Velocars and other interesting vehicles.

Intrepid Wheelwoman said:
Merry Christmas Zoran :)
Your hometown looks beautiful, - especially with all the snow.
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[FONT=Comic Sans MS, cursive]Thank you Annie and Allen![/FONT]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS, cursive]We didn't have white Christmas, but now have two days of light snow, maybe more for New Year...
That photo I took a decade ago, during walk with my friend across hill above Zemun and later over river banks of great Danube. I will abuse this holiday season and silence to post a few more photos from that series. More could be easily found on Internet.

Zemun is small old town, but from a few decades ago it is part of Belgrade and now has around 150.000 citizens. It is the right size for living, having everything that people need, but it is not too big and not so chaotic and noisy as Belgrade city...

Happy New year to you and all the members![/FONT]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS, cursive]
Ciao, Zoran [/FONT]
 

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... and a few more photos of Zemun!
Zoran
 

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Ludwig,

Thank you. At one time I worked for a company that built tunnels for roads. We used the same kind of cart to clean out after a blast when a bigger vehicle couldn't get in to the space. They were used in mines as well.

You had to be careful with them while dumping them because often they wouldn't tip by gravity due to larger rock being to the rear of the bucket. When they tipped they had a large spring that went from the rear of the bucket to the frame. It was much like a porch swing spring as it had two U shaped metal pieces inside the spring that had the ends bent up so they caught the end of the spring. There were no hydraulics.

One went one way inside the spring and the other went the other way in the spring and both of them were anchored at the end as it came out of the spring with a short length of chain to snub the bucket as it tipped and cushion it..
The game was to bring the rock out to where ever they wanted it and you pulled the lever that locked the bucket and then gravity tipped the bucket forward, if you were lucky, which was about 30% of the time. Now the bucket won't tip so you had to bounce the load forward by popping the clutch when the transmission was in reverse. The load now tips and if you did it properly the rocks gone and you continue in reverse and slam on the brakes and the bucket trips back and locks.

Now we have the Bull of the Woods watching. Mister I've been doing this for 40 years now let me show you how to do this properly. Just wait here until I get a load and I'll show you how to do it right.

The fun part was that if you bump the load too hard it unloads at a pretty fair rate of speed and when the chain snaps tight and hits the spring and stops, all that forward energy is applied to the back wheel which you are sitting on top of with no seat belt.

Bull of the Woods comes roaring up and slams his #12 boot on the brake and at the same time pulls the catch lever back and peddled air about 8' up and maybe 20' forward before he began his decent back to earth.

Story around camp was he wasn't expected to leave the hospital for months due to the damage and I never saw him again. For whatever reason I was thanked by many people including some of the management for getting rid of him even though I protested that I had nothing to do with it.

Memories.

Steve.
 
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Thank you Mark and welcome to the forum.

I had seen and used canoe router bits a couple of times when I spent a few hours helping a friend who had a canoe building business but until you mentioned it I had never thought of them for building a body.
Excellent idea and when I get ready to build the body I will definitely order them. We live about 45 minutes away from Lee Valley in Vancouver B.C.

I spent better than 50 years of my life restoring antique furniture. Now that we retired my brother and I have a small hobby wood working shop built in his back yard. I have a bike that I have to finish before I get into the velo but I've been at it for four years now and the end has been in sight for the last two years but it will have to be completed soon.

Here is a 1952 Monark Super Deluxe bike I restored and the side car I built from bits and pieces that were around the house. My sense of balance and now my mobility are trashed from a car accident 49 years ago so everything has to have at least 3 wheels. It's electric powered to comply with the laws in Canada but I plan to convert it to a mid drive system with 48 volts. Far to much weight with the bike and the old man for the 500 watts allowed by law. It's running on 36 volts now.

Thanks again.

Steve.

http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab228/speedydick/NikonPictures025-2.jpg
 
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The work Kai did with the scanned pages from the French velocar book is really great. I haven't had a proper look at them until now and the clarity of the images compared with the blurry old scans I had originally is like night and day.
The cyclecar on page 45 has always been a firm favourite of mine and now that the page scans are so wonderfully clear it's become considerably easier to research and plan out its construction.
The design is based on the old Smith's buckboard, but without the motorwheel and with a proper bodyshell. It might be well and good for chaps to go powering around on a buckboard in the open air without a care in the world, - only a lady prefers to have something just that wee bit more dignified when she goes motoring :D







 
Nice scans, easy to understand even without much French. The buckboard suspension pretty well has to have four wheels doesn't it? Is there no way to make it work as a three wheeler?
SB
 
silverbear said:
Nice scans, easy to understand even without much French. The buckboard suspension pretty well has to have four wheels doesn't it? Is there no way to make it work as a three wheeler?
SB
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I have a plan in mind to check that out Silverbear. I thought the buckboard style chassis would be good for vehicle experiments including seeing whether it would work as a three wheeler. No doubt my daughter will want to try out some of her electric vehicle ideas on it as well.

If the three wheeler idea doesn't work out it can become a quad; - though there is more than one way to skin a cat..........







 
I'll be interested to see what you come up with for a 3 wheeled car rear suspension. I have my own ideas but I don't want to muddy the water.

As Silverbear said it is very easy to follow even though you don't speak French and we do owe Kai a huge thank you for taking the time to scan and post them for every ones use.

Steve.
 
Ludwig II said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEBBh2MsRfI
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[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Ludwig,[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Thank you on quite interesting video-clip about three-wheel damper parade!
[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Unusual rear-wheel steering? They even race them:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urYjcWslnpU

I remember for my childhood that there were a lot of similar dampers in Belgrade, something bigger and with four wheels... They could be driven in both direction at the same speed, having two steering wheels and seat between them with driver that usually looks to a side, but could turn seat in each of directions...

Attached is photo from video with cute HPV three-wheeler.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]
Ciao, [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Zoran [/FONT]
 

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silverbear said:
Nice scans, easy to understand even without much French. The buckboard suspension pretty well has to have four wheels doesn't it? Is there no way to make it work as a three wheeler?
SB
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[FONT=Arial Unicode MS, sans-serif]Hello Silver,[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial Unicode MS, sans-serif]I think that three-wheel configuration shouldn't be any problem: quite opposite - it would be better for buck-board chassis system than four wheel! Buckboards do not have any kind of "normal" suspension, but have elastic chassis both for up-down "springing" and twisting of chassis according to uneven road, or vibrations... [/FONT]


[FONT=Arial Unicode MS, sans-serif]Therefore, three-wheel base should be even better: no need for twisting of chassis. I suppose that tadpole configuration would be simpler: two wheels at front, and one at rear. Engine could be at front or at rear. Any kind of body could be add later.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial Unicode MS, sans-serif]
I am afraid that buckboard is only possible solution for me if ever start building of my quadricycle (four wheels are better for two heavy persons) - everything more complicated (and expensive) is hardly attainable... Of course, springs under seats (with thicker foam)[/FONT][FONT=Arial Unicode MS, sans-serif] are good[/FONT][FONT=Arial Unicode MS, sans-serif] for more “comfort”, but for vehicle structure, too: driver and passenger are the most of the total weight! (in my case)[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial Unicode MS, sans-serif]Ciao, [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial Unicode MS, sans-serif]Zoran[/FONT]
 
Yes three wheeled vehicles are like three legged stools they don't wobble on uneven ground :)

What attracts me to the wooden buckboard format is its sheer simplicity of construction as well as its low cost. With the flexible chassis itself providing the suspension it's blindingly obvious that a whole slice of mechanical components along with their associated bearings, bushings and pivots are no longer needed.

I haven't forgotten or abandoned my Colombe/Intrepid cyclecar by the way even though it does specialise somewhat in the pivoting gubbins department with its front suspension. What the buckboard car is all about is being able to build a vehicle with simple tools and simple materials for not much money. My ultimate aim would be to build it with no welding being involved at all.
These wonderful French designs were intended to provide cheap transport in the immediate post-war era using basic materials and I think that is just important in 2015 as it was back then.
I shall now get down off my soapbox and stop lecturing the already converted. ;)

I thought I would use 100x40mm clear grained pine as it's a readily available local material commonly used to construct decks. Ash in timber form is completely unavailable here in NZ unless I was to get it through a specialist timber importer for $$$$$ which would be totally against the whole point of the exercise. Asian hardwoods are readily available here as well, - only I don't want to have any part in the destruction of rain forests in the Third World thank you very much.
As for an engine I've got one of those Lifan 110cc engines with an auto two speed transmission that has been occupying space on the bench for far too long. It originally was fitted to one of those Chinese mini-chopper bikes. I purchased the bike cheap as a non-runner a while ago and sold off everything I didn't want as parts keeping back the engine and its wiring loom.
 
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