Plywood Scooter

1. Man! This is it! Cost? $125. Does 75 miles to the
96 Mechanix Illustrated

2. By R. J. Capotosto
DESIGNED and built just like a com-mercial
model, the MI Scooter fea-tures
an all metal frame covered with a
wood body. The metal chassis provides
the necessary strength. Angle iron was
used because it is inexpensive and
readily available at large hardware
stores. Powered by a Clinton A 490 en-gine,
the scooter has bicycle type hand
controls for both the gas and brakes.
Construction starts with the frame.
Notch the angle, then bend cold. To pre-vent
buckling at the bottom of the V,
drill a 1/8-in. hole at the bottom of each
notch. Make a test cut on a scrap piece
first to determine exactly where to drill
the hole and also to check the bend al-lowance.
If you find after bending that
the frame is warped, straighten it by
bending the legs in the opposite direc-tion.
Check for levelness on a flat sur-face.
After cutting and bending all
pieces, remove all burrs and bevel the
edges slightly for a better weld.
To weld, clamp the sections together
as a unit and check against the drawing.
If okay, weld all joints. The front fork
bushing must be perfectly aligned when
welded to the frame. Tack weld at sev-eral
points, check and continue the
weld. After finishing all welding, clean
the joints with a chipping hammer to
remove all slag and scale, then give the
entire frame a coat of aluminum paint
to prevent rust.
The front fork is made by heating a
1/4x2-in. bar at two places and bending
as shown. Align both legs of the fork
then drill 3/4in. holes for the axle. Start
with a small hole gradually increasing
the size to % in. The steering post is in-serted
into a hole drilled at the top of
the fork. Let it protrude about 1/8 in.
then weld securely. Alignment is impor-tant
as steering efficiency originates at
this point.
Cut the post to the length indicated
then grind a flat to act as a seat for the
handle bar. Position the flat so that it is
parallel to the axis of the wheel. Bend
the handle bar from a piece of rigid con-duit
and braze a shaft collar exactly in
the center. The setscrew hole should
face the rear so that it lines up with the
flat on the steering post.
The kick stand is fashioned from a
piece of 3/8-in. bar stock. To obtain the
small bends, it will be necessary to heat
the rod to a dull red and bend in a vise.
Drill the three small holes in the rod
after bending. Two of these are for cot-ter
pins to prevent side movement and
the other hole is for the return spring.
To keep the drill from "walking," grind
a small flat spot, then center punch. At-tach
the stand to the frame by means of
small brackets cut from waste pieces
of angle. Be sure to use lock washers
or locking nuts when fastening the
brackets. This applies to all other nuts
where cotter pins are not used.
The rear axle supports are made of
3/4-in. steel cut as illustrated. The blocks
may be left "square" if you like, but
rounding them off will look much
neater. To shape the piece without diffi-culty,
drill a series of small holes around
the perimeter, overlapping the holes
slightly. If any "ties" are left, cut these
with a hack saw. A hole is drilled and
tapped at the bottom of both blocks to
take a hex head setscrew. A correspond-ing
flat must be ground into the axle end
to keep it from turning. The mounting
holes for the brackets may be drilled at
this time but the matching holes in the
PLYWOOD SCOOTER
gallon and has a cruising speed of 30 miles per hour.
97

3. frame are not put in until later. Tempo-rarily
attach the wheel to the axle, then
space with shaft collars. The wheel
should be centered over the frame and
the bracket temporarily held with small
clamps. Adjust so that the wheel is
parallel to the frame, then transfer the
hole location from the block to the frame
and drill. Mark the blocks to identify
them so they will not be switched later.
The sprocket and brake assembly
are attached to the rear wheel as shown
1. Kick stand is formed from cold rolled
rod. Brackets are angles bolted to frame.
2. Partially assembled scooter showing the
angle iron chassis. Note the kick stand.
3. Rear axle supports are shaped by drilling
series of holes. Hack saw for final cut.
98
4. Hole for steering rod should be cut
before bending and gluing the mud guard.
Mechanix Illustrated

4. in the diagram. The brake shoe bracket
is welded to a shaft collar which in turn
is welded to the axle support. If you use
the Clinton A 490 engine as we did, drill
the holes in the frame and mount as
shown. If other engines are used some
changes may be necessary. With the en-gine
in place, install the clutch with
sprocket side in and connect the roller
chain. Allow a little play in the chain.
If the linkage is such that it is too loose,
place shims under the engine mounting
plate to take up the slack. Adjust the
position of the clutch on the shaft by
leaving the clutch setscrew loose. Rotate
the rear wheel several times by hand
and the chain will automatically slide
the clutch assembly to the proper posi-tion.
Now tighten the setscrew.
Since the engine is mounted in a
"downhill" position, it will be necessary
to mount the gas tank so that it will be
in a horizontal plane. To do this, remove
the bolt holding the front gas tank lug,

5. then carefully bend the tank upward.
Add the flat bracket to hold the tank in
this new position.
The only other change on the engine
is to direct the exhaust fumes out
through the rear. The stock muffler
which comes with the engine will dissi-pate
the exhaust fumes into the body
area and naturally this is objectionable.
A length of flexible gas pipe (the type
used for gas ranges) is ideal for this
purpose. Connect one end to the present
muffler and run the other end out
through the rear. Drill a hole in the side
of the muffler to take the pipe and plug
up the original holes. The ridges in the
pipe will help deaden the engine noise.
The control lines are added at this
time. The transmission for hand brakes
and the three-speed hub is used for this
purpose. Run both cables along the
chassis and attach the left one to the
brakes and the other to the throttle. A
simple bracket is used to attach the
cable assembly to the engine. Attach
the cable to the swivel clamp on the
throttle linkage.
The engine may be stopped by the
shorting clip or by use of a toggle switch
connected to the low voltage side of the
magneto and ground. To actuate the
clip from outside the body, attach a
short length of throttle control cable to
the clip. When the control is pushed
in the plug will be shorted out. The
toggle switch method is neater. Run
one lead from the switch to the low volt-age
side of the magneto and the other
lead to ground. Do not attempt to run
a switch from the plug and ground as
the spark will jump the gap and you'll
get a shock to boot.
100 Mechanix Illustrated

6. 5. Front mud guard fits snugly over the
fork. Check clearance of wheel and guard.
6. Handle bar cover is made ol laminated
sections patterned in the manner shown.
7. Here it is—the completed scooter. A
thrill to ride and a beauty to behold.
Start the woodwork by cutting and
and attaching the floor board. This is
made of 1/2-in. plywood in two sections
as shown. Notch the front end to fit
around the fork bushing support. Drill
and attach the boards with 1/4x20xl-in.
bolts. The body is made next. This is
made by laminating two thicknesses of
3/4-in. pine, gluing the sections as shown
for rigidity. Pine is used because it can
easily be shaped. The inner section
must be set back 1/8-in. to allow for the
thickness of the plywood covering. Lay-out
the outer piece first and cut on the
band saw.
Sand smooth to remove all bumps
then transfer the outline to the inner
section. Now with a small divider, set
with the legs 1/8-in. apart, strike off
points around the perimeter about an
inch apart, then connect the lines with
the aid of a curve. This piece is also
cut on the band saw.
Line up the outer and inner sections
carefully and glue securely. When the
glue has set connect the sides by means
of the cross members. Use glue and
screws for added strength. With the
body thus far completed, place it on the
frame and check to make sure it fits
properly. The 1/8-in. "bending" ply-wood
is next prepared. The width to
fit between the shoulders should be ex-act.
Temporarily clamp the piece along
the bottom edge and, pulling the wood
tightly, mark off the length needed. Cut
and glue into place. Be sure the grain
runs across so that the wood will bend
around the body. Use plenty of clamps
and leave them on until the glue has set.
If you think you will have difficulty
bending the wood, you can pre-bend it
by wetting and rolling into a cylinder
and tying the roll till dry. If you use
this method, be sure to cut the wood
first as it would be rather difficult to
cut afterward. Naturally the wood will
not be the exact shape you need, but it
will be easy to clamp into place. Use
a waterproof glue. The front mudguard
is made in a similar manner except that
the sides are solid pine instead of built
up sections. Drill the hole for the steer-ing
post after the piece has been cut to
size but before gluing.
The 1/8-in. [Continued on page 128]
101

7. Mi's Plywood Scooter
[Continued from page 101]
plywood sides are glued to the body last
of all. Cut the panels undersize so that
you will have less wood to trim when
rounding the edges. This also applies to
the contoured floor section and steering
post cover. When assembling the floor sec-tion,
cut and fit the pieces directly on the
part being covered. This will simplify
construction as it eliminates guesswork.
Allowance must be made to pass the con-trol
cables which are fastened directly to
the floor board. Also allow for the short
sections of angle braces. The front of this
part is made to fit over the steering post
and enough clearance must be provided to
pass the control cables. They must not
bind on turns. The same applies for the
steering post cover. Cut away inside and
give cables plenty of room for turning.
The handle bar cover is shaped to con-form
to the bars as well as the steering
post. The bottom of the cover is left flat
so that it rests on the steering post cover.
When the woodwork has been com-pleted,
round off all edges with a router
or with a rasp and plenty of elbow grease.
Follow the rasping with sandpaper, first
rough them medium followed by fine. The
wood should be finished with a good
undercoating and then at least two coats
of exterior grade enamel.
The cushion is made to fit into the
tapered opening in the body so that it may
be removed easily for starting and serv-icing
the engine. Blue Boltaflex over foam
rubber makes a very comfortable and
good-looking seat. Make a one piece gusset
and staple it to the bottom side.
To keep the engine heat from damaging
woodwork, interior of body is lined with
Fiberglas insulation. It is available at most
auto supply shops and it serves the purpose
well. Use the one-inch material and at-tach
it with staples. Be careful not to ob-struct
the air intake at the front.
Laws vary from state to state so check
with the local authorities regarding lights,
horn, signals, etc. For lights, use dry cells
which can be stored in the engine compart-ment.
The switch can be placed on the
control panel. If stop lights are required,
use an automobile replacement switch at-tached
to the frame so it will be actuated
by the brake rod linkage. The head light
is from a six-volt lantern housing with a
clear white fog lamp.
Be sure to use an oil and gas mixture for
fuel. Do not use ethyl or low grade white
premium gas. White marine gas is ac-ceptable.
Be sure fuel is fresh and mix
well prior to filling tank. Now, fill 'er up—
and away we go!
(MI has made arrangements with the Finecraft
Products Company, Box 7031, Jersey City 7, N. J.
to supply readers with the parts for this scooter.
Write to them for a price list.)
128 February, 1963