Good news, I finally have everything done for sandblasting. This weekend I worked really hard to get everything to fit and also rounded off all corners and sharp edges.

First some pictures with everything in, the mounting points still weren't made to size here and still no corners rounded off.

And here with everything out, looks pretty nice. And it's also very strong, I'm really happy that I decided to go with 3 mm steel instead of aluminium.

Then I took everything apart again and placed all parts that have to be sandblasted together. There are quite a few parts.

So these are also the last pictures with that ugly glossy white and all those bare spots. Hopefully I can go the sandblaster this coming week already, I'll keep you updated.

Meanwhile I also had some new bushings made of the material POM. The small ones are all for the front swingarms en the 2 big ones for the rear swingarm. These are replacements for the bad rubber bushings (front swingarms) and needle bearings (rear swingarm). POM is very suitable for this, it's very wear resistant and smooth. Many quad bike riders use this material as replacement and are very happy with it. I still don't know myself since I can't place them yet till everything is sprayed.

I also got some new bearings for the front wheels and rear axle of the brand SKF. These will last much longer than the original Chinese ones that were in there.

In the bearing house I also had a slight modification made. The speed sensor of Trail Tech is quite a bit smaller than the original one and also has a different thread (3/8 inch). To be able to mount the sensor in the same spot a bushing was placed in there, works perfectly.

That was it again, hopefully another update soon with a sandblasted frame.

All mounting points have been welded, again thanks to Van Alphen Lasservice. It all went well and it's been done very nicely.

I'm now working on drilling the holes and tapping threads. It's quite tricky to get all the holes aligned properly but it's going pretty good so far. I just still need a few evenings to finish this I think.

I also need quite a lot of bolts again which I'll hopefully have tomorrow. Then I can see if I'm able to succesfully attach everything.
Meanwhile I'm already trying to find a sandblasting company so that all parts of the frame can get sandblasted and then sprayed as soon as possible. But since the construction workers holiday has just started again here it's not really going well. There's a big chance that I won't get this done the coming 3 weeks.

I also received some neoprene shock covers from DirtSkins. Don't really need them just yet but I already got them for when I'm going to rebuild the quad bike. Hopefully the shocks will last a bit longer with these. I also like how they look.

And that's it again, hopefully another update at the end of this week.

Much has happened again this week. I completely dismantled the quad bike so that all parts of the frame can be sprayed soon. Was pretty fun since I've literally had each and every part of the quad bike in my hands, I know exactly how it all fits together now. I've also come across certain things that I'll be replacing right away with better alternatives, especially the bearings and the bushings in the front swingarms and rear swingarm.

I was able to remove the whole brake system without even having to disconnect a single brake line.

And this is what the quad bike looks like right now, only parts everywhere.

I already removed the bushings in all of the swingarms. These are all still new bushings but they don't really look like that. These Chinese bushings also don't really work like rubber bushings are supposed to work, they're actually hinging in the swingarm itself instead of in the rubber so it's steel on steel. This will wear out very quickly, especially since there was no grease at all anywhere. The plan is to place POM bushings in here, works much better and lasts much longer too.

I also got some new parts again. These are all the wires that I'll need to make the whole wire harness.

There's also a handle switch and 2 mounting points for the mirrors. And also a seperate killswitch with cord so the high voltage will be disabled if I leave the quad bike in any way.

But the most important is that the gauge and charge plate are done and thanks to Geraets Metaalbewerking they turned out very nicely again. Everything fits perfectly again as well. I just can't really show yet how it'll all be mounted exactly since the quad bike is dismantled but to give an idea I've made a few pictures.

I'm working on making all of the mounting points to size now, these might get welded to the frame this coming week then.

The corner profiles for the rear of the battery boxes are done. Now I still have to work on the ones for the front/cover but that'll take some more effort since I have to cut a few parts out for the cable glands and bolts.

I also bought some extra enclosures to place some other high voltage parts in. Bit easier than making something myself again. The DC-DC converter, sensor for the volt/amp meter and the main fuse will come in this large one. It'll be placed where the gastank used to be. It really fits perfectly, took a good guess for the sizes. It only wasn't available in black so it still has to be sprayed.

And this smaller one is for splitting up the high voltage cables to the DC-DC converter and charger and for both a seperate fuse. It'll be placed where the 12V battery used to be. It fits nicely as well and there's still enough space for the big orange cables which will run to the motor.

Then I also still have this one for some 12V things (main board for the Battery Management System and a few relais). Think I'll just place this one on top of the large enclosure, there's still some space for it.

Tomorrow and in the weekend I'll continue again with the corner profiles so these can hopefully get welded next week.

Some good news again today, the mounts for the top case and rear lights are done. They're really nice looking again thanks to Geraets Metaalbewerking. It's always amazing to actually see something like this made from a drawing. Here are all the parts together.

Attaching them was a bit difficult, the mounts weren't the problem but ofcourse the Chinese welds again. Had to add quite a few rings again to get the mounts straight and make them fit. But it's not that bad, I think I just need to get some longer bolts now since the nuts are barely on there.

But eventually they were nicely attached to the frame.

And with the fender it just barely fits, it was meant to be this way but it was still pretty exciting if it would actually fit or not.

The lights and mounting plate for the top case attached. I thought I'd have to modify the rear light a bit so it could sit a bit lower but this is not necessary, fits just right with about 0,5 mm of clearance.

And then with the top case on there. Looks pretty nice, doesn't sit too high or too low. And also not too much to the rear which is usually the case with most of the top cases. It's also very firmly attached, if I try to move the top case the whole frame moves. So the mounts are definately strong enough as well.

Meanwhile I also modified an old power supply of a computer to be used as a 200W 12V converter. I can now easily use this to test some things sometimes. Much easier than having to charge that small 12V battery every time which is always empty again after 5 minutes.

I've also been busy modifiying the small battery box, but I'll probably show that tomorrow when it's done. This weekend I'll start on making those steel corner profiles to size.