Bob Sokol shows you how to build a BIG WHEEL Trike from an old Volkswagen

SATURDAY: 3/20/2004
I can't draw a straight line with a ruler, so I needed help torch cutting the heavy plate for the triple trees. To help me I whipped up this track torch from some scrap metal and go-kart bearings we had lying around.

MONDAY: 3/22/2004
Does a pretty good job. With a little grinding you'd never know it was cut by hand.

Here's the main tubes ready to weld.

And welded solid and darn parallel.

Used a fly cutter on the drill press to cut the center hole.

and welded a pair of collars above and below the top triple tree.

Cut a couple of pieces of that plate which just fit inside the 1 x 2 and welded them to the tree precisely to fit the tubes.

Now to use the tree as a guide to mark the main tubes for cutting.

Once they are the correct height the center post gets cut down.

I poked a couple of holes through the main tubes and aligning plates and tapped fine threads so a bolt can be inserted to hold the whole mess together.

and drilled the two holes where the spring guides will pass through the triple tree and cut the front corners off. More grinding.

Here the suspension tubes are ready to weld and then clamped down to grind.

At the end of the evening the front end is starting to look like something. The little wheel is just to hold the angle of the rockers up.

Tune in next time for more pictures on BIG WHEEL TRIKE PAGE 7. Click this picture to go on to the next page.

THE BIG WHEEL TRIKE PAGE 7

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