Ford Quadricycle

vascon2196 · Dec 13, 2014

We had our last Quadricycle meeting of the semester...attached are a couple of pictures of our progress. A big thank you to the HMEM members that have offered their services and helping us reach our end goal!!!

Next I hope to finally finish the timing/eccentric strap!

vascon2196 · Dec 18, 2014

Sad news to report...George DeAngelis past away. He was the creator of the Quadricycle drawings and probablt knew more about the Quadricycle than anyone else. There is a ton of information about him...he was a huge fan of Ford, a great machinist, and from what I've heard a great guy.

radial1951 · Jan 25, 2015

Hi Chris and all Ford Quadricycle Forum members.

Here are a couple of small parts to help kick this wonderful project along. A pair of electrical contacts for the ignition system, made from 0.020" brass.

Just a token gesture of thanks, to you Chris, for initiating and guiding this project, and also for sharing the CAD drawings with those interested in the Quad.

And many thanks to the New England Institute of Technology for sponsoring the building of such an important icon of engineering history.

I applaud the students who have given up their time to lend a hand, and learn something new. The ones involved in this project will get more out of it than they probably realise at this time. Who knows there may be another Henry, or Henrietta, Ford amongst them!

Regards, RossG
radial1951
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vascon2196 · Jan 26, 2015

Thank you Ross!!!!!!!!!!!

vascon2196 · Jan 31, 2015

Our club met again today and produced 2 Muffler end caps and an almost complete Eccentric Strap. We also keyed the rear drive hub to the axle.

More pictures to come.

stevehuckss396 · Jan 31, 2015

Good deal on the progress. Would love to see some pics of where the build is to date.

vascon2196 · Feb 2, 2015

Will do Steve...the next time I am at the college I will take some pictures.

vascon2196 · Feb 2, 2015

I just added a 7 page PDF to the Downloads section on the forum. The document is my build process for machining the Eccentric Strap. I built the part in Solid Works using 7 configurations, and then created an assembly. The result was that I was able to simulate the machining process almost perfectly in advance...this helped me machine the part right the first time.

Most people may have done this differently but I have only been "hobby machining" since 2008.

vascon2196 · Feb 3, 2015

Pictures from our last meeting.

Cogsy · Feb 3, 2015

I don't want to be 'that guy', but...long sleeves and jewellery. If they're students it's not good practice for them to learn.

Parts look good though. Thm:

vascon2196 · Feb 3, 2015

It's okay to be "that guy"...you are right!

At least I remembered to have them wear safety glasses!

vascon2196 · Feb 8, 2015

I ended up finishing the Eccentric Strap from my home shop. Somewhere in this post there are pictures of the Eccentric. I made the Eccentric out of aluminum because I was too stubborn to wait for a length of brass. Now that I have the strap made out of aluminum I would rather not have both pieces made out of aluminum. So, I'm going to make another Eccentric out of brass which in the long run will be better for everything.

radial1951 · Feb 8, 2015

vascon2196 said:
I ended up finishing the Eccentric Strap from my home shop. Somewhere in this post there are pictures of the Eccentric. I made the Eccentric out of aluminum because I was too stubborn to wait for a length of brass. Now that I have the strap made out of aluminum I would rather not have both pieces made out of aluminum. So, I'm going to make another Eccentric out of brass which in the long run will be better for everything.

Hi Chris, That's great progress lately. Good to see the students getting involved.

Just a suggestion; as a bearing metal, brass really is useless! (sorry

) I recall seeing brass crankpins on an engine once, didn't last long...

With your probably non-bearing-grade aluminium eccentric strap, the best material for the eccentric is probably cast iron. A zillion aluminium car pistons in cast iron bores can't be wrong. Cast iron not only has graphite in it, the granular structure retains oil. Any cast bearing bronze could be an alternative, not as good, especially against the aluminium.

Back to the beginning, material specs could be cast iron for the eccentric strap running on a cast iron or steel eccentric. With oil. All IMHO, of course.

Edit: Chris, the above suggestion assumes you haven't already made the new eccentric. If you have, by all means see how it goes, it will be lightly loaded compared to a crankpin.

Regards, RossG
radial1951
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vascon2196 · Feb 9, 2015

radial1951 said:
Edit: Chris, the above suggestion assumes you haven't already made the new eccentric. If you have, by all means see how it goes, it will be lightly loaded compared to a crankpin.

Regards, RossG
radial1951
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Thank you for the information Ross...funny but I just stepped into the house after machining a new Eccentric about an hour ago out of brass! The only cast iron stock I have is 1.25" diameter and the outside diameter of the Eccentric needs to be around 1.5".

Correct, there will be little load on this assembly and when we do run the engine it will not be for very long. One nice thing is that if there ends up being an issue with these parts they can be removed quite easily without removing the entire engine and replaced.

For now, I have to wait until our next club meeting to try and mount the timing gear sub-assembly to the engine frame. Then we can finally mount the flywheel to see how everything spins.

Thanks again for the information Ross.

StephenB · Feb 19, 2015

This is an awesome project. I some how stumbled on what I'm guessing is your weebly site looking for some plans for something. Managed to find this place. I've been fascinated by the Quadricycle and the mercedes-benz daimler motor carriage since I was a kid. Well that and muscle cars. Thank you very much for sharing and I would love to get hold of the full set of plans when you are ready to release them.

vascon2196 · Feb 19, 2015

Thanks Steven...the full set (original set) can be purchased from Dave Dunlavy...his contact information is somewhere on this thread. My plans are slightly modified based on our machines and tooling.

vascon2196 · Mar 15, 2015

Taking a break from my half-scale Quadricycle engine I decided to work on the full-size Quad yesterday afternoon. Attached are pictures of the completed speed adjuster. We just need to make a couple of spacers to fit in between the two side plates.

I decided to plunge straight down along the top arc instead of flat slots like the original...it was just easier.

radial1951 · Mar 16, 2015

vascon2196 said:
Taking a break from my half-scale Quadricycle engine I decided to work on the full-size Quad yesterday afternoon. Attached are pictures of the completed speed adjuster. We just need to make a couple of spacers to fit in between the two side plates.

I decided to plunge straight down along the top arc instead of flat slots like the original...it was just easier.

Chris, that's looking good. I like the mounting feet, very neat, clever idea. If that's aluminium, etch prime it first if you want paint to stay on, as it's right between the driver's boots. Is there a paint/maintenance shop at the college to help with that sort of thing?

Regards, RossG.
radial1951
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vascon2196 · Mar 16, 2015

Thanks Ross. We have a fume hood and grandmaster...that's it for painting. Would a rattle can of etch primer work? I would love to anodized it if I had the capability.

radial1951 · Mar 18, 2015

vascon2196 said:
Thanks Ross. We have a fume hood and grandmaster...that's it for painting. Would a rattle can of etch primer work? I would love to anodized it if I had the capability.

Hi Chris

What's a "grandmaster'? Is that you, Chris?!! A rattle can will be fine, any primer for non-ferrous metal will help the paint to stick. Without it, paint will just chip off too easily. Rough the aluminium surface up with a Scotchbrite pad and degrease thoroughly. Don't handle before painting.

Regards, RossG.
radial1951
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