Finally Got A Trike!!

Truckasaurus44

Truckasaurus44

Member
#1
#1
Like the tital says, I finally found one. I believe it to be a Baja Nomad or a trisport RTS SL, not sure.

The fiberglass is pretty beat up but structurally there enough to ride it. Its very thin and seems to consist of two layers, a textured outer plastic or resin layer that is cracking and peeling off and a fiberglass under layer that is mostly there and uncracked. Does anyone have tips on repairing these bodies, or is it not worth trying?

I was considering adding some more fiberglass layers to the underside for strength and stiffness, gluing down and filling in the cracked outer layer, smoothing it out, and coating the whole thing in Durabak's smooth bed liner:
Colors & Prices

Either way, here are the pics:



 
45t

45t

Well-Known Member
#2
#2
nice find. :thumbsup: I was wondering too if anyone repairs the aged fiberglass bodies on these old trikes (because I need mine done too)? There was a OMBer on here that just recently redid his own trike body and painted it a nice red with metallic flake.
 
toomanytoys

toomanytoys

Well-Known Member
#3
#3
nice trick, but gawd resize those pictures or something. I have a 22" wide screen monitor on max resolution and had to scroll around my screen!
 
Truckasaurus44

Truckasaurus44

Member
#4
#4
Yeah, I'm not going to worry about the body until I have it running and riding right. I've got a 5HP B&S that I figured on using for now. Any way to tell what engine this thing is supposed to have?

I thought the forum automatically resizes the pictures?
 
Cubenzo

Cubenzo

Member
#5
#5
The "outer" layer that is flaking//cracking is called gelcoat.


Most fiberglass things are gelcoated... boats, old snowmobiles..



Easy to fix.. Just sand any flaking off, and sand into any spider cracks and fill with bondo.
Primer and paint! Spider cracks in the gelcoat are in no way structural... Any cracks or holes in the fiberglass matting itself can be patched with a relatively cheap fiberglass patch kit available at your big chain stores (walmart//homedepot)


I prefer bondo GOLD, its alot finer than the cheap suff.. making it easier to sand and shape.
 
Truckasaurus44

Truckasaurus44

Member
#6
#6
Seriously, just use Bondo? So I should chip off all the lose gellcoat rather than gluing it back on with epoxy or resin? Is there a filler that is better at binding to the fiberglass and flexing with it?

Also, is it possible to add more layers of fiberglass from the back of the part body and fender to make them stronger? Its pretty thin stuff.
 
we4amigos

we4amigos

Member
#7
#7
Cubenzo said:
The "outer" layer that is flaking//cracking is called gelcoat.


Most fiberglass things are gelcoated... boats, old snowmobiles..



Easy to fix.. Just sand any flaking off, and sand into any spider cracks and fill with bondo.
Primer and paint! Spider cracks in the gelcoat are in no way structural... Any cracks or holes in the fiberglass matting itself can be patched with a relatively cheap fiberglass patch kit available at your big chain stores (walmart//homedepot)


I prefer bondo GOLD, its alot finer than the cheap suff.. making it easier to sand and shape.
Click to expand...
***Tri Sports were mfg'd with a fiberglass shell that has a plastic vacumm formed overlay...not gel coat!! The "outer" textured portion is the plastic ,,usually colored throughout .
If you search the "more than 2 wheels" section there is a listing for a member selling replacement bodies.
And that RTS/STL style came with way more than a 5HP motor. I believe they were Rockwell JLo 2 stroke & a larger Kohler 300cc....but there's experts on here that will know for sure.
These are a blast and very easy to adapt to diff. powerplants. You'll love it when done Good Luck
 
countstevula

countstevula

Active Member
#9
#9
45t said:
nice find. :thumbsup: I was wondering too if anyone repairs the aged fiberglass bodies on these old trikes (because I need mine done too)? There was a OMBer on here that just recently redid his own trike body and painted it a nice red with metallic flake.
Click to expand...
PM YOOP, he will know
 
W

wjustice

Well-Known Member
#10
#10
Definitely not a SL. That's the smaller RTS frame. Yes the bodies were plastic backed with fiberglass. I removed all the loose stuff and glassed over with mat and resin. Final form was done with bondo. I think I have pics up in my gallery.
Edit: yes I did reinforce the back in the high stress areas. Just scuff it up some and layer in some cloth.
 
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Truckasaurus44

Truckasaurus44

Member
#11
#11
OK, cool. I saw your bodywork pictures and that helps alot! I've got much larger chunks of plastic pealing away. I'm hoping that whatever I do to fill it in won't matter much once its fully encapsulated in a nice thick layer of bed liner.
 
W

wjustice

Well-Known Member
#12
#12
I chipped away all the loose plastic first. Then glassed over everywhere it was cracked. I did the primary filling with polyester resin with added filler. Then bondo and glaze to finish. I still haven't painted mine because as I suspected, it got banged around a bit working on the running issue and needs some touchup.
 
gumpit

gumpit

#13
#13



Before the fiberglass and bedliner


Truckasaurus44 said:
OK, cool. I saw your bodywork pictures and that helps alot! I've got much larger chunks of plastic pealing away. I'm hoping that whatever I do to fill it in won't matter much once its fully encapsulated in a nice thick layer of bed liner.
Click to expand...
After the fiberglass and bedliner.



I will have this at Windber again.
 
YOOP

YOOP

#15
#15
I've never heard of fiberglass backed plastic.every old fiberglass body I've fixed was gelcoat.when they are made the gelcoat is sprayed in the mold first,which is the smooth,colored layer.then it's backed with layers of fiberglass.i usually sand down the cracked areas down to the glass and widen any cracks up then use fiberglass mat and resin to build it all back up.i wouldn't ever just use bondo for the whole fill.it should only be used to skim coat it to smooth out the fiberglass layer.i've done a few bodies with good results.my Lockley thread has a few pics of how I did it. our trike body was really not too bad.just had a couple small cracks and a little spidercracking.i'm sure you'll get a few different opinions on how to do it.this is just how I've done all mine.by the way,cool trike.worth fixen up :thumbsup:

http://www.oldminibikes.com/forum/more-than-two-wheels/66434-lockley-project-log-6.html
 
Truckasaurus44

Truckasaurus44

Member
#16
#16
Woo Hoo! Found a decent HM100 on CL today. It even included a 40/41 clutch, which is huge considering the cost of 1" clutches! A 10HP Tech should be much nicer than the 5HP Briggs I was going to use. Pics up shortly.
 
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