Nick Jones Posted May 11, 2018 Share Posted May 11, 2018 Looks like you have a wrestling match on your hands there...... Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT6MK3 Posted May 18, 2018 Author Share Posted May 18, 2018 Am now attacking the cowls upside down, using the seat bolt datums for reference. This may or may no work out... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted May 18, 2018 Share Posted May 18, 2018 Here's another Triumphero into Vespas: https://www.facebook.com/simon.congdon.5?hc_ref=ARTCwslTkiWrbh-sWjkS1kDvGCkuh0AXF6XjMQjV9xYVkKEk0X-ypoTkws3B1qjrUQw Simon used to race a Spitfire, until fatherhood and family took it's toll. Grow up soon, Simon's kids! John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted May 18, 2018 Share Posted May 18, 2018 4 hours ago, GT6MK3 said: Am now attacking the cowls upside down, using the seat bolt datums for reference. This may or may no work out.. The technique is sound. Some of the curves look disturbingly different side between the two sides........ that last pic.... May the force be with you! Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT6MK3 Posted May 18, 2018 Author Share Posted May 18, 2018 Going to be a lot of forcing involved I think! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT6MK3 Posted May 24, 2018 Author Share Posted May 24, 2018 Time to involve new weaponry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 Out comes the heavy armaments! Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT6MK3 Posted May 25, 2018 Author Share Posted May 25, 2018 Left the ram in the engine side cowl overnight, and after a bit of stretching, I was able to mark. drill and bolt the nose into place. The two curves were still a long way from correct though. Time to channel my Billy West Use the clamps Clamps! Time to pull out a high tech solution - 3/16th nuts and bolts. These worked a treat! Isn't she pretty... Getting close now Starting to see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted May 25, 2018 Share Posted May 25, 2018 That looks pretty convincing. I like self-tappers for that kind of thing - too mean to buy clecos! Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtuckunder Posted May 26, 2018 Share Posted May 26, 2018 When you have finished the Vespa, I have a pile of swarf I have been trying to assemble back into shaft if you want a challenge! Admiration for the level of OCD commitment shown here Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT6MK3 Posted June 6, 2018 Author Share Posted June 6, 2018 Progress... The inner guards are once again set in place, squared up, and welded in and with that, all it took was some slight relieving of the engine mount through holes for the outer shells to fit on perfectly. Whoohoo! After the test fit, off it all came to drill holes holes, and more holes. One hundred and thirty three holes in total. So, all the parts are now clamped with as many clamps as possible, Buffy's ready for a welding frenzy tomorrow afternoon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT6MK3 Posted June 7, 2018 Author Share Posted June 7, 2018 So this afternoon went like this: Clamp clamp clamp clamp Clamp clamp weld weld weld Weld weld weld weld weld weld weld weld Weld weld weld weld weld weld weld Rest. Grinding starts tuesday... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 I reckon you've captured it there Will be the best built Vespa on the planet...... Not had any more parcels yet...... should I have done? Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT6MK3 Posted June 8, 2018 Author Share Posted June 8, 2018 Yep, she's getting there. I'm learning a lot about the logic of monocoque structures, and it's fun, (except when it's not. Like all motor projects!) . The Italian designers are more reliable than the parcel senders, I suspect there's another plan coming there. C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT6MK3 Posted June 14, 2018 Author Share Posted June 14, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT6MK3 Posted June 17, 2018 Author Share Posted June 17, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted June 19, 2018 Share Posted June 19, 2018 Presumably there is reason why the smallest gear appears to be twice as wide as it needs to be? Never had much to do with bike gearboxes. Sequential dog boxes........ .........very sporting on the car world Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT6MK3 Posted June 23, 2018 Author Share Posted June 23, 2018 1st also gets double duty for the Kickstarter. Behold the fruits of today’s labor at the lathe, dummy bearings to let me test build the engine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT6MK3 Posted June 25, 2018 Author Share Posted June 25, 2018 Engine mounts And a test of the legshield Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT6MK3 Posted June 26, 2018 Author Share Posted June 26, 2018 Engine case Before After Choke mechanism Getting close Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted June 26, 2018 Share Posted June 26, 2018 Looking scooter-ish again. Time for paint soon? Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT6MK3 Posted June 26, 2018 Author Share Posted June 26, 2018 Still got to weld on the legshield - it's just getting marked up atm. Then the tricky horncast has to be let into it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT6MK3 Posted June 27, 2018 Author Share Posted June 27, 2018 Measure and mark then punch, pilot drill, drill, and deburr. Well that was fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 Clamp/pin, weld,weld,weld....... ..........Then another grindathon. Bit late now but had you considered renting a spot-welder? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT6MK3 Posted June 30, 2018 Author Share Posted June 30, 2018 Got 2 Spot welders - my handheld and Mat's floor mounted beast, but neither seem to be able to make a decent weld through weld through primer. Given that steel in the spine is going to be in the wet and cold, I want the primer in place, so it's back to plug welds... More work Friday arvo. Finally figured out how to put the choke actuator back together. Simple when it's done, harder when your looking in a box of bits. Then ran cables, lots of cables through the spine for use installing all the control cables and wiring later. That's 5 bicycle gear cables, 3 runs of lightweight balustrading cable and 4 runs of mig wire just in case. Time for these two to be properly introduced. Some gentle squeezing on a well lit table with plenty of room in the middle of the factory to begin the process, with final measuring, marking and tweaking taking place. Then a buttload of clamps... That many clamps adds a _lot_ of weight!. Turning it over with all the clamps was tricky and took two of us, and we added a table clamp for stability Ready to start plug welding. The rule for plug welding is to double clamp every hole individually, and wind it up as hot as you dare. Mating the thin legshield to the much thicker spine and getting good penetration is tricky. I'd much rather risk a burn through and have to do a fair bit of grinding than not get good strong penetration. Setting up the clamps every time, and doing it right means each of these welds takes about a minute of setup before the 3 to 5 seconds of bright light. So after a couple of hours of setup and measuring while clamping, welding just the two sides of the base took well over an hour. But after turning it over, it was good to see the strong penetration achieved. Next job will be to re clamp, and weld the front of the legshield. (Believe it or not, I need to buy another quite specific clamp before I do that). But, Buffy's starting to look whole again. Progress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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