Sidecar on late 60s single frame?

[idie]

Making your own fittings. Wow!

[iansoady]

I could have bought them but at over £700 decided to go down the home-made route. And I think mine are better looking!

[limeyrob]

I would have more faith in yours, some of the off-the-shelf ones look questionable.

[iansoady]

These are the clamps David Angel sells. I think they're a bit feeble looking myself, plus you can't both have them tight and at the right angle. £72!

[iansoady]

These are the struts painted and adjusted. 10" sidecar wheel lead, 3/4" toe-in and about 1/4"lean out at the tyre. The latter of course will change depending on load. I had to modify the side panel to clear the brackets but it had already been chopped at the bottom to clear the exhaust. I also took the opportunity to align the Dzus(?) brackets so the panel went on easily.

[DAVE BRADY]

Hi,

When is the road test?

Dave.

[iansoady]

Still a fair way to go Dave. The sidecar body is booked in for a paint job to match the tank / sidepanels on 2nd March, return a week later, by which time I hope the mechanical bits will be sorted out. So fingers crossed first ride mid to late March.

[V500]

These are the struts painted and adjusted.

Blimey, no chance of that doing a George and Mildred!

[iansoady]

Or even a Wallace & Gromit! The only thing I have a slight concern about is the quality of my welding, but it would need at least 2 simultaneous failures to cause anything catastrophic.

I've just been sorting out where the 2 rads go as the nearside one wants to occupy the same space as the forward upper strut.

[iansoady]

Rads sorted out and first trial fit of the body. The worst bit at the moment is that the sidecar body seems to be wider than the chassis was desgned for even though I bought the whole lot together and it's said to be new old stock. So clearance between the shell and chassis is minimal in places.

[DAVE BRADY]

Hi,

Unless the body is sprung independently it should not really matter. I had a Watsonian Palma and the body was very snug in places.

Dave.

[iansoady]

It is independently sprung (as well as the chassis having a leading axle system) via 2 bike type suspension units which mount to the bosses just in front of the green tape. The front end pivots on silentbloc type bushes which should have alloy cones between the bushes and the body. I have the cones but there's not enough clearance for them both. Interestingly the pile of bits that came with the chair included a couple of smaller steel cones which may fit the bill. Otherwise it's back to the trusty lathe and more piles of swarf!

I'm glad I did this trial fit before getting it painted as there's less chance of scratching the nice shiny paint job.

In fact I'm starting to wonder whether I need to bother with the body springing as I won't be taking passengers. Maybe a couple of simple struts would do.

[limeyrob]

Interesting question about suspension.  The sidecar wheel has suspension as well as the chair?  Its possible the suspension on the sidecar wheel will work better if the chair is stiffer?  I wonder.

[Oldgoat54]

Are the silent block "bushes" for sound insulation rather than suspension?  The fibreglass body could well act as a sounding board for any vibration etc. transmitted from the engine/frame/running gear.  Even with no passenger to complain about it, it could get annoying.

[idie]

The alloy cones come in different sizes.