Old School Trike Building

If you follow my blog you know I am building myself a trike.  Currently the motorcycle I bought myself at Christmas is over at my friend Roxi's place as my driveway is not good at the best of times and there is no way the motorcycle could be taken up that hill in winter time. Now, with most of the snow melted away, I am getting excited to get to work on my conversion.  As I start to do the actual work, I will be taking and sharing photographs and videos all the way through the conversion process.  So far I have been doing research and have found I need to get a rear end with a rear ratio of 3.3:1.... or close to that though it does not need to be exact.

This is the 1991 Venture Royale, 1300cc that I am converting into a trike. 

I will share a better photo of it when I get it out of Roxi's garage.

Here is the information I have come up with on vehicles that MIGHT have the right geared rear end.... though the fellow at the local auto wrecker said the only way I can find out what the gear ratio is, is to find the little metal tag that was on one of the bolts, and if the car is very old that tag will likely be broken off so the rear end will have to be opened up to be able to find where the gear ratio is stamped into the ring gear.  Knowing the gear ratio required, I then needed to find out what vehicles could have this.  I phoned Dodge dealership to see if a '78 Aspen had this since a friend of mine is willing to give me the rear end out of his father's old car if it's the right one.  The man at the dealership said it would depend on what rear end was ordered from the factory, it could have the right one or not, several different ones to choose from.  

Summary of Vehicles Recommended on Facebook

*1970-74 240Z

*10 or 12 bolt Chevy had 3.3.1, 65 Chevelle . A lot of boss hoss trikes use 10 bolt.

*Ford rear end 8or 9 inch series 3.31-1

*Mustang GT's 3.31:1

*69 Camaro has a 12 bolt with 3.31

*Ford F150's in the early 90s had 331's so did late 80s broncos not sure what year but a Nissan frontier has a 3.3:1

 

Two people gave me a link to a place that specializes in rear ends in Burnaby, B.C.  They give lists of vehicles along with a list of the possible rear ends that they might have.  In the list below I have included the ones starting around 1980 and newer as I figure older than that is going to be a challenge to get ahold of, though I would be open to an older one if it was the right one.  I want the axle to be approximately 52" wide (long?) from outside brake to outside brake... and I want disc brakes rather than drum breaks.


 

Summary of I.W.E. Rear Ends

1980 and newer

(3.31:1 ratio)

FORD:

Dana 30 Rear:
85-89.5 Ford Aerostar minivan

Dana 44 Front, Beam & TTB:

59-79 Ford F100, F150, F250 4x4

71-79 Bronco U-100, U150
80-97 Broncos (TTB, coil spring)
80-96 F150 (TTB, coil spring)
80-86 F250 (TTB, leaf spring)

Dana 60 Rear:
55-85 F250
74-85 F350
68 E300 van

Dana 61 Rear:

74-87 F250 Ford 2x4
80-85 F350 Ford 2x4
75.5-87 E250, E350 Ford Va

Dana 80 Rear:

88-current F350 & F450 Super Duty

Ford 9.75 Rear:

97-up F150 w/5.4L or High GVW

98-02 Expedition 4x4 beam type
03-up Expedition IRS

JEEP:

 AMC-20 Rear:
76-83 rear CJ-5
76-86 rear CJ-7
81-85 rear CJ-8
79-86 Wagoneer, Cherokee SJ, half-ton PU

Dana 35/AMC-15 Rear:
84-01 Cherokee XJ (mixed apps. w/D44 & 8.25)
87-96 Wrangler YJ
93-98 Grand Cherokee z
97-up Wrangler TJ (4cyl and many 6 cyl)
99-04 Grand Cherokee WJ (Super 35)

Dana 35/AMC-15 Rear:
80-85 Eagle AWD

Dana 44 Rear:
86 CJ7
63-91 Wagoneer/ Grand Wagoneer SJ
74-83 Cherokee SJ
87 Cherokee XJ
96-98 Grand Cherokee ZJ V8 (C Clip aluminum D44)
97-up Wrangler TJ (optional, Std. on Rubicon)

Dana 44 Front, Beam & TTB:

63-87 J series trucks

74-91 Wagoneer
74-83 Cherokee SJ
01-up Jeep Wrangler Rubicon

(CHEVY:)

Dana 36 ICA Rear:
84-96 C4 Corvette (auto trans only exc. 84)

Dana 44 Rear:
84-85 F Car Camaro, Firebird
92 F Car Camaro, Firebird

Dana 44 ICA Rear:
80-83 C3 Corvette
85-96 C4 Corvette (aluminum, manual trans)

DANA 44 FRONT, BEAM & TTB:

67-80 GM K series

(3.27:1 ratio)

Ford 7.5 Rear: 74-78 Mustang II 75-80 Mercury Bobcat 79-86 Mercury Capri V8 78-83 Fairmont 80-97 Thunderbird 79-current Mustang V6 79-00 Many RWD cars 90-95 Aerostar 84-90 Bronco II 84-up Ranger 4 cyl or small V6 Ford 8.8 Solid Axle: 86-up many Ford fullsized RWD cars w/V8 86-current Mustang V8 87-88 Thunderbird V8 05-up Mustang V8 (31 spline) 83-96 Bronco (mixed apps w/ 9” to 86) 83-96 F150 (mixed apps w/9” to 86) 97-up F150 w/ V6 or 4.6L V8 86-90 Ranger chassis cabs 90-up Ranger w/ 4.0L V6 (some 3.0L also Supercab) 90-01 Explorer/Mountaineer/Navajo SUV 98-02 Expedition/Navigator 4.6L V8

(3.25:1 ratio)

Ford 9" Rear:

78-86 Bronco (82-86 mixed apps with 8.8)

57-86 Ford F100, F150 4x2 & 4x4 trucks (82-86 mixed apps with 8.8)

(3.23:1 ratio)

GM 7.5 Rear: 85-89 Astro/Safari 82-84 Camaro V6 91-93 Caprice (5.0L V8) 76-87 El Camino 78-87 Malibu 75-93 Misc. V6 fullsized RWD 75-80 Monza 83-93 S10 trucks & SUVs (four and small V6 after 88) 78-81 Century 78-88 Cutlass 82-84 DeVille, Fleetwood Brougham 82-86 Firebird V6 78-81 LeMans 77-79 Phoenix 78-87 Regal 90 Roadmaster 75-80 Skyhawk 78-87 Skylark 75-80 Starfire

GM 7.625 Rear: 90-98 Astro/Safari Vans 90-01 Camaro V6 90-00 Firebird V6 91/92 Caprice 88-04 S10 trucks & SUVs (4.3L V6) 88-90 Cadillac RWD (w/o towing package) 91-02 Bravada V6 91/92 Roadmaster (5.0L V8) 98-02 Isuzu Amigo 4x2 96-99 Isuzu Hombre 91-current Rodeo (4 cyl & 4x2)

(3.21:1 ratio)

Chrysler 7.25 Rear:
7.25 Rear
63-89 Chrysler, Dodge and Plymouth rear drive cars, mostly with six-cylinder engines.
87-98 Rear of 2x4 Dodge Dakota trucks with four-cylinders and some V6 engines.

Chrysler 8.25/8.375 Rear: 70-89 Chrysler, Dodge, Plymouth full and midsized cars 86-up W100,W150 (depends on engine) 66-97 B-100, 150, 200,250 Vans 87-up Dakota V6 01-up Jeep Liberty KJ

Chrysler 9.25 Rear: 74-85 Large Chrysler, Dodge and Plymouth cars 69-up Dodge B series vans 69-up Dodge D and W series trucks 74-93 Dodge Ramcharger 74-81 Plymouth Trail Duster 98-up Dakota rear V8's 98-up Durango rear V8's

For some reason, Blogger won't let me post lists into here without a great deal of work to re-do things and I could not get it to put these straight, so here you go, its all staggered.... though maybe it will make the lists easier to sort through without confusion.

V.A. Olney - Art Work - For Sale

This West Coast Native artwork is by V.A. Olney. For a short time, inspired by love, he signed his work V+V Olney, for himself and his beloved Vi. This is one of the very rare V+V Olney pieces. Framed.
$100 each plus shipping.

Wolf

.

 Whale

Affirmations

I believe in the power of affirmations. Know, though, that not all affirmations are positive ones.  Anything that you tell yourself is an affirmation and will change your life. Be sure you think and tell yourself positive things if you desire to enjoy positive, happy experiences.  Here are some good examples you might like to use, or create your own.

Hang My TV

Today I saw a term on the internet that I didn't know the meaning of.  It said, "flat mounts for your home".

"What in the world is that?" was my response.  "Is it something for setting up a mobile home, or for leveling an RV?"

Now, I don't always feel the need to find the meaning of every word or phrase or term I see or hear, but there are days I do feel that need.  I guess this was one of those days, because I decided to check it out.  It turns out that I am glad I did as it is something I actually have been wanting to learn more about.  I have a 51" flat screen TV that I have sitting on a small table, taking up room in my over stuffed living room, so I have been thinking I would like to get, or at least look into getting, one of those things you use to hang the TV on the wall.  Well, this is one of those things.  Now I know, now I get to learn more about how to do it, what to use, and what it all will cost me. Good thing I followed my instincts to check this out.

I am grateful for the internet and for the information I find on here.
I am grateful I am learning to follow my instincts.

Winter Wonderland

To ME!!!

So many wonderful people sent me birthday wishes on Facebook, most of them people I have never met, yet they love me. I also got good wishes from all my siblings this year, very unusual!!  Of my 4 nieces, 4 nephews, 4 great nieces & 5 great nephews, I got 1 birthday greeting from 1 niece!!  I was supposed to go to Mom's for a visit and to go out together for dinner, but the snow was coming down so hard and the roads were so bad that I decided not to go.  The 25 minute drive on slippery, dangerous highways that the police are recommending we don't go out on.... well, it's just not worth the risk.  A birthday can be celebrated any day!! 

On January 5th, I got myself this fancy new computer. Okay, so it's a 'smart phone', but it is like a computer, and comes with a lot to learn!!! Obviously I will have to spend time with someone many years younger than I am and get lessons!! Borrow a friend's child or something, lol.  Today, I ran some errands in town, including getting renewing my expiring driver's license, and looking for a case for my phone. I didn't want to buy the case at the store where I got the phone as I feel they overcharge for things there and I wish I had gone elsewhere to get the phone.  An Otter Box case is $50 and just the plane gel case is $30 then another $10 for a screen protector so you may as well pay the $50 for the much better protection for your phone, and the Otter Box includes the screen saver.   I checked out a few dollar stores to see what they had and found Iphone cases, but no Samsung.  Then I was grocery shopping at Great Canadian Superstore and decided to see if they had phone accessories since they have so many other things there.  I found that they now have a Telus booth in the store, something new, and sure enough they have cases for Samsung.  The other store was also a Telus store... yet this one has Otter Box cases for $40 and I forget what the gel cases are.  The gal who I was talking to said she could likely give me the Otter Box at a discounted price... she checked the computer and said $30.  I said SOLD!!!  So I got myself a good case to protect my new phone (worth $650 but I got it free with a new 3 year contract) for $20 plus taxes less than I would have gotten it, so paid $34.20 instead of $57, just by shopping around!!

This photo is one I took with my fancy new phone.  I think it was Sunday, January 6th when I took it.  Since then it has snowed a lot!!  This is my driveway, taken through the windshield of my truck. Add all the new snow and the fact the snow plows go through and fill up all the driveways, and my back doesn't allow me to shovel this anymore.... well, when I got home from town there was no way I was getting up this hill!!! I tried several times in 4 Wheel Drive Low Range and High Range and neither way was I getting up here.  I was hoping that I would pack the snow enough with my tires to eventually make it up.  About the 5th try, my neighbor who was plowing his driveway came over and offered to plow me out.  I gratefully accepted his kind offer.  He could not get quite half way up the hill, but he cleaned out the mouth of the driveway where the plows had packed it in, then went further and further up, bringing more snow down and pushing it into the deep ditches on either side of my driveway.  When he could get no further up the hill he had to quit.  Even having it plowed nearly half the way up made a lot of difference and I was able to make it up all the way.  At the bottom of the hill, one must make a 90 degree turn from the highway into my driveway, then at the top of the hill, another 90 degree turn to get to where I park beside the house.  It is still on a hill, but a much lesser grade than what you see here.  While you can back across the highway to get a run at it and drive reasonably fast up the hill, you must slow right down to make that 2nd 90 degree turn or risk hitting the corner of my home.  The slowing down means loss of momentum and difficulty making it that last few feet.  Very few people come to visit me in winter, mostly just friends with 4 Wheel Drive vehicles come here in winter, and even in summer many people won't drive up here, but leave their vehicles down below and walk up.

I am grateful for my new phone.
I am grateful for my new phone case.
I am grateful my neighbor came with his tractor and plowed snow from my driveway.
I am grateful for the kindness and generosity of so many people in our world.
I am grateful I have a 4 Wheel Drive truck that is so dependable and a joy to drive.
I am grateful I have new winter tires on my truck.

Save Our Planet: Homes Made of Bottles

I love the idea of building homes and other buildings using what some would call garbage. Some places old car and truck tires are used to build the walls, or in some cases, bales of hay, tin drink cans, even plastic or glass bottles, to name just some things. There are actually many different ways of doing this sort of thing.  I have read on the internet about Earthships which are built of tires, bales, bottles, etc. and are fully self contained with their own power supplies, water filtering systems, and such like that. Sadly, here where I live one would not be able to get a building permit to build homes like this.... or at least this has been the rule, but it may be changing now.  I was doing some surfing the net a night or two ago and was surprised to find some links to building Earthships not only in Canada, but also in British Columbia!! Still, so far as I know the community I live in still doesn't allow this kind of building.  I hope I am wrong, or that things are changing and we will soon be cleared to build homes by recycling things that would otherwise end up in land fill locations and other 'dead stuff' storage places.

 The "Inspiration Green" website shows us many photos of homes and greenhouses built with plastic bottles.  Well worth the visit!!

  Just think about this.... take some of these plastic bottles that were once used for water, soda pop, or fruit juice.  Rescue them from streams, streets, garbage dumps, and werever else they may end up.  Where I live we have recycle programs, so when we purchase the drinks we pay extra for the bottles and then when we take the bottles back to the 'recycle depot', we are given a refund.  This can add up to a tidy sum of money if you have many of these bottles to return.  However, I know that not everywhere has these recycle programs.  For example, I occasionally go to Washington state in the USA and the first time I was there, for the Omak Stampede and World Famous Suicide Race, I was shocked at how many bottles and cans were left laying on the ground all around the stampede grounds, carnival rides, vendor booths, etc. It turns out that WA has no recycle program in place for these items, so people just throw them into trash cans that are near by, or onto the ground.  When I think of how they could be used to build homes for the homeless..... wow.
 
I love the colors of the glass bottles used to build this wall:

I found it interesting to see that on this wall different sizes and shapes of glass bottles were used:

On this wall, check out the way they do the corners of the wall:

These 2 photos were taken from inside buildings, showing how the light comes in through the glass bottles:

 This building has inside and outside walls done in bottles, so far as I can tell by this photo:

 You can even make a free standing wall like this in your yard/garden. I love the art work in this wall:

 Entire homes built from bottles that may otherwise have been taken to garbage dumps:

Look at all the detail in this man's home!  Different colors of bottles, or painted after the walls were finished? I think the latter, but I leave it up to you to decide what you think.   Taking a close look I see they were all plastic bottles, likely from soda pop:

If you aren't partial to the look of bottles for your home, you can always cover them up:

 Though personally, I think they can be made to look rather attractive:

A Monastery:

A Greenhouse:

And even chandeliers built recycling empty bottles: 

Here are some ideas for other things that can be built with empty bottles:

A cistern to collect and hold water:

A church:

Ummm, okay, I don't know what this is exactly, but I think it a very interesting work of art:

No doubt it is a lot of work to make these buildings, yet these photos show that it can be a family or community shared project, maybe even a wonderful social experience, and might even be rather fun for some:

 Even a crab can see that an old bottle makes a good home:

 At the end of the day, when you are hot, tired and thirsty, you can always go to the local bar for a nice cold drink: