GWS SPECIAL RT Build

Just to update this blog. I've not given up I'm just having to deal with some other stuff at the moment and will be back at it in the spring with a major re-design and better running gear. Regular updates will resume in the spring!

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.

Take one fuel tank, a hole saw, some scrap from an ambulance conversion, a bit of card and some power tools. Hey presto, more fuel capacity. I drilled the extra holes in the tank while Al spent a fair bit of time with a four inch grinder cutting and shaping the new tank bottom. We are going to tig a stiffener into it and then tig weld it in all the way around. It's now a 31 litre tank instead of a 21 litre tank. We were able to use the space where the airbox would have lived on the bike but we are mounting this lower down and further back than on the bike and maybe even the wrong way round depending on what it all looks like one we get that far along. This is one of those little jobs that need doing and because we have no steel to continue the chassis with it's time to do some bits and bobs while I save up. BEFORE AFTER I'm off to see if minilites will fit my hub and caliper combination tomorrow and to avail myself of a mates shot blast cabinet to tidy the ...

Things have ground to a halt in the chassis department while I get hold of some more steel. I've stripped the fuel tank of all of its fittings and am taking it to a mates house to see if it fits in his shot blast  cabinet. if not it's wire brush time. We are going to use some reclaimed side panels from vans ( Ambulance conversions ) to almost double the capacity. I'm not too great at hopping in and out of low things so don't want to have to fill up too often. As you can see from the picture there's every chance my head will explode before I finish this build. I could be a modern day headless horseman, but in a trike built the wrong way round in some folks opinion.

Alan and I have mocked one seat up and completed the bottom of the drivers side of the chassis, We'll do the other side as soon as I can afford some more steel. I need to get some half inch tube so I can make the mounts up for the seats, the grey stuff in the mock up is paper thin and disappears as you try and weld it! Happily enough I have a bit of scrap lying about that can be turned into brackets and mounting lugs so as soon as the switch arrives for the drill press I'll be back at it. Listing some more stuff to sell and posting a wheel later today, if I don't need it it's getting sold on to keep the parts coming for the project.

The seat has arrived. Now I need to decide if it's easier to use this as a pattern to make another once I've made a few minor modifications to it to suit my shape and size. I fit in it ok and it's comfy but the bulge under the knackers needs sorting and I'm going to make mine a bit longer in the seat area. I may also use a bit of marine ply to extend the back rest and then cover it all in foam and waterproof vinyl. I'm fitting the seat much like they would in a F1 kart, four struts bolted into the seat and then bolted to the chassis. Once the seat is in and adjusted properly I'll be able to work out where the dash bulkhead needs to go. I've got to get two roll over hoops that will mount on the rear bulkhead and fabricate two head rests to be bolted to the front of each hoop. The seatbelt mounts will be welded to the chassis once we have the seats bolted in. I'm using four point kit and I'm sure that they will be more than up to the job. I...

Kart seat ordered to start sorting out seat mounts and working out where the dash, steering wheel and pedals will go. I'm probably going to cast a mould off this and make the other seat myself. Tailoring the seats to do the job instead of having to build the chassis to suit large kit car seats is going to save not just time and money but it'll save about 20 KG overall, not that weight is my primary consideration. Safety first, then road holding and speed as a final consideration. Building it with the possibility of fitting a much more powerful engine later on means I can update things year on year.