Committing forgery: A Faux Rudge Autocycle build.

[Intrepid Wheelwoman]

Yes Steve I think it would be a lot cheaper to make the weathershield from galvanised steel with rolled edges and soldering where necessary.

Many years ago I customised a 1954 Austin A30 to look like a small Wolseley using fibreglass mat and the front grill from a 1970's front wheel drive Wolseley 1100GT. The result was good enough to have the staff at BMC dealerships scratching their heads whenever I visited their spare parts dept. Eventually I would tell them what I'd done and I always got nice comments about my car.

Successful as that conversion was I really was put off using fibreglass due to the sticky mess and all the dust from sanding so I never did anything with fibreglass again.

Something tells me the workshop pixies would go on strike if I tried to get them to work with fibreglass no matter how many dustmasks and pairs of overalls I gave them. The last thing I need is annoyed pixies marching up and down my driveway carrying placards and chanting, 'Intrepid Wheelwoman unfair to workshop pixies.'

 

[fasteddy]

I would find myself forced to explain the full meaning of redundancy to the little rotters if they tried that with me. I have found that there is absolutely no shortage of workshop pixies and any I've hired never showed up anyway since every time I go out to the shop in the morning not a tool has been moved and there is never any work done so they can't claim to have brought their own.

Steve.

 

[Ludwig II]

I can't use glass, my hands break out in a really nasty rash, even with gloves on.

 

[Intrepid Wheelwoman]

I would find myself forced to explain the full meaning of redundancy to the little rotters if they tried that with me. I have found that there is absolutely no shortage of workshop pixies and any I've hired never showed up anyway since every time I go out to the shop in the morning not a tool has been moved and there is never any work done so they can't claim to have brought their own.

Steve.

My workshop pixies are nice. If I drop a bolt or a nut or other small part they always put it where I can see it and the spanner I need seems to be always close to hand when I'm working on something tricky. When I'm looking for a part in the 'stores' the part I want is always sitting nicely at the top of the pile. Stuck nuts and bolts will usually come undone if I leave them overnight. I like my workshop pixies.

Ludwig, - yes I forgot to mention that too. I got an amazing rash from doing that custom bodywork on my old Austin which really put me off from doing any further fibreglass work.

 

[Allen_Wrench]

I rather hesitate to use fiberglass also. Given the state of the lower edge of my Dodge Caravan's doors, I'm saving it as a last resort if I can't find a good enough way to put a section of metal in. The sliding doors seem to have mechanicals near the bottom, making matters difficult.
I like old-school body work that involved planishing hammers, dollies, and artistry. Fiberglass needs a person with a good eye too, but the amount of fun involved seems to be a LOT less. I feel very clumsy with the fiberglass. It's a lot of work to make it look good.

 

[Intrepid Wheelwoman]

After buying a windshield for my Hercules trike I'm strongly considering getting another one for the faux Rudge.

 

[Intrepid Wheelwoman]

I've been helping my daughter with her electric bicycle build which has quite naturally led to me starting to look at my own bicycle projects again. I'm still having to take things slowly as basic tasks like hand filing up a set of spacers to adapt the hub motor wheel into the sprung mountain bike forks on my daughter's bike can leave me feeling like I've just run a mile.
But it's all good though and despite having to deal with all the horrors of making a brand new big box store mountain bike actually roadworthy I've been really enjoying myself.

I have a spare Hercules ladies frame hanging up in the garage and when I saw that somebody was selling a genuine Hercules saddle on our local auction site I had to have it. That arrived today and it's in really nice condition.
A throttle control lever was on the website for sale so I grabbed that too. Not entirely sure what direction my ideas for a new build are moving in at the moment, but I'll keep working gathering up interesting bits and bobs in the meantime. I've got a bid in on a J.A.P. petrol tank and I'm hoping I'll be able to get that.

My Rudge build is still sitting on its stand in my workshop in pretty much the state it got left in when I became ill again. I want to get back to working on it as it was starting to shape up into being a nice bike.
After all the difficulty of fitting up the Rudge chainwheel and pedal shaft I'm going to have to take it apart again as I'm going to have to get the engineer chaps down the end of the road to bend the pedal arms for me so they will clear the engine. I did look at raising the engine higher, but that only made for a whole lot more problems.

Folk seem to be offering various interesting old engines for sale at the moment. There are three or four Villiers four stroke engines on offer at prices I could afford, but I'm not sure if I want to stray from being a two stroke enthusiast just at the moment. Somebody is offering a Wisconson THD twin for sale too which did tempt me for a minute or two before I came to my senses.

 

[Mr.B.]

Glad to hear you’re thinking about building again!

Take it slow as needed, but “If there’s a will, etc...”

:- )

-Kirk

 

[silverbear]

Nice auction stuff. Take care of yourself, Annie. Wishing you well in all ways...
SB

 

[curtisfox]

Yes glad you are up and at it again,hope you stay well. Best .........Curt

 

[Intrepid Wheelwoman]

Thank you so much for your good wishes gentlemen

I am being careful to pace myself and my daughter keeps an eye on me too. But I must say it's a real delight to be using tools again and there is a certain joy in assembling a bicycle properly so that everything works as it should. My daughter was horrified when I showed her the bearings from the bottom bracket and the wheel hubs when I stripped her bike down and how totally lacking they were in any form of lubrication.

 

[Ludwig II]

I followed the trail back for your skirt guard, the same place has this lot up right now: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WHOLESALE...05&prg=10670&rk=2&rkt=6&sd=201193799766&rt=nc

 

[fasteddy]

Hi Anne,

It is indeed good to hear that you are back in building mode. Looking at the auctions are part of the builders recovery plan aren't they? Perks up the spirits immensely I find and makes you want to move on with what your doing.

I've started pecking away at the tri car again myself until the pain won't let me any more. Just part of the process isn't it.

Steve.

 

[Intrepid Wheelwoman]

Yes Steve it's all part of the process of getting well again
My daughter's pleased that I'm interested in doing things, recently she told me that she was worried that her Mum had become an old lady (horrors!!!).

Ludwig, those skirt guards are really practical. I have one on my Wu Yang/VeloSolex bike and the Rudge of course is getting one. Hum..... 20 though? I wonder if I should?
That trader has some interesting stuff, - which reminds me that I have to get some brake blocks for my daily rider Hercules bike from him as the ones on it are just about worn out.

Here's a question for you highly skilled and talented gentlemen. I used to really like to braze and silver solder, only I don't have any gas bottles for my oxy-acetylene welding set anymore because the arrangement for hiring the things has almost become prohibitive for the home builder. Since I will be largely working on lightweight bits and bobs for bicycles I was wondering about getting one of those propane torch sets. Do you think this is a good idea?

I remember when my dear old Dad, - God rest his soul, - taught me to braze and silver solder. The first job I used my brand new skills on was repairing an old gauge housing for a Ford Popular I was working on at the time. When it was done I had a great big silly grin on my face as if I'd turned base metal into gold or something.

 

[Ludwig II]

I have no hands on experience of oxy propane, but it seems ok on welding thin steel if you are patient; it's probably best on brazing and silver solder though.

 

[silverbear]

The soldering I'm familiar with is in lower heat applications. I did a lot of work with stained glass windows using lead came to hold the glass pieces together and the came soldered to each other using 40/60 or 50/50 lead/tin solder with an acid flux. Also some copper work. I believe what you're talking about is more like brazing. I've used silver solder, but not silver rod, which I think you would be using. In short, I don't know. Post your results when you give it a go.
SB

 

[Ludwig II]

We had an exhaust pipe rescued at a race meeting using oxy/prop, but how effective the welding would be long term we don't know as the bottles were dying.

From the limited contact I have, it looks like thin sheet and low mass heat sinks are ok, but if you want to join heavy sections together, electric or oxy acetylene are probably better.

 

[Allen_Wrench]

What about MAPP gas? I bet if your careful with the flame size and proximity, it could braze steel pretty well. Maybe better than propane. Can you get MAPP gas there? And fellow MBers: does anybody reading this have more experience with MAPP than I do? I'd like to offer further advice, but I reached the limits of my knowledge on brazing.

 

[curtisfox]

I think propane with oxy would be ok but not sure if you can braze with just propane. Done a lot of brazeing in my days but always with oxy/acetyene. ............Curt

 

[Intrepid Wheelwoman]

Bother, that's a bit of a nuisance. The gas bottle hire is really expensive these days for Qxy-Acetylene and I would have to drive miles and miles to go and get it
I suppose for tricky assemblies I could do all the prep and then pin them together before taking them down the end of the road to the engineer chaps and get them to do it.

Allen, - I don't think we can get MAPP gas here, but I suppose I could ask around just in case.

Thank you for your thoughts and replies gentlemen, - it's what I love about this forum, help and advice is only a question away.