Alright so this whole thing started last Tuesday when I was staring at that rusty old delivery trike gathering dust behind my shed. You know the kind – tiny cabin, one wheel up front, those flimsy plastic doors flapping in the wind. Total eyesore. And goddam did it smell weird inside, like old sweat and fried noodles. Point is, nobody used it anymore, and the battery was deader than last year’s leftovers.
I figured, hey, maybe I can make this thing actually move under its own power again? Not for deliveries, obviously. Just… for fun? Seems like a solid waste of a Tuesday. So I dragged the heavy beast out onto the driveway. Sun was blazing hot, sweat dripping into my eyes within minutes. Good times.
First order of business: figuring out what was even left of the electric bits. Found the motor controller box shoved under the seat – covered in dust bunnies big enough to be pets. Took a screwdriver to it, popped it open. Inside looked like a spider had a party and threw up everywhere. Wires all over the place, connectors brittle as old biscuits. Took forever just to trace what went where. My neck still hurts from hunching over.
Step one was trying to resurrect the motor:
- Tore out the old lead-acid battery brick. Thing weighed a ton. Felt good chucking that into the recycling pile.
- Rummaged through my garage pile o’ crap and found some decent used lithium packs I salvaged from some busted electric scooters. Way lighter, held more juice. Perfect.
- Had to rig up my own battery tray since the old one was shaped wrong for these. Used some scrap angle iron, a hammer, and a lot of frustration. Bent my thumb pretty good whacking it into shape. Throbbed for hours.
- Getting these new batteries hooked up to the existing controller was the real headache. Wires didn’t match. Had to cut, splice, solder. Sparks flew. Made me jump back like I’d seen a ghost. Stank of burnt plastic for an hour afterwards.
- Finally gave it some juice. Heard the tiniest whirr from the motor. Thought maybe I fried the whole controller. Nearly gave up right there.
Then came the steering mess:
Okay, steering column felt like stirring a bucket of rocks. Gritty. Slow. Definitely felt unsafe. Took apart the whole front end. Found the bearings packed with grease the colour of dirt, all dried up and crusty. Scraped that nasty gunk out with a screwdriver and some old rags. Flushed it with degreaser till it ran clear. Packed in fresh grease – the good kind, not the cheap junk. Way smoother afterwards, actually kinda nice to turn. Still wouldn’t trust it over 30km/h though!
The plastic body situation:
Looked like it lost a fight with a herd of angry rhinos. Scratches, dents, cracks everywhere. Had some leftover spray paint cans kicking around – primer grey and this awful bright blue. Did the absolute minimum prep: wiped it down with a wet rag. Sprayed primer over the worst scrapes. Coupla coats of that hideous blue. Looks… well, it looks like a toddler painted it now. But it’s one colour? And the cracked plastic? Slathered it with heavy-duty duct tape on the inside. Yeah, real classy. Whatever, it holds.
The “Oh Crap” Moment:
Finally hooked up a proper battery charger to the whole mess last night. Dashboard lights flickered on like little drunk fireflies. Made a weird buzzing noise that sounded expensive. Tried the accelerator pedal. Jumped forward maybe an inch. Then nothing. Stomped on the pedal again. Same thing. Felt like banging my head against a brick wall.
Took a breather. Actually went back and stared at the wiring mess I made. Turns out I hooked two wires backwards going from the pedal to the controller. Swapped ’em. Plugged it back in. Tried the pedal one more time.
Damned thing lurched forward! Actual movement! Crawled down my driveway like a sleepy turtle, but it moved. That little motor whine sounded like music after all that hassle.
Where I’m At Now:
Took it for a shaky spin around the block today. People stared. Guess a bright blue duct-taped three-wheeler ain’t exactly common. Steering held up, brakes kinda worked (mostly), and it didn’t catch fire or drop a battery pack. Small victories, yeah? Top speed felt like maybe 25 km/h downhill with a tailwind. Not exactly thrilling, but it goes!
Still smells faintly like old socks and burnt wiring though. Can’t win ’em all. Doubt it’d pass any official inspection either. Probably get pulled over faster than you can say “illegal modifications.” But hey, it runs. My weird little scrapheap project lives. For now.