Above 1200 Sq/FT Harley Jim's place

[harley jim]

Made it home late Saturday night! Thought I was going to take it easy today, not! Knox and Junior showed up after church this morning. They were fired up and ready to work. So we welded up a couple dozen holes in the bed rails, ground them and slapped on some bondo. We pulled a large dent out of the lower right f. fender, and a big crease in the r. Rocker/quarter area. Thanks goodness they had to be somewhere else by 4:30!
I came in and took a nap while Pat made supper, Spaghetti !
After supper we made five gallons of muskadine wine.

Im trying a new recipe! We'll find out in about eight weeks.

 

[RoninB4]

After supper we made five gallons of muskadine wine.

-There sure seems to be a lot of Muscadine growing in your area, often mixed with the hairy vines of poison ivy. Hope things are well for you and yours.

 

[harley jim]

They are native to this area, you can find them everywhere, only problem is most are on private land or government land. Private is private, government land, they belong to the wildlife. I have one large muskadine vine and three younger scuppernong vines, a friend is starting two more scuppernongs for me, I hope to get them next spring!
From the eight gallons of fruit I picked before I left last week, Pat made 2½ gallons of juice. The wine recipe uses 1qt. per gallon so I used half of it, I made 4½ gallons, there needs to be some head room to allow it to foam up and not puke out of the air lock. She has made a years worth of jelly already so Im probably going to make another batch tonight or tomorrow night. Ill collect scuppernongs and make a white sweet wine with those. Its getting busy down here!
Note, you can gather and crush the fruit and make wine straight from them, Pat cooked them off and strained the skins off for me, the skins can add bitterness so we're trying something different this year.

 

[xtremek]

Some sweet rides at the show.

Damn, they’ll slam anything up there.lol

Slamming work trucks has been a thing for about 4 years now. Getting real hard to find anything rwd, so everything is now fair game.

 

[harley jim]

There were plenty of strange slammed rides there, they will slam anything!
We got five frames finished and sent to PC.

Then we started brainstorming on our next move!

We have so many requests for a two seats trike! The geometry of these trikes will not work with two seats so we're thinking!

 

[Old Man Roger]

Sulky?

 

[ronjon1190]

Build in a cooler under the seat on the trailer!!

 

[harley jim]

This is one of two styles of trailer that were going to make, the other will be a utility style trailer.
We'll list them as a sulky on the website.

 

[harley jim]

This just showed up in my Instagram. Thats part of the show!

Redneck Rumble Car Show on Instagram: "Drone footage of the Redneck Rumble by chipscarsandcoffee. Shows most of the midway well, there’s more swap meet stuff closer to the front entrance that’s covered by trees. #redneckrumble #theredneckrumble"

83 likes, 1 comments - theredneckrumble on September 24, 2025: "Drone footage of the Redneck Rumble by chipscarsandcoffee. Shows most of the midway well, there’s more swap meet stuff closer to the front entrance that’s covered by trees. #redneckrumble #theredneckrumble".

www.instagram.com

 

[Old Man Roger]

From my Gokart riding experience, that sulky wont be an issue on your electric trikes, but with a gas engine, exhaust might be an issue for the passenger.

I know for me, more than a couple laps of close racing and I was sick as a dog afterwords. Granted, we were wide open and pumping out a lot of exhaust, putting around the fairgrounds at slow speeds might not be nearly as bad.

 

[harley jim]

We're hoping that the bulk of them go on electric, that seems to be the people that are asking for two seats.
We rode this one around for about 30 minutes and Chet was still his same weird self, so that didnt help!
We have looked at the other vehicles that carry two people and you can build two of ours for what they want for one of theres, I see these big people piled up on these tiny rides with double wide seats on them and just can't help but grin!

This is larger than the one we see most often but the same style, theres usually two, 300lb men on them!
I need to take some pics of the other vehicles at these shows to share with y'all, some of them will make you smile, and yes, I know my trike can't replace all of these vehicles, some are very specific built for people, I get that, ours are just for (those people)!

 

[Jeff Ivers]

I don't see a whip holder on that "sulky". It would seem to me that the rider would need a way to physically get the attention of the driver.

 

[harley jim]

We actually talked about that, a cup holder, and an umbrella holder!
Thats my spiel when I talk to people at a show, the women love the idea of guidance!

 

[welder4956]

We actually talked about that, a cup holder, and an umbrella holder!
Thats my spiel when I talk to people at a show, the women love the idea of guidance!

 

[harley jim]

I actually got to work on my Mule today!

I got the new braces welded in.

I stripped several coats of paint and rust from the firewall forward.

I had some gloss black so Im using it for the first coat, Ill put a second coat of semi gloss on, hopfully tomorrow.
I have to replace the shock mount on the right control arm, paint them and the backing plates, then its ready to reassemble the front end. It will be nice to get it on four wheels that hold air and roll.
Junior and Knox are going to be here about 11:00 tomorrow, the plan is to set the box back on for now so I can do the bodywork, Im going to show Junior how to replace the valve seals. He will do the seals, clean the oil return galleries, and new valve cover gaskets. I need to make a retainer for the air cleaner, Im thinking Ill have Knox take the hood off and clean the bottom side, Im hoping it will clean up and I won't have to paint it.
Oh, yea!

I made another five gallons of muskadine wine .

 

[xtremek]

A few thoughts on the sulky. Love the basket, adds a lot of functionality. Don't like the way the handles point forward. Messes with the aesthetics to me, don't I don't see a better way to do it. Lastly, get Pat to sit in it and see what she thinks of the foot peg placement. Then find someone about 5' 6" to sit in it and see what they think about it.

 

[harley jim]

Im not in love with the handles either. I wanted to do arm rests, or a boat seat, the price of boat seats killed that idea! The foot pegs are the second point, they actually need to be adjustable I think! Donnie put his feet on the bar that the baskets are mounted to, I couldn't sit that way very long, too cramped. We added 10" to the length of the tongue from the original piece because you could put your feet on the trike bumper!
Thanks for that critique it is helpful to get y'all's input. And I think your spot on.

 

[harley jim]

Worked on Knox's truck today!

I think we may have found the source of the smoke!

There was so much **** in there that the oil wasn't draining back on either side.

I set up a wet vac with a tube on the hose to **** everything out, got the oil gallies cleared. The valve seals were toast! I got the right side done and quit for today! Im not designed to bend over a fender, Im so sore I can't walk right now!

We sat the box back on it for now, he wants to lower it so we needed to get measurements to order a kit with.

Junior bought a set of seats from a 2000 truck, the bolt holes don't line up, I told him to buy 88 to 98 but like the rest of the family they don't listen, he is related to the bil! Ill make them work for the kid, he was excited for them.

 

[Jayman17]

I really like those wheels on that truck, is he keeping those?

 

[harley jim]

Yes, he just bought them, were using them to set the ride height, then he's getting new tires after paint.
I finished the valve seals today, got all of the rockers and push rods back in.
I have to finish setting the valves and put the valve covers back on tomorrow. If I can get that done Im going to start mounting the seats.


My neighbor is having a sign painted on his tractor shed!

I think he calls the place Iron Rhino Farms!

 

[BuffettFan]

Funny lookin rhino!

 

[harley jim]

I know! Looks more like a camel!
Who wants a tall skinny Rhino!

 

[Old Man Roger]

Yes, he just bought them, were using them to set the ride height, then he's getting new tires after paint.
I finished the valve seals today, got all of the rockers and push rods back in.
I have to finish setting the valves and put the valve covers back on tomorrow. If I can get that done Im going to start mounting the seats.


My neighbor is having a sign painted on his tractor shed!

I think he calls the place Iron Rhino Farms!

Funny lookin rhino!

I know! Looks more like a camel!
Who wants a tall skinny Rhino!

I was gonna say.lol

 

[harley jim]

I got Knox's truck back together today, I found the pcv circuit was plugged with the same **** in the valve covers, had to rod out the throttle body and replace the hose and pcv. I made a couple of laps around the block, I filmed the second lap, the smoke completely cleared up and the truck is running very strong now.

They bought a set of newer seats, that don't fit, so I started making brackets!

This is what I came up with.

I had to add some bolt points to the floor.

Drivers side.

Passenger side.

I have the fronts bolted in, Im going to stop there for now. I want to get the interior panels back in before I build the pedestals for the rear, just in case I have to move them, the fronts are easy, the back not so much.
When Im done only the orange bar will be visible above the carpet, Ill paint them satin black before then.
The rears will probably be pieces of 1½" square tube pedestals welded to the floor, Ill just cut the carpet and let them poke through. If nothing changes, Im going to start the headliner tomorrow.

 

[Old Man Roger]

Steady checking the mirror for cops.lol

 

[harley jim]

No, watching for smoke to clear up.
Cops don't come out this far!
This was the initial start up, you can see there is still smoke, oil burning out of the converters most likely.

 

[xtremek]

I love the idea of making the footrest adjustable. Arm rests would look much better and make it more comfortable to sit on. Can you find out what kind of wheels are on Knox's truck? I'm hoping to restore my late BiL '97 2dr Tahoe and think they'd look good on it. What's left to do on Knox's truck?

 

[harley jim]

Ill ask but They bought them from marketplace. Ill get a good pic and post it, someone will know.
He, or rather Junior ordered a lowering kit, I need to pull the throttle body and rebuild it, its full of the same stuff as the valve covers had, make a headliner, reinstall the interior so I can finish the seat brackets, I want the plastic back in it to make sure the seats arnt too wide, finish all of the body work and paint it. Plus whatever else they find along the way. I think Junior is into it as much as Knox is!

I decided yesterday to work on my stuff! So I started with the Mule.

The right control arm was rusted, the shock mount was gone.

It looks like it spent time underwater.

I got it ground down and started on the new bracket.

Then I remembered that someone gave Pat and injured bunny!
I fixed it and she called and said supper was done, so end of shift for me!
Today we built two trikes, we sold three last week and have to get them ready for pickup.

Right now Im working on supper for tonight!

 

[harley jim]

Went to a turkey shoot this morning, came home and finished the front suspension parts for the Mule, everything is done and painted. Hopfully I can get some of it assembled before the boys get here tomorrow.

 

[harley jim]

I did do a bit to the Mule this morning but decided not to assemble anything yet. I ordered a gallon of satin black and am going to finish painting the frame before I assemble anymore.


Got Knox's truck dropped today! We dropped the front a little too much,its rubbing! I think I have another set of coils in the warehouse!
Kirk, I found some info on the wheels!




Every spoke had something stamped in it!
Hope this helps!

 

[xtremek]

It helped a lot, I found them. Still trying to figure out what to do as far as wheels go. You and Strouty would probably kill for this truck. Rust free, barn doors, 4x4, and as mentioned, 2 dr.

 

[harley jim]

Yep, probably would. Sooner or later I will find one, right now I have way too many projects started. I told Willie I was out on his. Its a nice rust free straight body 93, but the a/c quit and he took the dash completely out, I would love to have it but I just don't have the time.
I didnt need Knox's truck here but I can't tell a kid no. He's a good kid, he came over today and helped weed eat my banks! We dug the garlic and cleaned some garden beds. We were doing good until the yellow jackets kicked my ****! I got about 20 hits, 8 of them were full on hard hits, one got me right between the eyes , I have to hold my glasses, I can't sit them on my nose. I have to build trikes tomorrow so Im hoping its all better in the morning! Tomorrow is a new day! I love a good adventure!

 

[xtremek]

OUCH!!!!! I hope you're feeling better now. And you're also right, we have to help the next generation. Especially if they're willing learn and help.

 

[Old Man Roger]

20 hits, some people do that for bee sting therapy.

Seriously though, make sure the stinger is out, be careful not to squeeze it, wash the area, take an antihistamine and put some ice on it.

 

[harley jim]

Doing better today, my hand took four hits, its still swollen, I barely got my ring off, usually its almost loose. Took two benadryl, and two hydros, then iced it last night! The bees didn't fair too well!
I spent some time in my shop this morning.

I have the front suspension ready to go back on. Im going to finish stripping and painting the frame and firewall before assembly, there are aluminum parts going back on that I don't want paint on.
Got the steering column painted, and reconditioned the steering wheel with some serious cleaning and an acetylene torch, its plastic!

We built another drop tube trikes this afternoon, its sold along with the standard electric we built last week. A husband and wife bought them and are coming this weekend to get them.
Its 8:08 now and Im waiting on a guy from Knoxville to get here to pick up his frame, he was supposed to be here about couple of hours ago but got into some traffic! Probably a wreck on I 75.
Kirk, Im surprised those wheels are stock Tacoma, since I had the numbers I thought I would find Knox some center caps! Who would have thunk it! Lol.

 

[harley jim]

Finally got caught up! I thought!


Got everything built, made some custom parts, packed some kits in boxes, taking them to ups in the morning. Donnie called and we sold two more. I thought I was going to get to work in my shop next week but no Bueno!

 

[harley jim]

Got the pic, cleaned up my shop this morning, I have a load headed to the dumpster.

Got the new coils in Knox's truck, I need to raise the rear about 1" and it will be perfect. I started on the headliner layout, we had 6x4 diamonds, they looked too small so we tried 8x6 and that looks better. Im going to play with it a little before I commit. Were supposed to work on the bil's garage tomorrow.

 

[harley jim]

We started building frames yesterday we have to build six drop tube and two gas frames to stock the trailer back up. We go to Panama city, Nov5th for the Emerald coast cruise in!

A Man contacted me yesterday about trading a 20 K generac generator for an electric trike, I have bought from him before and he dose generators for a living so Im satisfied its what he says it is.

Its a 2022 model with 97 hours on it. He wants a white electric!
Headed to the shop today see if we can get done welding today.

 

[Old Man Roger]

20k, that should run just about anything.lol

 

[harley jim]

The one I have now is 11K, I have to choose between the furnace or the electric stove, I don't like having to choose.
I think I sold the 11K for 2500 dollars!