Schwinn Meridian build

[Danssoslow]

Parts are still on the way, some have showed up; so I figured now would be a good time to start wrenching and taking some pics in the progress.

First up, I puchased a Worksman wheel set from ind-chuckz, and 26x3 Duro whitewall tire to shoehorn up front. I had to cut the V-brake mounts to get the wheel to fit.

Whoo! Anyone think this is too close for comfort?

 

[Danssoslow]

Smok was coming out of my ears, trying to figure out a nice way to locate the drum brakes stay. I don't have a welder, and don't want to farm work as of yet, so a bung was out.
I thought a nutsert would be clean, but couldn't figure out how to drill the hole with the other side of the fork obstructing drilling a clean hole.

The end product for the trike will be an old school theme. Flat black, red rims, white walls. So I figured some added pieces might add to the look, rather than stick out and look out of place. This led me to use a common plumbing fixture, a split ring hanger.

In the above pic, I had already cut down the threaded rod portion of the hanger, some had to be cut off to clear the drum brake stay arm.
Here is a pic with the hanger mocked up, and the stay (it is called a stay, right?) bolted into place.

There are 4 threads engaged here. I may Loctite the bolt into place. I can remove the wheel with that half of the ring still bolted into place.

 

[Danssoslow]

The blue tape in the above pics was necessary to take up some space, as the 1" hanger is just a bit too large to clamp snugly.
I cut the blue tape, mic'ed it to find the thickness, then replaced the blue tape with 12 pieces (!!!) of this:

To come up with this:

That took a while.
I'm not certain this will be my final solution, as I am afraid the sticky edge will gather a lot of dirt. Either way, here is a pic of the final product:

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Looks good! That tire looks like a perfect fit to me!

Luke.

 

[Danssoslow]

Looks good! That tire looks like a perfect fit to me!

Luke.

Good to know.

I haven't had the opportunity to put weight on the trike; but figured I'll be seated over the rear axle, so most of my weight will be out back.

 

[Fv2]

I agree with Luke, tire fitment looks great.

I love a trike, so I'll be following.

 

[Danssoslow]

The sissy bars came in, and I have the stuff to complete the seat mount; but time has not been on my side at all. I hope to have some updates soon.

 

[Danssoslow]

I was able to get a chunk of work done on the seat. First a pic of the seat post:

This fine piece of work came from Chop Shop Customs. Since the only 5/8" post clamps I could find were in the $20-30 range, I figured I would go with another idea and using the front mount as a pivot to work with the suspended sissy bars. I made a mistake in not allowing a bit of clearance between the seat's mounts, so a little grinding was in order. After grinding, I prepared to fill the hole by covering one side with the same aluminum duct tape I used for the brake bracket. The Nail clippers are there to keep the end level.

I was afraid I would have problems drillin' the fillin'; and I need a 3/8" hole for mounting. So to form the mounting hole, an Uno card gave the ultimate sacrifice. I wrapped the card around a 11/32 drill bit, and used my favorite tape to hold its shape; lething the tape overhang the edge of the card to give it a sticky foot to attach to the tape on the bottom side.

The hole is purposely off center to save from having to grind much more of the seat post. While trying to center it vertically , the tape touched, and that was all she wrote. The medium used to fill this space is 80d polyurethane.
I did a test run, letting the poly set up in the measuring cup, just to get an idea of what I was working with and to insure my measurements worked. Within 10-15 minutes, it was set up, cooling down, and was pretty darn firm. I mixed up another batch, and poured.

I kept an eye on the left over mix. After it had set up, I noticed that the little bit I poured was still tacky. There wasn't enough material there to generate the heat necessary to set up as fast as the left overs. I took the seat post into the bathroom, and borrowed my wife's hair dryer for a couple minutes. Five minutes later, it was no longer tacky.
I took the bottom piece of tape off, trimmed the excess card, and drilled the rest of the card out with a 3/8" bit.

Very little seepage.

I had to drill the seat's mounting tabs out to 3/8". The bolts I am using are stainless 1/4-20 sex bolts, one on each size. I still have to cut down a stainless 1/4-20 bolt, thread lock it into one side, and mount it up for good. I did it this way so that the heads on both sides matched in size.

I have to grind one side just a little bit more, and I will mount the seat post up with a plastic fender washer on each side to avoid metal to metal contact.
Hopefully I get the time tomorrow to finish this up so I can move on to figuring out how to mount the sissy bars.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Really nice work on that pivoting seat mount!

Luke.

 

[Danssoslow]

I appreciate it, and I ask that anyone that sees something I might have missed to please let me know.

 

[OneHorsePower]

thats one thing i have to try , casting bushings , Well done!

you have some nylon or plastic spacers on each sides to help pivoting and noise recuction ?

 

[Danssoslow]

thats one thing i have to try , casting bushings , Well done!

you have some nylon or plastic spacers on each sides to help pivoting and noise recuction ?

I'm trying search out some nylon or brass fender type washers. I wish I had a Do-It-Best close to me, they carried all kinds of oddball stuff. Lowes and HD's sites aren't showing much. I want nylon; I have found more brass washers in the 1"plus od range.

 

[Danssoslow]

If I may I need some input. Here are my issues:

-I dont like the "step" look in the transition from stem to the bars. Is there a flat set of cruiser bars readily available? I couldn't find anything Googling.

-basket ideas. The Pepsi crate just looks too darn small to me. I want something a bit cooler than a wire basket. Maybe nothing at all?

-one of the bigger things I would love to do is remove the low crossbar and have it replaced with a camel hump crossbar or maybe even a 2 piece crossbar and tank.
Since the frame is aluminum, what kind of troubles would be involved with such a venture?

Here is a pic as it stands today. The sissy bars still have to be permanently mounted at the shocks. The weak rear drive train parts have been replaced.

 

[Danssoslow]

So I tried to be slick and rotated the pic to the right to be slick with my pics always rotating left, but now it loads without rotating.

Interwebs, you fickle beast...

 

[rickpaulos]

re tire clearance. I've found some brands of tires get bigger and bigger with more pressure. Lower the psi a bit to keep it from rubbing, especially on hot days.

 

[Danssoslow]

I will definitely keep that in mind. Thanks for the tip!

Speaking of tires, I'm not certain my rear rims are made for the 2.125 tires they came with, nor the ones I purchased.
I noticed with both sets of tires, the bead easily piped of the rim as I aired the tires. I have never experienced this, ever. I was able to roll the bead of the white walls back into rims and they are staying put; but I have not taken a ride on them either.

 

[rickpaulos]

The tires will have the international standard sizing on the side walls. Look for 2 numbers like 58x559. The smaller is the nominal width, the larger is the exact diameter where the tire meets the rim. called BSD aka Bead Seat Diameter.
26x2.125 is 559
All the 26" decimal sizes use the same diameter rim.

All the fractional 26" sizes are unique, different and incompatible with any other 26" size.

Some tires do get a bit stretched out over time and some just fit looser. I've found it's easier to get loose tires to seat better if you lay the wheel flat on the ground, not standing up where gravity pushes the tire off center. Inflate to just a few psi, inspect, push and pull to get it centered, then inflate some more and check before going to full pressure.

 

[Danssoslow]

Small update. Christmas slowed down buying stuff a bit, but the rest of the major parts should be here tomorrow; and at the end of the week, the parts I ordered from Grainger should be in.

I ordered a SA 5 speed igh for the trike. It's has a coaster brake on it, but the coaster brake won't be used, as I am going to make a difference rear end for the trike (thanks Luke for the idea). I thought about sending it back and purchasing a freewheel version, but the freewheel version is much thinner and wouldn't fit the chain stay dimensions.

To facilitate using the igh for the dual rear gears, another hub sprocket had to be made. SA was less than willing to sell me one for the cause. I found a 22 tooth SA gear online, and will be modifying it to bolt to the hub.
I prepped the sprocket by securing it to a piece of mdf using rollers taken out of some spare chain, traced the sprocket, and used the teeth's point to find the center.

Picked up a 2-3/8" hole saw, which would cut the center out to the same ID as the original hub sprocket. Predrilled the center for the pilot, and began cutting.

Hardened sprocket-1, hole saw-0.
Pulled out the trustyle Drexel tool and two cut off wheels to save the day.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Looking forward to seeing your differential!

 

[Danssoslow]

Trustyle? Drexel?
My phone speaks a different language...

The parts from Grainger are: a 4mm carbide bit, 4mm cotter pin (for centering the bit), and a 4mm tap for the hub. Hopefully Saturday I can get this done and bolted up. Tomorrow, hopefully I can mock up a disk and get a definite caliper mount mocked up so that I can also get that made on Saturday.