Zed Shed Antics - Something will happen!

[Ebized]

5 hours ago, veeg33 said:

Keep it coming! I really think you should have a crew filming you all the way. Keeping up with Keyser (keeping up with the Kardarshians ) 

Need the Zed Shed cam back 

[hicksi]

Dear Chris, you make my knees wobble 

 

Genuinely mate, when I caught up with @Beb and he said A. He'd last left the buggy at yours, and B. Your working on it over isolation I was so excited I could barely walk out of my garage.

 

Really is a treat watching the progress your making, I can imagine it's allot of extra hassle to picture things along the way and write it all up after, so thanks for the effort buddy. It's much appreciated. 

 

Fun fact. Me and Simon had one of these within the last 10 years. We had the mk1 bugrider 250.

Now I know these things take a fair bit of abuse with very little maintenance/fabricating, they will eventually go bang or snap but considering your playing with it now it's gonna be unstoppable and will eat up Salisbury plains. Did beb mention huw also has the same buggy as you guys? And there is 4 of us on road legal Chinese monkey metal bikes that would love to join you when finished? 

 

Anyway, back to the buggy. We smashed the absolute crap out of ours straight into a tree, front left wheel and arm took a beating, snapped rack ends etc lol. What's the reg. Is it our old one?  

 

Thinking back PGO made a few versions of these. 

Bugrider 200,250,300 and the RL500

 

The mk1 like we had was air cooled and ran effectively a moped engine with the final drive going through a very very crude transfer box in order to give a reverse function, this very quickly exploded internally, took it appart, made it worse, only went forwards from that point haha. Oh and before it exploded when you went into reverse the back subframe would clunk and hunker down due to the torque on the chain so bad it would cave the exhaust end can in. It started as an oval, evened up as a rectangle haha. 

The mk1 also had a fixed rear axle with final chain drive, linked suspension so you would get thrown around somtbing absolutely rotten going over uneven ground. Oh and tensioning the chain was a pain in ass!!! 

 

Mk2 started running water cooled heads and now had Independent rear suspension through shaft final drive. 300s are pretty damn rare, 250s are around, but like you found the transfer box are often monkey metal mush. 

 

When you and @beb said your going to get the big one, did you mean an RL500 or somthing propper like a joyner kart?

I still don't think the the RL500 has a gearbox, all though I beleive it has a high and low range box and they came standard with a winch. Woop woop. 

 

Most of these things have been badly converted to 600cc bandit engines. But like you discovered the back end design is a shamble and it just gets hacked up... 

 

Anywho, an absolute load of useless information from me, but as you can tell I love these things. Never should have sold mine. 

 

Stay safe gang. 

[Keyser]

13 hours ago, andybp said:

Chris I detect a small amount of sarcasm in some of your comments please note that this is my area of expertise (just ask the poor souls i work with)

so please cease and desist 

Only a hint????? You sir have the skin of a Rhino

 

13 hours ago, andybp said:

just stick with what you are good at   eating donuts and taking blurry pictures 

At least I'm good at something

 

13 hours ago, andybp said:

Excellent work by the way do love some of the solutions you come up with 

I call it thinking outside the box section    - see what I did there did ya? did ya? O come on that was good

 

13 hours ago, andybp said:

we should have done scrapheap challenge you could have done all the work and I could look good for the camera

I agree with this and I'm sure I could do my bit - Not so sure you are up to yours though!!

 

I know 3 people from Scrapheap Challenge, if you used to watch it I know Bowser and his wife who were on it for a while and Dick Strawbridge who went on to make his own series was a Major in the Royal Signals and my old OC - small world

[Keyser]

So many comments - Thanks for taking the time and I'm glad some of you are enjoying the thread, I know I read loads of build threads online.

 

 

@hicksi- you know some random stuff mate This would make ours a Mk2 then, water cooled, belt drive and the final drive after going through the "reverse" assembly is drive shaft, it’s still a very basic engine and still uses the Chinese monkey metal for most of it

No idea where @Beb and I will go next we may just upgrade ours with a bigger engine, nothing set in stone just yet.

Don’t call it isolation please, it makes it sound like solitary confinement or something I’m far from that, yes I’m working from home (I did anyway) although I had a call out yesterday for a server fail, but I have keys so I just let myself in sorted the problem and left

I’m also home with the lovely Mrs K who is also working from home, my 2 daughters, one is on long term sick with a rotator cuff injury and the other is still having to go to work as she can’t work from home, most of the staff from the factory have been furloughed but she is the accountant and all the paper work still needs doing, but she is pretty much on her own so not high risk.

Keep the comments coming, I’m off to write the next instalment

 

Keyser

 

 

[Keyser]

Covid 19 Log Star date 1123456009 – Day 25 No sign of change fleet command have ordered us to remain on station for 3 more weeks!!

 

As promised the fitting of my lovely new brackets, (brought to you with hardly any sarcasm)  

 

So I cut off three of the four brackets as the last one looks OK and a reference point is useful

 

 

Now I need to line the little beggars up again and I came up with this – not sure it is up there with a Hunter laser alignment system but given how this thing is thrown together it should be good enough

 

I used a 10mm bar that I just happen to have laying around

 

 

Took a load of measurements, then I used another and created a mirror image

 

 

Used the wishbone for the gaps ant spot welded it in place

 

 

Took the bar out and welded it all up

 

 

 

Looks fairly straight now  

Before

 

After

 

 

I also sorted out the issues I created with some over zealous angle grinding to remove the undertray

 

 

Bit of weld and an angle grinder

 

 

You’d never know  

 

Be safe, Stay safe!!

 

Keyser -  If you make friends with yourself you will never be alone. Maxwell Maltz

 

 

 

[Keyser]

Covid 19 Log Star date 1123456009 –  Supplemental.

 

So quick side project, as I sat there surveying my handy work, thinking about what else I needed to do and drinking one of the many cups of coffee I have per day to help me stay sharp (that doesn’t work as I switch to decaf after 2pm   )  I was contemplating how to paint the bloomin thing, so much to consider, and that’s without the undertray getting in the way.

I know paint is a way off, but I do like to think ahead on a project, so I have a chance to go through things in my mind before I get to them, hence pondering the paint issue.

Then it came to me the only way to paint this in one go is to suspend it somehow, I could use the winch but then it would swing about and it’s quite big!

 

So I came up with this – and it’s funny ……………..

 

Some old metal from the scrap pile

 

 

Cut, cleaned

and drilled

 

 

And some wood work to make ………………………….

 

 

 

Then I added these

 

 

They hook to the winch and it now does ninety degrees each way (well nearly ninety)

 

 

 

It works and it made me laugh

 

Keep Safe guys n girls

 

 

Keyser - Testing oneself is best when done alone. Jimmy Carter

 

 

 

[ATTAK Z]

Chris, I think you might have invented a new fairground ride - all it needs now is a motor and a couple of seat belts !   

[Keyser]

6 minutes ago, ATTAK Z said:

Chris, I think you might have invented a new fairground ride - all it needs now is a motor and a couple of seat belts !   

 

We can call it the BugRocker instead of a BugRider  

 

Mrs K said it looked like some wierd Ski lift

 

she even took a video to show everyone what happens when I have to much time in the Zed Shed

[Keyser]

Wanna see the video?

 

I uploaded it for your amusment

 

 

 

 

[Beb]

Bet that suspension alignment is straighter than out the factory 

 

With a couple more winch attachments and a VR headset, you could do virtual buggy rides right there in your garage

[andybp]

9 hours ago, Keyser said:

So many comments - Thanks for taking the time and I'm glad some of you are enjoying the thread, I know I read loads of build threads online.

 

 

 

 

 

@hicksi- you know some random stuff mate This would make ours a Mk2 then, water cooled, belt drive and the final drive after going through the "reverse" assembly is drive shaft, it’s still a very basic engine and still uses the Chinese monkey metal for most of it

 

 

No idea where @Beb and I will go next we may just upgrade ours with a bigger engine, nothing set in stone just yet.

 

 

Don’t call it isolation please, it makes it sound like solitary confinement or something I’m far from that, yes I’m working from home (I did anyway) although I had a call out yesterday for a server fail, but I have keys so I just let myself in sorted the problem and left

I’m also home with the lovely Mrs K who is also working from home, my 2 daughters, one is on long term sick with a rotator cuff injury and the other is still having to go to work as she can’t work from home, most of the staff from the factory have been furloughed but she is the accountant and all the paper work still needs doing, but she is pretty much on her own so not high risk.

 

 

Keep the comments coming, I’m off to write the next instalment

 

 

 

Keyser

 

 

 

 

 

Don't talk to me about rotator cuff injury's been struggling with mine for 9 Months all the physio was just starting to work when Covid 19 comes along 

[andybp]

9 hours ago, Keyser said:

Only a hint????? You sir have the skin of a Rhino

 

At least I'm good at something

 

I call it thinking outside the box section    - see what I did there did ya? did ya? O come on that was good

 

I agree with this and I'm sure I could do my bit - Not so sure you are up to yours though!!

 

I know 3 people from Scrapheap Challenge, if you used to watch it I know Bowser and his wife who were on it for a while and Dick Strawbridge who went on to make his own series was a Major in the Royal Signals and my old OC - small world

From what I understand from your comments I am an ugly useless rhino some people are sensitive with feelings you know 

 

luckily that's not me, someone as sarcastic as myself has no right  

[Keyser]

Morning folks,

 

Another weekend in lockdown over then

I spent most of mine in the Zed Shed obvs. I did have to give Mrs K an assist with a bit of painting but she has nearly finished now Yayy  

 

The next eagerly awaited ???? update is below for your enjoyment; this is another actual repair!

From The MOT fail list –

 

Suspension arm pin or bush excessively worn Nearside Rear (trailing arm)

Suspension arm pin or bush excessively worn Offside Rear (trailing arm)

 

 

The bush is fine, the pin is fine the hole said pin goes through on the other hand is the size of an Easter egg – one of those big overpriced Easter eggs!!!!  

The huge amount of play in the hole is what makes the trailing arm wobble really badly, when you look at the design and see that it is nothing more than a flat bit of 3mm mild steel it’s not really surprising it has worn out. Anyway I used the bar trick to check alignment and also took some measurements, it’s 201mm wide if anyone cares.

 I only had 12mm bar and it is a 14mm pin so

 

You also start to get an idea of the wear here

 

 

I considered options, one was to weld a washer on the outside face but that’s only about 1mm thick and would not last long, another was to weld a plate on the outside, an easier option but the bolts don’t have much spare thread on them when done up and I don’t want them coming off!

I decided the best repair was to replace them completely so I  cut out the bad bits -

 

 

As seems to be a thing at the moment a bit of old box from the scarp pile has the right, actually slightly thicker, steel sides  with the advantage of a built in “L” shape to make fixing it easier and I should get a stronger weld.

 

 

Cut out the bit I want

 

 

Drill to 14mm then cut roughly to shape and clean them up with the sander

 

 

Then using the bar and a steel rule to get the alignment I spot welded those on

 

 

 

After double checking both alignment and gap to be sure the trailing arm will fit back in I put a proper weld down each side.

 

Inside

 

Outside

 

 

Fairly simple repair but it looks OEM and should last another few years

 

This is the old carrier on the bolt, it shows the amount of play they had!

 

 

Stay safe guys n gals  

 

 

Keyser - Ordinary men hate solitude. But the master makes use of it, embracing his aloneness, realizing he is one with the whole universe. Lao Tzu

 

 

 

 

 

 

[andybp]

good work as always Chris, did you make the last picture blurry just for me 

[Keyser]

 

12 minutes ago, andybp said:

good work as always Chris, did you make the last picture blurry just for me

 

Of course it was just for you I mean, after all, I'm just doing "what I'm Good at"  

 

Just need some doughnuts now

 

 

 

 

 

[Keyser]

Morning my avid followers I’m sure you can hardly wait to see what I’ve been up to on The Bug, or more likely are climbing the walls due to lock down and this is almost better than watching paint dry  

 

Well strap in this is a BIG one, let me start by setting the scene;

When we first got The Bug and I was underneath it you could tell the previous owner broke it while having some fun in the mud, fair enough that’s what its for, but it looked like this underneath

 

 

That’s the bottom of the seats not the skid pan they looked like this underneath

 

 

And removed the bottom from The Bug

 

 

Now two things struck me about this, firstly, surely it would be sensible to have at least a splash guard under the seat just to keep the crap of and secondly, somewhat more worrying if you happen to go over something sharp and pointy, you know like a stick, when off roading the only thhing protecting your backside is a piece of foam and a thin layer of faux leather – I don’t like that idea!

So it was always planned to extend the undertray/skidpan back to give the driver some protection as well as making the buggy more rugged,

Now I have stripped the buggy completely so the frame looks like this,

 

 

This is the removed skid pan

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see it is pretty beat up and made in lots of sections and has gaps in it, so I had to consider the best way to improve on it. In a perfect world the complete under tray would be one big sheet and extend all the way to the back of the cockpit area, this would be a major undertaking though and you would need a large piece of heavy weigh steel I’m not sure I want to go there!

Much pondering and coffee drinking took place as I considered my options –

 

More coming …………………………………..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Keyser]

I went to my scrap pile – it always surprises me that no one has ever asked exactly how big my scrap pile is, I call it a scarp pile, its more of a stockpile but I acquired it over time at the best price FREE!!  

 

You may be surprised just what I can dig out from it when needed

 

Anyway as I was saying I went to my scrap pile and found this

 

 

Yes I’m going there!! It’s the best thing really   

That’s a 1.2M x 3M 3mm thick sheet of zircotec coated mild steel (zircotec is like galvanised but different Goggle it if you need more info) that however is why it isn’t rusty.

 

After roping Mrs K to get it into the garage I got out another one of my toys to start trimming it down

 

 

 

 

Add a centre line

 

 

Get a rough idea of dimensions from the original tray

 

 

 

 

Now some measurements and marking out

 

 

 

Then I started by drilling some holes

 

 

Joined the dots and test fit,

 

 

as this is one piece some fettling was required to allow enogh wiggle to get it on

 

 

Out with the air grinder

 

 

To give

 

 

Now it fits

 

 

 

 

And from inside

 

 

At this point I had to come up with a way to hold it in place for shaping but I need to be able to take it off for both the shaping and for paint later. I used these they are for roofing sheet but with a pre-drilled pilot hole they work fine.

 

 

That gets us to here

 

 

 

 

 

 

More coming I said this was big!!!.........................................

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 21, 2020 by Keyser

[Keyser]

At this point I realised the error of my ways, this is 3mm steel, this is less like panel beating and more like armour plating!!  

 

I mean how the F**K am I supposed to bend this stuff into a nice uniform snug fitting shape

 

Pleas note the following is not a lesson in panel beating and should probably not be tried at home, It’s just what happens when I’m left alone with a bit too much time on my hands and decide to try and attempt something that sane people would just not even contemplate.

 

Ratchet straps!!

 

Please note I had to upgrade the bolts holding it in place the small ones were snapping under the pressure

You may also note I had 2 sizes of bolts too long and too short I went with too long

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a lot of pressure was applied it started to see things my way (judicious use of hammers may have been involved)

 

 

I did have to cut some reliefs into each side, only about 6 in total but all that metal has to go somewhere!

 

 

Then some fine tuning – I had to roll out the oxy acetylene and apply heat in a few places

 

 

 

 

Then back to the straps and hammers

 

 

The inside is snugging up  

 

 

Back to the bench

 

 

Trim off the excess weld the relif slots up and angle grind smooth

 

 

 

That’s it for now, more on this tomorrow – I’ve done enough typing for one morning  

 

Stay Safe

 

Keyser - “Laugh and the world laughs with you, snore and you sleep alone.” ― Anthony Burgess 

 

[veeg33]

I thought the zed shed doubles up as a gym working on those 'guns' of yours 

[Stutopia]

I know we're somewhat prone to taking the p!ss but I just wanted to say, in all seriousness, this is the absolute high point of my days right now and love following whatever dangerous and interesting new pursuit you've turned your hand to. I'm pretty sure we (notice I said WE, because I'm so involved!) are building a boat now, but if not, it must be an aeroplane, either way - thanks so much for taking the time out from doing the actual work, to take snaps and write it up and share it - it's AMAZING.

 

[hicksi]

Here here Stu, 

 

I became heavily invested when the hammers came out. I have a degree in smashing things 

[Keyser]

@veeg33     -  Trust me 15 - 20k steps a  day lots of sweat and tears it's like a gym  a sauna when the welders going full chat

 

 

@SuperStu  - Thanks mate glad you like it as long as a few gus n gals are following along and enjoying it I'm happy to write it up - I only take the mick in case I later find out no one even reads it - That way I'm covered   - This lock down does have a lot to answer for if this is the high point of your day I jest of course, I'll keep it coming (Think more Santa's sled than boat )

 

@hicksi  - I thought that was Huw's speaciality - He is the best destruction / crash test dummy I've seen in action

 

 

[Tinyflier]

Is most certainly the high point of my day! Am loving the detail commentary and the varied ways of thinking round a problem and coming up with a solution even if it does involve big hammers!

 

I washed my R35 today - (again) - the extent of my DIY skills! Oh actually that's not true - I also made a brace for a wobbly toilet cistern (been meaning to do that since I bought my house in June - now seemed an opportune time) - massive amount of pre-planning and precision execution (AKA - cut two lengths of timber - slip them behind the top of the cistern and secure said cistern using longer screws through the timber braces and into the wall!) I forgot to take pics!

 

Keep up the good work Chris!

 

David

[ATTAK Z]

Thanks Chris, fantastic write up yet again. I've done a bit of gardening today so just come in to see you've been busy.

 

Keep safe everyone !

[Beb]

Definitely not going for a full sheet undertray.... 2 mins later... armour plating. WTF did Kim put in your coffee