Time to Get to Work

It's been 2 1/2 weeks since I got the frame and mostly it's just been sitting there.  I've test fit the parts I have and you may have noticed that the frame is just bare metal.  It will have to be painted before I can do any assembly work.  But before I paint it, there are a few things I have to do.  One of the main ones is moving the parking brake.

The frame has brackets to mount the parking brake next to the passenger's left leg.  In that position, the driver can't even reach it.  I'll be cutting off the brackets and moving them to a new location.  In the picture below, the metal plate in the foreground is where the passenger seat will go.  The driver's seat will be on the far plate.  You can see that the driver would have to reach around the center structure to reach the brake handle.

Here I am starting to cut off the old brackets.  Lots of sparks flying -- this is fun!

The blue thing on the frame is a template I made out of paper for new parts I'll have to make.  That's where the parking brake will go after it's moved.  It will require welding the brackets in the new location.  Good thing I had metal shop in 8th grade!!  After that, I'll put the frame back on the trailer and take it to the painter.