Having 'wheely' good fun... and spare parts??!

Hey all

Well my first kit is almost complete (just in time for kit 2... doing well) and I must say it is certainly a challenge building an engine! Not that I thought it would be otherwise, of course

I had a lot of issues with the spokes on one of my front wheels just not fitting quite right; with a little help from my Dad and a few hours in the workshop and I've just about got them nice and the wheels spin beautifully straight. Now I find the hubcap screws are too long... *inner sigh* I remember someone telling me this would be easy, I think they were lying to me haha! At least though it is a positive learning experience and now they are (almost) fully assembled I'm very happy with them.  

One thing I noticed however - I have a bag of 10 x M3 Hex and nuts in the kit. They are on the packing list but not mentioned anywhere on either the instructions nor the drawings... does anyone know what they are for? Hoping I'm not missing anything important! The only place they could logically go is in/through the rims somehow, but as there are only 10 this doesn't seem likely. Anyone have any clues?

Thanks  
Emma

If i remember right. I believe they are included for akignmenr when fitting the spokes to the rim. You fit one in each of the centre holes. Then remove them when you have the other bolts in place, it seems to me you managed without them. Mike

The bolts are to assist in aligning the spoked on your wheels and are then removed gradually as you fit your rivet bolts so don't panic they are supposed to be left over.
As for the brass screws for the hubs; these will need trimming. Don't do a me and snap one off inside your newly completed hub followed by a torrent of obscene language.
However keep them save along with the hub cap as you won't be needing them for a while.

Ahhh I see - they might have actually come in handy haha

Never mind, yes I did indeed manage without them - thank you both

Thanks for the advice on the screws too Jim - I'll be careful with them. Can't promise a complete restraint from obscene language though...

Run a nut onto the hub cap screws BEFORE cutting them, then cut them and run the nut off to clean the cut thread up. Saves any cross threading moments or not being able to screw them in due to slight thread damage.

Can I suggest that you run a tap down all the threaded holes on the kit parts supplied? Particularly the blind tapped holes, this will clean the tread and remove any muck that might be hiding in the hole. I found a couple of times that the bolts seamed to long only to find the hole partially blocked at the very bottom. You might even encounter the odd missed hole. CNC is not infallible and it’s not always possible to inspect 100% of every component flying of the machines. It’s also can be very difficult to realise a tap has broken or worn in good time when CNC machining and some holes might be overlooked when inspecting finished components after a breakdown.

Hi guys - thank you for all the advice - very much appreciated! You often find some internet forums aren't the best for responses but the people on here are great so thank you

Just to note though Kiwi - I did try that. I found it quite odd that one of the screws fits perfectly but the other two don't so I assumed the same, it was blocked somewhere. Once I took the cap and cover back off I spotted why - one of the screw holes lines up perfectly with a keyhole in the top of one of the spoke nuts in the hub, so it can be screwed all the way through without issue. The other two hit the metal of the hub itself once they pass through the outer cover so I assume the screw holes for two of them were indeed missed off being added.

I know with the sheer amount of kit components they must produce you will always find the odd one overlooked so it's no problem at all - it's something that's very easily sorted and I'm sure there will be harder things to come!  

You will definately have issues with other kits, but thats the best part of it. At least you wont get bored. All issues are resoveable, either through this forum or contacting Steve at STW.
Mike