Driver's Seat

Here is what it will look like with the seats added. Right now they haven't been bolted down.

I went with a simpler, more primitive technology for the driver's seat - industrial strenght velcro strips. Since I'll be driving all the time, the seat doesn't need to move constantly, but can be ripped up and moved if need be.

Seats on platform. Now they can be bolted to the frame.

Steering Wheel

Finished steering wheel with hand brakes and shifter.

Seats - the Passenger Seat

After measuring, planning, time in the woodshop, an online shopping trip to Walmart, I have the materials to install the seats.

Drill all holes for the seat bottoms with an inset to make the bolts flush with the surface.

There are bolts already installed on the bottom of the seat. To incorporate the wood slats, I replaced them with a longer bolt.

Planks on the platform should be installed using screws to match the planks on the seat.

In order to make the seat adjustable back and forth, I installed drawer slides to slide the seat up and back. The two sliders must be parallel to slide without hitching.

Passenger seat attached according to drawer slide instructions. Works well. Can be taken off with the release that allows you to pull drawers out. Now I need a way to stabilize the seat in one place once it's at the right place.

Steering wheel

How to put a car steering wheel on a Dreamcycle? The steering column hole doesn't fit any PVC pipe size. But an old 35mm film canister is close. Gorilla glue holds it onto the wheel.

This fits loosely into a 1&1/2 inch coupler.

Need something to attach the brakes and shifter to.
I painted this 1 inch pipe by sliding it onto a wood dowel and suspending it in air through the spokes of the wheels so I could do all sides at once.

Need some way to really clamp the wheel down on the pipe so that it turns the column instead of slipping.
And below is the finished wheel in an unedited photo because this editor won't let me delete it and replace it with a better photo. Better photo next time.

After all of that, several of us, after viewing the ships wheel I bought at a yard sale, decided a miniature ships wheel would be much cooler. We'll see.

Deraillieur hookup

Photos of the deraillieur close up so that maybe my friendly bicycle shop can look at it and tell me how to hook it up at least minimally so I can ride it over and he can fix it for me.

Pedals

Insert the plastic ends of the pedals onto the
crank, then attach the wood blocks between them.

Attach the metal mounts to the frame with the hose clamps. Keep the ends and screws pointing down and away from feet and humans and far as possible.

Slide crank through mounts, longer one through the left mount and the shorter through the right mount from the outside and inserted into hole on the end of the longer crank.

Deraillieur and Gear Sprocket

Before attaching the derailleur, file down the protrusion where it bolts to the bracket so that if fits flush.

Slide collar, then sprockets onto wheel axle and bolt to brackets.

I had to change to a longer bolt for the derailleur to go all the way through the bracket.

(There are two pictures because this is a stupid editor/composer)

Rear Wheel

The right rear wheel and axle didn't seem wide enough fit against bracket and frame. Upon looking at the other wheels, I found that one had a longer axle. Note: put the wheel with the extended axle on the right rear, the non-gear sprocket wheel.

Wheel Tower Adjustment

After assembling the wheel tower, I find that the reducer bushing is too long and sticks out of the bottom 1/4 of an inch. This doesn't leave room for the threaded spacer to go between the tower and the spindle when assembled. I changed to a plug and it was the same problem. I drilled a hole in the center of the plug and sawed off 1/4 of an inch to make it fit in snugly. In the last photo you can see the fit with the spindle attached. The photo is right side up, I just found it easier to work on the tower with the Dream cycle on its side.

Seats

Thanks, Dan, for the hint in the plans. Walmart has boat seats! And the cheapest for the same stuff. $15 a piece plus shipping. We'll probably put some Hawaiian pattern car seat covers on them. The grandkids loved them as booster seats in the car.

Wheels on the ground

Time to hook up the chain drive, the brakes, the steering, the wheels....I've been busy but haven't blogged. I'll catch up. Meanwhile, here is Mariah in the Dreamcycle with no seats and nothing functional except the wheels. More later.

Axle brackets

I used a reducer bushing instead of a plug on the axle brackets. No hole drilling. A washer on the end allows the nut to tighten down. Since there is a steel fence railing in the pipe the inner bracket attaches to, I used a zip tie to clamp the end onto the frame. It won't rust! I hope it has enought tensile strength for any pressure it must withstand.

steering - axle cap2

Got the 1" cap, bought a 1" washer, and bought a drill bit for a 7/8" hole in the cap. Photo 2: I had to use the shop's drill because holding the cap and drilling it with a hand drill was an exercise in futility.

Photo 3: bolt, washer, nut. Photo 4: Installed on axle Photo 5: Pipe showing the steering column in place. Cap spins freely because nut not tightened down.

Wheel Assembly

Easier than I thought! The plans show you how to make the assembly from metal. The kit has the pieces made and they go together like love and marriage. A little pressure needed to push the spindle down over the wheel bolt in order to tighten or loosen onto the wheel. The steering arms (twisted pieces) have a larger hole that fits on the wheel axle. Don't forget to put the steering rod connector (little black piece with a hole in the end for the rod) on the inside of the bracket when inserting the long 8" bolt.

Steering column

Drill, baby, drill! After measuring over from the cross tube, align the hole on the circumference of the axle by lining up with tube or wood dowel threaded through the steering column tee. Remember, you didn't glue the tee, so it is adjustable.

Next, order the 1" cap that you couldn't find at Home Depot. I found it and 1 1/4" plugs at Aubuchon Hardware, www.hardware.com.