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[Wildcat]

He won't be welding long not using some sort of eye shield not good looking at with naked eyes.

They wear sunglasses as the norm here. I was going to keep a welder's helmet in my shop for the welders to use, but they won't use one. One welder didn't use anything, just aimed the rod, closed his eyes and went by feel. The welds were good!
None of the welders I've seen here, even in shops, use a welder's helmet. Very few electrical circuits are grounded also. I've also noticed all the welders are young guys. There are no old welders.

 

[Wildcat]

I love the neighborhood welder! Wish we had one around here. I can't be trusted.

The cost is unbelievable. For an hour and a half of hotwork, we actually overpaid by giving him 500 pesos, about nine dollars.

 

[Wildcat]

Cool video of the roadside weldup.
That is neat how the drum brake has a keyed lock to it for antitheft.

I also have one of those locks that holds the brake lever on the handlebars. This thing might be big and heavy enough to leave in the parking lot of the market without a cable lock.

 

[Wildcat]

I'm being taken out for Father's Day tomorrow! A visit the bike shop and then a BBQ lunch at my favorite place, Texas Joe's! They have smoking wood shipped in from Texas and use an authentic big smoker out back to slow cook the meats.
Then back to the bike shop to pick up my wheels. I can't ask for more!

I removed the rear wheel and will unlace it to paint it to match the other two. The guys at the bike shop will be happy to get some good paying work truing all three of them.
I was able to use one of my big wrenches.

I compared the drum brakes. Since all three wheels will have decent brakes, it should stop on a dime. The new handlegrips arrived.

From yesterday, the base of the sidecar is all welded up.

 

[Wildcat]

The wheel guy was happy to see us pull up. Three wheels this time. We dropped them off and went shopping at the big store that had western style groceries and appliances. He was finishing up on the last one as we got back. The charge is 80 pesos per wheel. That's $1.38 at the present exchange rate. So, less than 5 bucks for truing all three. That's the going rate over here. I wondered how much of that went to the shop and how much the worker gets. The wife says they get paid by the month, so it really helps when we slip him a 100 peso tip. It has to be on the sly so the shop doesn't get a cut of it. So it was a total of 340 pesos, $5.86. We are probably the only ones that tip.

The wheels are ready to go.

 

[Pondo]

What a cool truing stand. The guy really knows what he’s doing.

 

[SwissGuy]

A great build you have going here! Building a sidecar was (and still is) always a big dream of mine. But with no welder at my disposal it's challenging at best.
The vibe you're aiming for would probably perfectly fit in to this Berlin event:
https://ratrodbikes.com/threads/what-have-you-been-riding-lately.106358/post-1265674
You should check it out and also the videos about earlier iterations on the thread page before...

 

[Wildcat]

That chariot thing has the same handlebars I plan to use on the sidecar.

 

[Wildcat]

I laid it out to get some ideas for the next move.

I think I'll run a brace behind the left rear wheel that will connect to other side, then also have a brace on the sidecar side to give it more stability.

I also think I should make the chariot frame first, then make the supports to make it more integrated. Instead of supports trailing down to the base, they will be horizontal to the top of the chariot. The wall height will be about 24" which will line up even with the bike frame. One support can also be part of the V front.

I remembered that the springer needed a thicker piece of metal for the back of the springs. The scrap pile provided once again, I just need to drill out the center hole of the plate and it's good. With the stresses I'm putting on the springer it has to be sturdy throughout.

 

[kingfish254]

Shaping up well.

 

[Wildcat]

I cut out some more metal and now have the top portion of the sidecar and the piece that will go around behind the drive wheel.

 

[Pondo]

Really coming together! Looks like the sidecar is going to be solid. Should be a blast for the kids.

 

[Wildcat]

I got a lot done this morning. It's ready for the second round of welding.
I'm using some stands that I had made up for a stationary bike. They will be used to attach the sidecar to the bike.

The bar goes around and will get attached just in front of the rear wheel leaving room for the pedal.

I clamped it all together so it will have a 23" height for the side rails, or 33" off the ground.

 

[Wildcat]

Forgot one pic, shows the stand fitting right in. It will get welded to the side of the sidecar but not the bike, yet. I still have the option to bolt this thing on. I'll figure out how it gets attached after it's welded.

 

[Chad T]

Bolt on would probably be good. Lot easier to store/man-handle if you need to move it around if you can separate the side platform. Would really love to get carted around on that thing.

 

[Wildcat]

I set up two more braces and wire brushed the spots that will get welds. Not much left of my square stock.

I ran out of things to clamp with. The welding might have to wait until July as I have a trip to Hawaii coming up.

 

[Wildcat]

More street welding today. Two videos in one post!

They told me to take it to their shop next time. They have metal and everything, just draw a pic and they say they can make it! The head guy also said he would make me a metal shop table.

 

[Wildcat]

This morning I set it up to see if my calculations were right. It looks like they were. I was mostly concerned with pedal clearance and it has just enough. When I test it I'll see if it needs modification. The angle of the third wheel is right where I wanted it, pointed inward slightly. The vertical set of the wheel can be adjusted later via the dropouts.

 

[OddJob]

Will your wife wear long flowing garments while riding in the side-chair-iot?

 

[Wildcat]

I told her she could ride, but have a spear ready! Like Furiosa, a movie we saw recently.

I was going to make up mounts for flags and bamboo spears, but inadvertently already have a couple places. One mount points straight up and the other one points backward.