GWS SPECIAL RT Build

On Friday the 11 October  at about 1pm my mate Alan had a stroke in the garage while we were working on the trike. Happily I realised what was going on and got him an ambulance immediatly. Just over a week since his stroke Al is making a good recovery and has already been able to walk a short distance so I'm hopeful he makes a full recovery. It's a bit crap without his company in the shed but I've muddled on all the same. As ever the lack of money has slowed me down, I'm waiting for some more 2x2 box to finish off the passenger side rails but I've managed to start in on the seat mountings, the tunnel for the gear shift lever and handbrake and the top dash rail. I've got all the wheels now too, I'll sort some pictures of those next time I venture into the shed. My mate Mick who sorted the box section out also delivered what his works deems as scrap. About 30kg of decent enough bits and bobs for engine and swing arm mounts, setbelt mounting points ...

Getting the rest of the steel later this month and then the chassis will be finished. Having a bit of bother with the engine though. Still not had time to turn it over and 3 screws I need to remove to expose the crank end have got  bloody  mashed screw heads.  The front of the chassis is going to have 1" box mounted on plates bolted to the front of the tub. This part will hold the lights and such. The bodywork as far back as the dash will flip forward on hinges for servicing and maintenance. The same at the back with the engine cover. The sides of the tub will have whatever we decide to use permanently riveted to the chassis. Powder coat or paint? That is the question!

Time it seems can be affected by the correct application of power tools. Since we took delivery of a chopsaw on a loan the chassis has sprouted all sorts of new bits and bobs. 2x2 box used to take four passes with a slitting disc on the 4" grinder......... not any more, we are taking less than a third of the time to get stuff cut and into the chassis now. The rear of the tub, it still needs the passenger side doing but it's starting to take shape. The view from the rear of the welders rear and the back of the footpedal top rail. The front with the suspension mount bulkheads tacked in place. Lots of welding to do now, Aliens going to be busy for a few days. Progress but now we are getting into the final bit of the heavy work and getting closer to doing the complicated stuff it's bound to slow down a bit. More as it transpires!

I have a bit more steel, a big jar of decaff and roll ups! It's time to get back in the shed, been a tough few weeks health wise but if I hang about waiting to feel better I may be long dead before this gets done. We have borrowed a chop saw so we can keep the cuts tidier and get them done in half the time. Hopefully Alien and I can get a bit done this week and get it further on. See how far we get with the bit of steel we've been able to get sorted out. I did manage to get a fairly decent set of  Ford rims for the front that will look the part once tidied up and painted.