Indian Hiawatha

[PeteMcP]

No worries, SB. Helps to be armed with info like this for future projects.
.....oh, and now you've looked on AliExpress, be prepared for them to bombard you with their 'you might like these items' emails. I get them by the bucket load. Don't mind at all really. I've bitten their bait more than a few times and I'm always never less than happy with my purchases.

 

[silverbear]

Oh yes, I’ve been getting hot item tips from Aliexpress for some time and have made a few occasional purchases in electrical stuff. The offers in household, beauty and fashion departments…not so much
SB

 

[silverbear]

Pete,
I just realized that a light set I purchased on eBay for the recumbent Terratrike Rover is a dead ringer for the light you bought (no doubt for less from Aliexpress). Nice lights and as you say, rechargeable and with multiple settings.

I got the tail lights, too.

Something I’ve been trying to find on either eBay, Aliexpress or anywhere for that matter is pictured below. If you
find a link for it, let me know. Just the thing for Covid or even when you just feel like being alone. The inventor calls it “The Isolator” and says it is great for cutting out distractions. I suppose I could make my own, but I have so much on my plate right now already…

(To be continued)
SB

 

[PeteMcP]

Bought my own version of one of those last year from an eBay seller in India .... perfect Covid mask. lol!

 

[silverbear]

Perfect! I always wanted one of those for some reason. Do you use that as a bicycle helmet? You know that would be just the thing for when I put my vruzend battery kits together. Even if get the wires shorted I’d be protected from fire or explosion! Except for the rest of me…
SB

 

[fasteddy]

Only thing that could make that helmet better, is two red LED's

Steve.

 

[Tom from Rubicon]

Pete didn't point out that since Mishca moved in, the Canary took over the helmet .

Tom

 

[silverbear]

I’ve been thinking about decals on the side of the copper gas tank. Someone suggested it and first I thought about having decals made in the style of the old Indian logo, but spelling out Hiawatha instead. Then I ran across a pair of Indian script decals I think I had intended for a sail canoe, but never used. Here they are taped to one side of the tank.

Underneath that waxed paper covering are black letters. Seems pretty big to me, but might look less glaring with the paper gone. Maybe it’s better with nothing. Or maybe I can get a set with smaller letters. or it’s red lettering. Or, or, or… just don’t know. What does anyone else think? Any opinions?
(to be continued)
SB

 

[silverbear]

Back to the headlight conversion…

Using a grindstone bit for the electric drill I intended to open up the light housing to accept the big end of the flashlight.

This part of the housing is metal and easily wears away the surface of the grindstone. No doubt a metal burr bit would last better, but I don’t have one. One way or another the hole has to be enlarged. I’m not suggesting that the way I did it is the right way, just that it is a way and the one I used.

The first stone is worn away and I had to go to the local hardware in town for another to finish enlarging the hole.. $5.50 At Ace. Ouch! Most of that one was also gone by the time the hole was of the right size. I took a look on line and ordered a set of 10 in varying sizes and shapes from Amazon for $5.00+ including shipping. I still have a second headlight to do. Lots of grinding dust from the metal and grindstone so the inside of the lens got rinsed out and dried.
(to be continured)
SB

 

[silverbear]

Using a cutoff wheel on my side grinder I shortened the barrel behind the lens area of the flashlight. I was planning to solder wires to the terminal points of the lens and then remembered some test wires with aligator clips I had bought for testing lithium cells and thought that might work better. My experience with soldering is pretty much non-electrical. Lots of soldering lead cames for stained glass windows and running copper plumbing, but a big soldering iron for the glass work and propane torch for the plumbing are way overkill for these delicate connections. If I remember right I believe I wrecked one flashlight battery lens on another light due to too much heat. So, would simple Aligator clips work?

Yes, they were quite tight and even wiggling around the connection was sound with no flickering of the light, so I further secured them with electrical tape And fitted the lens into the new hole… a very snug fit which will be even more secure once it is epoxied in place. Success! You electricians may shudder at this, And I imagine this is not the way to make the connections, but I’m interested to see if it works and if I have to open up the lights to make a repair maybe by then I’ll be competent soldering the wee little stuff. But maybe I won’t have to.

Nice and tight and plenty bright. Once the epoxy is set I’ll put it back together and then all I have to do is do it all again on the second light. And that will be another day…
(to be continued)
SB

 

[Tom from Rubicon]

Success by any means is still success, but gritty.

Tom

 

[MEASURE TWICE]

Mask and dam and etch it with strong acid or alkaline. Lot of hazards dust or fumes? Those metal cutter dies are great, but on the curved surface not sure how it may work. Bolt head you tighten to stamp cut have whole kits with various shapes.

The grinder that has multiple bulges for steps sizes I see in your photo, had not seen that before. Looks like it worked!

 

[PeteMcP]

Lot of hazards dust or fumes? Those metal cutter dies are great, but on the curved surface not sure how it may work. Bolt head you tighten to stamp cut have whole kits with various shapes.

MT, you're right, those circular cutting dies work great - on a flat surface. Wouldn't be suitable for use on SB's headlight though. I reckon tightening the bolt would risk deforming the thin headlight shell. I purchased a 54mm dia. circular die to cut several holes for auxilliary gauges in the engine-turned aluminium dashboard of my Aero Cycle Car.

Worked perfect - but I'm still smarting at the cost of the die - UK£60 - which I consider expensive for a virtually single-use tool. I recently did exactly what SB did to enlarge the hole in the rear of my ACE's aftermarket headlight so I could cram-in all the wiring loom's multi-pin connectors. Just like SB, went through several grinding bits to get there.

SB....Your croc clip fix will no doubt work if soldering the connector wires wasn't an option. Maybe I'd have used a couple of crimped spade or barrel connectors.

 

[silverbear]

Mask and dam and etch it with strong acid or alkaline. Lot of hazards dust or fumes? Those metal cutter dies are great, but on the curved surface not sure how it may work. Bolt head you tighten to stamp cut have whole kits with various shapes.

The grinder that has multiple bulges for steps sizes I see in your photo, had not seen that before. Looks like it worked!

The “steps” you refer to are where the grinding bit is getting worn down and disintegrating into the gritty dust. Yes, low tech but a method anyone could use if you own a drill. Faster and easier than a hand held file, though.

The grinding bit started out looking like this…

But yes, it worked so all’s good.
SB

 

[silverbear]

Pete!…Pete!!! Did you make that???? Wow! Is there a build thread? Where can I see more of this? (be still, my beating heart)
SB

 

[silverbear]

Pete, I keep staring at the photo you sent. The steering wheel is much like one I had on my first used sports car, an early 1960’s Austin Healey roadster. I loved that wood and aluminum wheel and the whole beautiful car enough that I still dream it now and then, riding in the open air with wind in my hair, young and with my life ahead of me… and then wake up and realize that car is long gone along with a good bit of my hair and that most of my life is in the rearview mirror. Bummer. But on a happier note, how can I see more of your pictures? Your dashboard is wonderful…
SB

 

[PeteMcP]

Ah....SB, if only we'd hung onto the cars we had in our youth, we'd be rollin' in it. For example, my Sister-in-Law's next door neighbour in Amble is a car guy and he just treated himself to a restored blue/cream Austin Healey 3000 before Christmas. He paid a mere UK£52k for it. The market has peaks and troughs, but with interest rates being almost zero, I reckon old cars and motorycles are better than money in the bank.
Regarding the Aero Cycle Car kit (Morgan 3-Wheeler tribute) I finished building in 2014, I've probably bored more than a few folks on the forum with pics of it, but here are a couple more. During the four years I spent on its construction, I pretty well documented its entire build on a trike forum but I can't recall which forum it was now! Anyhow, I sold it back in 2015, four months after its completion, to fund the next project. I tend to lose interest once a project is done and always look forward to the next. Building stuff must be in my genes. I'd be a miserable SOB without a project or two on the go. Here's a few details re the Aero Cycle Car; Purchased the 'basic' kit - basically the square tube chassis, along with pre-cut aluminium body panels and grp panels. Went my own way by sourcing just about everything else to complete the build - including my mint '89 Moto Guzzi LeMans5 which donated its 1000cc v-twin and drivetrain components. I was running my business at the time, so this 4-year build took up what little free time I had back then. Right from the git go I decided I wouldn't cut any corners on this build, and so it proved. Looked forward to and enjoyed every minute of seeing this beauty come together. Hated seeing it go .... but the pain was eased somewhat when its departure enabled the arrival of the next project - a 1941 Buick Special Sedanette which I imported from Canada. Enjoyed that too for a couple of years before moving it on to a millionaire who has one of Scotland's finest car collections. Turns out he's just won funding (do squillionaires need it?) for a car museum tourist exhibit featuring the history of Buick...! Maybe I'll visit one day and weep over what my old '41 Buick is now worth....

 

[silverbear]

Oh my… I have run out of superlatives, Absolutely stunning. I fell in love with the Morgan three wheeler first time I saw a picture of one in a book. And I’ve watched videos of them in action on the road. Wonderful. Not a practical car to be sure, but something dreams are made of. My Healy 3000 roadster had side curtains instead of roll up windows and was miserable in the winter, feet too hot in the summer, but what a blast to drive. Later I was given a derelict 1952 ( I think) MGTD which I learned what I know about wrenching working on. I had the original shop manual and recall pondering what was meant by the suggestion that I needed a particular spanner to replace the front brakes. “Spanner”? I called a number of auto supply shops trying to find a source for spanners and finally gave up, thinking “why can’t I just use a wrench”? So I did and began a long history of winging it. Only much later did I learn what a Spanner was in Britain…(wrench). I ended up buying a set of Whitworth wrenches and sockets. Remember those? Metric and SAE and then Whitworth, too. Then a second MGTD to bring back to life, then an MGA roadster and an MGA Coupe (only one I ever saw)… when you look up claustrophobia in the auto dictionary there is a picture of that car. It did have roll up windows though. Those were the sports cars I got to play with. After that vintage pickup trucks and in my old age motor bicycles. Yes, I agree, having a current project to tinker on is a necessity. It sure would be nice though if I could bum a ride in your Morgan tribute. The Buick is nice, but doesn’t raise my blood pressure in the same way. We’ll, done, sir!
SB

 

[silverbear]

Sometimes life is stranger than fiction. When I ran across this picture of the strange invention of Hugo Gernsback it cracked me up and I didn’t really care if it was for real or a made up gag. Either way it was funny…

You never know what you’ll find on the internet so I “googled“ the organization he was a member of, The American Physical Society and was surprised to learn it is a for real organization (still having meetings) having to do with physical science. How about that! Then I tried doing a search of Hugo Gernsback and got nothing. I guess Hugo is now forgotten and after having contributed such a wonderful ahead of his time invention. These are after all precarious and depressing times. I was wondering what might be in the canister attached to the breathing tube. Nitrous oxide could lighten one’s mood. Any old time is party time and no need to invite a friend. If our president made these readily available it would certainly boost his poll numbers and make the mask mandate much more fun. It’s a thought…
SB

 

[silverbear]

Just googled Mr. Gernsback and found him. Yes, he was a recognized inventor. Haven’t read up on him yet, but looking forward to it…

Okay, I’ll be good. From now on it is back to our regular programming.
SB