re: The Bent Zombie Tribrid Tadpole Trike (build phase)
Thanks Cog - Turkey Day proved ideal for makin' the death metal noises, I got a bunch done... although I'll freely admit that as I'd never done a "stretch chopper" of any sort before, I was more than a lil nervous about it. The first frame attempt it didn't matter as the top half was useless anyway, this one however I needed to retain as much as possible - there's very little wiggle room for error. Needing to take at least 2" off the height - I had no idea if the vertical supports were gonna line up again as the fronts and rear are at slightly different angles. Not only that but as they're at an angle, removing a chunk would bring the top of the chassis back some... while I need and want that, the "how much and where" was a lil troublesome. So I "cheated" again and loaded a profile shot into photoshop & did a lil "virtual" hack job, while it can't be trusted completely due to perspective & distortion - it showed clearly that'd it'd be close... close 'nuff anyway lol
Placing the engine in the empty, uncut frame I took some measurements - the carburetor and the cylinder head the closest points. While it looked like I could get away with choppin' a full three inches outa there - I decided to play it safe and take only two, figurin' that not only would my cuts be a lil sloppy, it's far easier to take a lil more off than to put it back heh. Using 1" wide masking tape, I wrapped the frame with two strips, making a 2" band where I wanted to make the cuts. This allowed me to easily see where I was cutting and provided the strips line up with themselves, the tape itself provides a good, straight line around the tubing.
Dragging the carcass outside, I started hacking at it before I lost my nerve and spent another buncha hours going over the same old measurements again heh, first to go were the front spindle mounts, then some lateral supports, then the 2" out of the three vertical bars, then finally the whole front end as it was completely useless. As the dust settled I looked at the now tiny pile of scrap and wondered where my frame had gone... Picking up the two halves I was amazed at how little it weighed - both halves together less than just the bottom section I was first gonna use! Mumbling to myself "power to weight, power to weight" to reassure, I brought the amputated chunks back inside to see just what I had done.
...and it now looks sorta like this (click to view);
...as as before, this is nothing but a rough mock up - nothing is bolted or welded together & in fact I'm thinkin' of takin' another 1/4" - 1/2" off the front.... gonna hafta think about that one though - while I already will need to pull the intake manifold off to get the engine out of the frame, any lower and the carby will hafta be on the outside of the frame tubes... while that's fine, I'm gonna rebuild the front end and suspension before I chop the frame anymore - the other front end wont work as I've cut too much off it before I did this & I should prolly wait and see before I get too excited with the cutoff wheel lol
Still, as ya can see in the final two pics, I've got a fuel tank perfect for it's location, it's even split up the middle to clear the rear suspension & wheel! The stock (and very crusty) exhaust system bolts right up - lookin' like it belongs there. I'll no doubt get a performance exhaust & put header wrap on the pipe - but that's not high on the list of priorities just yet lol, there's still a LOT of finagling to do, while most things are "close" - close isn't good enough and I've still gotta figure out the entire front suspension & mounts... "to be continued" as they say heh
Thanks Cog - Turkey Day proved ideal for makin' the death metal noises, I got a bunch done... although I'll freely admit that as I'd never done a "stretch chopper" of any sort before, I was more than a lil nervous about it. The first frame attempt it didn't matter as the top half was useless anyway, this one however I needed to retain as much as possible - there's very little wiggle room for error. Needing to take at least 2" off the height - I had no idea if the vertical supports were gonna line up again as the fronts and rear are at slightly different angles. Not only that but as they're at an angle, removing a chunk would bring the top of the chassis back some... while I need and want that, the "how much and where" was a lil troublesome. So I "cheated" again and loaded a profile shot into photoshop & did a lil "virtual" hack job, while it can't be trusted completely due to perspective & distortion - it showed clearly that'd it'd be close... close 'nuff anyway lol
Placing the engine in the empty, uncut frame I took some measurements - the carburetor and the cylinder head the closest points. While it looked like I could get away with choppin' a full three inches outa there - I decided to play it safe and take only two, figurin' that not only would my cuts be a lil sloppy, it's far easier to take a lil more off than to put it back heh. Using 1" wide masking tape, I wrapped the frame with two strips, making a 2" band where I wanted to make the cuts. This allowed me to easily see where I was cutting and provided the strips line up with themselves, the tape itself provides a good, straight line around the tubing.
Dragging the carcass outside, I started hacking at it before I lost my nerve and spent another buncha hours going over the same old measurements again heh, first to go were the front spindle mounts, then some lateral supports, then the 2" out of the three vertical bars, then finally the whole front end as it was completely useless. As the dust settled I looked at the now tiny pile of scrap and wondered where my frame had gone... Picking up the two halves I was amazed at how little it weighed - both halves together less than just the bottom section I was first gonna use! Mumbling to myself "power to weight, power to weight" to reassure, I brought the amputated chunks back inside to see just what I had done.
...and it now looks sorta like this (click to view);
...as as before, this is nothing but a rough mock up - nothing is bolted or welded together & in fact I'm thinkin' of takin' another 1/4" - 1/2" off the front.... gonna hafta think about that one though - while I already will need to pull the intake manifold off to get the engine out of the frame, any lower and the carby will hafta be on the outside of the frame tubes... while that's fine, I'm gonna rebuild the front end and suspension before I chop the frame anymore - the other front end wont work as I've cut too much off it before I did this & I should prolly wait and see before I get too excited with the cutoff wheel lol
Still, as ya can see in the final two pics, I've got a fuel tank perfect for it's location, it's even split up the middle to clear the rear suspension & wheel! The stock (and very crusty) exhaust system bolts right up - lookin' like it belongs there. I'll no doubt get a performance exhaust & put header wrap on the pipe - but that's not high on the list of priorities just yet lol, there's still a LOT of finagling to do, while most things are "close" - close isn't good enough and I've still gotta figure out the entire front suspension & mounts... "to be continued" as they say heh