Pig trike

curtit · Nov 28, 2018

resents: I found this setting in a side yard in the country. After some haggling, we settled on $200.00.

We put it in my daughter's pickup bed, and went home. My daughter told me that since it was my trike, and it was hiding her tail lights, I had to drive the 50 plus miles home. I made it.

I got two cardboard boxes of parts, a plastic bucket of rusted nuts and bolts and a late style "rebuilt" engine.

If someone has spare engine parts they want to sell, please let me know. It is a 1600 dual port engine. No engine tin at all, no part of an intake manifold, no fan housing, no alternator, and no fan. I do have a new (10 plus years old still in the package) oil pump with an attached filter, and a distributor drive gear. No carburetor, no rear pulley, not much of anything really. I'm not begging for handouts, I'm want to pay for what I get.

This poor old pig trike has been setting in a side yard for six years, and unknown years in other places, but I will get it going again.

Thank you.:titanic:

FuzzyWuzHe · Nov 28, 2018

God bless you for salvaging that ride ...

vwbug72501 · Nov 28, 2018

Nice find! Is this your first VW trike? If you've worked on type1 VWs before you probably have most of the basic tools to break the engine down and check it's "rebuiltness". Might get lucky and have some usable parts inside. Biggest worry about old engines stored outside is that if they were sitting on the ground, you might have porosity issues with the magnesium cases.

Check out the Souix Falls VW Club on FB. They can probably hook you up with some local resources.

I'd like to see a pic of the frame when you get the body off.

Sidecarbill · Nov 28, 2018

Before I did anything I'd title it in my name. Unless your state doesn't require a title. Nothin like spendin time and money on something you'll never be able to use.

curtit · Nov 29, 2018

FuzzyWuzHe said:
God bless you for salvaging that ride ...

Thank you.

I enjoy a challenge. I like working on stuff, except in the garage in S.W. Minnesota with a temperature of 20 degrees F.:gaa:

curtit · Nov 29, 2018

vwbug72501 said:
Nice find! Is this your first VW trike? If you've worked on type1 VWs before you probably have most of the basic tools to break the engine down and check it's "rebuiltness". Might get lucky and have some usable parts inside. Biggest worry about old engines stored outside is that if they were sitting on the ground, you might have porosity issues with the magnesium cases.

Check out the Souix Falls VW Club on FB. They can probably hook you up with some local resources.

I'd like to see a pic of the frame when you get the body off.

Thanks for the info. This will be my third trike build, but my first Swing Axel of any kind.

The engine was setting in a fifth wheel travel trailer. I am just guessing, but I think the previous owner pulled it, put it in the trailer, and sold off parts. I have a lot of VW tools, but most of them are in my 1971 Bajie bug setting storage in the middle of California. I have enough to get by with.

I just checked out Souix Falls VW Club on Facebook. Didn't come up with much, but other VW Facebook sites came up. Thank you, I never thought of looking on Facebook, just the parts houses; Appletree, Aircooled.Net, etcetra.

Will start buying parts after the third when I get my monthly Social security check.

There are a lot more pictures of the trike from before I started taking it apart. I will get on the pictures now that it is inside, and in a bunch of pieces.

Thanks for the information.

Robert.

curtit · Nov 29, 2018

Sidecarbill said:
Before I did anything I'd title it in my name. Unless your state doesn't require a title. Nothin like spendin time and money on something you'll never be able to use.

Perfectly valid point. I'll add that to my to do list.

Thank you for thinking for an old man. (71.5 years old, but feel 35.):senile:

Robert

1dn5up · Nov 29, 2018

curtit said:
Perfectly valid point. I'll add that to my to do list.

Thank you for thinking for an old man. (71.5 years old, but feel 35.):senile:

Robert

Nice that your health allows you to keep going like ya do. At least your quest is on the positive side to pass the winter time away. All ya need is some garage heat ! Good luck Robert :clapping:.

grandpanystrom61 · Nov 29, 2018

Lots of different things can happen to things from sitting out side in the weather and abuse.

Nice find, glad to year that you are younger in spirit than physical age. Think young and the mind stays young, just our bodies go to crap on us.

A lot of tips, but I like the one " go to DMV first thing, get legal papers on it" and do not let them talk you into a non op on it until road worthy,, this can cost you money and time also.

Best to get it legal and pay reg. fees each year. Even if it just sets in the garage, I say it is the price to pay for ownership.

Taking off the body is good, as one should look over all welding joints and all so inspect the frame for damage or bent parts from previous accident. With frame bare one can roll it over a square drawn on the garage floor to see how all lines up.

Next the trike has hydl. front fork's , or inner tube springs ?

Both of these suspensions have a limit in their operation. From what I have read (rebuilding my front end) is that they start to fall short on working properly once you get to or past 45 degrees in rake angle. I also read on article that said 42.5 degree's is when they start to diminish in compression ratings.

Just sit down with paper and pin and write it all down that needs to be done or service checked. Than just go down the list repairing and checking things off as you get them done.

It was nice of you to save this ride, maybe you can bring life back into her.

LarryA · Nov 29, 2018

Glad you made the save....a new project can shorten a long winter!

FuzzyWuzHe · Nov 29, 2018

LarryA said:
Glad you made the save....a new project can shorten a long winter!

And lengthen a short life ....

Pooch · Nov 29, 2018

The rear wheels appear to be Cragar SS wheels, I have a set just like them for my 69 Plymouth GTX.

curtit · Nov 29, 2018

1dn5up said:
Nice that your health allows you to keep going like ya do. At least your quest is on the positive side to pass the winter time away. All ya need is some garage heat ! Good luck Robert :clapping:.

Thanks frank.

I'm not as spry as I once was, and I can't hold a Chevy 350 small block out in front of me like I used to, and instead of urinating on the ceiling the first thing in the morning, I now fill up my slippers, I'm still in good shape (what's left of me, that is.):blush:

I was considering propane, but you get a twenty pound tank filled to only fifteen pounds from the Blue Rhino propane company. They charge you for twenty, but give you fifteen, if I read their advertisement correctly. The second option is to drive one hundred miles to Souix Falls, South Dakota, and one hundred back. I can't see the mileage, but I doubly can't see getting bent over the tank (pun intended).

My daughter has said "no electrical heaters in the garage, it does crazy things to my electric bill."

I guess I'll go to the grocery store where they sell Blue Rhino, and walk in with my pants down around my ankles, metaphorically speaking.:kpzxvq:

Be safe;

Robert

curtit · Nov 29, 2018

FuzzyWuzHe said:
And lengthen a short life ....

Life is short, and the older you get, the shorter life gets. Always try to have fun and have it the way you want it.

Be safe;

Robert.

curtit · Nov 29, 2018

Pooch said:
The rear wheels appear to be Cragar SS wheels, I have a set just like them for my 69 Plymouth GTX.

Yes, the wheels are 14" Cragars, with a tread width of 10". They're no longer holding air, but I don't see any cracking in the sidewall. They are L60-14, and I cannot find an equivalent modern tire size. When I was in my mid twenties, I had M50s on the front of my '69 Charger, and M60s on the rear. (440 Mag engine, 4 speed, Dana positract, 1/2" cam, headers, high rise with a 750 Holly double pump. I could get the front end about three feet in the air when the M60s were new, after they wore in, the beastie would try to wipe out the vehicles beside of me. I had to be doing at least 25 mph before I punched it. When I first got the car in a trade, I tried to top end it. The speedometer hand got stuck on the wrong side of the peg BEFORE 0.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane, which is only a quarter mile long.

Robert.

curtit · Nov 29, 2018

curtit said:
resents: I found this setting in a side yard in the country.

I'm still making out lists to figure what to do first.

1. Replace the front end because there is no hydraulic action in the front end on the trike. I added oil to the cylinders, and all I got was an oily floor. I have a leading link front end I made for the unfinished trike I left in Lodi. The leading link has 1900 miles on it without turning a wheel from being in the back of the van on the trip to Minnesota. 2. Get a Kawasaki Ninja rotor and bolts for the front brake.

3. Find out what the front caliper on the trike is and rebuild or replace it.

4. Hand and throttle grips.

5. Front brake master cylinder and lever

6. A new set of swing axle rear brake lines.

That should take all of my social security check, so I'll pull some things off the list till next month so I have enough money left to buy the dog her food. I'm changing her name from Sharlee to Bar-b-Que. :evilgrin:.

Be safe, y'all.

curtit · Nov 29, 2018

grandpanystrom61 said:
Lots of different things can happen to things from sitting out side in the weather and abuse.

***Yes ,grandpanystrom61, they can, and it seems like they're all bad.

Nice find, glad to year that you are younger in spirit than physical age. Think young and the mind stays young, just our bodies go to crap on us.

***It's like George Burns said, "I'd date girls of my own age, but there are no girls my age"

A lot of tips, but I like the one " go to DMV first thing, get legal papers on it" and do not let them talk you into a non op on it until road worthy,, this can cost you money and time also.

***I like this one best also. In Minnesota, they do not have non-ops. They don't even know what a non-op is. I tried to put one on a car I bought, and they couldn't understand. I junked a car in Lodi that is still on a non-op. They keep sending notices that I don't have to do anything, and the car will stay non-oped.

Best to get it legal and pay reg. fees each year. Even if it just sets in the garage, I say it is the price to pay for ownership.

***I don't think they charge registration on a vehicle here if I just transfer it into my name without registering it. I could be wrong.

Taking off the body is good, as one should look over all welding joints and all so inspect the frame for damage or bent parts from previous accident. With frame bare one can roll it over a square drawn on the garage floor to see how all lines up.

*** The body is off, and from the measurements from the outsides of the torsion bar tubes to the center rear of the neck it is within a 32nd of an inch, and that could be form the bolt being loose in the hole.

Next the trike has hydl. front fork's , or inner tube springs ? Both of these suspensions have a limit in their operation. From what I have read (rebuilding my front end) is that they start to fall short on working properly once you get to or past 45 degrees in rake angle. I also read an article that said 42.5 degree's is when they start to diminish in compression ratings.

***The trike has hydraulic forks. It looks kinda like a 350 Honda, but I'm sure it isn't. I'll post more pictures. I didn't do a rake angle yet, as my rake magnet is in my Bajie bug in Lodi. Ill get one this next week, weather permitting. I made a leading link with a set of 5' down tubes that I'm considering using if I can get some co-operation from the dmv here. I want to cut the neck that's on the trike off and use the neck I had made for the leading link. If I use the complete front end, there will be less hassles. If I get to change the neck, the front end will be at a ridiculous rake, but it will only have about two inches of trail, and it will ride like a Cady on the road, and a go cart in the curves, minus the slipping off the road.

Just sit down with paper and pin and write it all down that needs to be done or service checked. Than just go down the list repairing and checking things off as you get them done.

***I have a ream of paper in the garage that I've been using for writing. I can't get my ink pen out of my hand because of the swelling from all of the lists.

It was nice of you to save this ride, maybe you can bring life back into her.

***One way or the other, I'll finish it. My daughter is already calling it hers, because when I die, she becomes the beneficiary.

Thanks for the talk, be safe.

Robert.

curtit · Nov 29, 2018

LarryA said:
Glad you made the save....a new project can shorten a long winter!

Larry, I'm glad I made the save too because doing this trike will keep me off the road, and out of trouble for a long time. Lets just hope that tomorrow I still remember what I thought of today for doing to the trike, or something like that.

Be safe;

Robert.

grandpanystrom61 · Nov 30, 2018

It may sound a bit off, but Harley seems to have nice aftermarket priced brake calipar and Master cylinder and lever prices. I got stock on a set size of front tire and this lead me to Triumph, and so I did their calipar and lever control. It worked out, but I did over pay for my choice. Now just hope it was worth it.

They are less expensive because they are a single piston design, my choice was a dual piston calipar.

Out side, wiring insulation could be cracking up means a new wire job is in order. Seems many get a dune buggy wiring get for their trike's. It seems to work out well.

Dash panel is missing up front, so for me I used a piece of aluminum for my dash face piece.

Easy to work with, a pain to paint, but it worked for me. Why do it, bug motors do need some instruments so the rider can keep an eye on the engine and how all is working, okay I felt better putting them in so I could keep an eye on it all. Again not a bad choice.

You will have fun I am sure. Yes propane is a pain on the bottle exchange, they take everyone with it, but it does deliver more heat than electric does. I know as I did/do the electric heat at times, costly compared to the propane buddy heater I have.

Be safe and enjoy the new ride.

1dn5up · Nov 30, 2018

curtit said:
Thanks frank.

I'm not as spry as I once was, and I can't hold a Chevy 350 small block out in front of me like I used to, and instead of urinating on the ceiling the first thing in the morning, I now fill up my slippers, I'm still in good shape (what's left of me, that is.):blush:

I was considering propane, but you get a twenty pound tank filled to only fifteen pounds from the Blue Rhino propane company. They charge you for twenty, but give you fifteen, if I read their advertisement correctly. The second option is to drive one hundred miles to Souix Falls, South Dakota, and one hundred back. I can't see the mileage, but I doubly can't see getting bent over the tank (pun intended).

My daughter has said "no electrical heaters in the garage, it does crazy things to my electric bill."

I guess I'll go to the grocery store where they sell Blue Rhino, and walk in with my pants down around my ankles, metaphorically speaking.:kpzxvq:

Be safe;

Robert

I’ve got one of those Sunflower type heaters at my home garage, that mounts on the tank valve. It does take the chill out of a one car garage.

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