Lyka Kit #9 - Body Frame

Kit # 9 comprises all of the necessary components to make the body frame. It also includes the two plywood sides for the body. Once assembled the Lykamobile should look like:

As usual and for good reason, we must first test assemble all of the components to make sure everything fits prior to painting.

My first challenge was inserting the forward cross member into the two long side rails. I decided a "hammer to fit" method was not the way to go.

As with many formed/rolled tubular steel the rectangularity can sometimes be off a little. So my trusty belt sander came to the rescue.

Once smoothed out, the cross member slides into place, but probably once painted will still be a challenge. I'll cross that bridge once I get there. The next cross member had a little different issue. During overseas shipment, the top flanges got a little bent downward as can be seen below.

I have some nice wooden clamps that are wide that I used to gently bend the flanges to their proper position.

And as you can see the flange is now correct.

Next was to assemble the uprights and top frame members. Steam Traction World stated that the front upright must be assembled square to the frame.

All components of the frame assembled!

The next challenge was installing the battery tray and "Pedal Plinth" ? I call it a pedal bracket! My first attempt didn't look so good. The Battery Tray was also slightly bent with the angled portion at a different angle than the other side. So I bent one side down a little, then test fitted everything. Still not a good result as you can see below.

So I left this to ponder overnight, came back the next day and decided to test fit the whole assembly on my running chassis and discovered a few issues. The first issue was that the pedal bracket (plinth) bolted securely to the side rail was causing the whole battery tray to angle upwards as seen in the above images. Therefore I had to disc sand away some material on the side rail mounting area to true up the tray. Next I discovered that the pedal plinth was not centered about the steering column. So I positioned the battery tray exactly 8.5 inches to each side. See below. 

Which shows just how much the pedal plinth is off.

So I had some 1/8 inch thick aluminum flat bar x 1.125 wide and fashioned a spacer that would mount in between the battery tray and the plinth.

This almost made up for the distance, but I had to add on the other side of the plinth mounting to the side rail another shim of about 1/16th of an inch to make it perfect.

And all is good now !

And a few pictures of the fully assembled frame.

Now on to mounting the side plywood. I decided that I would keep with Steam Traction World's preferred method of mounting the plywood sides. It was suggested that one might want to make the panels removable, but I rather prefer the cleaner look of mounting the plywood from the inside of the frame, and then plugging the holes on the outside and painting everything to hopefully get a seamless/ acorn nut free assembly. The first step was to clamp each panel to the frame. I used some plastic clamps and some scrap webbing to prevent any marring by the clamp on the wood. Once positioned correctly I drilled through the frame holes in the mounting tabs for each location with a 5mm diameter drill bit. 

Then I repeated the same process for the other side. Once the holes had been drilled they needed to be enlarged to 1/4 inch to accept the soft zinc alloy inserts.

These inserts are screwed into the 1/4 inch holes by an allen wrench, however the inserts are actually a little longer than the thickness of the plywood sides. Below shows the hex side of the insert that was driven into the plywood by the allen wrench.

I flattened the hex side with a small repousse hammer (3 oz.) and then filed it even with the plywood. For the other side the insert sits out about 2 mm profile to the plywood. Steam Traction World suggest that they be filed down even with the plywood and then countersunk. See below.

I believe there should be enough recess to plug this countersink with an appropriate wood filler, sanded and then painted to provide the clean look that I want. Below is the final test fit of Kit #9.

Now the fun starts!! Disassembly, deburring all sharp edges, filing down any welding splatter etc. etc.

I did make a modification to the two outer rails for what I believe could become a problem over time. Steam Traction World welded the cross member flanges with two spots leaving a gap. This gap I believe will be a point were water or corrosion could set in. It is a sharp edge and paint would have a hard time keeping this protected. See below.

So I decided to braze these slots closed and then grind them smooth again for priming and paint.

I only did the slots that would be exposed to weather below the plywood.

After several days of filing, deburring and degreasing, it was time to start priming the parts.

And once cured, paint the top coat - gloss black.

Everything is painted gloss black as of today (May 3, 2018). Now all that is required is a little cure time -- about 48 hours is best and longer is even better. Hopefully by this weekend I will post final pictures of the assembly - minus the plywood sides. I have not painted these yet because I plan to add the typical louvers seen on these early steam cars. See Below.

I'm taking suggestions from anyone that might have an idea to how to best apply these to the surface. It appears to me that they are glued. You don't see any finishing nails or holes or rot around any nail holes as one would expect.