The Wazabug Project

[whozawhat]

During the week I got a new windshield cut
So this weekend I changed it.
The original had a couple of spots where it had got nailed with welding spatter during the build before I got it out of the shop.
It also had a small crack form in the upper passenger side corner. I had made the frame to fit the glass but after it was welded up and the top cap installed it was too tight in that corner.
The new glass was cut 1/8 inch shorter and is not as stressed once the top cap is secured.

I also got to play with my new "Toyol", that is a new tool that is also a toy.

My HF knockout punch kit arrived and so did my set of dimple dies.

Thanks to Fernon for finding and testing this stuff out.



I did not have an immediate requirement for them so I just popped some holes in a panel to experiment.


Kinda almost makes me want to get some aluminum, dig out my old rivet gun and make up a pair of bomber seats.

Almost...

[whozawhat]

The Wazabug build project took me to alot of flea markets and outdoor car shows.
But that was alot of walking on my tired legs.

So that started this rather off topic build.

I decided I wanted a bicycle to get around.
But I couldn't build a regular bicycle, I needed an engine.

But I did not require anything very big, I am not looking for speed, I have motorcycles for that.

It had to be light enough to cart around on my small trailer behind Bugsplat or my Harley.

I looked at the standard China bicycle engine kits but did not want to go that route.

The plan is to build an early 1900's style motor bicycle, not a tribute to any specific manufacturer, just my interpretation of two wheelers of the era, using what I can make, scrounge, or otherwise acquire.

This bike is to be configured as an upright cruiser, rather than a boardtracker.

Something that would fit in with these.




I am planning the flat leather belt drive, and a leaf spring front end similar to these.



I have acquired a 1939 Maytag washing machine twin cylinder engine.
Otherwise known as a Maytag Multimotor

Therefore this build is called the Maytag Flyer






I have stripped the engine and cleaned it up, inspected it and got the rebuild parts.



Parts are small.



I have collected some free wrecked bicycles for bits and pieces.


Then main bike for the build is a Worksman INB that I got unfinished in raw steel.

I ordered a rear belt pulley from Timeless Motorcycles.
This is the starting point of the build because everything else must fit with this pulley.
Started out by fitting the pulley to the rear Worksman wheel rim.




Then I made up a stand to hold the bike.





The rear frame section now must be modified to clear the pulley.


Marked out the cut lines,



and cut one rail at a time and fit in these pieces.



The frame now clears the wheel nicely.




Next it was time to change the front half of the frame.



Started by cutting out the front tube and cutting the backbone.



Then had to clean off the old lug.




I need to widen the crank and pedals to clear the engine.

Once I know the fit of the engine I can bend up a drop tube section and stretch the frame.

More next time.

[whozawhat]

Made some more progress on The Maytag Flyer.

Installed a three piece bottom bracket conversion and a wide crank and pedal set. The pedals will now clear evrything nicely.
One problem is the sprocket that comes with the wide conversion kit, it is too skinny and flimsy compared to the original Worksman sprocket,


It is also bigger than I want for this bike, so I decided to cut it off and swap in the Worksman unit, after I rework it to remove then extra material for the drive lug hole. I will also have to machine up a spacer to locate the sprocket for the correct chain alignment and then weld it all together.

It was time to take the frame to my work to fit the front section back on.
As I was going to my work to use some tools I took a pair of leaf springs scrounged from old snowmobile skis from the 1970's and sand blasted them so I could use the leaf springs in the fabrication of the front end. These leaf springs should be light enough for my requirements.


I then took one of the main leaves and rolled its end like used on some early bikes. Here is a comparison pic of the stock and the rolled leaves, I am not certain which one I will use just yet.


It was then time to put the frame back together.
I stretched it four inches and rolled the new front drop loop tube and welded it in.



The frame then came home again and installed the rear wheel to sort out the drive belt alignment and drive pulley location.


I must decide on the mounting and configuration of the engine and to do this I must decide if I will retain the stock magneto ignition and fan or go to a total loss system with points and a CDI.
I like the stock magneto because it has "Maytag" emblazoned on it.


But it makes for a much wider assembly, I must think on this for a bit.


I also have gotten a few other parts for the build. One is the carb, it is a 15mm BING from a PUCH moped that I think can be made to work well once the stock govenor assembly is removed from the engine crankshaft.


I will post up some pics of the other items as the build progresses.

[whozawhat]

On Ebay I found an old seat that is the style required to give me some comfort. Wide and springy.

It was quite rusty and the covering had rotted off so I disassembled and sandblasted it, then gave it a coat of paint.


Then glued on a layer of closed cell neoprene foam.


Made a pattern of the seat base and transfered it onto some leather.


Stitched two pieces together and cut open the underside panel to slide in the seat pan.



Applied some glue, then slid the seat pan into place and stretched the cover tight.


Bolted the inner pan down tight untill the glue set.


Installed the mount and springs, trimmed off the excess leather.
Distressed the leather a bit and sanded the trimmed edges smooth.




I like it.

[whozawhat]

I got a little more done today by starting on the front end,

I want to get this to be a roller before I hang the engine in place, just so I can get some stuff cleaned up in the shop and out of the way.

I did not want to cut the new Worksman front end up so I took the front off of a wrecked CCM MTB, the steering bearings were a smaller ball size than the Worksman units but the inner races were interchangeable. The steering post is about 1/4 inch longer so it suits my requirements perfectly.


So I cut the steering post free from the forks.


Then cleaned it up and transfered the races from the Worksman post, then installed it.


You can see that there is space between the top inner race and the nut, this space will let me fit in a top crown.


I now have the starting point for the front end and can now work out the final design and get some materials.

[whozawhat]

This weekend I did not accomplish much on the Flyer. I have been busy getting prepared to haul Bugsplat to the Detroit Autorama Extreme for next weekend.

I did get a little more done for the front end. Rolled some 1 inch tube for the rear legs and whittled away at a slab of 3/8 inch plate until I had the lower plate for the triple tree.



Hopefully more progress on this the following week and then another car show in Toronto. That is one reason that this project will take some time to complete.
But I am not in a hurry.

[whozawhat]

Made up a few more parts for the front end.
Fit the neck post into the lower tree and welded it in place.
Cut, drilled, threaded and bent the two pieces that fit between the lower tree and the crown, then made up the crown piece.
Then made the pieces that will mount the bottom rockers and welded them into the curved tubes.
The small holes are just pilot holes to be enlarged once I get the proper hardware and bushings.

Here is the loosely assembled parts made so far.


I have also acquired a couple of Lucas carbide lamps. This is the first one



This is the second light that I think I will use for the headlamp. The other one may get a red lens and become a tail lamp.

[whozawhat]

This weekend was the Mega Speed custom car show in Toronto.

I took the car there and set it up on Thursday night.
Then went and visited periodically over the weekend as I can't stay there with it all day.



The show wrapped up this evening.

I found out that Bugsplat was in a class "Post 1968 European Street Machine" and in that class I was runner up
The first in class went to the Abarth Fiat.


Bugsplat also recieved a cool award presented by the Piston Pushers Car Club. They are a large club founded in 1954 and had a large club display of cars. It was presented for the car they "Most like to drive" which I thought was very cool coming from a group of traditional Ol skool rodders.



This creation has parts of a crankshaft, camshaft, valves, con rods, pistons, oil pumps, timing gears, harmonic balancers and a foot pedal.
It's adorned with a cast Piston Pushers car club tag and pin striped.
It also wieghs about 4o lbs. The poor little trophy girl was having trouble passing it over to me.

[whozawhat]

I finally got fed up with the howling noise that came from my EMP rear disc brakes.

I have tried many things to get rid of the noise but the best I have accomplished is changing the pitch of the howl.

I have the kit with the stamped steel brackets, the heavy duty cast mounts were not available from CIP1 when I first purchased this setup.
I have carefully bent and aligned the stamped brackets as required to hold the caliper straight and square with the disc.
The clearances between the disc and caliper have been shimmed correctly.
The brake pads have been carefully fit and have the back plates treated with rattle stop compound.
The discs have been checked for warpage and are fine.
The system has been bled and works fine, but I still get this howl noise that drives me crazy.

So this weekend I decided to end it all and change out the rear brake kit.

I had purchased a "ROTOHUBTM" rear disc kit with E-brakes from CB Performance.

Right out of the box it looked like a nicer kit than the EMPI it was replacing.

EMP now offers a kit with the heavy duty cast mounting brackets. It uses different calipers than the ones that came with the steel mounting plates in the kit purchased in 2009, and they will not fit onto the newer cast mounts.

The calipers that came with the steel brackets are 38 mm and have the brake line attach on the top of the caliper, and are meant to be installed with the e-brake cable on the bottom. This puts the bleeder screw in the correct position.

The calipers that come with the cast mounts are 32 mm and have the brake line attach on the side of the caliper with the bleeder screw above the line. This caliper has the e-brake cable attach on the top of the caliper.

EMP caliper for steel bracket on the left, CB Performance caliper on the right.



When I compare the mounting brackets from the two kits it looks like this. The cast ones fit perfect the steel ones required alot of filing to get the bolts through the holes originally as the fit was terrible.






They use different brake pads, the steel mount kit is on the left, cast mount kit on the right.



The CB kit also comes with caliper shims and a pair of axle bearing shims, I had to source out some retaining washers for the EMP kit myself.


When comparing the discs first thing noticed was that CB sent the correct ones, long nose, that did not require the spacer. The EMP kit sent the short nose discs and said to use the supplied spacer which was not included.

Then the consruction of the CB supplied disc is more robust, it measures 2.5mm thicker through the wheel mount bolt holes, and has nice reinforcing in the inner casting.


The thing that I now believe to be the source of the howl revealed itself when I did a little test.

I placed both discs nose down on the bench in identical locations and then did a tap test with a screwdriver handle on the disc face. Repeated tests found the EMP disc had quite a resonance and would have a ringing sound for much longer than the CB disc which had more of a "thunk" sound when tapped.


I finished the install and took it for about 50 mile drive and it seems fine so far, no howl.

[whozawhat]

I have made some more progress on two current projects.

First the car has had a rear view vision problem. It has side rear mirrors but no central mirror and no line of sight out the back if it did have a central mirroir.
This has always been a bit of a pain.

It also can be difficult to see some stop lights if I am too close to them as the roof visor and the low roof line get in the way.
I have to stick my head out the side to see the lights.

I have tried the stop light viewers that were popular with the cars from the 50's that had big windshield visors but I sit too far back for the angles to work well and let me see the lights with the viewer.

I decided a little technology was required so I fit in a rear view camera.




And a front view camera to see the stop lights.



Placed the monitor where a rear view mirror would normally mount and wired in a selector switch to alternate the view between the two cameras.


It works great.

I also got some more done to the Maytag Flyer.
I cut a rear frame member and fit up a clamp system to reattach the two pieces. This will let me install an endless belt like a serpentine belt to use if the leather one stretches out too much.


I finished the main truss of the front end by adding some 1/2 dia. rod.
Then made a set of bottom rockers, this is a trailing link design, installed some pivot bushings.


The "L" shaped rocker allows for a brake drum anchor.


Modified and fit the leaf spring pack. Also fit in some fork stops so the front end won't hit the gas tank when it is built.

Made up some adjustable link rods to tie the rockers to the leaf spring.
Snugged and aligned everything and gave it a test. I am quite pleased with the operation, just the right amount of spring tension and rocker travel.


[

[whozawhat]

It has been a very hot summer so far. So I have not done any more work on the Flyer, its a winter peroject anyway.

But I have been driving the s#!t out of Bugsplat. Last weekend I popped the top off and put on some miles.

Stopped for a thirsty break and took a few topless photos.




Then I did some work to my hood ornament. I cleaned up the casting flash, filed some material off to fit the base a little tighter, then drilled and threaded the attach hole.


I reshaped the nose to be a little more like an eagle's beak, here you can see the new shape versus the original.


Also had to shorten the base piece to fit between the bolt heads on the hood. Then also flattened the base profile to work with my hood as I don't run the original trim strip down the center of the hood.



Then made a gasket to fit under the base, added some black paint to the ornament and bolted it on.

[whozawhat]

While looking for a couple of suitable locations for a photo shoot I took these tester shots.

[whozawhat]

Summer has been good which means I have riding or driving my already completed vehicles and have not been in the shop very much.
I have managed to get a little done just recently as I start to get back to work on the Flyer.

I took two handle bars and cut them and rearranged the pieces to make the shape I wanted.

Then made a mount tab for the headlight and welded it on.

I like the light.

Fit the tabs to hold the front fender, and yes it clears the tire and the leaf spring when at full travel.

Modified the rear fender stay to clear the belt drive pulley, and fit the rear fender in place.

also installed a wide crank kit and installed my original Worksman sprocket slightly modified to fit the sprocket adapter, I won't have to pedal as hard now. LOL

here it sits today

[whozawhat]

did some more on the Flyer

made a new seat post to move me back a little


welded frame tabs for a carry rack and center stand


made a center stand



hanger hook for the center stand was made out of a torsion leaf spring from a Beetle front end.


stand works well


supports me pedaling when stationary so I can start the bike


and swings up nicely for transport

[whozawhat]

Put together a video slideshow of the building of Bugsplat.
So if you just spent a bunch of time reading this thread you can now get it replayed in a condensed version in just 17 minutes.

Click this Bugsplat on Youtube

[whozawhat]

Today I made a simple carry rack for the Maytag Flyer

[whozawhat]

I have been gathering parts and making mounts for the engine and jackshaft installation on the Flyer. I will post up some pics of the assembled parts, they make more sense that way.

I also decided the curved seat post didn't look right so I changed it back to a straight post. Then added another pair of braces to the front of the carry rack, just because it looked like it needed them. Then at Unkl Ian's suggestion I added some rivets to give it a more authentic period look.

[whozawhat]

Here is a progress update on the Flyer.
I went to a vintage motorcycle swap meet a couple of weeks ago with Unkl Ian and picked up a choke control lever from an old Brit motorcycle while we were there.
I will use it for a throttle control.
A few days later I located some old hand levers and coke bottle grips, one for brake and one for a clutch on the primary drive.


Figured out some mounts for an old MC fire extinguisher.


Got a jack shaft machined to fit my jackshaft housing. Now I can align things and weld the mounts in place.


The housing is the end caps off of an electric motor, I retained the original bearings inside. The shaft will get shortened as will the engine crankshaft once the pulleys and belt alignment is figured out. The housing will also get some copper plumbing added later to give it a look.



I will run the magneto with the fan section intact, the wide crank kit gives me the needed clearance.


Everything aligned and welded up.





Here is how it sits today.

[whozawhat]

It was a nice Fall day on Sunday and I got the car out for a drive with my antique video camera

BUGSPLAT goes for a drive

[whozawhat]

I installed my new tires and then decided that I did not like the fenders that I was using all that much.

A DELUXE ride like the Maytag Flyer required something with a little more style.

So a little shopping found me these. And an afternoon in the shop got them fit into place.

I just need to weld up the old unused holes.






I like them!

[whozawhat]

Todays project was to make a vintage style toolbox for the Flyer.
After making some paper templates and then cutting some 18 ga. metal I got it tacked together.

all welded and cleaned up.

Made a wire edged access door with brass thumbscrews.

Finished the box, made the mounts and fit it in place.


I now also have the primary drive pulleys, still have to make the drive pulley for the final flat belt. Then I can make the primary drive cover.
More next time I have a couple hours in the shop.

[whozawhat]

Today was a nice and unseasonably warm day so I went out in Bugsplat for a late fall cruise.

Yesterday was not as nice and I did a little work to the Flyer.

First I stretched out the handlebars that I had cut shorter a few weeks ago.



I had looked at them long enough to decide that they needed to be longer and they need a crossbar, well they still need the crossbar when I get some tube the proper size.

Then I started some poster board oragami, trying different gas tank designs.

The first was just a quick fold up in frame idea.



You can see that the front end requires the gas tank to stop short of the front of the frame or else they would hit when the steering is turned hard.



I then tried out an over frame style tank that would be made out of two seperate sides.



I liked its possibilities but it was too big for the size of the engine.

So I decided to try a tank that was one piece and fit under the top tube.
It had a tunnel on the bottom so it could drop down over the lower tube.
This gave a deeper tank but it would not fit into place nicely even if I cut the tunnel from bottom to top it still would not "roll" into place.



At this point I made a template for a filler piece to close in the frame in front of the gastank.



Then it was back to the original idea of a purely in frame tank. I made a poster board mockup, now I need to make a wooden buck to do some hammerforming.



I had planned on using this old veterinary needle,

once stripped of chrome it is brass, to make a hand operated oil pump similar to this one.


Instead I used a pump from an old brass blow torch to create a faux oil pump plunger. I will fit this into the "oil tank" section of the fuel tank I also used a small "Unimat" lathe to modify some plumbing fittings into gas cap and filler neck parts.



Then the parts were suspended in ammonia vapor overnight to give them some patina.



This morning they looked like this.

[whozawhat]

Well this weekend was very similar to the last one except I took my Harley out for a late fall ride on one day and worked on the Flyer on the next day.

I picked up a piece of tube and made a cross bar for the handlebars, redesigned the gastank, fork stops, also made up some brass clamps for hanging the tank in the frame.



I decided I did not like the frame filler in front of the gastank.
I compromised the turning radius and the gastank design to make them all work together without using a short gastank and a frame filler piece like I had initially planned.

I used the rear spring mount bolts as an anchor for the stops which contact a tab welded to the frame under the steering neck.



They allow for clearance between the forks and the redesigned tank.



The fork stops and new tank design means no filler piece.



Once the glue dries on this block of laminated wood I will carve it into a gastank buck.

[whozawhat]

During the week I found an idler pulley that would work for my primary drive.

So I made up a mount and spring loaded tensioner to hold it.
I still need to fit the cable which will retract the idler allowing the belt to slip.

The mount also has tabs to hold a primary cover which is still in the planning stage.



My rear reflector arrived this week.



And so did my chainguard.
I was not to thrilled with this chainguard that I had.



So I found this one which is much more suitable for the Flyer.



Then this weekend, as the glue had set on the stack of boards, I marked out the first cut lines for the top gastank panel and started cutting.



Next it was time to router the edge for a nice radius.
I do not want square edges on this tank so it takes a little more work.



Marked the locations of the all the holes in the top and used them to hold a piece of 18 ga. which was cut about 5/8 " oversize.
It will get trimmed later.



The 18 ga. was sandwiched to the top of the form with another piece of wood to hold it tight while hammerforming it around the radius.



After hammering the top panel to its first flat shape. The top will get curved to fit the frame later.



The bottom of the form block was now trimmed and routered for the bottom tank panel, which was formed the same way as the top. It is slightly shorter than the top because it does not have to bend to follow the frame top tube.

First step in the top and bottom panels is complete.



The form block was then cut to fit the profile of the frame top tube and is held with the brass straps that were made awhile ago.





It still needs a little more fitting , but it will stay like this untill a few other details are sorted out.

More next time.

[whozawhat]

I did not accomplish much with the Flyer this weekend, just a little finishing up of the primary belt tensioner and cable retract system. It now works by the hand lever.

The white nylon block does not touch the belt when it is under tension from the idler, it has about 2mm clearance at this point but the nylon can be shaved if more clearance is needed.

When hand lever is squeezed the cable pulls the tensioner to retract and the looser belt wants to assume a circle shape but it can only move outwards as far as the guide will allow.
This causes the excess slack in the belt to be trapped in between the guide and the idler thus forcing the slack towards the pulleys and allowing it to slip.
I hope. it seems to work well by hand after trying a couple of different v-belts. We shall see what adjustments are required once gasoline is added to the mix.