Before you can bond aluminium into any sort of useful structure, you have to cut and shape the sheets. Now – most of us don’t have access to a fully-furnished metal shop, and a $1000 heavy-duty sheet metal brake is probably not that high up on the shopping list. But don’t worry, there is hope for the DIYer.

I came across these comprehensive plans for a home-made sheet metal brake that look fantastic.  The plans are on biplaneforum.com.  The builder of the brake, Dave Clay from Texas, crafted this tool in an afternoon for around US$75. I see another project on the horizon…

One thing that has always intrigued me (ok, perhaps not always, as puddles and sand castles intrigued me more as a kid – but at least since I started thinking about vehicle construction) is how metal can be bonded together and still maintain enough strength for the riguors of driving?

Aluminium in particular: Is aluminum bonding something I can do in my own garage, using basic tools, at low cost? Knowing basically nothing about bonding anything heavier than paper, where do I even start looking for the right adhesives and the correct technique?

It all got just a little easier today when I came across the adhesives toolkit – not only does it contain details of how different adhesives perform under different loads and stresses, but has nifty tools (as questionnaires) to help you find the perfect adhesive for your particular situation.

So what to use for a bonded aluminum chassis? Apparently something called Anaerobic Acrylic. What that is? I have no idea…

The bonded aluminium chassis of the 1995 lotus Elise

Footnote: After some additional googling, TA4300 looks ideal.

Star trekking across the universe
Only going forward ’cause we can’t find reverse

Scratch-built and kit cars based on motorcycle power-plants have long suffered from this Star Trekking ailment. No reverse gear to be found.

Some vehicles utilise a separate gearbox for reverse, or sometimes an electric motor for that purpose.  Others, such as the Peel 50 and the Isetta, had no reverse gear at all, so you had to have a mate handy to push you out of the garage or parking space.

I recently came across a small motorcycle engine (250cc) that has a reverse gear built directly in to the transmission.  This may seem slightly illogical – you’d have to be some sort of stunt devil to ride a motorcycle backwards – until you discover that the engine is meant for an ATV.  Doing some further research proved that this same manufacturer (Lifan, a large and very well known brand in China) has a score of engines with reverse gears.

In the interest of maintaining a list of motorcycle engines with reverse gears, here is the start of my list:

• Lifan 162MK-N 175cc. Vertical single cylinder 4-stroke, water cooled, manual
• Lifan 163ML-2N 200cc. Vertical single cylinder 4-stroke, water cooled, manual
• Lifan 167MM-N 250cc. Vertical single cylinder 4-stroke, water cooled, manual
• Lifan 162FMJ-N 125cc/150cc. Vertical single cylinder 4-stroke, air cooled, manual
• Lifan 163FML-2N 200cc. Vertical single cylinder 4-stroke, air cooled, manual
• Lifan 167FMM-N 250cc. Vertical single cylinder 4-stroke, air-cooled, manual
• Lifan 172MN-N 300cc. Vertical single cylinder 4-stroke, water cooled, manual
• Lifan 253FMM-C 250cc. Vertical parallel-twin 4-stroke, air cooled, manual
• Lifan 185MQ 400cc. Horizontal single cylinder 4-stroke, water cooled, auto

Suggestions to add to the list welcome!

Campagna V13R reverse trike
Harley Davidson powered 1250cc V-twin. With mechanical reverse gearbox 🙂