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C5Alive Forum - Archive Section => General Archive => Complete Archive => Welcome To The Forum => Topic started by: rafarestaura on 13, February, 2012 - 11:53:27

Title: Hi all from the deep south
Post by: rafarestaura on 13, February, 2012 - 11:53:27
Hi all, my name is Rafael and I have three units of Sinclair C5. I got them from several points of England, using Ebay, and, after a very expensive shipment to Granada, Spain, were I live, and a lot of work I have one in mint running conditions and the other two in restoration progress. Perhaps they are the C5´s more to the south in Europe. In a few days I´ll send several photograps to the forum. I did a canopy for my C5, very awful but useful in cold weather, and I´ve used it for two years but now I´m trying to do a replica of the original side panels to respect the original design of the vehicle. You can see at Youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HM82eg4Hns&feature=plcp&context=C3970df8UDOEgsToPDskJZvvWQoTsyHU-3OxJTAYt2

Regards, Rafael
Title: Re: Hi all from the deep south
Post by: thedesigntailor on 13, February, 2012 - 12:40:56
Hi Rafael - welcome to the forum!

That canopy must have been a lot of work.

 :D
Title: Re: Hi all from the deep south
Post by: Lancealot on 13, February, 2012 - 17:21:55
Hi and welcome to the forum, hope to see some photos.

Keep us posted.

Lance
Title: Re: Hi all from the deep south
Post by: C5 ENTHUSIAST + RESTORER on 13, February, 2012 - 20:40:25
Hi there Rafael ..Any help you want just ask .....Take a look at my videos on YOUTUBE    under JORDAN8ISH ....BYE Chas
Title: Re: Hi all from the deep south
Post by: rafarestaura on 13, February, 2012 - 22:21:37
Thanks a lot for your messages and warm welcome  ;D. Promise to send some pictures ASAP. Jordan, I´m suscribed to your Youtube channel as "restauragreenlab", I know your work and it´s great. Somebody goes to Holland next July to the C5´s meeting?. Probably I go with my family (wife and four children) and the three C5s, if work and money let us (what a horrible crisis this one ::)). I´m trying to do a tow bar for the C5 to carry the bike trailer of my twins, I´ll tell you if I got it

Ok then, see you soon.

Regards, Rafael.

By the way, I need the metal piece you can see in the center of the rear left wheel of the C5, to stop the wheel in the axel, any suggestions?
Title: Re: Hi all from the deep south
Post by: C5 ENTHUSIAST + RESTORER on 14, February, 2012 - 08:43:12
Hi there Rafael thanks for the reply  ....Hope to see you soon at a meeting ..Bye Chas (ps can you upload a photo of what you need )
Title: Re: Hi all from the deep south
Post by: rafarestaura on 14, February, 2012 - 11:38:37
Ok, Chas, here you are a picture of the piece.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-KuPurVmgrbU/TzpIZuRQA5I/AAAAAAAAAEU/mJZEHrJlJlc/s128/IMG_1911.jpg

I have the wheel but not that piece so I can´t mount it. If you know somebody can get it I´ll be very happy  ;D ;D, that´s the only one piece I need to finish the work on one of the C5´s.

Thanks for your atention and regards.

Rafael
Title: Re: Hi all from the deep south
Post by: C5 ENTHUSIAST + RESTORER on 14, February, 2012 - 20:15:38
Hi there no problem just give me your full name and address ..bye Chas
Title: Re: Hi all from the deep south
Post by: rafarestaura on 15, February, 2012 - 13:54:21
Oh, great, send me an email adress and , also, you can say to me if you use Paypal, etc.

By the way  ::), what do you think about this work I´m doing?. Look the pictures and sorry about the poor quality.


https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-fu_AmQcVFsA/Tzu2HBdZwSI/AAAAAAAAAEo/M6NnsbBY0hk/s128/IMG00115-20120215-1427.jpg


https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-G4rpnwBHphA/Tzu2mDlQGBI/AAAAAAAAAFY/MNw2RGBP7zE/s128/IMG00112-20120215-1256.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-SWwHVUsdXOs/Tzu2l0utHEI/AAAAAAAAAFM/6YGZKGIaieM/s128/IMG00113-20120215-1256.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-jF3byrr5AVc/Tzu2kw1gG6I/AAAAAAAAAFA/4NcaM5eQF6w/s128/IMG00114-20120215-1427.jpg

I needed more wide for my son´s school bag and wanted to install a brake light as high as I can to improve the visibility of the C5. Also the original boot is usable. I´ve used a rack from Vespa scooter and modify to hold it to the C5 chassis, two points down and a big one on the top of the seat. I think tomorrow will be finished and I can post pictures outside running. The rack also will have a little tow bar for my twins trailer  :) :).

So that´s all by the moment, thanks a lot for your quick answer.

Regards, Rafael

Title: Re: Hi all from the deep south
Post by: C5 ENTHUSIAST + RESTORER on 15, February, 2012 - 15:18:33
Hi there Rafarel  just looked at your photos but they are to small to see any detail .I Will try to get them larger to see more detail
Title: Re: Hi all from the deep south
Post by: C5 ENTHUSIAST + RESTORER on 16, February, 2012 - 08:28:24
Hi there Rafarel the wheel bracket is on it's way ...Bye Chas
Title: Re: Hi all from the deep south
Post by: rafarestaura on 17, February, 2012 - 19:39:45
I have no words, Chas, thanks a lot. Today has been a sunny day 8) and, as yesterday finished the works on the new head rest and luggage rack, I´ve gone for a ride on my C5 to test the new pieces. Result, success ;D ;D!!. The head rest is very confortable, the tow bar works very well and I can carry a lot of school bags on the rack. I´ve take some pictures with my digital camera and I´ve published in my facebook page, the quality are rather good, except the two ones my wife did, a little bit shaked, girls and machines  ::) ::), ok, take a lot when you can and give me an opinion.

Adress: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.359087887449527.88133.100000449557168&type=1

Regards for all, Rafael
Title: Re: Hi all from the deep south
Post by: steve_1360 on 18, February, 2012 - 08:43:34
Head rest looks good :)
Title: Re: Hi all from the deep south
Post by: C5 ENTHUSIAST + RESTORER on 18, February, 2012 - 08:48:35
Hi Rafael it looks great  has the the C5 it been modified (12/24 volt?? )....Bye Chas
Title: Re: Hi all from the deep south
Post by: rafarestaura on 18, February, 2012 - 10:08:56
Good morning, this C5 is unmodified, it has the original engine and controller, you can imagine the effort of riding with the trailer, two school bags and my twins, of course (about 80 kg all)  :P :P. In a flat road you can go even without push the button, only pedalling,  but if the road begins to climb , even a minimum, power is short and you begin to search the auxiliary rockets button  ;D ;D. Anyway, this car´s going to stay unmodified. I want to keep it in this way, as example how the car was made, this unit is reserved to my old son, actually twelve years old, to go to school and beginning to learn how the mobility must be, with side panels for cold weather. Other thing are the other two C5´s. I´m working in new 24 volts motors and controllers. I don´t want to use the original motor because off the design, they have a very big resistivity with heavy loads, and as I´ve seen sometimes, the controller box can explode in flames. I´m going to use a 24 v 500 watts brushless motor, with a 24 volts 30 amps controller. It´s great motor and drain less than half amps from battery than polimotor unit of C5 and it have double power. I have mounted in the C5 a regulable solenoid that I use as main switch and security protection to prevent risk of fire. It has programmed to switch it off at 100 amps of current and yesterday it cut several times the power when I ride with full load. That never happened with the 24 volts motor, mounted in my tandem bike, with three children, the trailer, aditional load and a hilly road, it´s a wild and hard motor, it have the same diameter than Polimotor but is three times shorter, so I´ve made a pack with the motor and a refrigeration fan, put into a steel cylinder and adjusted in the original motor mount of the C5, the whole piece have identical measures than Polimotor engine and use the original transmision belt to wheel drive.

I hope to work in the cars soon, I´m building a new workshop last six months and I´m almost finishing ( I hope so), so I think cars can be in test mode next month, I´ll post all the news ASAP.

Thanks for all the opinions and sorry for this heavy post, too much to read for a saturday morning :D.

Regards, Rafael
Title: Re: Hi all from the deep south
Post by: Lancealot on 18, February, 2012 - 10:16:07
Hi Rafael,

Nice photos and modifications, welcome to the forum, keep us posted.

Lance
Title: Re: Hi all from the deep south
Post by: radiomarty on 18, February, 2012 - 12:30:49
Hi There - Sounds like you are doing some interesting work - Would love to see your 24v conversions when completed - keep us updated Regards Radiomrty
Title: Re: Hi all from the deep south
Post by: rafarestaura on 18, February, 2012 - 22:16:55
It will be a pleasure to keep you updated about the works, I´ll post them ASAP  :) :).

Regards, Rafael
Title: Re: Hi all from the deep south
Post by: rafarestaura on 23, February, 2012 - 18:52:25
Hi all. Chas, the wheel bracket has arrived today,  ;D ;D ;D, Thank you very much!!!!!!. As this weekend is very long here, four free days, and the weather forecast says sunshine and 20ºC at midday  8) 8) I think I´ll can work at the outside of my workshop and mount the bracket in the wheel and other things and make some photographs of the C5´s 24 volt conversion. I´ll also work in the last details of my new solar and eolic off grid system to feed the workshop and the house, good bye to electricity bills  ;) ;)

Ok, more news soon.

Regards, Rafael
Title: Re: Hi all from the deep south
Post by: frankev on 24, February, 2012 - 17:04:58
Hi Rafarestaura,

Nice work you done on this hood. Just took a peek at your film and it looks really great. I was wandering, is the Sinclair holding out well with this extra load? No trouble with the gearbox, or with stopping? Since you live in a mountain area.
It is not to much work to build a 7 gear axle in. Might be handy going uphill.
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-ALP4Y0gsuCE/T0fCDSQEw-I/AAAAAAAABn4/wzDpjKD7gSc/s800/DSC02613.JPG)
This is a picture of a possibility, i found on the net, there are more ways to do it. Mine is fitted just like this one. It makes the Sinclair more versatile.

greetz

Frank
Title: Re: Hi all from the deep south
Post by: rafarestaura on 24, February, 2012 - 21:03:23
Hi Frank, thanks for the picture  8), it´s very clear. That´s exactly the work I want to do in my 24 volt adapted C5´s. At the beggining, I tried to get a Rohloff hub gear but the cost (near 800 pounds  :( :() make me search for another options. Actually I´m bidding in an Ebay auction for a Sturmey Archer 5 speed hub and I think I can get two units around 100 pounds, that´s better  :D :D.

My C5 run very well with the extra load and the trailer, no stability problems in turns and braking distance don´t increase much. You must think that, when I carry my twin sons, I drive around 10 - 12 mph of speed using a flat bike path and from home to school and back, those are good conditions of running . Another thing will be when I´ll go to the Alhambra with the C5, the moors city in a hill above my city, Granada. That means a climb about 2 miles long and about a 14% of climbing. I´ll post some pictures of that trip, Alhambra is the more visited tourist place in Europe and it´s really an amazing place, if I can recover my breath after the climbing  ;) ;D ;D and that will be a very good test of brakes and other parts, the results here ASAP.

This weekend is four free days here, I´ll do several works in the C5´s and my workshop and I´ll have more news and pictures.

Thanks and regards, Rafael
Title: Re: Hi all from the deep south
Post by: kamilb1998 on 25, February, 2012 - 21:19:01
That is some serious modifications you have done there. You rear rack looks a hell of a lot more complex than mine. Keep up the good work.

P.S. I have sent you a Facebook friend request, so if you get one through from a young lad with 60s hair & two girls in the profile picture - it will be me :D
Title: Re: Hi all from the deep south
Post by: rafarestaura on 25, February, 2012 - 23:02:50
Hi, I´ve seen your request and I´ve confirm. I´m very happy with the rack, but the top part is a standard rack for scooter Vespa, adapted to C5 chassis, it isn´t difficult to do, you only need a 6 feet long 2 inches wide steel tubing and get the form to attach at the end of the chassis, three nuts and bolts and a few black paint, Taa daa¡¡ it´s done.  ;) ;)

Regards, Rafael
Title: Re: Hi all from the deep south
Post by: frankev on 28, February, 2012 - 09:03:49
Hi Frank, thanks for the picture  8), it´s very clear. That´s exactly the work I want to do in my 24 volt adapted C5´s. At the beggining, I tried to get a Rohloff hub gear but the cost (near 800 pounds  :( :() make me search for another options. Actually I´m bidding in an Ebay auction for a Sturmey Archer 5 speed hub and I think I can get two units around 100 pounds, that´s better  :D :D.

Hi Rafarestaura,

We are in the process of making ± 20 pcs. of the metal housing for the shimano 7 gear-axle. (or an other) The price of this axle house, that fits in any existing Sinclair C5 frame will be about €30,-. A secondhand Shimano 7-gear axle costs about €25,-. Some cables, chains, presto. €70,- tops. (and a lot of work).
There are other systems to mount this extra gearbox but over the years, the in this topic chosen construction seemed to be the most strong and durable. The 7 gear option is the nicest because when doing 20 km's per hour in 7th gear you only rotate your pedals once every 24 meters.
The four gear option let you pedal faster. 18 meters in one pedal-stroke. I prefer the comfort of the seven gear 8)

greetz
Frank
Title: Re: Hi all from the deep south
Post by: rafarestaura on 28, February, 2012 - 17:27:16
Hi Frank, keep me updated about the progress of making, I need one, at least; meanwhile I´ll try to get the hub gear and accesories, you are right, seven gears is the best target to increase power of climbing and speed at the same time.

Thanks and regards, Rafael
Title: Re: Hi all from the deep south
Post by: frankev on 28, February, 2012 - 17:57:23
Hi Rafael,

I am trying to adapt the front cog-blade as well. If I could change this into the three blade you usually find in the front on racing bikes, it would make theoretically 21 gears. (You need the blades from a ATB bike, racing bike blades are to narrow)
In the 7 gear edition I use the 1st gear for take off and the 7th gear as soon as I drive. Probably I will use the first and twentyfirst gear only on this next model. ;) :D ;D
I will take the steps needed to get the axle holders. It is not the same one as the one on this picture. (its nicer)

greetz

Frank