Ok, so I just about have my Bonanza build finished, just a few finishing touches and changes needed (I will update that thread when I have those steps completed). So now, I can start on my new project which is a big wheeled Terra Torque. I am pretty sure that these were made by Bird, but my tag also makes it appear that they were sold at JC Penny. I will get more pictures up of what I am starting with, but I am currently trying to remove the drum from this wheel. PRoblem is the wholes are just small enough that it cannot be pulled off and so the bolts are essentially threaded through. The hex head is on the bottom of the flange inside the wheel. The hard part is, I cannot get at these bolts to remove them with any wrench that I have, and I cannot figure out a way to get in there and loosen it up. I need some ideas, would love to get this build going, but I need to get this drum off first. Any advice would be awesome. Thanks.
sounds like it's time to take an old wrench and customize it to fit by bending it into a Z shape so it will fit below the lip of the wheel and tire or take the tire off and you may be able to slip a wrench in there easier...I'm assuming the drum was assembled prior to mounting the tire... You may also be able to use a flexable ratchet, one where the head flexes, slide that down in the wheel with a socket and work the bolts out that way..
Thanks for the input. I did try a u-joint attachment for my ratchet and I thought that was going to work, but the angle was just too extreme and it wouldn't quite turn. I thought about a Crow's foot wrench setup, but the crow's foot wrench pieces do not have enough throw. Bending an old wrench may be the way I have to go. I am thinking I will need a nice solid vice and a hammer to pound the bend. I do not have a nice solid benchtop vice, but my father-in-law does so perhaps I could give that a try.
No a swivel attachment won't work, what I was talking about is a ratchet that has a flexable head like the one pictured below (snagged a pic off ebay).. I thought maybe with the tire inflated it was rising up about the rim enough that you couldn't slide a wrench in there, kind of hard to tell by the angle of the pic..
Ok, so here are some more pics of the project. I am ultimately going to work on the blue one and then sell the orange one. I will add a front and rear light and will be using a Tec H50 with lighting coil. It will also have a TAV on it. There is also a pic of the nice gas tank I have for it. I will mock it all up, take it for a spin, and then when all is said and done it will get a new paint job and some other bells and whistles. Should be sweet when I am done, I like big wheeled bikes.
I think this will be a solution, and at a much more reasonable price than I found elsewhere. Some of these are really expensive!
- Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices
- Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices
I had a terra torque!
Spike 77, I had one of those Terra Torque mini bikes back in the day, similar to the orange one. I got it for Christmas in 1973. I think I still have a fender at my dad's house. I gave the bike away to a friend about 20 years ago. I had a lot of fun on it tooling around the neighborhood and riding through the desert. The frame was a little weak, IMHO, because it broke on me. (Of course, I was no little guy even back then). Good luck on the restore. I'll be checking back in for more pics.
Robert
mr1963impala@yahoo.com
Spike 77, I had one of those Terra Torque mini bikes back in the day, similar to the orange one. I got it for Christmas in 1973. I think I still have a fender at my dad's house. I gave the bike away to a friend about 20 years ago. I had a lot of fun on it tooling around the neighborhood and riding through the desert. The frame was a little weak, IMHO, because it broke on me. (Of course, I was no little guy even back then). Good luck on the restore. I'll be checking back in for more pics.
Robert
mr1963impala@yahoo.com