Fun with frames

Right, after much umming and arring I tackled the frame problem today. I stuck a straight edge down each side and it seems that the frame was warped fairly evenly on both sides.

I couldn't apply the heat to all the joints at the same time, so I used the propane torch to heat each bit individually until it was red hot, then left it to cool.

Once it had all cooled, I put the trolley jack in and cranked it open. I was worried about it stretching out more on one side than the other, so i kept tweaking it a bit at a time and releasing the jack so I could check the measurements.

I got it back to 8.25" but it had straightened out on one side and not the other, so I reheated the other side and tweaked it out that last bit.

I put the rear wheel, chain and engine back on and all seems ok so fingers crossed, things are back on track (or as near as makes a difference!)

Oops

Right, update time

I welded some brackets to the bottom of the battery box to provide some fixing points.

I decided to support it on two seperate 5mm cross plates rather than one big shelf. I think this will make it easier to get the battery out without dismantling the rest of the bike and also reduce the chance of water pooling if its wet.

Once they were welded in place I drilled out the holes and drilled it for mounting the battery box.

Now that was all well and good but little did I know of a major problem that I had incurred. As I had stripped the frame down to mount the battery box I decided that it was a good opportunity to weld up all the bits I had tacked in place and clean them up with some dreamel lovin.

Unfortunately though I had welded the cross members in without bracing the rear axle plates. I didn't realise that the frame had warped until I tried to put the bike back together tonight. The rear wheel fit but there was no way the spacer would go in too. So I got the ruler out.

It's supposed to be 8.5" and it's measuring just under 8"!!! I looked at the TC Bros instructions and it concluded my fears that I should have braced the frame to avoid warping when welding the cross members in place.

Now i need to work out if its salvageable or if I've completely fooked it :/

Open for business

Check out the store!!....

Holme Valley Customs

Got a Big cartel web store set up now to make things easy to browse and purchase. Not much there at the moment but hopefully things will grow with time.

For now its just the M8 bungs and a set of fab plates;

Battery box

I warmed myself up by finishing off the new stainless steel rear brake linkage that I've been working on in between other stuff

Then I thought I'd best stop avoiding the hard stuff and started work on my battery box. I've not quite worked all the details out like what route the wires are going to take. But I thought a good place to start would be the main 'box' part.

There isn't much room in the frame either way I sit the battery, so I wanted to make it as snug as possible. I measured the battery up and cut the bits out of 2mm sheet

Then bit by bit I tacked it together using some magnetic angles to make everything square. Before I tackled the welding proper, I decided that some extra stickers on my mask would improve my skills.

And it fits the battery like a glove. Thing I'm not sure about now is which way to orientate it in the bike.

I think I'll put it in line with the frame, as it keeps the battery as far away from moving parts as possible, and if I'm clever I could make it so that I can tip the battery over and slide it out without having to remove the electrics box above it (I would have to remove the brake linkage mind).