Mister Towed's Tai Chi build - Page 20

Mister Towed · #**381** 27th April 2012, 14:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by mulberry

wots all the fuss about ive had it few to many times, a used cold tea bag over the eye works wonders,and get back out with your build MAN

only joking yep its painfull but try the tea bag..

Because I'm squinting through sunglasses in a darkened room I misread this as use a boiled tea bag.

My lawyer will be in touch...

mulberry · #**382** 27th April 2012, 17:42

hope you feel better soon. was it pg tips ??

andrewhush · #**383** 27th April 2012, 19:29

Sounds like you have got something in your eye. Arc eye is caused by UV not the brightness of the arc which just dazzles. Even clear glass will prevent arc eye. Carry on using the darkness setting that lets you see what you are doing when welding. I recently completed a welding course at the local college and used an automatic darkening visor which made welding so much easier to use than an ordinary one.

Mister Towed · #**384** 27th April 2012, 20:19

Just got a message from my father in law who was a stainless steel fabricator for Burtons Bisuits (before buying a hotel). He says it's definitely arc eye. Because of the awkward posture I was having to adopt to weld extra bits into the frame the flash got under the 'chin' of the helmet a couple of times and that's all it takes to knock you sick.

Lesson learned I feel.

Mister Towed · #**385** 28th April 2012, 08:36

For those of you who suffered a sleepless night worrying about my eye injury (yeah, right!) stand down, stand down. It's 99% better this morning, just a little bloodshot.

Symptoms were like suffering the world's worst hangover while being poked in the eye with a chilli coated toothpick.

Will be a lot more careful not to let the flash get under the visor in future methinks.

froggyman · #**386** 28th April 2012, 11:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mister Towed

For those of you who suffered a sleepless night worrying about my eye injury (yeah, right!) stand down, stand down. It's 99% better this morning, just a little bloodshot.

Symptoms were like suffering the world's worst hangover while being poked in the eye with a chilli coated toothpick.

Will be a lot more careful not to let the flash get under the visor in future methinks.

Glad to hear your feelin better today. I am of to bed now then!!!!!

Mister Towed · #**387** 29th April 2012, 16:46

Now I can see the same through both eyes I've spent the day working on my handbrake mechanism. The original idea seemed simple enough: couple of rods and levers knocked together in the morning; weld up the bits that need it; lick of paint in the afternoon; final assembly and a working handbrake tomorrow.

Reality is that I've now put three full days into this bit of the car and I'm still a couple of days away from finishing the first mock up and I've no idea if it's going to work yet. I'll take some pic's of the progress so far after dinner this evening and let you guys be the judge...

Mister Towed · #**388** 29th April 2012, 18:31

OK, here goes:

The original Triumph compensator is attached to the underside of this cross bar but it's free to swivel.

One end of the cross bar is fixed to a pivot point and the other to a jointed lever on an upright shaft made from a length of threaded bar. A longer lever is also attached to the shaft which will connect to a linkage running along the gap between the inside of the body of the car and the inside of the interior panelling. Somehow...

The umbrella handle handbrake (from an Austin A50 van) is attached to the frame and front bulkhead with home made brackets and the cable runs over a washing line roller, taking it downwards without placing undue strain on it.

The end of the cable will be attached to a swivel on a lever attached to a cross-shaft (still making those). As the cable pulls the lever up it will pull another lever on the other end of the cross-shaft forwards. This will be attached to the linkage running to the rear of the car, transferring the motion to the lever on the upright shaft at the back, turning it and pulling the cross bar forwards which pushes the compensator forwards tensioning the handbrake cable.

Simple, huh?

tlrtone · #**389** 29th April 2012, 20:18

Wow, a bit like one of them krypton factor tests where you have to get all the pieces in place to make it work! Of course you only get 3 minutes on the show.....

One question, if the cable breaks (which it will at some point!), how will you get it down between the body and panelling which will be fibreglassed in? you will need some access, or it might be worth putting in a guide tube with a spare draw-string already in place for such occurences!
Also consider where the adjustments points will be and the wear points, that may need adjusting out in due course!

Very courageous though Mr T, I am sure it will look and work great in the end!

(there is always the standard handbrake you can fall back to if all else fails!)

Mister Towed · #**390** 29th April 2012, 20:32

Ah yes, I've had trouble with a custom cable installation failing and being a pain to replace once before when I converted a semi-auto beetle to a manual gearbox. On that occasion the weak point was a bend in the clutch cable that ran from front to back, pretty much the full length of the car.

For that reason, the only cable I'm using is the original Austin one that's about eighteen inches long and will be easily replaced if (when?) it fails. The rest of the mechanism is levers and rods with swivels and pivots welded in where necessary. Adjustment will be built into the mechanism in the driver's footwell and fine adjustment can be achieved by slackening or tightening the cable between the back wheels as with the standard set-up.

And, like you say, I can always go back to a conventional handbrake if I can't make this work.

Mister Towed · #**391** 30th April 2012, 18:10

Build a better mouse trap...

Just the small matter of connecting one end t't t'other now.

The 1958 Rocker · #**392** 30th April 2012, 19:15

I am so impressed! How did you manage to weld that bracket to the fibre glass?

Only joking, looks good.

froggyman · #**393** 1st May 2012, 00:14

Patent applied for then!!!

Mister Towed · #**394** 1st May 2012, 07:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by froggyman

Patent applied for then!!!

No way! If this gets before the U.S. patents office I'll find myself being extradited to Guantanamo Bay for some 'extraordinary rendition' on charges of manufacturing Iranian nuclear missile components.

Mister Towed · #**395** 1st May 2012, 16:59

Do you know what it is yet?

Another day spent fettling and fabricating my handbrake mechanism. Hoping to have it working by close of play tomorrow.

It may have taken me a week but this is what Sammio ownership is all about for me - resurrecting unused mechanical/engineering skills before I lose them. I'm also hoping to end up with something unique that I can look at and say 'I did that.'

AndyP57 · #**396** 1st May 2012, 17:07

Absolutely right MT

That's why I'm into it too. After wielding a spanner from the age of 15 as a boy entrant in the RAF, through several other engineering jobs for over 30 years and now finding myself driving a desk, this is a fabulous release for me and somehow I feel 'younger' (Though probably look older)

garyh · #**397** 1st May 2012, 20:22

Well done Wallis... i mean T. Can you do a video of it working, it all looks very clever. Must have been great fun putting it all together. Sometimes you just have to get on with the bit you know, then other bits fall into place.

froggyman · #**398** 2nd May 2012, 07:57

If you forward the video to Honda they might and use it as a TV ad!!!!!!!!!!!

Mister Towed · #**399** 2nd May 2012, 18:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by froggyman

If you forward the video to Honda they might and use it as a TV ad!!!!!!!!!!!

Sadly I doubt Honda would be interested. They like things that just work apparently.

This morning I connected up all the rods and linkages, took up the slack in the cables, pulled the handbrake and everything operated as expected.

Everything except the back brakes.

Despite having made sure the final ratio was the same as a conventional handbrake at about 8:1, it quickly became obvious that the mechanism was never going to exert enough force on the rear brake cable to activate the brakes to a standard that would pass the MOT.

Sometimes you have to admit defeat and move on, so iit was back to the drawing board and 'plan B' is now in full swing.

Voila, a rather more conventional handbrake mechanism is now being modified to fit.

These things are sent to try us...

tlrtone · #**400** 2nd May 2012, 19:58

never mind Mr T. plenty more things in the build you can flex your engineering mind on.....