A piece of styrofoam was hot-wire cut to the shape of the top panel, then shaped. A streamlined hood was formed to cover the back of the speedo. We stretched Kevlar Spandex/epoxy over the form originally used to make the headlight fairing of Killer Swan. After curing, we trimmed it and mounted it into the opening. Some epoxy putty was used to fair its edge into the foam contour.
Taped together, the final form is revealed.  The use of relief cuts for curving foamcore surfaces is shown in detail in our article on making drag bike fairings.
N O S E   J O B :
2Much!!!, the recumbent trike kustom cruiser gets a finishing touch, two years after it was originally "completed" by  Wizard Brothers.

By Jim Wilson
Shortly before 2Much!!! seemed to have been completed, in the fall of 2002, I thought of something else it needed- a hot-rod-style nose section reminiscent of the front ends of the classic '33 and '34 Fords. To me, it seemed that the street rod aesthetic of the machine came to a screeching halt just forward of the button-tufted driver's seat. From that point on, it was pretty much typical recumbent, aside from comparatively-subtle detailing, and the atypical massive chrome Schwinn-ish crankset.

I did sketches of the proposed nose section, and we considered them. At that point, we had worked on the trike for several months, and were frankly somewhat bored with the project. We had already started planning our next project, a pair of kustom recumbent tricycles capable of being propelled by children. So we decided to stop the process, as originally planned.

Shortly after the original completion, we submitted photographs of 2Much!!! to the jury of the Louisiana Artist's 2002 Mixed-Media Show, and it was accepted, as a "floor piece". The show ran for a month at a gallery on the campus of Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge. Displayed near the gallery's entrance, it was singlehandedly responsible for much heavier viewer traffic into the gallery, by a much more diverse demographic than typical art exhibitions in the facility. Normally a show there would attract a preponderence of students and faculty involved in the Arts. 2Much!!! brought in many students majoring in Business, Engineering and Athletics. Once they were in, and had looked at the trike, most of the viewers stuck around to look at the other artwork on display, which was most gratifying to the show's organizers.

Unfortunately, many of the viewers, perhaps due to unfamiliarity with gallery and museum conventions of not handling the artworks, took a more hands-on approach, in spite of normal security precautions and closed-circuit TV. As a result, 2Much!!! was rather shop-worn by the end of the show.

We had hoped to debut 2Much!!! at Abita Springs 2003, but it was impossible for either Dave or I to be there; as he was slated to be out of state on nuke business, and I was booked for something else at the same time. So, 2Much!!! went into a storage room off Dave's garage, where it would gather dust for the following year.

In the spring of this year, we hauled the trike out of storage and mounted it onto a rolling table in the shop, for inspection and cleanup prior to this year's Abita meet. It looked pretty rough, with numerous scuffs and scratches. In addition to surface damage, the front fenders showed paint-surface weirdness due to shrinkage revealing spot putty surface repair, which was originally invisible. We obviously had a lot of work ahead of us.

At that point, I suggested to Dave that, since we were going to be doing extensive re-working anyway, we might as well re-consider making the nose section at the same time. He agreed, so we began that process; with me doing that fabrication, while Dave began a back-to-the-original-surface rework of the fenders.

The shape of the "radiator grille" was the basis for the form of the nose section. We established the most forward point to clear the pedal arcs, as we wanted to locate the trike's headlights at that location, as we hadn't been happy with the original mounting points at the steering head tubes, which were the only feasible locations at the original build period.

We decided to keep the original speedometer mounting and location, as relocating it anywhere else would not have been an improvement. We made an opening in the top panel to reveal it. The resulting "cockpit" look was not influenced by Paul Teutel's OCC tank schtick, but was purely a matter of practicality. We decided to keep the original switch panel, which had been originally mounted in a small console fixed to the forward boom. It was relocated to an opening we made in the flat rear panel of the nose section, using Molex multi-pin connectors for removability.

Construction of the nose section was done using our usual foamcore/ Spandex/epoxy method. As always, the basic construction proceeded very quickly. Making it well-finished and slick was the slow part of the process, as usual.

Once we had the nose section form in one piece, with all openings made, we added flares to the edge contours, using fiberglass and epoxy putty. Once these additions were sanded smooth, we began the surface-filling and priming operations. At that time, I fabricated a steel mount to attach the forward part of the nose section to the bottom-bracket shell. During that same period, Dave made the pieces which make up the "radiator grille", which we managed to finish before I was booked to return to NYC for assembly of the last issue of BR&K prior to this one.

When I returned to Baton Rouge several weeks later, we did the final paint on all the components, and assembled everything. We made several improvements while we were at it, including a more effective, separate parking brake, cable-actuated from a lever on the "dashboard" area of the nose section. We also replaced the19-tooth rear sprocket with a 22-tooth one. 2Much wasn't exactly lightweight, even before we added the nose section. Although the nose doesn't weigh a whole lot, as its construction is rather lightweight, except for the steel mounting part, the trike was still rather a load to motivate; so a lower gearing makes pedalling a little less laborious than it was before.

We're rather pleased with the way 2Much looks now, as its styling from end to end is considerably more consistent than before.
A plan view of the desired shape was cut from foamcore, given an opening for the speedo and taped in place on a sheet of foamcore. The side view was drawn directly onto the foamcore, then cut out of it, and another sheet for the opposite side, at the same time.
The basic outline has been established. Next will come the rear contour. The dark line is a reference for relief cuts in the surface layer, to enable curving the form inward at the bottom.
Taped together, the final form is revealed.  The use of relief cuts for curving foamcore surfaces is shown in detail in our article on making drag bike fairings.
The form is given lightweight glass cloth surface reinforcement, inside and out, usng epoxy resin. This makes the relief-cut sections rigid, and makes the entire structure strong but light in weight.
A piece of styrofoam was hot-wire cut to the shape of the top panel, then shaped. A streamlined hood was formed to cover the back of the speedo. We stretched Kevlar Spandex/epoxy over the form originally used to make the headlight fairing of Killer Swan. After curing, we trimmed it and mounted it into the opening. Some epoxy putty was used to fair its edge into the foam contour.
A Spandex/epoxy skin was applied to seal the foam surface and tie the elements together. A plywood shape pulled the spandex down into the speedo opening. This would later be cut out to make the opening.
Once the parts of the nose section were basically finished, we taped them together on the trike, to be sure of final fit of all mounting points, then we removed them, joined them together with epoxy and fiberglass, and stretched the spandex skin over them.
Above and right: The spandex/epoxy surface of the nose was then primed, filled, and wet-sanded in preparation for finish paint. Far right: bandsawed, sanded and polished aluminum grille bars and headlight mounts.
The grille frame was cut from oak,
slotted on the table saw, then filled, primed and painted before assembly.