TerraTrike Velomoble Project On The Jig

With all of the hot weather we have been getting this past week or so I was surprised that I was able to get the velomobile into the build jig today.  I finished sanding all of the ribs for the build after a couple hours work and then slide everything into the jig to get the photos you will see here.  That was about all I could do as the garage was like a sauna this afternoon. 

I slid the ribs into place and then started scratching my head as to what pieces should be set up next.  I am so happy that I had the computer model on my computer to see how it all will go together. 

 

This is a great shot of the nose of the velomobile.  As you can see the ribs are not exactly squared up yet but I wanted to at least get these photos taken to show you how the project is coming along. 

 The ribs all slid into position fairly easy.  The only tweak I had to make so far with the jig was the slots that I had made for the two front ribs. They were not cut to the right depths.  This was an easy matter of laying out additional cut lines and pulling out my jig saw.  After I had done only this little correction I had to call it a day due to the excessive heat that was in the garage. Temperatures today reached 94 degrees and I think the garage was closer to 100.  Just to hot to work even if it was this fun project. 

  The middle of the body with the short ribs on top will be where the front wheels of the TerraTrike will go.  I will  have to slide in side members into all of the frames on both sides and then add additional pieces that will form the fender wells for the wheels. 

Once the framework of the body has been completed it will be pulled off of this jig and then be set up to be skinned and fiber glassed.  I will probably have to modify this jig so that the framework skinning can be completed on it without having to lay the body on the floor. I will just have to see what I can come up with when I get that far along. 

  Here the TerraTrike sits next to the velomobile body jig.  One really good thing about the build is that the trike will not have to be anywhere near the body while I am doing the fiber glassing.  This will keep it from getting messed up in the process of the build.  That would not be a good thing to happen.  On the floor next to the jig you can see the two main stringers that will be mounted to all of the ribs to hold the assembly together.  It will be a job to put these two large pieces into the assembly but once done it will add a lot of strength to the framework and keep everything nicely aligned.

  I will have to wait for the temperatures to return to normal here at the workshop before I can proceed with any fiber glassing. It is just to hot at this point to even think about it.  In the mean time I will tweak what I have to and keep things moving along.  Hot or not I am a happy camper with the progress that I am able to show you today.  Have a good one and check back when you can to see further progress.