Wednesday, July 05, 2006
It continues...
The CretinCart is home now... but tucked away in the backyard, as it is still incomplete. I've been evicted from the bro's garage as he is collecting supplies and old lumber for a playhouse for the girls... Not much new really to report. It's been a couple of weeks of cart (and wife) neglect for skate-realted things... But here's what we did yesterday...
Had to take the big back tires off - it wouldn't fit on the trailer otherwise - so now it looks really stupid with stock tires on the back, and mudbusters on the front. I got all of the "pre-wiring" done for the lights. I was stoked to find EXACTLY the kind of light I was looking for at WallyWorld (12" long LED light bar- for $10) that I will use as brake and signal lights. However, there was only one on the shelf, and it had been opened and obviously returned... I bought it anyway, to confer w/bro to make sure it would work. He said it will, he has a wiring plan... These lights will go on the uprights for the top, so they will be visible. I'm still a bit skeptical... but I think they will be "good enough."
We cracked the front of the trailer (wood) loading the darn thing. Oh well, I'm sure there will be left overs from the playhouse to fix this. THEN, just a few miles away, we here a snap... my (other) bro says he saw something hit the ground but he didn't know what... Any guesses? We pull over, and everything looks just fine. I get back in, look in the rearview mirror and realize... The WINDSHIELD of the cart is gone! DAMMIT! DUH! (No problems with it before BUT it was on loaded backwards this time... it popped out with ease.) We went back for it and it is actually intact, but scratched to hell. Made it more aerodynamic for the rest of the 40 mile trip though, right?
Also, bro's "diamond plate" guy at work broke his hand last week, so that custom front cover idea is gone, at least for a couple of months. For now I will attach the "fog" headlights I bought to the old plastic cowling. But I am considering going with a "woody" look instead, as I have a woodshop at my disposal, and with the cart being green, it might look kinda cool. Particularly if I decide to sell it. Initial brainstorm(fart) includes custom cowling, frame around the EZGO plate, and some sort of side panels (need something to cover the cracked paint here). Of course there would be tons of polyurethane used to coat said wood accents...
But bro is also entertaining thoughts of putting in a shaft driven quad motor... I don't know about all that... That goes far far beyond my mechanical build and maintenance comfort level, and I crossed that line along time ago - about the time I clicked "submit bid" on eBay that started this project.
So to those of you watching this creation with similar carts, I have nothing new to offer. Sorry. Once I get back to WallyWorld and get all the lights I plan to use, and then get them mounted and wired as far as I can, I will take some pics. (I will not attempt the final wiring - and bro is playing army next week with the Guard.) But hopefully only 10 minute job for him if I get MY part done. It still runs ok, kinda slow. Stuggles a bit with hills, but doesn't quit. AND the brakes are still $#i+... REALLY gotta get that fixed. So at this rate, it should be ready to drive to work just in time for the first freeze of the season... I should stick with skateboards.
Had to take the big back tires off - it wouldn't fit on the trailer otherwise - so now it looks really stupid with stock tires on the back, and mudbusters on the front. I got all of the "pre-wiring" done for the lights. I was stoked to find EXACTLY the kind of light I was looking for at WallyWorld (12" long LED light bar- for $10) that I will use as brake and signal lights. However, there was only one on the shelf, and it had been opened and obviously returned... I bought it anyway, to confer w/bro to make sure it would work. He said it will, he has a wiring plan... These lights will go on the uprights for the top, so they will be visible. I'm still a bit skeptical... but I think they will be "good enough."
We cracked the front of the trailer (wood) loading the darn thing. Oh well, I'm sure there will be left overs from the playhouse to fix this. THEN, just a few miles away, we here a snap... my (other) bro says he saw something hit the ground but he didn't know what... Any guesses? We pull over, and everything looks just fine. I get back in, look in the rearview mirror and realize... The WINDSHIELD of the cart is gone! DAMMIT! DUH! (No problems with it before BUT it was on loaded backwards this time... it popped out with ease.) We went back for it and it is actually intact, but scratched to hell. Made it more aerodynamic for the rest of the 40 mile trip though, right?
Also, bro's "diamond plate" guy at work broke his hand last week, so that custom front cover idea is gone, at least for a couple of months. For now I will attach the "fog" headlights I bought to the old plastic cowling. But I am considering going with a "woody" look instead, as I have a woodshop at my disposal, and with the cart being green, it might look kinda cool. Particularly if I decide to sell it. Initial brainstorm(fart) includes custom cowling, frame around the EZGO plate, and some sort of side panels (need something to cover the cracked paint here). Of course there would be tons of polyurethane used to coat said wood accents...
But bro is also entertaining thoughts of putting in a shaft driven quad motor... I don't know about all that... That goes far far beyond my mechanical build and maintenance comfort level, and I crossed that line along time ago - about the time I clicked "submit bid" on eBay that started this project.
So to those of you watching this creation with similar carts, I have nothing new to offer. Sorry. Once I get back to WallyWorld and get all the lights I plan to use, and then get them mounted and wired as far as I can, I will take some pics. (I will not attempt the final wiring - and bro is playing army next week with the Guard.) But hopefully only 10 minute job for him if I get MY part done. It still runs ok, kinda slow. Stuggles a bit with hills, but doesn't quit. AND the brakes are still $#i+... REALLY gotta get that fixed. So at this rate, it should be ready to drive to work just in time for the first freeze of the season... I should stick with skateboards.
