Fasteddys side car build

fasteddy

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Joined
Apr 28, 2009
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188
Location
Crescent Beach,British Columbia
http://s866.photobucket.com/home/speedy****/index

I've been building the side car for a couple of weeks now and just found out tonight how to hook photobucket up to the sight. Now none of you are safe.

I saw a photo of a British Watsonian side car made for bicycles and started to copy it but the train went off the tracks along the line as you will see. It was supposed to be aluminum to start with.

The first pictures are as it was this afternoon with the windshield attached. That will have plexiglass in it and the interior will be upholstered with Naugahyde.
I wrapped the frame in 1/4" luan plywood so the mahogany strips would have something to rest against as I glued and nailed them.

The mahogany came from window and door casings that my brother took out of the house 20 years ago when he rehabed it. The wood was just to nice to throw out.
I cut it into 2" strips and then ripped them in half and ran them through the planer until they were an 1/8" thick. We have a small fully equiped wood working shop. We had to retire before we could afford it.

The strips cupped when they were wet with glue and I had to sand the whole thing smooth. O joy. Lots of nail holes to fill as well.

The batteries are going to go under the rear hatch. We can only have e-bikes in British Columbia.

The colour will be dark with a red under tone but that is my personal choice.
I spent over 40 years restoring antique furniture and really like the colour.

If the wood hadn't been available I would have used mahogany veneered plywood or dark luan plywood or door skins. They can all look great.

The finish will be 6-8 coats of gloss spar varnish sanded every 2 coats to keep it smooth.

It will weigh about 50lbs when it is finished but I built it heavy on purpose. It has to counter balance me and I'm no feather weight.

I'm going to build another one and I'll see just how light it can be made. I'll let you know when I start.

Not sure how I'll attach it to the bike just yet but the bike has to be restored yet. It's the Monark in the pictures.

Hope you enjoy the pictures and if you have any question or comments please feel free to e-mail or PM me.

The one thing I will do different on the next build is to make it 1 1/2' x 4' not 2' x 4'. It is to hard to bend the plywood and strips around a. I just needed battery room but would not use that shape for an e-bike again.

You will have to click on "my home" thanks to this site wiping out part of my photo bucket name.

Fasteddy
 
Last edited:
I couldn't find the pictures

I couldn't find the pictures, but i would like to see the side car
 
http://tinyurl.com/yajkqcz

DougC, thanks and to everyone else sorry but Steve and computers are never used in the same sentence.

The christmas rush is now over and I've had a chance to work out the tiny url thing as well as get finish on the side car.

The site should take you from the finish to the start. See the note above to see what I did. I took the photos this afternoon.

The questions that may come to mind, I'll try and pre answer.

The exhaust pipes are down pipes from under a sink. New from Home Depot. I cut them to fit. Plugged them with plugs cut out with a hole saw and JB Welded in the pipe to keep things out. JB Welded the pipes into the side car.

Hood scoops are drawer handles from Home Depot. The cover has to be pulled up to get to the battery. Only thing I could think of.

The metal around the hatch cover is carpet strips that are used when you put carpet up to wood floors.
I put very thin weather stripping under the metal to seal it against water. Yep, Home Depot.

Seven coats of gloss spar varnish ,sanded very two coats with 220 wet/dry paper, used dry.

Mohawk Refinishing Supplies, medium mahogany alcohol stain. Just because I like it and used it for years when I restored furniture. The colour choice is of course yours.

I'll have the interior finished in a few days and will post photos of it. It will have a full canvas cover.

Got a question. Please ask

Steve.
 
You sir are a craftsman. You would have been handy to have around when I was trying to restore an old Chris Craft.
 
I cant tell how big it is... can you post up a pic with something next to it for scale??? Maybe that old vintage bike???

Nice work though ed... its very pretty. It reminds me of one of those old wooden power boats from the 30's and 40's.
 
Thanks vtec. It's 4 feet long and 2 feet wide or a 1/4 sheet of plywood. I'll put something in the photo in a few days when I have the interior done, so that you will get an idea of how big it is.

I never thought of that. Thank you.

Steve.
 
Sweet. I've heard of boattail speedsters, that looks like you could pedal to the boat ramp, detach it, and get on the lake!

Like that a lot. My son has been going nuts with boat building ideas the last few months, and one technique he has investigated is a very light weight bent wood torsion frame with a stretched fabric covering that is coated with resin that seals/shrinks it to the frame. I've been studying the notion of applying that technique to a sidecar build.
 
Simon, my boat nuts brother wants to take it to the ocean and try it. He is sure it will float.

Your right. That would make a killer side car build. Really light weight and strong.
This one is around 50 lbs. Now the challenge is to build a light weight carriage for it.

Like the boattailed speedster a lot. Have a new one in mind that is a copy of an old one.
It will go in a whole new direction from the one I just did. Not a boat tailed speedster this time.

This really is too much fun.
Glad you like it.

Steve.
 
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