Sunday, March 25, 2012

Scrub it up.

If you love the feel of wind,dust, and dirt in your face, the smell of paint in your nose, and the taste of rust in your throat, you will love this part of the restoration. I absolutely want a sand blaster. The thought of gently waving my magic wand of high speed abrasion that lifts the most stubborn patina gives me the chills. Oh the time I could save and the rust I could kill.... ah dreams.... reality dictates that a machines that operates at 150 decibels and leaves pounds of sand within a 4 block area of where it operates, relegates this particular fantasy to my dreams.
Enter the modern wire wheel. 3400 revolutions per minute of paint and rust stripping madness. Every part that has just been disassembled from the trike has now to be stripped of all the paint and rust that 40 years of use has contributed to it. The jack shaft and axle are dissembled and scrubbed clean then lubed, bad parts replaced and then reassembled. Frame parts are stripped, primed, and repainted.



Mitch and I debated over what color to paint this trike and decided on bumble bee. Yellow frame, black wheels, and haven't decided what to do with the chrome yet. Handle bars will be black.      

6 comments:

  1. I just bought one of these Super Trykes too. Mine is a 1980 model with a 14hp Briggs & Stratton opposed twin cylinder engine. I am looking to restore this thing back to stock. Its lime green right now and I am going to have to do something about that. I am looking for some rear fenders and a reverse gearbox and some of the original stickers that came on the tryke. I will follow your blog and hope to learn something about these beasts. Heres a pic of mine. http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/2724/myhealdsupertryke50pcop.jpg

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  2. I just took mine out for the maiden voyage last night. What a blast! All the kids from three blocks around were fighting for the next ride. Mine has hydraulic disk brakes and rebuilding the calipers was a bit of a pain. I still have a lot of work to do but what a great trike!

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  3. I have a 1984 or thereabouts according to the literature, the tail end of production in Benton Harbor, MI. Email me for pictures at camelot35@hotmail.com mine had a 16 hp opposed twin (aluminum cylinders were bad so I put a Predator Engine 13 hp in and it works great...the briggs twins were a little bulky but good engines. I also have a Heald Hauler with a 16 hp twin briggs and Stratton, cast iron sleeves which I put new rings in. These engines can burn oil because of their design but they run forever. Its a 3 wheeled machine with a dump box and steering wheel. It hauls like hell too!
    Kevin, Big Rapids, Michigan

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  4. I have one of these but have no idea of what year. I believe its a B&G model 25. looking to restore but would like to get it running smooth first. Having problems with the wiring I believe. Not sure if its a ground from the magneto or what. Any help/tips would be much appreciated.

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  5. I need this pulley for my bike anyone know where I can find one?

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  6. I just found one in a barn. It has a 16hp briggs. It has bench seat. Has 3 gauges. Mph,fuel, & hour gauge. It has turn signals brake lights. The thing was covered in at least a inch of dust. Got it home washed it off. Looks like new. Wish I need what year & model.

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