Gas, tires, oil.

I finally got the fenders mounted, as you can see, they need to be buffed out, but the wet sanding with 1500 grit took care of the orange peel and dirt in the clear coat. As you can see from the multimeter sitting on the seat I’ve started on the wiring.

I stripped back the insulation, hooked up the meter and started flipping switches on the handle bar controls (I know, I could have just taken them apart looked at where the wires lead). Next I mapped out the key switch the same way.

I am trying to get the trike running within the next 2 weeks, so of course I started working on something that has nothing to do with it running. But any progress is good. I unpacked the fender supports (they have been wrapped in a wool blanket for the last 2 years). I set them in place and polished some 5/16 stainless carriage bolts to mount them to the rear frame.

The supports are made from some 3/4″ x 1 1/2″ x 16ga. tubing made for railings. I figured that the half-round edges would make them look streamlined. I formed the tapered ends by cutting out a wedge with a sawsall and bending the edge around, tacking with the mig as I bent it.
The fenders had also been packed up since the move.

When unpacked they looked just as craptactular as I remembered. When I put the final clear coat on, the temperature wasn’t right, it was a very cold Montana night, and I had a propane heater going full blast so one side was too hot and the other side was too cold. So the finish was a little dry. To top it off, the clothes dryer must have come on or something, because I suddenly got a ton of lint stuck to the surface.

Rather than repaint, I decided to see if I could buff them out. First I wet sanded them with 1500 grit paper. Then I buffed them out and waxed them. They don’t look too bad. I’ll show them buffed and mounted next.

One of the next steps on my trike will be to hook up the oil lines. I snapped a pic while I was disassembling it so I could see how they hook up.

I’ve got the tank remounted, now I just need to hook up the lines.

When I bought my trike, the rear uprights that supported the bed were welded to the frame. Unfortunatly, this trapped the rear axle in the frame. I wanted the new supports to be removable. What I did was find some 3/8″-16 coupling nuts that barely fit inside the 1″ tubing that made up the frame. I tapped them in place with a hammer and then welded around them. This allowed me to bolt on the uprights.

In the front I welded the cross piece to the frame, but did the same trick with coupling nuts. The cross piece is 1″ square (the rear fender brackets will bolt to it), so I needed a bigger coupling nut (1/2″).

So here’s a shot of the whole bed frame:

I’ll probably just make a flat bed with some boards, maybe redwood.

I needed some bolts to attach the brake master cylinder bracket to my trike project. I like using stainless instead of chrome because I’ve had to replace lots of rusted chrome. I start with an ordinary sst bolt.

First I use the side of a grinding wheel to remove the raised letters.

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The front fender on my trike was the stock front found on most narrow glides. The chrome bracket was rusted and the rivets were loose. I bead blasted the bracket and replaced the rivets with plug welds. I also welded up the gap between the bractet and the fender, making it look one-piece.

Some Dupont sand-n-fill primer and some acrylic spot putty brought it to this point (you can also see where I was working on smoothing the neck on the frame). Now its just a lot of block sanding, repriming, spot putty, repeat until perfect. After all, it going to be black. For those who don’t know, perfect means that when you look across it, in bright sunlight, with your eye down near the surface, you cannot see any waves, ripples or other imperfections. The darker the color and the better the shine, the more mistakes show.

One of the brackets on the trike that I marbleized has a light spot on it, the black bottom coat doesn’t cover the primer.

So I thought I would kill 2 birds with one stone and touch it up and throw some paint on something for the “Name that tool” contest winner. I decided to paint one of those AOL metal CD cases (I figure, it’s recycling, its potentially useful and it’ll be cheap to ship). First off I had to see the current finish would be removed by enamel reducer.

It didn’t lift or smudge, so I’m just going to scuff it up. Next time, I’ll show the steps in using House of Kolor Marbleizing with a urethane clear.

With wrench (for bolts) and gas wrench (for the PO’s welds) I stripped the trike down to the bare frame.

I ground the frame tubes smooth where the seat and rear platform had mounted. Spray-on paint stripper and a cup brush on the grinder got rid of the old paint.

Nowhere to go but back together. Next time, primer and spot putty.

Here is what my trike looked like before I started to redo it (about 3 years ago). I had bought it off of ebay and just rode it as is for a couple years. I decided to sell it and was just going to do some cosmetic stuff first. It turned into a complete frame-off and House of Kolor paintjob. It has a ‘76 ironhead sportster motor, ‘81 lowrider front end (narrow glide), a servicar rear axle (with hydraulic brakes) and a custom frame.

It ran and drove OK, but it just looked generally crappy.
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