"kindalikeawhizzer"

Nice to be thinking about the Sociable and to keep it in mind with some of the choices to be made on the bike long before the sidecar is ever built. One thing I'm going to check out is a different suspension fork. I have one from a light Harley Davidson motorcycle that I'll check out. It has a wheel on it with a nice, big drum brake that would give a lot more stopping power than the moped hub I have on the front wheel right now. I could use that setup with another old Schwinn rim and 11 gauge spokes. With a heavier machine now that it will have the Tecumseh and more power, better brakes are in order. The present front wheel could become the third wheel on the sociable. We'll see.

But back to more immediate concerns... CB2, thanks for your input on the flywheel. No, I don't want a broken arm, so no aluminum flywheel. Yes, I had been thinking that heavy flywheel would make for a smooth running engine. Good to know I can knock some of the fin material off with a hammer. I suspect that my most used tool will be the side grinder. With it I can use cut off wheels, grinding wheels and for more final dressing a flap disc. I can see that some of the fin material at the lowest part along the outer edge will need to stay put. Of most concern is having a smooth flywheel where it might come into contact with my leg or catch onto clothing. Cosmetics comes second. An hour here and an hour there and eventually it will get done. Thanks for the tip.
SB

http://gokartsusa.com/Gokart_Torque_Converter_Compatible_.aspx

This is the torque converter I'm using as a transmission. One adaptation I have to make is to remove the final drive sprocket and replace it with a pulley.

Engine in frame photos coming up...
SB

It fits, but sure does fill up the frame. As it is the spark plug goes between the two lower cross bars. It can be changed without removing the engine. Drain plug will need to be switched to the opposite side. The engine is just sitting in place and not really mounted.

Removal of the flywheel fins is underway...
SB

Yes, I have already discovered what a mess it makes. But it will be worth it.
SB

mason_man,
Thanks for the thumbs-up!
SB

Today I'll continue working on the engine mounts. I had also figured on finding the shortest spark plug available. Every little bit helps. Interesting how often on a motored bike that just a wee bit of wiggle room can make all the difference. My guys at NAPA will help. I think they find the old long hair with the motored bicycles amusing... always needing something or other.

I've decided to do the fin removal outside rather than on the indoor work bench. It certainly is messy, so I'll do that on the outside picnic table after clearing a work-space in the snow on a nice sunny day. That flywheel is never going to look good. With the deep fins and need to leave some of it untouched it is not going to look anything like msrfan's Briggs & Stratton flywheels. Last evening I decided that once I have the fins shaved down some I'll smooth over the look with a bit of camouflage... something like a hubcap covering over the lug nuts on an automotive wheel.

Some sort of shallow bowl of the right diameter would work, maybe in stainless steel. I measured and figured that 7" diameter by about 3"deep would work. Did some looking on ebay for something made of copper and anything of the right dimension was beyond my meager budget so I figured I'll make do. Looked around in my little kitchen at stainless mixing bowls and then the lightbulb in me brain flickered to life... the frying pan! Stainless steel with a copper bottom! Remove the handle and... yes, it is 7" in diameter and 2 3/4" deep!!! (The light bulb in me brain gets brighter yet!) I hold it up against the engine and can see how THIS IS IT... What would have been an ugly eyesore will be a bit of beauty instead. And the price is right as I got that little pan at a yard sale for a couple of bucks. As they used to say in the old days, "now you're cookin' with gas".

I cleaned the pan a bit with super fine steel wool and it is going to be elegant. Drill a hole in the center for the crankshaft and woohoo! I'll be back for show and tell later. Finish the engine mounts and then make the flywheel cover. Take pictures and post... I do love show and tell!
SB

fasteddy,
Thanks for reminding me that it was on your way back from the east coast that you stopped by summer camp for the first time. And it was over the course of the following winter that you made up the connecting bits for the sidecar frame and the summer following that where the sidecar frame was fabbed up.

I, too, have been remembering, however inaccurately. Fun times. Let us hope that our good fortune continues and there will be another year of summer camp for making sparks and riding around. How's that knee healing up? Any progress on your tri-car?
SB

I never liked show and tell in elementary school. Standing up in front of a classroom with a deer antler or bear claws or something or other with all those Iowa farm kids staring at me like I was from another planet was misery. But that was then and this is now.

Today for show and tell there are a few different things. First off is the engine mounts. There will be one on the front down tube and one on the seat post. A third is more like a brace and is higher up on the front down tube and will secure the engine at the forward three head bolts. The lower mounts utilize aluminum CB antennae mast mounts purchased on ebay to make mounts for a jackshaft I was going to use with the Jacobsen 2 stroke. Along with a piece of angle iron cut from a dump find bed rail, they are now my Tecumseh engine mounts.

The first one is in place and will work well, I think. I made the part which the engine will bolt through extra wide and once the engine is where it will be forevermore then I'll cut away the excess.

The upper brace is just a section of the bed rail angle iron with a U bolt securing it to the down tube. Holes for the head bolts will be drilled later on when engine placement is final.

The mount at the seat post needs to have the angle changed drastically, so I figured I could persuade it to the right angle with a hammer and section of railroad iron (poor man's anvil) to beat against. This did not work out at all since the bed railing is tempered and does not want to bend. It did for a bit and then simply broke. The idea was probably okay, but wrong piece of metal. I'll be watchful at the dump for donor metal and if nothing else will buy a section of flat steel and make the slight bend in a vice. So that will be later on.
(cont.)
SB

Brace for engine head bolts...
(cont.)
SB

Back to the drawing board...
(cont.)
SB

This is what I have in mind for covering the flywheel. The copper bottom will clean up better, the handle will be cut away with a little cutting wheel on the rotary tool (like a dremel). A hole will be drilled in the center for the crankshaft and flywheel nut. It will look good, I think.
(cont.)
SB

And finally for today's show and tell session we have the exhaust pipe. The exhaust port is threaded and I was going to use a 3/4" cast iron 45 degree elbow, but didn't have one and then looked through my copper water pipe stuff and found the copper version. Ah, copper! Yes, a copper exhaust pipe...

A couple of years ago I was all hot on this idea and tried bending copper water pipe. No deal. It is tempered or annealed or something or other so that it doesn't bend. I tried, believe me. It will kink, but not bend. Maybe it would with heat, but I don't know. I made up an exhaust anyway cobbled together with copper pipe fittings and soldered together. "Cool" I thought, started up the engine and took off down the driveway. Sounded good! That is until is started falling apart. I had not accounted for the heat of the exhaust melting away the solder. Duh... so much for a copper exhaust.

HOWEVER, I am going to try it again, but this time without solder. At the engine is a male threaded fitting and next is a 45 degree elbow. From there it is a straight run of 3/4 copper water pipe to the other end where I am going to affix a female threaded fitting so that if I want to I can thread on a standard small engine muffler. Even ordered one from ebay for about $7.00 shipped. That way if I want the exhaust to be straight through I can have it that way and if it is too loud then I can address that with the muffler. The straight run of pipe is 2 feet long (about $7.00) and the tip of the muffler will extend to about the end of the rear rack.

I will hold the sections together with brass bolts. No solder this time. The exhaust port on the engine is nicely placed at the rear off center so running straight back it just passes by the seat post. No bending. Tucked against the seat post I don't think there's much chance of burning my leg. If it turns out to be a problem then heat wrap will fix that. More copper... woohoo!
SB