Something new stirs in the garden
Ok so like i was talking to my mate JP, who owns a stall at the local market ( link on the links page!) and moaning about handbrakes and trike laws and he says well i got me a xs 750 frame with axle and some bits and bobs hanging around in my workshop ..I might be thinking of selling .. i`m like hmmm after a fair bit of discussion and lots of chatter .. ok in reality about five mins and i say so if your thinking of selling i`m thinking of buying. and one thing leads to another and on a rain soaked day we me chris ( dude who sold me the boke and frame and has access to a large van!) went to take a peek in jps lockup
A Rainy Day at JPS workshop
So after JP had shifted his VW ( no i`m not jealous but it is a nice beasty!) We sstarted the heady task of lookign scratchign heads and goign through the bits JPO wished to be light of, Mustang Tank 10 Spoke Chrome wheels with tyres. seats two handlebar gear and " assorted stuff " with a diff half shafts and masses of wiring Trike Frame front end and the three of us dodging the weather ( me grining like a cheshire cat) shook hands and closed the door on the van
Couldnt wait I got started
After cleaning and prep fitted the Diff Half shafts in the escort 1100 mk1 rear axle first stumbling block was the nuts on the diff are unc second one in the bolts and nuts on the halfshafts are unc and the third was somewhere between JP`s and my front garden i lost a brake springy bit..doh .. so a trip out and a wander around some of the less celubrious places of stoke on trent and bingo nuts bolts springy bit and the promise of no worries mate we`ll stock what ya need ... ( cheers to AZ motors for that ! i`ll hold ya to it be warned!) also while i was hunting came accorss trailor rear brake and tail lights on a board for £12 ( Smithsons Bosch ) i`m sure they may just happen to work into the project somewhere.. Back home and finished just before the rain and i scratched me head and decided to mag to grid the single disc front end in favour of the xs 750 twin disc. Up on stands again and in the front end went with no worries, well ok slight problem taper bearings on the xs and ball bearings on the frame so have converted the xs yolks to take bearings ( still to be aquired) tapped out the taper rings and fitted the cups from the other yolks on with t bars and hand controls and umm yeah ok engine has to go in and yep it slide straight in! no undoing that damn oil filter again ! Mustang tank in place and first picture of the new beastie.
Now you might get the chance to call me thick but no normal wheel nuts dont fit yes Escort Mk1 (1969) 1100 axles do need the right wheel nuts so i started to call round asked all over the place and ended up heading to the middle of no where and the most escort bits i`ve ever seen in one place Massive thanks to Kriss and Ray Jnr Racing for the wheel nuts and looking through the barrels for the right ones that pretty much match and fit goto say these are the guys i`ll go to for axle upgrades in the future as well damn nice work they do in that lil shed.. anyway back to the trike, wheels on nuts on and yay shes on her own wheels .