MadaboutKitcars

I have been slowly scratch building my electric reverse trike, mainly from scrap. I have managed to source some parts and bits and pieces to get a layout that I am happy with.

I started with this sort of layout.


Then someone suggested I should have a 'honey seat' and so it started to look a little like this.


I am still in two minds as to 1+1 seating or side by side seating.


I picked up an MGB wire wheel front axle and that set the wire wheel theme.


And I was playing about with a BMW K100 gearbox and swing arm with an MGA wire wheel and motor bike tyre.


But it wouldn't be stong enough nor give the right ratios with the 12" motor that I had.


So then decided to try a Honda VFR750 single sided swing arm as I could use a duplex chain.


But the guys machining the shaft of the motor messed it up. It was a favour but a costly one that left the motor as good as scrap.
I then found an 11" motor but it came with 300kg of forklift truck axle.


They soon parted company but it meant the motor didn't have a DE (drive end) cap.


I made an MDF one to test the motor with.


The swing arm was also too long and mounted in the wrong place for the motor so I removed it with a view to making a new one. I also got a bigger wire wheel, 15x6" instead of the 15x41/2".


I had some bits made up that I then modified with a wood router.





It runs well so I took some video.


I picked up a used tyre for the bigger wire wheel, 225 60 15.


The wheel and motor can now sit like this with 600mm centres.


A very nice chap in the USA sent me a pair of 72V Curtis controllers to use. He had finished with them and didn't need them any more.


I wil use one to get the trike running and legal with six lead acid batteries before investing in 144v of LiFeP04 and a bigger controller.

The other controller will go as an upgrade in my scratch built electric tractor that was my 'learning curve'. I can post pictures of this build if anyone is interested.
More video.


I now need to build a chassis but first I need to decide on the seating layout.
99% of the time I will commuting to work solo so the 1+1 layout would be best as it keeps the (my) weight central but make the chassis longer. Side by side keeps SWMBO happier and the chassis shorter but means a lot of weight is on one side 99% of the time.


Anyway, that is where I am up to.
I'd like to make the track wider then the standard MGB but can't find a wider steering rack.
I also want a windscreen but don't know the best way to get one that fits and would be legal.
I am also working to a zero budget using gifts, scrap and whatever I can find, beg or borrow.
Maybe I will have a rolling chassis by the end of summer. Then I can move it out of the basement and assemble it outside on the drive, or leave it inside until next summer.

I admire your ingenuity!

I am at the early stages of building a Pembleton (still stripping the donor - a 2cv) and, being an electrical engineer, I thought about converting it to electric power. But in the end the practicalities of it meant I dismissed that idea and am sticking to petrol power at the moment...

Don't forget if you are to use it on UK roads it will have to pass the MSVA test. You should make sure you have a copy of the VOSA manual before you start building. The MSVA is much less restrictive that the SVA for 4 wheeled vehicles, but still has to be taken into account!

Good luck and please keep the forum up to date on progress.

Robin

Yes, I have a draft copy of the MSVA guidelines to work to initially but most of it is common sense so I can varify the details as I build. I will get hold of the proper book soonish.

It is a bit of a mad build as I am aiming to keep it under 350kg plus batteries but the motor alone is 110kg! I could use a much, much smaller motor but we all want bigger power plants!

The wire wheels weigh a bit too so I am doing to have to keep the chassis weight really low.
Any thoughs about MSVA restrictions on a laminated wood veneer body shell?

I am also thinking about the side by side seating but having the steering column moveable sideways, in the same way as height adjustment but keeping the wheel angle the same, and then being able to sit on the right when there is two of us or in the middle when solo. I would have to move the seat belt, 4 point harness, to different mounts.
Mounting a mini digital dash on the column would make sure all the instruments and switches move with the steeringh column.

I saw a Seven lookalike once built by a boatbuilder. The hull (sorry body) was made from wood using cold moulding (laminating). It looked amazing. That was over 10 years ago but I guess it must have been through the SVA. (In those days I was building boats not cars as a hobby...)

Robin

Not done much recently, been ill, brain scanned, checked for a stroke and signed off sick for the foreseeable future.

Anyway, I have been working very slowly, on days where I am fit enough, and made a small amount of progress.

I did some work to the motor to make it foot mounted. It will cantilever off the back of the chassis between the swing arm pivots so the foot will be sideways. As the motor will be visible I wanted it to look good so, as pictures tell a thousand words and typing is not easy anymore...

The nuts are M16x1.5 Land Rover wheel nuts tack welded into place.







As the nuts look ugly and protrude from the foot I covered them.






All the welds have been ground smooth so only a wipe of filler will be needed to get a smooth look.
The motor is currently with a friend who will spray it metalic red. I took advantage of him doing another spraying job for me to use the same paint colour.

I made a chain guard, from the steel from the back of an old tumble dryer, for my partner's vintage Raleigh Jeep bike and it will be sprayed to match the mudguards.

I also got on with the rear suspension swing arm.

A housing to take the Honda VFR750 rear hub.



Building up the swing arm.







I then worked on the brake fitting.

I also needed a parking brake.





To allow the swing arm to swing I am going to use a pair of M20 high perfermance rose joints.
To fit them I turned a couple of plugs to fit some 50x3mm tube which will form the two sides of the swing arm.
They were drilled to 18mm and tapped to M20x1.5mm.



I then welded the plugs to each end of the tube for cutting to length later.



As with the motor all welds on the swing arm will be ground smooth.


The swing arm will have a single leaf spring under the motor reaching out to the hub and directly under the arm itself so it will be mostly out of sight. To keep the clean open look I will use a lever arm damper mounted in, or just under, the luggage box over the motor and operated by a descrete push rod. That way the rear body work will float above the motor, swing arm and wheel with only a thin push rod between the two and no obvious suspension.

I also picked up a Ford Escort mk1/2 steering rack. It is 140mm wider then the MGB rack and so I can make the front track correspondingly wider. That will help stability and I will be able fit the battery pack better between the chassis rails.

Great work.

I hope you're feeling better soon - sounds scary.... But at least when you're feeling up to it, you'll be doing something you enjoy. Always the best medicine, that.

Cheers, I have good days and bad ones but I am staying positive and making the best of the good days. Today I feel almost completly well again compared to yesterday which was spent partly on crutches.

I see the bits of car building in the workshop as therapy to keep my mind and body functioning and to not lose the dexterity too much.

Woodsmith, I'm one of the Sammio builders now got a dickie ticker and off work, good and bad days to, slowed up progress but getting there. Nice welding all your own work?........Pat (Skippy)

Hi Patton, Cheers, I've had about three good weeks were I almost felt back to normal but then had another bad turn yesterday. I am working on the basis that the good days out number the bad at the moment so can't complain.

I do all my own welding and have both mig and stick welders to hand. Unfortunately I used a lot of gas doing a bit of welding about 5 months ago for a chap who hasn't paid and is out of touch. Now I am both nearly out of gas and out of pocket.

Still working slowly on the project though but also been rebuilding my electric tractor as a bit of therapy as that project doesn't need much money nor as much fine work.

A friend was supposed to do some work on my motor casing to clean and smooth out the welds and then spray in candy apple red on metallic gold.
Unfortunately he has had a 'domestic' issue and I have been asked to collect my parts unfinished.

Hopefully he will get sorted and can do the spraying but in the meantime I have got on with sculpting the motor barrel. Careful use of files, abrasives and a bit of Isopon P38 over a couple of days got the welds nicely clean and tidy and with the profiles that I wanted.



A brushed coat of red oxide primer went on this evening to fill any small pin holes and allow me to sand down to highlight any defects.



It will need a few days to fully cure before wet sanding.

The barrel has a weld seem on it too, it has been ground down in manufacture but it has left a ripple on a visible surface so I will file that down next and make it a smoother cylinder.

At least now I have the motor back I can set it all up and get the swing arm dimensions right before I finish making that.

As an aside, has any one got an MGB front right hand splined hub knocking about they don't need?

Great Work, Woodsmith

I can see its been a while since your last post, hope you are doing ok?
GaryH

Cheers Gary.

I have been on and off coping with the changes to life. Since my last post I haven't been able to do anything constructive and have just spent the time adjusting life to suit my circumstances.

I have mainly been cycling to keep a level of fitness and have just been accepted onto an Arts on Prescription project to try and regain some of my creativity and dexterity again.

I have, though, just started to put some ideas down on paper for the chassis build to work out a ball park on the materials required. Can't buy any though as benefits don't cover the bills never mind projects.

On the good days I wish I was able to do some paid work but as I am on sickness benefit I am not allowed. I am finding that if I am active on the good days it wears me out for a week or so, so I guess working isn't really a good idea anyway.

The overall shape of the chassis is coming together though and so I may one day be able to start working on it again. I might make a 1/5 scale model though.

Keep up the good work

when you can, at least you're trying to keep active! How about some Tai Chi, I would imagine that to be quite a helpful activity to do?
Question. The supports for your motor, how did you cut that sweeping arc that the motor sits in? do you use a plasma cutter? Other wise it seems like a lot of grinding and filing.
Gary

I do sometimes do some Tai Chi type moves and a bit of meditation as well as stretching. Still able to do the splits without a warm up.

To cut the curve I used a 4 1/2" angle grinder canted over so it swept around the curve, American Chopper style. I then used a worn down grinding disc and then a flap disc to take it back to the line and to fine tune them to fit square and even

It wasn't a lot of work, given I cut everything for my scratch built electric tractor with a single hacksaw blade!

Love this thread, some great work going on, very inspiring.

John

If I can get some spare cash I might be able to do some more on this build.

A change of meds (I forgot to take them and so haven't had any for a couple of weeks ) has lead to me feeling a whole lot better so I am wanting to get on with something now.

Any thoughts on chassis material?

50x50x3mm square section steel? Is this too thick?
25x25x2mm square section steel? Is this too thin?

I was thinking of either a ladder chassis with some uprights using the 50x50mm or a full space frame using the 25x25mm.

50x50

Its still a heavy motor, plus you! I think you would end up using as much steel to stop it from flexing?

But would a space frame of 50x50x3 be overkill?

I don't think I can keep the weight below 600kg at this rate.

Space frame

just the main rails?

To be correct for bridging strength between front and rear axles I would have the 50x50 at the top of the frame and 25x25 underneath in tension.

Don't suppose that would be so good for the dynamic loads

I could do a 50x50 ladder chassis and then use 25x25 over the top to create a space frame with lots of diagonal bracing. With only three wheels I am not sure that there will be much in the way of chassis twist from end to end. It will still need to be stiff front to back though as there is 110kg motor, 160kg batteries and 150kg of driver and passenger.

It will be sort of sevenesque in proportion with the main complication of the big motor canterlevered off the back of the cockpit and the swing arm pivoting from the same place.

Hybrid

Have you considered a hybrid with the electric motor driving the front wheels, and something like a V-twin driving your rear wheel? Not sure if this violates your paradigm too awfully bad, but it may offer options for the rear that have not been previously considered...

Interesting thought but I want this vehicle is to be a plug in electric. Also I already have ICE transport to use. A nice big V twin, Harley or MotoGuzi, would make the trike so much easier to design and make work though.

I had thought about a V twin but in the form of two small motors geared together in a V form but then a huge 11" motor came along instead.

I have also thought about front wheel drive and three wheel drive but the current package keeps all the drive train on one small space leaving the battery pack over the front axle and the 'transmission' between the two in the form of flexible cables.

Currently the rear assembly is pretty much designed and I just need to make it an integral part of the rest of the vehicle chassis and then add a widened MGB front suspension.