Sidecar Jon's Totally Accurate Guide To Buying A Second Hand Vehicle And Understanding The Jargon

Ok, now we have all bought a second hand vehicle at some point or other, and most of us have at some time or other felt that perhaps the seller's description was less than accurate- I know it's happened to me.
So, to help the unsuspecting buyer out, here is my own breakdown of what is ACTUALLY meant buy the various terms used in a seller's description.
Do please bear in mind that this is meant to be a tongue in cheek breakdown, although some may well ring true!

1) Mint Condition = Has a large hole in it
2) 1 careful owner = plus twenty mechanical luddites
3) Lady owner = owned by Tank Girl
4) Low Mileage = Doesn't work very often
5) Reluctant sale = Overpriced
6) Classic = Old and overpriced
7) Rare Classic = So dreadful no one bought this vehicle when it was in production
8) Exotic Classic = No one has ever heard of it, parts non existant
9) Few parts needed to complete = Parts unobtainable
10) Barn find = abandoned due to being worn out at least a quarter of a century ago, unlikely to have    improved in the interim.
11) Minor problems = everything is worn out
12) One owner from new = been trying to get rid of this heap for years, no takers
13) Few jobs to complete = engine is in that box, and that one, oh and those three
14) Good working order = may wheeze it's way to your home if you're lucky before expiring on the drive
15) Easy fix = just throw it in a skip
16) Very original = Still running on the original oil, filters, brakes and tires it had 25 years and         300'000 miles ago
17) No leaks = no oil or other fluids
18) Tastefully customised = Elton John would consider it to be too ostentatious
19) Radical Custom = lethal deathtrap
20) Fortune spent = Total money pit, still doesn't work
21) All receipts from new = partner just found out how much has REALLY been spent on it, sexual    favours now withdrawn until vehicle sold (nb motivated buyer, chance for a bargain)
22) Bereavement sale = Recently crashed in a big way
23) Full service history = pre sale inspection stamp from 30'000 miles ago
24) Quick sale needed = stolen
25) Quick sale needed, can deliver = Van/trailer it was parked on also stolen
26) Cheap price if bought today = Stolen, police visit iminant
27) Good runner = you could run faster than this dog
28) Lively handling = completely bloody lethal
29) Owner Maintained = Bodged
30) Dealer maintained = bodged at great expense
31) Small marks consistant with age = Ex banger racer
32) Low mileage for year = higher mileage and the starship Enterprise
33) Usual minor problems associated with this model = Completely knackered and held together with  gaffer tape
34) Minor rust spots = Held together by the tin worms holding hands and prayer

BSA Spanner Of Mystery

Last weekend whilst scouring my local car boot sale for old tools to turn into new scraptures, I came across this lovely BSA spanner.

Now, I only use poor quality or damaged tools for my sculptures and scraptures, I don't like to use perfectly good and useable items in much the same way I'd never use good classic vehicle parts for my artwork, but I had to bring this home as it picqued my curiosity.

The reason for my curiosity is the unusual design, if you look closely at the jaws they are not uniform across their width, one side is half hex, half rounded and the other is even more unusual being two distinctly different sizes next to each other.

Is it a combination spanner for a bicycle?, it is, after all very small as spanners go, but it is also rather more sturdy than other bicycle spanners I have used 

Is it intended for motorcycle use?, perhaps the square end is for the adjustment of spokes, although it seems quite large for that or maybe it's intended for use when setting up valve clearances?, not having owned or worked on any BSA motorcycles i'm not familiar of the valve adjustment and locknut setup used.

I'm really hoping someone will be able to enlighten me as it's become one of those minor puzzles that keeps eating at your mind, I really want to find the answer!

One of my friends has added to the possibilities by pointing out that it looks similar to a brake drum adjusting tool (thanks for that, Mark), and as BSA did build cars as well, perhaps that is the answer?

Pictorial Diary Of A Greyhound

Charlie's Week In Pictures

Greyhounds are traditionally  noted for their elegance, grace and energy, the reality can be very different from the perceived ideal!

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

 Saturday

 Sunday

Setting up a Sidecar Part two, Riding The Bugger Without Dying!

Leading on from my last blog entry about setting up a sidecar for the first time, here are some observations about actually riding the bucking beast that you have created.
bear in mind that I live in the uk, where we know that driving on the right is wrong and left is right, and therefore our sidecars are mounted on the left so some of my observations need to be reversed for those in the ex colonies  of America etc

Due to the nature of a sidecar it will, of course, handle completely differently from either a car or solo motorcycle, you have to learn a whole new set of skills, so what should you expect?

Steering Wobble
When you pull away, you will almost definitely notice a degree of head shaking or wobble around about 15mph which smooths out at about twenty (this varies from one outfit to another)
This is absolutely normal, if it doesn't dissipate above about twenty mph something needs adjusting or is broken or just plain worn out.
An outfit that doesn't exhibit this behaviour is rare indeed!
There are several reasons for this behaviour, putting it simply, you have a weight on one side of the bike which isn't exactly parallel (it is slightly angled in toward the bike) so as you pull away its dragging the bike at first, then wanting to move towards it as it gains momentum
(this is an oversimplification,but is essentially whats going on)
Also, the angle of the headstock and forks is not intended to steer in an upright position at anything more than walking pace, combine that with the gyroscope between the bottom of the fork legs (or the 'wheel' as it is sometimes known) and you experience a shaking effective.
other factors that can affect this include the setting for toe in, lead, trail, tyre pressures, front fork type and the amount of weight in the sidecar.

This effect is usually less noticeable with leading link front suspension, steering dampers can help minimise it too, as will a fork brace on telescopic forks.
I've never found it necessary to fit a steering damper myself, many people do, but I've always felt that if you get the thing set up right, it really shouldn't need it.
A well set up outfit will be perfectly steady at anything above twenty mph and absolutely rock steady at motorway speeds, even with one hand on the bars only.

Weight
A heavier sidecar is in some respects easier to learn with than a light one simply because it will be less inclined to lift off the ground on bends, if you have a light weight sidecar, its a good idea to add some ballast such as a heavy bag of sand, it'll be a lot easier to steer

Steering Round Bends
Left Handers
This is perhaps one of the hardest things to get used to if you are used to a solo machine.
Forget all that you have learned about leaning into the bend etc 'cos it isn't going to work with a sidecar and screaming passenger on one side!
With a sidecar you need to set up carefully for a bend, if it's a left hander (or right in strange foreign places) you need to smoothly accelerate, forcing the bike to prescribe an arc around the sidecar.
Depending on how heavy your sidecar is, failing to do so can mean that the whole outfit keeps going straight ahead, the front wheel skipping and handlebars twitching as they fight the weight of the sidecar.
Conversely, if you accelerate too hard around the chair, or turn the bars too sharply to the left, the sidecar wheel will lift clear of the ground, panic and open the throttle more, or steer harder and it is possible to flip the outfit!
Experienced sidecar riders actually lift the sidecar on purpose (its fun when you know what you're doing, trust me), but then, sidecar riders are, at best, eccentric, and worst completely barking mad- you have been warned, there are no exceptions!
If you have an entirely independent brake that ONLY works on the sidecar, you can also use this lightly on left handers to gain the same result as accelerating the bike.

Right Handers
Going into right handers is , unsurprisingly, the opposite, you brake GENTLY as you go round (again, counter intuitive to what you would do on a solo machine) so that the unbraked weight of the sidecar encourages it to run around the bike.
Brake too hard and the whole thing will tip onto it's nose

Braking
It's important to be smooth with your braking technique, braking too sharply can induce a steering weave, additionally, if you brake too hard with the front brake, the outfit can lift the rear of the bike, leaving it balancing on just the sidecar and front wheel, which won't be pointing in the same direction, luck determines what happens next, it isn't a good situation to find yourself in!
Allow extra stopping time!,
you are asking your brakes to stop a lot more mass than they had to do before you added that sidecar and brakes are only as good as the tyres, something a lot of people tend to forget when they upgrade their brakes.
 Fitting six pot brake callipers to a bike with a skinny 21 inch wheel and small contact patch with the road  won't improve it's stopping distance, it will just lock the front wheel up with less effort due to co efficient of friction (or stiction as it's more commonly called)
speaking of brake upgrades, while not essential, a sidecar brake will improve braking efficiency far more than upgrading the bikes brakes (unless you are fitting wider wheels/tyres as well)

the key to all this is patience and smoothness, you need to learn a smooth riding style, braking early, accelerating smoothly, not yanking hard on the handlebars, learn how to do it right and you will LOVE sidecars, there will be a period of scaring yourself at some point, for sure, but once you have it mastered you'll be damn glad that you did

Setting Up a Sidecar or 'How to Avoid Feelings of Terror and Stained Underwear'

Sidecars, I love sidecar outfits, they're fun, they don't fall over on the ice, you can bring lots of crap with you and they're fun.
yes, I know I mentioned that they're fun twice, but they're so much fun it was worth mentioning twice!
ah, but they're only fun if they're set up right, if not, they can be bloody terrifying and downright dangerous, you are, after all, adding a lump of weight which works much like a pendulum onto the side of a machine that was never designed to have something extra on the side!

Of course, that observation is a huge generalisation, back in ye goode olde dayes many bikes came with lugs already attached to the frames for sidecar use, manufacturers such as Panther (oh how I would LOVE to own a Panther model 100 or 120) even supplied their bikes with forks that could be reversed to provide different amounts of trail for solo or sidecar use (more about the importance of trail in a bit!)

Ok, so how do you set up a sidecar correctly?, honestly, there is no single definitive answer in terms of settings, there are too many factors involved, tyres, the bike , the size of the sidecar, its intended purpose, weight, geometry and personal choice to name a few.
What I hope to do with this post is give a few pointers for the benefit of those starting out, tell you what has worked for me (which may not work for you, personal preference again) and address some of those grey areas
What I am NOT doing here is attempting to write the definitive 'how to' guide for sidecaring.

choosing a bike and sidecar that compliment each other
So, let's start with the basics then, firstly, choosing a bike and sidecar that compliment each other.
In essence you are adding a pendulum to the side of your bike, you are expecting your bike to cope with the extra, uneven weight and depending on your choices, it will either do it well, or ruin the bike you are using and send you to the lunatic asylum! (one such place being the kawasaki GT550/750 owners site on Facebook!)

It's pretty obvious that buying a huge four seater sidecar and expecting it to work well attached to a 250cc bike is not going to work, the bike won't be able to pull it, the frame wont cope with the extra weight, nor will the suspension, the clutch or the steering.

What a lot of people don't consider is that having a sidecar that is too light and fitting it to a large capacity bike is also very bad.

For instance, I have seen a lot of big cruisers like Road Kings, Valkyries etc mated up to Velorex sidecars or similar.
For those that don't know, Velorex sidecars are Czechoslovakian made lightweight sidecars that were designed for small capacity lightweight machines, and were often sold mated to Jawa motorcycles from the factory.

why is it a bad mix?, well, that sidecar was built to be light and designed to be used with a small capacity, low powered machine (less than twenty hp) , now, the bike is going to be putting a lot of force and weight against the sidecar, especially when turning, a bike designed to cope with that little Jawa is simply too flimsy to bear the weight of a fully loaded goldwing.
 The stub axle is too weak, the wheel bearings aren't really up to it, the frame itself is going to flex, the tyre is disproportionately skinny and the suspension on the sidecar wont cope well to say the least.
Plus, it's going to lift off the ground with the smallest effort when the bike pulls against it (more of that tomorrow)
yes, there are people who will point out that they have managed just fine for years with such a setup, but they aren't getting the best experience they can, and there's a very good chance that it will fail badly at some point (I managed to bend the stub axle on a velorex when it was fitted to a Honda 500, just to put things in perspective, and it wasn't being ridden particularly hard, either)

So, think about what your needs are, then pick a bike that will suit, pretty much any bike can be used for sidecaring, some are better or easier to adapt than others and a sidecar to match.
As a rule of thumb, the bigger and heavier the bike, the bigger and heavier the sidecar)

When selecting a bike, torque is more important than outright power, a peaky engine makes for hard work with the added weight of a sidecar so a highly tuned engine with little low or mid range isn't the best idea.
the easiest bike to attach a sidecar too generally speaking is one with a traditional full perimeter frame rather than one that uses the engine as a stressed member (it can be done with a stressed member frame, but it is more work, I've never been a fan of making unnecessary work for myself!)

Chain, Belt or Shaft?
There are advantages and disadvantages to each, I prefer shaft drive, it's more robust, doesn't need regular adjustment and needs less maintenance in general, the disadvantage is that it is more expensive to alter the gearing (it is a good idea but not essential to lower the gearing on most bikes by 10 percent or more depending on size and engine size etc to allow for the extra weight).
if the bike has wire spoked wheels this becomes easier as the wheel can simply be rebuilt with a smaller rim.
Chain, very easy to play with final gearing by swapping cogs, however it is getting a harder life with the extra weight and the chains and sprockets will need replacing more regularly than on a standard machine.
belts, much the same as chains, but it is often harder to obtain different sized belt sprockets.
Both chain and belts will need regular adjustments to allow for stretch too, which means you are altering the relationship between the sidecar wheel and rear wheel of a bike, ideally something that you don't want to do once you have a set up that works for you.

Nailing It All Together And Not Killing Yourself!
Ok, so you now have your dream bike and sidecar, but you need to attach them to each other in a way that will be safe to use and fun to ride.
the things you need to understand to get the geometry right are lead, lean out and toe in, for each of these I will list a good starting point, you will need to make many adjustments to find what suits you well.
The points where you mount the sidecar to the bike are very important too, get it wrong and you will have a very bendy outfit as the sidecar and bike flex with each other, get it right and it will be nice and rigid.
If you are an impatient person, go away, find someone who is calm, patient and obsessive and get them to set it up, there is a lot of trial and error involved, and you can't hurry the process!
It is much, much easier to do the initial setup up with two people.
The key is to set it up loosely then make the adjustments to the various angles etc, tighten it up, ride the bugger, scream in terror, return to garage, re adjust and repeat until the screaming is no longer apparent

Mounting Points 
The most common method is to use a four mounting point system, the ideal places are as close to the headstock as possible , near the front lower engine mount, near the swinging arm mount and near the rear suspension mount (assuming your bike has dual rear shock absorbers)
The reasons for this are that it spreads the mounts and stresses created over the widest practical area which helps keep it nice and rigid and minimises strain on the bike frame plus these are all areas where the bike frame is braced across it's width, by attaching the sidecar at these points, the cornering stresses generated are transferred to both sides of the motorcycles frame rather than just the nearside.
Better engineering, stronger setup, less flex
people that have particularly large outfits often add a third lower mounting, again, this helps disperse the stresses involved.
It is also possible to use a three point mounting, but this is generally only ever seen on smaller, lighter machines (and a few vintage set ups)

The lower mounts take the majority of the weight, the upper mounts provide triangulation and prevent the bike and sidecar from flexing toward and away from each other.
Ideally  at least one, but ideally both of the lower mounting arms should be rigidly mounted to either the sidecar frame or the bike frame.
If you use clamps to attach all the arms at both the motorcycle and sidecar ends of each arm, the whole thing can flex like a parallelogram, allowing the bike and sidecar to move in relation to each other-very nasty and potentially lethal!

Toe In
This refers to the amount that the sidecar wheel is angled towards the bike, get it too tight and the tyres will scrub and wear out rapidly, with negative toe in (toe out), the sidecar is pulling away from the bike constantly.
either can cause steering wobbles
The way to measure it is to put two parallel lines on your garage floor, line the bike up so that both wheels follow the first line (make sure bikes wheels are perfectly in line with each other) and the wheel of the sidecar follows the second
using a plumb line or similar, make a mark on the first  line that  you drew that lines up with each spindle on the motorcycle.
from these points, draw two lines that are at 90 degrees to the first line you made so they meet the second line that you drew, creating a parallelogram.
Now, measure the length of the two lines that go from the line under the bike to the line under the sidecar.
the front one should be 20-40 mm less than the rear as a starting point.
This is your toe in measurement

Lead
lead refers to the amount that the sidecar spindle is ahead of the rear wheel spindle, that diagram you just drew on the floor come in hand again here, with a mark on the ground directly below the sidecar and rear wheel spindles it is relatively simple to measure , roughly 230 mm is a good place to start.

Lean Out
this refers to the amount that the bike leans away from the sidecar (the sidecar should be perfectly level when viewed from front or back)
This is generally measure using a line down from the centre of the headstock to the floor, where it meets the floor should be about 25 mm outside of the line that the bike wheels are sitting on.
On a personal note, I have never really felt comfortable with lean out and have always managed just fine with the bike sat upright.

As I mentioned, the above is just a guide, and should provide you a good place to start when setting up for the first time, there will be plenty of trial and error until you find a set up that works well for you.

Suspension Set Up
Now you have your lovely bike n sidecar set up to perfection, you also need to consider uprating your suspension to deal with the additional weight.(the heavier your setup, the more important this becomes)
In an ideal world, this would involve smaller wheels which utilise car tyres, lowered rear suspension with stronger springs and hub centre steering.
This is, for many, prohibitively expensive and compromises have to be made.
at the least, it is a good idea to notch the suspension up to a harder setting, if you are using telescopic  forks without any in built adjustment then you should at least get heavier duty springs, ideally have the forks re machined in terms of damping too.
A good suspension specialist such as Hagon Sock Absorbers will be able to advise you on what would be best suited if you give them details of the vehicles weight etc

Which Front Forks?

Telescopic
Nearly all modern bikes come with telescopic front forks, these can be used perfectly well in most cases (although you wouldn't want to go back to them if you have ever used either leading link or hub centre steering)
The advantages are that you probably already have a set on your bike, and it's relatively cheap to adjust the springing and rebound to allow for the added weight of the sidecar.
The disadvantages are that they provide relatively heavy steering, dive when braking (brake too hard and you can cause the rear wheel to lift, leaving the outfit teetering on the front and sidecar wheels ) are more prone to head shake and will try to flex or walk around each other when turning causing shakes.
The effect of walking can be counteracted to a degree by the addition of a fork brace and the heavy feel of the steering can also be aided by the use of wider handlebars giving more leverage.

Raked Yokes (for telescopic forks)
Buying a set of slab yokes from an engineer (or making them) will help with those telescopic forks, having them made with six or seven degrees of inbuilt rake (not strictly an accurate description, but it will suffice) will give more trail and lighten the steering noticeably, also, the yokes will be stiffer than the original items, helping keep everything taught.
They are a good compromise if you can't afford or don't want a leading link front end

Leading Link or Earles Type Forks
This is like adding power steering to your outfit!
A good set of these will give you more trail in the steering (trail is worked out by a line in line with the angle of the headstock to the ground and a vertical line from the front wheel spindle to the ground, the difference between the two at the point they meet the ground is the trail) which makes the steering much lighter, in addition to this they do not suffer from fork dive under heavy braking, in fact some lift under slightly braking, which can take a little getting used to!
Also, because of the design, there is no fork walking that you can experience with telescopic forks, making the steering feel much more stable.
They also allow for the fitting of a wider front tyre, again adding steering and stability
The disadvantage is price, typically a new professionally manufactured set by a company such as Unit Sidecars will cost well over a thousand pounds

Hub Centre Steering
Holy grail or overkill?
look at the front suspension of a naked Reliant Robin (phwoooaaarr, sexy, isn't it?), this is about the simplest hub centre steering setup you will find.
It provides very neutral steering and very little reaction under braking and like leading link forks it will allow the fitting of a much wider front wheel if desired.
It is even better than leading link suspension because the square part of the tyre (always use square profile tyres on the front of an outfit!) is always flat on the ground
I am not convinced that the extra complexity and cost involved compared to a leading link set up is really worth while.
Hub centre steering recquires a lot of fine adjustments to set up, and you will almost certainly need to alter the bikes frame to allow for its fitting.
It is also very, very expensive!

Upgrading The Brakes
should you upgrade the brakes?, the answer would seem obvious, you are adding more weight, therefore you need more brakes.
It's not quite so simple, your braking is only going to be as efficient as your tyres, not to get into the physics of it too far, you need to consider the co efficient of friction or 'stiction' as it's also known.
Your standard bike tyre has a relatively small contact patch on the road, the bigger the braking force, the more likely that the  tyre will simply slide on the road rather than grip, a sliding tyre will not slow down as fast as one that is gripping effectively.
Or, to put it another, way, put a huge brake on a wheel without fitting a wider tyre and it will simply lock up quicker rather than stopping faster!
Adding a sidecar brake is a good although not essential idea, and of course, if you can afford wider wheels with wider tyres, then it makes perfect sense to upgrade the brakes as well

Ok, anyone still awake?, you there at the back, stop snoring!
Tomorrow, riding the bugger, what you can expect and why

Another Scrapture Finished

Now I have three ready to sell, but I want to make just a few more before I start advertising, maybe something colourful to round things out a little.
I will be constructing something significantly bigger in late august, something FIERCE!
In the meantime, here is a completed 'bird'
be careful, its beak is sharp!

Scraptues 'n' Sculptures, 'Gripper' Is Finished

Well, ripper is finished, and will getting advertised on etsy soon, but before he does, I want to make a few more so I have mor of a variety to show, some of them will be far more colourful, some will have no paint at all.
At this point I want to gauge people's reactions, see what is most popular because although I love making these, the intention is to sell them, so I can't just make every one to please myself!

Gripper is about as simple as it gets, just four bolts, an old adjustable spanner and some paint went into it's construction but sometimes simple can be the best way.

Sculptures n Scraptures, 'The mechanic' , A Helpful Demon, Finished

'The Mechanic' is finished,and after long consideration I decided to paint it.
Having done so, I'm pleased with the results, still not sure whether it looks better painted or in bare metal, I like it both ways.
I guess I will see what other people think when I put it up for sale on etsy!
I did enjoy making it, and thats what really counts, of course.
I should  thank my wonderful wife, kasia for inadvertently providing my inspiration for this scrapture.
She has recently been doing a lot of work on liminal entities, or, for want of a more precise description, 'demons' in ancient Egypt as part of the Demon Things-ancient Egyptian Demonology Project .
rather than me trying to explain what it's all about, why don't you click on the link and go and have a look?
She put the idea of helpful demonic entities in my head, and being a mechanic , a demon that would provide a few extra spanners when needed seemed like a good idea!

Baghdad By The Bay, Observations about San Francisco by Herb Caen

I've published a few posts about the work I've been doing with my scraptures over the last few days, and I felt like a change.
I haven't written much about San Francisco in a while, but it's always there, in my thoughts, the place that keeps drawing me back.

With that in mind, I thought I'd share this beautiful book with you, I was lucky enough to find it in Green Apple Books in San Francisco when we were there for a visit in the springtime.
It's a first edition, published in 1949- a rare gem for those who lovers of San Francisco and books about it.
Such a well written book, beautifully illustrated by Howard Brodie, I count myself lucky indeed to have an original copy

For those who haven't been lucky enough to come across the name before, Herb Caen was a journalist who was, like us, deeply in love with San Francisco, the place and the people and wrote about his thoughts and observations with a very unique style for more than five decades.
His work is an absolute pleasure to read and gives a real insight into what makes San Francisco so special.

If you click on the link embedded in his name, you will find many articles written by or about him, click here on 'SF Gate' and the link will take you to his columns published by SF Gate over the years.
Go on, spend a half hour or so reading some of his quotes and observations, even if you have never visited San Francisco you can't fail to be hooked by Caen's style and enthusiasm for his subject matter!

New Scraptures 4, 'Gripper'

This little scrapyard critter is called 'Gripper' and is the simplest scrapture I have made recently, nothing more than an old adjustable spanner and four bolts, this one definitely needs paint to finish it before going to Etsy

New Scraptures 3, Lizard or Dragon?

When I started work on this one, I had it in mind to create a dragon, the thing is that when I got it as far as you see in this picture, I rather liked it as it is.
I'm still undecided as to whether I should add wings or not, anybody want to give me their opinion?

It was constructed from a damaged wheel brace, some tent pegs and the head of a paint scraper

New Scrapture 2 'Prehistoric Bird'

This one  reminds me vaguely of a pre historic carnivorous bird, made from a pair of spanners and some broken tin snips.
To be painted then hopefully sold on Etsy

New Scraptures 1, 'The Mechanic'- A Helpful Demon!

I've been busy playing with the welder and the grinder over the last few days, more scraptures to follow in the next few posts.

This guy I call 'The Mechanic', the reason why is that all mechanics, myself included, have wished at some point or another that we had spanners permanently at our finger tips and AT LEAST one extra arm, well, this little helpful 'demon' seems to evoke that need quite nicely!
We have also all worn that same confused expression too!

I was thinking of leaving this one unpainted, but I think the heat imprint on its head from the welding process detracts from it's face too much, so the paints will be coming out at some point soon to finish it off.
I am also toying with the idea of mounting a holder for a night light candle behind his head, I would be interested to hear other people's thoughts about that

This one is made from a 1964 Plymouth Valiant brake drum, a pair of garden shears, a hinge, a bolt and three spanners.

Oh, for anyone who might cringe at the idea of old and hard to come by classic car parts being used in this way, the drum was rusted out inside and out of shape to the point that it was beyond salvaging for it's intended purpose (the other parts were all damaged before work started too)

'Thunderbolt', the LDV Convoy Minibus, Ownership and Upgrades

Meet 'Thunderbolt', my recently acquired LDV Convoy long wheelbase minibus.
Having looked around in an idle sort of way for a van to use to bring home motorcycles and scrap for scraptures whilst also being comfortable enough to use as family transport, I came across this gem on an internet website.
when I saw she was a retiring scout van, that really made the decision to buy a certainty, having been a cub scout leader for several years, I really liked the idea of contributing to scouting by buying this old bus

She was cheap, she is simple, she is big, she has her issues too!
This is a '97 model which means a nice, reliable pug engine without the electronic gizmos, gadgets and crap that infest the later models with Ford (Fix Or Repair Daily) duratorq engines( although i am told the ford 'banana' engine was ok too), so cheap to maintain, reliable and relatively cheap to fix if anything breaks.
First thing I fixed was the horn, because as everyone knows, the scout motto is 'beep repaired' (sorry, sometimes I just can't help myself)
Next, to go through all the common issues associated with these (which are relatively few)
If you are thinking of buying one, beware rust (particularly in the footwells and under the mats in the cabin), water leaks around the bottom of the windshield, windscreen wipers and holes left open to allow for easy left/right hand drive conversion and worn kingpins (grease regularly or tear your hair out in frustration replacing them, the choice is yours)
This one did indeed have the traditional soggy mat syndrome due to the aforementioned leaks, but it hasn't been doing it long enough to need a vast amount of welding, happily.
Kingpins were listed as needing attention in a previous mot, but she flew through with no issues for me, she must like me and presumably the kingpins were renewed, so I was a happy camper!

To drive, well, lots of body sway around corners (she isn't sophisticated in the suspension dept) very relaxing (you may as well take it easy, she'll get you where you want to go, but she won't be rushed!) , the driving position is great, much higher than most modern vans, or my jeep, for that matter and she isn't that keen on long inclines and will slow down noticeably (dropping a gear and revving her hard doesn't really achieve anything other than wasting precious fuel)
I really enjoy driving her, it's a fun experience for sure

Now, these things do have issues, they are not a sophisticated vehicle by any stretch of the imagination, they don't even have electric windows and certainly none of this modern abs business , IRS or airbags etc, this, to me, was a big selling point, I LIKE simple!
the flipside is that she lacks any creature comforts and she is NOISY and slow(but economical for her size, about forty pounds of diesel takes me 250 motorway miles at a steady 60-65), she doesn't so much accelerate as gradually gain momentum, still, she wasn't bought to go racing!

Next problem was that my wife was thrilled with my purchase in much the same way concrete blocks float, ah, ooops
Fortunately, the idea of it being used to earn some money was agreed to be a good one, the compromise being to stop it smelling, sounding and looking like a bus for taking little old ladies out in.

Step one, make it more comfortable, when I bought it, she had seventeen seats in her which are ok, but far more than I needed and if it was going to look good and be super comfortable, they had to go.
Seventeen seats take quite a lot of time to remove, especially if they have slowly been seizing their bolts into place over a decade and a half, they also take up a LOT of garage space- I still have plenty of them left, if anyone wants to buy some?
they were replaced by these lovely seats from an American dayvan (an Econoline, I think, or possibly an Astro)

So now we have two comfy armchairs up front, two behind and a three seater behind those that electronically folds down into a bed, humans and dogs are now much happier!
being a LWB bus, there is still plenty of space for cargo behind the rear seats, or if I remove the last seats (four bolts) there is 8 feet available, plenty for putting in most motorcycles and still seating for four in comfort

To combat the huge noise issue, the floor (large pieces or marine ply in this case) was lifted, all the old fag ends were ejected (hmmm, scouting has changed since my day....) and some bitumen backed flashing strip was laid down.

This stuff can be bought on e bay from various automotive suppliers, but its far cheaper to buy virtually the same product from a builder's merchant such as wickes.
the idea is that the bitumen backing adheres to the metal and stops it vibrating, and yes, it does work, a big improvement but you need to be thorough when laying it.
next came a layer of MLV or mass loaded vinyl, this is used for sound deadening, its heavy stuff, but very effective on the floors and around the wheel arches, like the bitumen flashing you need to be thorough and it also is cheaper to buy from the building industry than from specialist automotive suppliers who will cheerfully sell you the same stuff for three times the price!

Over this the original floorboarding was replaced on the bassis that it would help and gives a level floor .
Then I laid down a good quality underlay and some decent carpeting, both of which were purchased from e bay.
Although it was never the intention to convert thunderbolt into a camper, I found this blog by Vandog Traveller a very useful source of information.

Then....I took a break!
actually, I still need to finish the carpeting, before I complete the cabin area I'm going to address some leaks, Probably should have started with that, really, but I was overcome with a rush of enthusiasm for making her look better (and desperate to avoid deafness, in truth!)
I have also completely removed the dashboard panels ,(very easy to do, but the lower panel mounting tabs are quite fragile) used the anti vibration stuff on the metalwork and padded out the backs with sound deadening sticky backed closed cell(to avoid water ingress) foam .
the very cheap looking lower dash panels have been covered with Veltrim, a kind of very thing, stretchable material used for trimming vehicles.

yes, but DOES IT WORK?
well, yes, it has made a noticeable difference for sure, there is still more to do to to get the best results to be honest, the main areas of issue in terms of noise are wheel arches and the bulkhead areas in the cabin where all the engine noise comes from and I am waiting for delivery of more sound deadening pads to do the bulkhead and engine bay, after that I will get a better idea of just how much improvement has been made.
work still needs to be done on the sides and roof too, the idea was to deal with the floor and noisiest areas first

Scraptures, Sculptures, Dragon Teeth, Dinosaur legs and Robot Arms!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have recently started making scraptures which I hope people will like enough to want to buy via Etsy
So far, I have a shop there, but it is't open for business as yet, first I wanted to make a dozen or so sculptures so there is actually something to see.

My wife tells me that this morning someone making a delivery was very enthusiastic about the unfinished sculpture in the front garden, composed of parts taken from an unfinished crashed bike/ chopper project (see earlier postings)
so, that seems very positive, and whoever you are, if you are reading this, thanks, it really made my day to hear that someone enjoyed what I have been making so much!

This is the one I am referring too, yes, I know, already posted this picture, but people have short memories, or, more honestly, I haven't gotten around to taking more pictures as yet!

So, scraptures then, not a new idea, making sculptures from bits of old scrap, many people have done this before me so why am I doing it?
Well, a number of reasons actually, firstly having ridden bikes since my teens and being a bit of a hoarder (hmm, I'll keep that bit, it'll come in handy for a future project etc) I have a good supply of raw materials- its not useless crap, it's 'biker residue' hehe
Secondly, to get the ideas in my head into something more tangible, can't possibly afford to build all the bikes and cars I dream up, but sculptures are far more doable given my restraints of time, money and space.
yes, there is the environmental aspect too, rather than seeing things go into landfill, I'd rather make them into something that someone, somewhere can enjoy.
I admit it, there is an element of money involved, but who doesn't want to earn a living doing something they enjoy?
Most importantly, I really love making things, expressing myself in this way is very therapeutic and it's a real buzz when someone else appreciates something i've made.
So there you go, the rationale behind my latest little project.

Last weekend I went to a car boot sale and was able to buy some dragon teeth, dinosaur (or maybe robot) limbs, one or two scrapyard critter bodies and a robot face, have a look at the picture and see if you can figure out which is which!
ps any contributions of old tools/vehicle bits or other pieces of weldable metal gratefully accepted!

1964 Plymouth Valiant

as promised, here is my wife's beautiful '64 Plymouth, imported by us last year from Florida.
I won't mention either the dealer or shipper by name as both were less than professional, but if anyone wants to know who they were to avoid them, feel free to message me

 

 Push button gears, 1964 was the last year for this

She arrived last January, sad to say she was significantly different from the description the dealer gave us (described as a driveable car in good condition that need s a small amount of tidying translated as seized brakes, one wing barely hanging on due to being rusted out, dodgy paintwork (a rattle can topcoat on bare metal) , all the seals and carpet were unuseable all tyres were shot and a convertible top that had already begun to disintegrate!)

Still, she was a good price, even allowing for the vendors disconnection from reality, and she is the perfect car for my wife, who owned one before when she still lived in San Francisco so work began in earnest to straighten her out.
Happily, all was not doom and gloom, the original 170 slant 6 engine was in great condition, looks like someone did a good job of rebuilding it at some point and we found a nice holly 2 barrel carb in her trunk, just waiting to be fitted (still not done)

The plan was to get her up, running, registered and driveable for the summer and worrying about improving her at our leisure.
Much work was done, panels repaired, rotten metal removed, carpets replaced, tyres replaced, numerous small jobs completed and........we succeeded!, at the end of last summer 'Cali' went to her first show, and here's the proof!

 her is Cali with a very happy owner at Dinefwr Castle in Wales last summer

I have to say that she is an absolute dream to drive, smooth and relaxing, she is no muscle car with only about a hundred horsepower when new, but she makes for a fantastic cruiser (and there is ample scope for re tuning that lovely,bomb proof  engine if we feel so inclined in the future)

In mechanical terms, she is an absolute joy to work on, especially after working on cramped modern vehicles that have to be plugged into a computer, everything is accessible, everything is simple, no gimmicks, just, well, a proper car

Cali is again off the road for the fitting of parts and one essential upgrade, THE BRAKES!

her nine inch drums all round may have been ok back in 1964, but they don't cut it in todays traffic, particularly as she has a disturbing habit of lunging at people on pathways if you brake hard despite new shoes, brake cylinders and skimmed drums!

so, work is progressing on a 'Scarebird' front disc conversion, and while I'm at it a new roof, all new seals and because the original wheels are thirteen inch and won't clear the disc brake set up, new, larger wheels and ANOTHER set of tyres have been purchased.

I will update once the latest round of improvements have been completed