Roger that!Quote:
Originally Posted by MelloYello
One of my all time favorites!
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Roger that!Quote:
Originally Posted by MelloYello
One of my all time favorites!
".....Cade looks like a natural in there Mike!!!! Want me to talk to Wolfgang about starting to build his USAC midget now, or wait a couple more years...."
I think we'll hold off a little bit Dave. :LOL::LOL:
Thanks for all the positive comments guys.
Well we are coming down to the wire on this part of the build. I sandblasted the body and spread some filler over the welds earlier this week and got a couple of coats of primer on it. I left it for the kids to sand today.
With Cade having gone thru the sanding progress before I figured he might be a little hesitant about going to the shop today. He and Elise kind of surprised me and jumped right in on it. I think he’s getting anxious to see it done too.
http://i450.photobucket.com/albums/q...om/sanding.jpg
I’ll be painting it during the week and then next weekend will be the final assembly and the kids giving it some checkout time.
That last photo is a keeper, I adore the two little ones concentrating on the task at hand, brilliant, thanks again for sharing with us all Mike.
Mark, one of the things I learned about on this build is being sneaky with the camera. If the kids see the camera, they tend to pose and I really like to catch them in unguarded moments.
I've noticed that when Elise is helping, Cade tends to concentrate on the task at hand as well as keeping an eye on his sister to make sure she doesn't need any help and is doing it right (and I don't mean that in a bossy way). Their interaction really warms my heart.
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Looking really neat Mike! I remember when my kids were young, and would help sand in the shop. My recent experiences include helping a grandson custom paint his bike! He did very well for a first-timer!Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike P
thanks you have inspire me to do the same for my grandson,what do you do for brakes?
I remember when my oldest brother got his first car, a 1968 firebird convertible in about twelve different colors between bondo, primers, and replacement parts. I used to help him do body work, just cause it was so cool! Now I hate body work! :) Great thread keep them coming!
Jay, we did Cade’s bicycle this spring. I really hope you had as much fun with your grandson as I’m having with my grandkids.
Mike for right now there are no plans for brakes in the coaster configuration. It'sust kid power or a small hill with a LOT of open expanse for a shut down area. I had contemplated using something like building small rotors on the rear axles and using bicycle calipers to stop it, but I don’t think it’s going to be push power for long…..Cade’s already talking about getting started on the motor. On that the transaxle has a built in disc brake.
I was going to hold off posting till tomorrow, but I’ll throw a little spoiler up now. During the week I got the body painted. More leftovers, I had some white spray in bed liner sitting around that I did the inside of the interior with, it wears like iron and is thick enough that it smooths out any sharp edges I might have missed. The red paint was left from doing the 57 Plymouth .
http://i450.photobucket.com/albums/q...m/SANY2159.jpg
I also did some quick upholstery on the seat (the vinyl was left over from the 58 Chevy I built 25 years ago and the foam was from a Ford truck project) I knew there was a reason I saved that stuff. And as you can see there is a reason I usually farm out my interiors. LOL.
http://i450.photobucket.com/albums/q...m/SANY2158.jpg
Tomorrow will be final assembly.
Looks like a million bucks! I'm sure your grandkids thinks so too. I wish you had been my grandpa!
BRAKES?Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Elliott
Call yourself a hot-rodder and you want brakes?
Brakes are for wimps!
:D :D
(Just being facetious... ;) )
Loving this thread Mike...all good.
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Super nice job on the paint and interior. Ditto comments above on lucky kids!
Ok mike time too fess up who really built it was it chip foose l.ol. what a great job. the kids will be showing there kids and grand kids these pic. for years to come you will be the famous grandpa I love it ....ted
Today was final assembly and Cade and I had an audience .
http://i450.photobucket.com/albums/q...ecustom/Z1.jpg
http://i450.photobucket.com/albums/q...ecustom/Z2.jpg
http://i450.photobucket.com/albums/q...ecustom/Z3.jpg
Then it was outside for a couple of laps in front of the shop
http://i450.photobucket.com/albums/q...ecustom/Z5.jpg
http://i450.photobucket.com/albums/q...custom/z10.jpg
And finally up to the hill for a LOT of laps.
vid 1 - YouTube
vid 2 - YouTube
This has really been a neat experience for me. The kids, especially Cade had had a good time building it. Besides getting to use his tools and hands I think he’s getting an appreciation on how things work and doing things for himself.
The project isn’t over yet, we still have a few things the kids want to add to the car, and Cade keeps hinting at starting on the motor, so this thread will probably come around again when we motorize it.
This one by the way is my new screen saver
http://i450.photobucket.com/albums/q...custom/z11.jpg
The only word for those pictures.... Priceless!
Awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Those kids look like they were having a ball! This might be my new favorite thread!
While watching the videos, this one came up as well, must have been in test phase before paint. Looks like mom got to push too!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xb6kU...endscreen&NR=1
That is one young man who will never forget his Grandpa...
Thank you again for sharing your special time.
The Kids have been enjoying the car for the last few weeks, but today was the day I’ve been looking forward to for several years, engines 101 with Cade. We started on the little Power Product 2 Cycle.
The first thing we did was check for compression and spark……..and no I didn’t have him check the mag by holding the plug wire…..thought about it…..but I figure he’ll find out how to do that all by himself like we all did.
We got the fuel tank, carburator and reed plate off, and the carburator dissembled and soaking in cleaner. With luck we should have it together next Sunday and hopefully running.
http://i450.photobucket.com/albums/q...m/SANY2164.jpg
he seems to be pretty focused on what he is doing
I used my little brother for checking magnetos.
"How will I know if It's working?"
"you'll know".
They are never to young to learn, and I don't mean about the mag. Your doing a great job Mike you can be proud.
Betcha Cade is already wondering how to make that engine have more power!!!! Mighty nice of you to take the time to teach the kids about how things work, it's lessons they'll keep with them always....
It just tickles me to death that Cade enjoys working with his hands and learning about this stuff.
“…..Betcha Cade is already wondering how to make that engine have more power!!!!....”
Dave, if he’s anything like me that’s a real possibility. I still remember the first old engine I got running by myself (I was just a couple years older than Cade at the time). It was an old flat head Briggs & Straton washing machine motor with a kick start that had been laying down in the old machine shed for years. It was so neat to just get it running. Of course after it was running I found out that if I disconnected the governor I could get it to really spin up. It actually survived that pretty well……it was when I started mixing my own fuel that I managed to blow the head right off of it……yup, just a ring of head bolts holding a few pieces of cast iron were left on the block.
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I had one of those old kick start motors off of a Maytag washer on a crude "go-cart" that my Dad made when I was about ten or eleven. All of 1/4HP as I recall, and driving through a jack-shaft it had a top speed of around twelve to fifteen MPH! Used to pull into the Phillips station and "..fill'er up" for a nickle or a dime when there wasn't gas left in the lawnmower can at home....Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike P
Love the pictures, Mike. Kids learning how to make things happen is a great part of growing up!
More Power :)
Good to see this one back up again - - - - KUDOS to Grandpa and Co.
Just lovin it,Mike...As others have said..''wish you were my grandpa''..Color's kool,,flames n everything..:D..Awesome..:cool::cool:
Your going to need a reverse on that.....Just so you know :eek::LOL::LOL:
Really nice, Mike. Thanks for keeping everybody informed of your progress.
I briefly considered showing some of my efforts for my kids ..... until you showed us yours.
Jim
I haven’t posted much in a while, but thought I’d go ahead and update this thread. We got the little 2 cycle motor running…..kind of. To get it to really run the way it should is probably going to take some new rings and reed valves. As the motor was discontinued over 50 years ago, finding parts will likely take a bit of research and time. Cade seems to be going thru a growth spurt so we came up with plan B to get the car moving under its own power while he can still fit in it.
Plan B is to use an electric motor to power it. I had read where some people had good luck using old Ford starter motors on homemade golf carts and as I happened to have one on the shelf that was our starting point.
http://i450.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps1aeb65cc.jpg
As some people had had issues with the motors getting too hot and burning out, I decided to remove the brush cover, drill vent holes in the front housing and add a small fan a shroud to help this one cool. We’ll cross our fingers and see how long it lasts.
http://i450.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps2b717704.jpg
http://i450.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps125c9dce.jpg
As shown on page 4 of this thread we had made the rear section of the floor removable and already mocked up the transaxle so we went ahead and made the new section of floor for the motor unit and then started bolting the parts on.
http://i450.photobucket.com/albums/q...psbfa7700c.jpg
http://i450.photobucket.com/albums/q...psae2a83bc.jpg
Today was spent diagramming out how we would run the wiring. Cade kind of surprised me a bit, he had already had some electric stuff in science class and really understood what all the circuits would be doing. Then it was on to removing the rear floor from the car.
http://i450.photobucket.com/albums/q...psa0867e46.jpg
Were hoping to finish the install next weekend and with luck we might have time to get the wiring in and it moving under its own power.
I was a bit disappointed we couldn’t get the gas engine running well (I firmly believe all cars should burn dead dinosaurs) but it wasn’t a total waste of time as at least Cade started getting the basics of internal combustion engines.
That's a clever idea with the fan and shroud...good thinking that man!
I'd think the reeds would be easy enough to fabricate from some stainless shim stock.
I once read a story of a guy in Cuba whom cut piston rings on a lathe from cast iron sewer pipe.
Some good work on the starter! Should be a hoot for the kids. Won't be too long before Cade straps a second battery in, wired in series to pump 24V through for faster times ;):cool::LOL::LOL::LOL:
Then a field weakening coil. Electric hotrod
Jim might be of some help here as he runs several electric cars in Electracthon events. I believe he did a complete Electric car build thread a while back. I imagine the biggest problem is regulating the 12volt flow for speed control, and longer battery life. Jim's thread is below:
http://www.clubhotrod.com/hot-rod-ta...nd-hotrod.html
Anyway cool solution for the mean time, and thanks for the update.
That's Boss!!
Glad to see this thread back up again. Mike, your creativity is amazing.
I started my son driving Quarter Midgets when he was 5; I think it made him a better driver when he got older. We race electric cars together now (Electrathon America); he's 38, I'm 65. I'm waiting for my grandson to get old enough for me to get into mischief with him...:3dSMILE:
I got word a few days ago that my Mom back in Illinois is not doing so well and I may have to make a trip back there so I went ahead and did some of the assembly without Cade during the week so we could actually get the car done this Sunday.
Cade and I had figured out the wiring last Sunday and this is what we came up with. In order to cut down the amount of wire we had the amount of wire we had to run we are running the switches on the ground side of the circuits. To make life easier if we have to trouble shoot down the road we put the circuit diagram on the bottom side of access cover.
http://i450.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps14e67b7d.jpg
The “gas pedal” was something I had been mulling over for some time. With the different length of the kids legs I figured the pedal would need to be moved so everybody could drive it. In order to make it simple and quick (and the kids be able to do it themselves) I decided to make the pedal assembly slide in a slot with a clench bolt to tighten it down. For the switch itself I used one of the old Chevy style switches that bolt to the starter and are activated from cab with a push rod.
It was kind of amusing when I went to buy the switch. I went to the only “real” parts store we still have left in town. It’s mostly young guys there now, but I waited for the guy who’s about my age to wait on me (I really didn’t what go thru the whole “what’s the application” game). I explained what I needed, he said “OK” and without looking it up walked back to the shelf and pulled the correct dusty old box out.
As usual with something like this it took a lot longer to figure out what I would do than it actually took to build the darn thing.
http://i450.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps6b47ace3.jpg
http://i450.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps30ebaaf1.jpg
Cade and I did some finish-up work on it t and then it was time for its maiden voyage. The transaxle works well (it goes just as fast backwards and it does forward) and the kids pretty much spent the rest of the afternoon driving the wheels off of it. Here are a couple of Video links.
Car 2 - YouTube
Car 3 - YouTube
Car 4 - YouTube
Cade’s growing so fast he probably won’t be able to fit in it much longer, but he sure is enjoying while he can.
Kewl test drives there Mike!!!!! Didn't the kids let you have a turn, or didn't anyone film it??
That is too cool and am glad you all were able to finish it. If you need to head to Illinois, have a safe trip and hope everything works out with your mom.