I got the wheels/tires and mounted one up.  Looks great, works great.  I made the steering rack mounts. 

I do have a couple of final dimensions (no body of course).
Wheelbase: 96"
Track Width: 53"
Overall Length: 121"
Overall Width: 61"
Ground Clearance: 5.25"

But now I'm stuck on what to do next.

I could put the floor in - but I don't want it to get in the way of welding other pieces.
I could put the other front corner on, but I want to make sure I have the suspension geometry finalized before I build the other side.
I could finish up the steering rack, but I want to have suspension done first.
I could work on the steering column, but I need the seat located first. 
I could do the seat but I need the floor.
I could work on the rear swingarm bracing, but I need to get the jackshaft fabbed and located before I know where I have room.
I could get the engine mounted, but I really wanted to wait on that as long as I can to make sure everything else fits.
I could work on the jackshaft but, well, that is the scariest part of the build and I'm still working that one in my head - no epiphany yet.

So I've basically been staring at it for the last hour trying to figure out what to do.  That didn't work so I'm going to get a beer.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Triangles and Packaging

Of course it's never as much progress as you intended/hoped for - but this thing is starting to look a lot more like something you can drive!  The front end is worked out (except the upper shock mounts), figured out what I think is the best way to stiffen it and have been adding metal bit by bit.  Still have a handful more pieces to put in, but I don't want to close it in so much it's hard to get around the bits to weld.  It's getting to that fun (to some oddballs like me) part - packaging.  Figuring out where all the big parts will go and how to mount them without makind dumb looking, obviously afterthought bracketry.  I think I have it mostly worked out - see new the pics and let me know what you think!  Originally I had planned to have the tank in front of the engine but after moving it as far forward as I could it was way too close to the headers for my comfort  - but I think where it is sitting will work out OK.  Can't wait to pull up to a gas station, pop the door in the middle of the hood to put gas in it.

Should have another set of posts in the very near future - have tires and should be getting wheels tomorrow!  The one thing I am struggling with right now is shocks.  I have a pretty straighforward way to mount them, should have plenty of travel with a 4 or 5" shock but I'm just really nervous about spending that kind of coin on something I'm not sure how it is going to work.  There really aren't any shocks out there designed for a 1000lb vehicle - anybody have advice on proper valving and spring rates?

I have got to get a real camera. The quality of these pictures stinks...