Hinges and Africa

After our team won in the soccer match. Football as they call in the rest of the world.

Here is the new ball we traded them.  I set the old ball down and a young boy from the village found it.  He was afraid I was going to take it back.  Such a small thing brings so much joy.  Playing soccer with these school children was one of the highlights of the trip to Kenya.

This was the ball the school children were playing with.

We played ring around the roses with these school children.  This was after we visited a Yehu meeting.  Excellent day in Kenya.

So I have not made a post for a while:  My wife and I were blessed to go to Africa and do some humanitarian work.  Above is the picture of the employee's of Coast Coconut Farms.  We did some Lean Training with the employee's and the Managers.  It was such a great experience.  They are Awesome people.  Thanks So much!

 

So I ordered some hinges and they are heavier than the trunk lid.  So I am attempting to fabricate something similar out of foam and fiberglass.  If it does not work then I will attach the steel to the fiberglass body...

Trunk Progress

You can see the tabs which will hold the trunk.  I will add them all the way around.  Then we need to mount the trunk hinges.

Rolling It out of the Garage

 Check it out.  I rolled it out of the garage using hydraulic jacks in the front.  I need a couple of wheels and coil over shock mounts and then I can roll it in and out as I continue the project

Passenger side:  We are going to make a door on this side. 

Trunk Lid

Trunk lid:  We had to cut the outer skin and then sand down the foam.  Then the foam had to be sanded to make a smooth transition from the outer skin and the inner skin.  Cotton filler was used to fill in the voids and then the fiberglass was added.  Super strong.  Next will work on the trunk portion.

Cuttin out the Trunk:

Jared helped me cut out the trunk!  He did a super job.  The teeth were gone on the saw blade.

 Right view:  Nice big trunk.  Easily fit a couple of duffel bags and a tent. Maybe even a Coleman stove.

Here is the trunk closed:

Car Tire replacement for motorcycle tire

Car Tire for Motorcycle Wheel
I would like to thank Karl at http://www.theroadscholar.net/ for giving me the information for a car tire replacement!  Quote "However, one person recently found that he could fit a 195/40-17 tire
directly onto his 5.5" wide stock BMW rear rim and have it clear his
swing-arm on the same bike.  He is running a sidecar."

Engine Mount:

Engine mount.  I used the rear part of the frame from the motorcycle (which has the VIN # on it).  I will weld on some additional cross support from a-arm to a-arm and then we can start wiring.  I have to cut some additional material from the body and fit it again and then mount the body to the frame.  It is coming along fine.

Body Fit and Engine Placement

 Body placement:  The body was a tight fit.  I will have to remove some additional body so that it fits better.  This will also allow for more clearance between the rear tire and the wheel well.  Very close from paper to fabrication. 

 Rear fender placement.  I am going to add some additional mounts to the frame and rear swing arm box.

Engine placement:  The K1200RS engine is huge!  I will fabricate the engine mounts next and also the rack and pinion steering.

Frame

 Spot welding the frame together.   It is good when a plan comes together!

Body support mounting points.  I will hopefully get some time to flip the frame and finish welding this week and then look at mounting the rack and pinion and then the engine and rear end. 

Fabrication of Frame

 Front a-arm suspension fabrication.  More to come.

 I finally got my all my sheet metal parts and I have been welding all day.  I am just positioning all of the pieces and will come back and weld them later.

  

Had a friend weld on an aluminum plate to support the open aluminum bike frame.

Cut out the fiberglass so the motorcycle frame portion has a spot to go.

 

Headlight Mold

Headlight positive mold.  Now we will get it all smoothed out and shaped correctly and then we will make the negative shape mold which will become the mold we use to make the headlight half molds.

Headlight +Mold Shape

 

The rough headlight shape in foam.  This will be cut in half and then finish sanded, then fiberglass over the shape...  After the layup is done the foam will be removed.  Then the fiberglass mold will be prepared using micro and fine sandpaper.  This will become the negative mold for many sets of the headlight housing.  The headlight will be 5 3/4" round.  Fun Fun Fun!

Rear Wheel and Swing Arm

I have decided to use the BMW rear swing arm I am going to cut the frame just above the shock mount.  This will eliminate me having to fab another shock mount.  I will fab a 10 bolt connection on both sides of the frame to the sub-frame that will connect the rear suspension to the front suspension. 

Cabin Area and Wheel Well

 View of the body on end.  This is so I could do the layup around the edge.

 View of the cabin area where the seats will mount to the floor.

 Close up of the 3rd bulkhead.  No blue foam should be showing anywhere.  This area will be glassed in next.  You can see the 2nd bulkhead in the shadow.  I  added a foam piece around that I am sanding down to a smooth radius. 

This is the rear wheel well.  I also did a layup at the top of the wheel well and a layup where it transitions to the floor.  The foam showing will be an area where a cut out will be made for the rear swing arm coil over suspension.

Morgan Motor Company anounces the return of the 3 wheeler for 2011

Hood layup:

Layup done on the outside of the middle section of the hood.  I will flip it over and cover the other side.  I will not remove this like I did the trunk.

Before and After of beetle back trunk area:

The next step will be to cut out the trunk opening and add hinges and a latch.

Before layup right and left side of beetle back.

Beetle Back layup done

 This is after the layup.  It does not look pretty but it went well.  The foam is thinner than the original .400".  I look forward to making the access panel.

The picture above shows the make shift support to hold the shape.  It is not pretty but it worked good enough.