Putting the 83 Big Red back together... Finally!

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This is going to be a continuation of the following thread:
http://www.3wheelerworld.com/showthread.php/161425-Let-the-rebuilding-begin!

This is something that I've been trying to get to, all winter, but I've had way too many things going on.

I have applied POR-15 to my chassis components. I finally got some chassis coat. I'm going to apply that, today.

Here's my list of objectives, for the month of April: (not necessarily in order)
- Install new wheel bearing and steering stem bearings (ordered and impatiently awaiting their arrival)
- Install new brake pads (front & rear)
- Clean up my rims, apply POR-15 and chassis coat.
- New tires

For the time being, I'm just going to use the engine from the Big Red. While I'm running that, I'm going to rebuild the engine from my parts trike (84 ATC200M).

By the end of this month, I should be able to cheat death, once again, with my 3 wheeled death trap. LOL!

I'll post pics, as I proceed.

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These are the frame components with the POR-15 applied.

I applied the chassis coat. I'll post pics... hopefully, tomorrow.

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I got the second coat of "Chassis Coat" on the frame, fork, and rear end casing. I forgot my camera, at home, so I can't post pics, today. It really doesn't look much different than the pics in my previous post.

I also took my rims, rim rings, foot pegs, trailer hitch, and rear rack to the body shop. They're going to sandblast those things for me. Each of those things is going to get the POR-15 treatment, as well.

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These are a few pictures of my current progress.

The second coat of Chassis Coat has been applied. The lighting wasn't working with me, for the frame pictures, so I'll have to take a few more.
The cleaned up the front hub and installed the wheel bearings.
I cleaned up the rear axle and rear hubs.

In the meantime, I ordered new brake pads (front & rear), a twist grip throttle kit, a drive chain tensioner bolt, and a new front tire. I'm going to try to seal my rear tires with some slime. They have decent treads, yet. It'll also allow me to lighten the cost of this project.

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Here's a few more picture from Big Red's resurrection ritual.

I have installed the front wheel bearings and seals.

I got the rear wheel bearings started. I need to get a driver to finish installing them.

I put the shocks back into the fork.

I have a few things on order:
- twist throttle kit
- drive chain tensioner bolt
- more POR-15
- front and rear brake pads
- new front tire

I was going to order 3 new tires, but I deciced to settle for 1, for now. I'm going to try some slime in my rear tires because the treads are decent.

I'm basically on standby, until those items arrive.

[atc007]

This is awesome to watch.. Good luck with that devilish twist throttle!

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@ atc007: Thanks. I still have the thumb throttle components, just in case. I'll have to share my thoughts on the twist throttle, after I roam the dusty trails.

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3-Wheeled Death Machine Update: Thursday April 17, 2014 1900hrs CDT

My parts have been sandblasted, and I've brought them back to the compound.

In the pictures, I have, 1 new tire, 2 foot pegs, 4 rims, 8 rim rings, rear rack, and trailer hitch.

Tomorrow, I'm going to celebrate by breaking open a six-pack... of POR-15, of course.

After about about a week, I'll apply Chassis Coat to everything.

After the chassis coat cures, I'll mount my new front tire.

After all that, I can finally start putting my WMD (Wheeled Machine of Death) back together.
One of these days, I need to get a huge plot of land, so I get a stockpile of “WMDs” going.

I almost forgot to mention that every box comes with free targets.

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3-Wheeled Death Machine Update: Saturday April 19, 2014 1900hrs CDT

I applied POR-15 to my 4 rims, 8 rim rings, foot pegs, trailer hitch, and rear rack.
This wasn't a pint-sized job, either. I had to use 2 pints of POR-15. I'm going to let that cure, for about a week. After that, I'll be applying Chassis Coat to it.

While I was playing in the POR-15, my trike marked me... for death. What else would a deadly machine, such as that, mark me for?

Upon further inspection, I noticed that my fork was wobbly. It turns out that I forgot to put the top race cone in. I'm glad it's only the top because that will be easy to fix. After looking through my parts, I can't find it, so I'll probably have to order one.

I still haven't gotten around to driving my rear wheel bearing the rest of the way, but I'm hoping to get that done sometime this week.

[zoomerman]

looking good. Looks like a back in black theme

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I suppose I should start referring to this trike as the Shadow of Death.

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Then I'll never have to merely walk through the valley of the shadow of death. I'll tame tame the shadow of death, itself. I'll ride it too!

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Update: Monday April 21, 2014

I finished driving the rear wheel bearings in. I installed new brake pads and put the rear end back together. I bolted the rear end to the frame. The rear tires are almost ready to go. I just need to figure which one doesn't hold air, so I can seal it with a bottle of slime.

The front hub has been installed. There's new brake pads on that, too. The tire in the pictures is not the one I'm going to be running. I just put that one so the trike doesn't have to sit on blocks.

I couldn't find that top race for my steering stem. I was about to buy a roller bearing upgrade kit when I remembered that I still had the bent fork from my Big Red. It turns out that the bottom cone race was still there and intact. I was able to get it off, and I used that as my top cone race. I'm just glad I didn't make my run to the scrap yard, yet.

The air box is mounted. I put the engine back in. The drive chain has also been reinstalled and adjusted.

In regards to the pictures of my gas tank, I bought that about a year ago from Covers4Gear. It was the cheapest plastic tank I could find. For the $105 I paid for it, I'm pretty impressed. It feels very sturdy.

In order to install it, I had to cut the dust cover off my air intake, but that hasn't caused me any problems.

The only big issue I had was that putting the gas cap back on was a hassle. I shredded one cap, in the process. The company sent me a new cap, free of charge. It turns out the cap wasn't the problem.

The picture doesn't show it well, but used a knife to shave the corners of the fill hole; making a forcing cone to guid the gas cap into place. It worked really well. I haven't had any more shredded caps, and I haven't had to deal with any more splashing gas.

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3-Wheeled Death Machine (aka Doomsday Trike) (aka Shadow of Death) UPDATE: Wednesday April 23, 2014

My footpegs, rims, rim rings, and rear rack have been bathed in their first coat of Chassis Coat. Tomorrow, if it's not raining, they'll be getting a second coat in the morning. I should be able to get that front tire installed the middle of next week. Once that happens, I'll be able to ride so fast, the when I get hit with twigs and pebbles, it will hurt. Protecting the children from these deadly devices isn't easy, but somebody's got to do it.

I have installed the brake linkages. I left the rear hand brake linkages out because I only use the foot brake. After I get my foot pegs back on, I'll have to fine tune the adjustments.

I installed the twist throttle kit, today. I can't wait to try it out. Installation was very easy. That was approximately a 10 minute job. It seems to work well. I'll have to post some more of my thoughts after I get out on the trails.

After I installed that twist throttle, I learned that I couldn't use. I'm not a trained technician, so I can't ride this trike anymore. I'm joking, of course. LOL!

I cleaned the carburetor and reinstalled it. I'll be cleaning my air filter, tomorrow.

I have the wiring harness hooked back up. I still have to tie downs in place.

After playing with the carburetor, for a while, I was able to ressussicate it. That was the most beautiful sound that I've heard all year. I would have took it for a ride, but I'm not finished painting my foot pegs. I almost cried.

For my gas cap vent, I used a 90 degree, rubber elbow. The idea there was to keep the vent tube out of the way. I'll have ride for a while to make sure it does't have any problems.

That red plastic, that my gas tank is made of, isn't going to work with my intended uses for the trike. For that, I have some OD green paint. My foot pegs, rims, rim rings, trailer hitch, and rear rack will be getting a coat of OD green, as well.

By Wednesday April 30, I should be ready to go risk my life, once again. It's a hard life, but somebody's got to do it.


UPDATE: Thursday April 24, 2014

I applied the second coat of Chassis coat to my foot pegs, rim rings, and 1 of my rims. The weather wasn't working with me, so I still have to get the second coat on my rear rack and my 3 other rims.

UPDATE: Friday April 25, 2014

It's might be able to apply the second coat of Chassis Coat to the remainder of my components, by this evening. I'm planning to mount my new front tire, on Sunday afternoon.

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Update, I'll have to put picture on my next post. That will probably be on Tuesday.

The rear rack has been installed. I took it for a short ride. It seems to be running well. It isn't pulling to one side or the other, so that's good.

This week, I'm going to be building some improvised rear fenders for my baby. There's not much left to the original plastics, but I want to try some customized ideas, anyway. It might not be the prettiest thing I build, but it will be functional. I have some plywood left over, from a different project, so I'll be using that to build my fender prototypes. I'll be sure to get take pictures of that part of the project.

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I have to apologize. Getting these pictures posted took me a lot longer than expected. After receiving weeks of steady rain, I think it finally stopped.

Anyway, I'm getting a lot closer to being able to cheat death, once again.

I finally got around to making some improvised rear fenders for the three-wheeled contraption of death.

In Wisconsin, I can't exceed 50 inches in width. Currently, my improvised fenders/rack measure in at 48 1/16 inches. I figured that it would be wise to give myself a little wiggle room. I don't trust the government's tape measures, after all.

I have everything cut. I'm in the process of painting the metal and the wood.

I'll be putting my new front tire on, tomorrow.

The last thing that I'll have to do is to put lights on it. The lighting system on the trike is shot, so I'm just mount a couple of battery powered lights to it. The regulations just say that it has to have lights. It doesn't specify type.

I'm going mount a couple of bicycle lights to the rear corners of the rack.

I'll probably mount a couple of LED flashlights to the front corners of my rear rack. I'll put one on the handlebars, too.

After that, I'll be able to go and ride so fast, that when the wind and twigs hit my face, it will hurt.

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I finally got my rear rack/fenders painted. I was able to get the new front tire on.

My left rear tire still loses a little bit of air, but the slime has slowed the leak down. It's managable now.

Now, all I have left to do is conjure up some lights. I'll be mounting 3 headlights on it. One of them will be going on the handlebars. The other two will be fastened to the front corners of my rear rack. Those will act as clearence lights.

I'm still working on an improvisation technique to get a couple of red lights mounted on the rear corners of my rack. I'm going to look for some transparent red saran wrap. I'll keep you posted on the finishing touches.

This project has been really fun.