Tweety's ea81 build

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Tweety
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Post by Tweety » Tue Jan 20, 2015 7:28 pm

TWEETY PASSED HIS ENGINEERS INSPECTION!!!!

100%, no corrections needed. Tweety was required to get an front wheel erection by placing the rear wheels on ramps and using a block and tackle to raise the front. Once the balance point was found (62.5 degrees) he was allowed to lower down. He was up for 2 hours.

We had a scare though. Once down on the ground to ride the trike off the ramps I tried to start it and a nasty noise resulted. I pannicked. We smelt fuel so out came all spark plugs. Turned the engine over and number one and three cylinders spurted fuel about 2 metres away. we used an air gun to removed more fuel. Then it started well and revved well. Rode home well. etc. We realised that fuel ran down through the main fuel line and likely the return line to the carbie then to the cylinders with open valves.

A rare exercise produces unforcasted results.

Now there are a few things to do. The towbar was taken off to allow this test to be done. That has to be installed again. Sump and auto pan bolts to be lightly tightened (there are no leaks- a miracle lol) new concentrated coolant to replace the water. (Does anyone know how much coolant capacity a stock brumby has? then I'd add about 3 litres for the coolant pipes). I want to get that mix right to avoid internal erosion with too much coolant/water mix. A wireless rear vision camera to be installed on the camper trailer to compliament the one at the back of tweety. And a rotating pedal on the brakes to help my short legged wife to ride tweety.

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[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]Tweety trike- EA81 (full reco 2014) 32/36 weber, SPFI manifold, 9.5:1 CR, VW auto.

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Subydoug
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Post by Subydoug » Tue Jan 20, 2015 7:50 pm

Nice job Tony, Tweety's looking like a sexy beast! Carbies dont really like being tilted over :rolleyes:.

So with the engineering all passed, does that make Tweety road legal? or does it still need to be re-inspected by the DMV with the Engineer's cert in hand?

Regards

Doug

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henpecked
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Post by henpecked » Tue Jan 20, 2015 8:28 pm

congratulations, job well done.

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Silverbullet
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Post by Silverbullet » Tue Jan 20, 2015 8:52 pm

Nice! :cool: The long wait and all the hard work has paid off. Now it just needs rego?
Will it ever end!?
-EA81 TWIN CARB!!!!
-L series 5 speed
-Custom paint job
-2" lift
-Full custom re-wire
-L series front end
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Tweety
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Post by Tweety » Tue Jan 20, 2015 10:34 pm

Thankyou

Tweety has always been registered. All I need to do is take the Vicroads copy of the report, the receipt for purchasing the engine from the previous owner and ID to Vicroads - pay them some pocket money (likely around $40) and a quick inspection and it will be all done. When I rode from the engineers it was road legal.

All this for a change of engine manufacturer. Same 4 bolt engine attachment to VW trans, no engine mounts, no weight change and regardless of the roof and radiator the C of G hasnt moved 5mm.

Cops can pull me over now....bring it on lol.

Just a side note. Few police if any know about trikes. Trike groups years ago attended many meetings with Vicroads to sort out easier to understand regulations. In the end Vicroads through their arms in the air and said they will leave everything as it is. Since then police have been a pain. Basically they often pull us over and dont know what they are talking about.

Last weekend a guy with a near new unmodified trike with the usual manufacturers Compliance plate attached ( a Panther trike like mine) was pulled over in northern Victoria. Allegedly the cop asked where for a copy of the trikes compliance plate. The owner obviously didnt have one. The cop told him nastily "I can pull you off the road immediately you know". Well I rang other police stations and found out that this is rubbish. A vehicle only needs the compliance plate and nothing else. My engineer even said today that I dont even need the compliance plate attached at all!!!.

It's just a pandoras box. If tweety gets pulled over I will have a laminated copy of the engineers cert for the engine and the roof. stickers from the engineer are on the trike also. If I was threatened that tweety can be taken off the road by a power hungry jealous cop - bring it on....I'm retired, I dont care !!! inconvenience me as you please. Get red faced in the near future after your boss takes you into his office. ha my point is I've done everything possible to make tweety roadworthy and comply. Cops can do routine checks- no issue but dont try to screw guys just wanting to ride legally. rant over
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]Tweety trike- EA81 (full reco 2014) 32/36 weber, SPFI manifold, 9.5:1 CR, VW auto.

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steptoe
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Post by steptoe » Wed Jan 21, 2015 7:03 am

Nice work Tony - it was your work in all this too remember ! Did Tweety not need any fluids drained before nearly up ending him ? Or was it all in keeping with his weights/balance check? I woulda thought an engineer would have expected some sort of upset after that sort of upset and take precautions though ?
Its a good thing bird structures don't have scrotes :p

On the no compliance plate thing - seen cars come from Victoria with the compliance plate/sticker missing, have to go through some dealership confirmation before getting registered north of Mexico again, but not get a compliance plate reissued. That would cause some panic amongst most police not understanding how things do work. Causes panic amongst people who buy sight unseen for plus $100,000 for a used car !

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Post by Tweety » Thu Jan 22, 2015 11:31 pm

Hi Jonno,

My engineer once approved Tweety's roof, so we are familiar with each other.

This time around he was really communicative. So he sent me an email one week prior- raising the front wheel- concerns- leakage- petrol, brake fluid and battery acid.

Luckily- sealed battery, fillers on brake reservoir and petrol were towards the front...but didnt give consideration for fuel leaking into engine. All is ok though and thats what matters. Bit of a scare though. When I first saw the fuel leaking on the gorund I just thought it was from the bowl/float area, not a lot from the tank.

Compliance plate. know what you're saying there. Tweety's will stay where it is.:)

Today I carefully added new white wall flapper inserts to the rear wheels. reattached the towbar and wiring, added a 6" fan to the heater core and added coolant to the cooling system.

The heater core is good because it is only 500mm from the engine. And adding the small fan means the engine doesnt have to wait for the cooled fluid to come from the front radiator 2 metres away. It is added cooling for traffic snarls, my pet hate is shutting down the engine in traffic because you have no alternative.

Found a surprise. Recently I added a truck reversing horn to the 95 degree sensor near the thermostat. And an on/off switch on the dash to kill it and pull over. Well I drained the water from the system then added coolant. My coolant system has air locks every time and its was hard to know if the system needed more bleeding. The truck horn sounds when there is 95 degree plus STEAM temperature before the thermostat. Simple case of shutting the engine down, have a cuppa and on return take off the top hose and fill with water or more coolant. Same to the reservoir. So it doubles as a steam alarm. lol
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]Tweety trike- EA81 (full reco 2014) 32/36 weber, SPFI manifold, 9.5:1 CR, VW auto.

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Subydoug
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Post by Subydoug » Fri Jan 23, 2015 8:51 am

You shouldnt turn your engine off in traffic unless your going to sit there for 20min or longer. The coolant in the block will heat soak and the temps will go up faster, so when you restart the engine, its hotter then if you just left it idling (unless there is the small issue of exhaust going into the water jacket :rolleyes: ).

What size radiator hose you got going to the front radiator? same size as standard? I get the impression that the ea81's water pump struggles a little bit at idle.

Fuel leaked into the engine because the fuel in the bowl spilled out of the bowl, letting more fuel into the bowl as the needle valve opened.

Regards

Doug

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Tweety
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Post by Tweety » Fri Jan 23, 2015 6:59 pm

Hi Doug,

The inlet/oulet of the Alfa radiator is 32mm OD same as Subie. So 32 OD S/S pipes run from front to back.

A few advantages of the Alfa33 radiator is- its made in Spain. Meaning there is a hint of olive odour when you open the parcel- lovely. There is no coolant neck/filler hindering mounting on a trike with central steering mechanism. There is a small top bleed tube. And its one of the smallest radiators - external dimensions, around. Like all conversions it had its issues. Lack of mounting brackets etc, had to be overcome.

Initially I toyed with the electric water pump concept. Yet another accessory in the crowded engine bay. Look under a vW trike now and see room everywhere compared to Tweety. Nice- if you like Dak Dak. No thanks. Been there done that.

For those unaware, electric water pumps do away with a thermostat, allow continuous but varuiable pumping of coolant depending on temperatures. The controllers can be dash mounted and are digital. Expensive though.

I got my 6 inch thermatic fan in the mail and mounted it on my heater core radiator. If temps go up its just a case of neutral then rev the engine 2000 rpm for about 20 seconds. Temps go down quickly. But in my latest experience with the system expelled of air locks, it takes a long long time to go over 85 degrees. Thermos come in at 89-90 degrees. So dont come on at all unless idling for quite a while.

Today was a day of celebration. Everything, even small things has been completed on Tweety. I through my arms up with joy. 6 years of toiling- it is complete now. Readers wouldnt have known about the airbags troubles, roof strengthening of support mounts, towbar wiring woes for our camper including relay for the magnetic brakes, brake calipre issues, master cylinder issues (now S/S insert) electrical woes. One acquaintance said it was a lemon. Not really, 50% of the work was caused by me and my choices/inexperience. That caravan was the wrong move, too heavy for the trike which led to the supercharger, then the SPFI that all seemed like wise moves at the time but both had their drawbacks.

I've learned- dont trust any s/hand engine over 8 years old let alone 22 years old regardless of new rings and bearing talk. Expect to reco it. Dont fiddle with s/hand carbies- they are cheap enough in the scheme of things. My 38/38 new cost $450. Finalise your needs and seek someone who has done similar before- Steptoe's rebuild with a torquey cam was invaluable. Go the larger manifold if you can, I think the jury came back with that mod and gave it a big tick. New oil pump from USA cost $120 delivered- do it. Same with the water pump.

But one of the things I miscalculated about was the massive 14hp loss of output from the automatic. I wouldnt be without the auto in a cruiser trike but 14hp is too much to lose. With this hindsight the EJ20 would have been the better choice not that I'm not content. The EJ would have got Tweety doing a boogie on command. But it would have also caused other issues like less space for the exhaust (its snug now so imagine), too complex for this older guy wanting simple things that are within my capacity to fix, etc.

It's good to be back on tweety again. I'd forgotten the amount of photos he gets daily. Passengers AND driver with their phones on the freeway. Crowds appearing instantly. There is a negative of course. While in the engineers workshop a guy came in and started talking, pulling the brake leverl, rubbing hands over chrome etc. I thought he was the engineers friends. When he finally left I asked Peter who he was- "dunno, never seen him before". Thats an example of how far people go to be rude and disrespectful.

Ever jumped into someones Ferrari in a parking lot? Well they jump on Tweety if they want to, especially to get a photo of themselves sitting on it. Time for a bed of nails on the seat. and a remote air horn I can turn on nearby. Did I tell you of how many times I've answered the question "so,...what does she go like"......and .....

Think I need a holiday. This camper trailer meant for motorcycles is perfect- has queen bed, brakes easy access to storage etc. Ideal for a Brumby. Called a Detour motorcycle camper http://www.detourcampers.com/motorcycle.htm . Erected in 2 minutes. There is a video on their web site. Might hit the mountains soon.

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[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]Tweety trike- EA81 (full reco 2014) 32/36 weber, SPFI manifold, 9.5:1 CR, VW auto.

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Subydoug
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Post by Subydoug » Fri Jan 23, 2015 9:19 pm

Sounds good mate. I was just curious on the pipe size and materiel. I dare say your loosing a bit of heat out of your coolant from the stainless pipe too ;).


So, whats it go like? :twisted:

Doug

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Tweety
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Post by Tweety » Fri Jan 23, 2015 9:28 pm

:neutral: lol
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]Tweety trike- EA81 (full reco 2014) 32/36 weber, SPFI manifold, 9.5:1 CR, VW auto.

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Post by El_Freddo » Fri Jan 23, 2015 9:28 pm

Top effort mate!

Now get off the forum (for a little bit) and clock up some enjoyment while this "cheap fuel" lasts!

Cheers

Bennie
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El_Freddo
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Post by El_Freddo » Fri Jan 23, 2015 9:54 pm

Subydoug wrote:So, whats it go like? :twisted:
Is it a VW?

:twisted:

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Tweety
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Post by Tweety » Sat Jan 24, 2015 7:20 pm

Some people think automatically that a show machine like tweety and many others are owned by owners for boasting purposes. And there is likely always some of that in us all.

But, they dont believe that one just wants to ride it and be proud of it- there is a difference.

Imagine a show Brumby. Say $50,000 spent. Legal EJ2.2, just everything on it most Brumby owners would like and a $10,000 paint job. You drive it to the coast and walk into a cafe to enjoy a meal. A Prado owner turns up and alights his 4X4 to jump into your Brumby. He has 3 passengers in the Prado that watch him, all are over 70yo. The driver turns the steering wheel left to right and yells out "I used to have one of these...." Would you be angry.?

You enjoy a meal at the Romsey Hotel only to hear kids yelling. You look at your car and there are Indian parents there watching their 4 kids climbing all over your Brumby as if they were on a peice of playground equipment.

The first case happened to me and Tweety at a place called Lavers Hill in 2010. The other example happened to a trike owner, a VW powered machine that had a dragons head on the front guard and air brushed dragon paint on the body.

So as Tweety is largely finished with only enjoyable minor tinkering happening, was wondering what ideas are out there to deter such behaviour from the inconsiderate and disrespectful.

We'll leave out AK47's. Cattle prods need a lot of current. Nail guns need air cylinders, air horns are easy to install, we are usually within remote control distance and watching. maybe a hidden loudspeaker with loud yelling ? We leave our helmets on the trike and dont dress in the conventional (we aint sheep) black leathers etc so they souldnt know we are the owners lol any ideas?

Why do I think Tambox is the man to ask...?
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]Tweety trike- EA81 (full reco 2014) 32/36 weber, SPFI manifold, 9.5:1 CR, VW auto.

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Tweety
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Post by Tweety » Fri Jan 30, 2015 9:45 pm

Trip towing 300kgm kgm camper over mt kossy to queenbeyan got an amazing 10.3 l/100kms or 25mpg. Gotta be happy with that. New engine has surprising more mid range power. Holds speed much better up hills less need for kick down. Is running rich though. Splutters around slow corners.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]Tweety trike- EA81 (full reco 2014) 32/36 weber, SPFI manifold, 9.5:1 CR, VW auto.

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Stand up ...

Post by Bantum » Sat Jan 31, 2015 11:14 am

+1 for a job well done ... !

Does Tweety have a alarm system ?

If so, you could add a few motion detectors & couple them with a VFL siren ( piezo siren ) + pre recorded message like "Stand Back MF" in best James Cagney voice ... ;)

Cheers, Bantum ...

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Tweety
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Post by Tweety » Sun Feb 01, 2015 7:40 pm

Good idea bantum.

So economy is steady between 10.1 and 10.9 l/100 kms . Achieving 28mpg towing is amazing.. means nearly 500 kms range, 50 ltr tank. Never got near that with the Vw 1916cc engine not towing. What is good is up steep hills down to 80kph can kickdown or back off throttle and engine just maintains speed much more often than it used to moSt impressed
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]Tweety trike- EA81 (full reco 2014) 32/36 weber, SPFI manifold, 9.5:1 CR, VW auto.

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El_Freddo
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Post by El_Freddo » Wed Feb 04, 2015 8:32 pm

That's an awesome fuel economy statistic - hopefully it keeps up for you in the long term after the engine is fully worn in!

Are the four (or five including Sylvester!) of you home yet or have you just kept going with these cheap fuel prices?

I'm happy to house sit (as you've got a decent shed :p)!

Happy times mate!

Cheers

Bennie
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Tweety
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Post by Tweety » Wed Feb 04, 2015 8:36 pm

We arrived home this afternoon. Longest leg, Orbost to Strathbogie via Omeo.

Also the worst economy at 11.1 L/100kms and no wonder, from Bruthen to Omeo were long uphill slopes. The VW auto doesnt cope with these well although much better than pre reconditioned engine. eg. Now the trike will slow to say 70kph and often hold it there, previously kickdown necessary. Also 98RON gives more power and economy. So fuel consumption ranged from 10.3 to 11.1 L/100 kms. 25-28mpg. All up weight was around 1000kgms not far off the Brumby unladened and with one extra wheel as I towed the camper. Wind resistance on Tweety would be greater than most cars I believe.

Must now do the tappets all were set at 16 thou for run in. Will set to stock 10/14. in/exh. will have to wait for the dyno tune. Weber performance who sold me the 38/38 carbie are keen to do that. So rejetting could bring some nice surprises in output. Stay tuned.

I'm very happy with the economy. Most pleased with the easy cold idle, never stalls, zero oil consumption/leaks...that new motor feel.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]Tweety trike- EA81 (full reco 2014) 32/36 weber, SPFI manifold, 9.5:1 CR, VW auto.

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El_Freddo
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Post by El_Freddo » Wed Feb 04, 2015 8:49 pm

Well that answers that!

Still good economy through those hills for an auto! Got an oil cooler on that sucker? Might be worth the effort!

Cheers

Bennie
"The lounge room is not a workshop..."
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