Front suspension

Front suspension follows a similar process to the rear suspension, plenty of bushes to insert!

To recap, for those whom have not read the rear suspension post... 

1. Clean powder coat out of the holes where the plastic bushes locate
2. chamfer the lead edges to assist easing the bush into the suspension arm
3. apply some copper grease and squeeze in the bush
4. Follow up with the tubing inserted through the bush trimmed to size 

There are some photos of this process on the rear suspension post which hopefully illustrate this better than words describe!

The lower ball joint is next to fix into position. Reading other builds suggests locating the lower ball joint underneath the lower suspension arm and for the bolts to pass through top to bottom which I duly followed. Clearly something to do with suspension geometry as my logical head would have suggested fitting on top of the lower wishbone....

The upper suspension arm has the upper ball joint screwed into the threaded end. Ensure any powder coat has been cleaned out of the internal thread on the suspension arm, apply a small amount of WD40 to assist the screwing in - initially screw in to locate, fine tuning of the suspension geometry will come much later down the line after a few uninstalls and re-installs I anticipate.

Some IVA trim will need to be applied to the upper wishbone whilst the upper ball joint requires a final setup to achieve a 43mm distance between the middle of the upper ball joint and the outside edge of the lock nut.

Repeat above for both sides and then we can go about doing a test fit onto the chassis. This went well once powder cat has been cleaned from the chassis locating holes, the gaps between chassis mounting and the wishbone will require packing out with spacers and like the rear wishbone no hard and fast rule - just ensure enough spacers are packed in to pad out any gaps and remove any slackness in the fit.

So, all successfully installed, front shocks, hubs and cycle wing carriers await

 

rear upper wishbones

As a change I decided to look at the rear suspension and start tackling the mountain of plastic bushes which need inserting into the suspension arms.

Process is extremely similar to what I explained in my earlier blog post on the pedals however to recap:

• Using a sanding drill bit clean out the powdercoat from the inside of the suspension 
• File any weld protrusions evident inside the suspension arms where the bushes will be inserted
• Chamfer the plastic bush to assist inserting into the suspension arm
• Apply copper grease on the inside the suspension arm and the outside of the plastic bush
• using a vice squeeze the bush into the suspension arm being conscious not to damage the face of the plastic bush with the vice teeth.

6 down, 22 to go on the rear...a repetitive task!

Once these are done, the steel inserts can be put into the bushes again using some copper grease to ease it in with the help of the vice. You may need to clean out the insides of the plastic bushes before you insert the steel collar.

You also need to ensure the collar sits flush with the plastic bush face, if they protrude file or grind down to achieve the desired fit.

Not quite as repetitive... thankfully only 6 to do

There are obvious left and right wishbones, standing at the rear of the chassis, the wishbones with a notch fix to the right hand side. You will also need to remove the flexible brake hose if already fitted to allow access for the bolts through the chassis and wishbones.

Penny washers need inserting between the plastic bushes and the chassis lugs through which the bolts pass through, smaller washers on the outside of the lug between bolt head and nyloc nut. All loosely fitted for now, however they will need torquing to 90nm before slackening off and tightening 15nm followed by a further quarter turn.

Brake and clutch pedals part 2

So bushes located into the pedals and assembly on the chassis, next push the tube through the bushes which in turn has a bolt inserted through that.

No simple way to describe this next step except its a laborious task involving rubbing, filing and polishing!

The tube was unwilling to slide through neither the pedals or the chassis frame cleanly, I was expecting this again having read other builds so armed with emery paper and a 14mm drill bit I set to work in getting the tube pushed through cleanly.

Focus on a pedal at a time, i first put a chamfor on the edge of the tube to provide some assistance. Looking into the bushes showed some plastic flash and uneven surface so by using a 14mm drill bit I first ran that through the bushes with the electric drill slowly and cleanly to prevent the hole being widened accidentally and thus creating slack.

Once the drill bit had been run through I wrapped some emery paper round the drill bit and polished up the insides of the bush. Finally using emery paper again I polished the outside surface of the tube to remove any further resistance. Slowly but surely the tube pushed through the pedals and chassis frame.

Hey presto the brake and clutch dry fitted to the chassis. As a stated at the outset a laborious task but in a strange way a rewarding one as well. 

When final fit comes along, I will apply some 3in1 oil to the tube and inside bushes to further smooth the pivot action on the pedals

Brake and clutch pedals part 1

So thought I would turn my attention to the endless supply of plastic bushes which need inserting and start with the brake and clutch pedal assemblies.

Reading several blogs plus the guidance from GBS suggested some brute force was needed to get the bushes inserted successfully however on reflection (so far anyway!) this part of the build has gone to plan very well.

Using a sanding drum inserted into an electric drill I cleaned out the powder coat from the inside of the apertures the bushes fit into, I also filed a champher on the leading edges of the apertures to assist the insertion of the bushes.

Applying some 3in1 oil to the inside of the aperture and the bush itself using a vice I compressed them together and in slid the bush. Process repeated 4 times on the two pedals.

The chassis frame where the pedal bushes locate cannot obviously be accessed with the vice, so a heath-robinson solution of a long bolt, packing, washer and nut provided the necessary force to push/pull the bushes into position.