"KIDSTER"

By Marvin Hartley
DAD WILL have little trouble
"selling" the family small fry
on the features of this sporty, ped-
al-driven auto—one look will be
enough. They'll be quick to see the
real headlights, plastic windshield,
rubber tires and a i r p l a n e - t y p e
steering wheel. Built from com-
mon parts and stock lumber, the
car features a chain drive, using a
standard tricycle sprocket bolted
to a pipe support.
Fig. 1 gives the dimensions for
laying out the sides on 1 x 12-in.
pine stock. Cleats for supporting
the sheet-metal hood and rear deck
are screwed and glued to the inner
faces of the sides 1/2 in. down from
the top edge. Mounting cleats for
the pillow blocks which carry the
rear axle are centered in the wheel
openings. Remember to make a
right and left-hand assembly. The
sides are joined together at the
front with a heavy cross member,
to which the pipe support is bolted,
and at the back with a 1 x 6 board.
Long flat-headed screws are used
to fasten these cross members, the
rear member being 16 in. long, and
the front one 14-1/2" long. The seat
board and back are also screwed
in place at this time. The final
wooden piece to be added is the
1 x 6-in. board that supports the
w i n d s h i e l d and steering-column
bracket. However, you may find it
more convenient to fasten this in
place after the pillow blocks for the
steering assembly are installed.
Fig. 2 shows the chassis assembly
at a glance. The 3/4-in. pipe support
for the car is drilled at the points
indicated for mounting the tricycle
sprocket, the eyebolt for the steer-
ing column and the bolts which
anchor the pipe to the body. A
U-shaped yoke, bent from flat iron,
is used to fasten the rear end of the
pipe to the bottom of the seat.
L e n g t h s of 1/2-in. cold-rolled
shafting are used for the steering
assembly, the steering column and
the front and rear axles. Details
in Figs. 2 and 3 show how "knuck-
les" for the front wheels are impro-
vised from 1/4-in. pipe tees. These
are drilled or reamed out and then
cross-pinned to lengths of 1/2-in.
190 POPULAR MECHANICS
PEDALMATIC FOR '51

MARCH 1951 191

 rod, 3-in. lengths being pro-
vided for the wheel axles.
Note that the tees are pinned
about 3/4 in. from the ends
of the vertical lengths to
permit attaching radius arms
to the lower ends. Cranks
taken from tricycle pedals
were used for these on the
original car, although you
can make them from bar
stock, drilling and tapping
each one for a setscrew. Note
that a third crank is used on
the steering column to en-
gage a slotted bracket riv-
eted to a flat-iron radius rod.
Two collars, one above and
The wooden radiator ornament is screwed to the hood from the under-
one below the lower pillow
side, while two roundheaded screws hold the flat-iron bumper in place block on each side of the car,
hold the steering assembly
in place. The lower end of
the steering column is sup-
ported by an eyebolt, while
the upper end is held by a
flat-iron b r a c k e t . A pipe
spacer placed over the upper-
end of the shaft holds the
column in place. The pipe
flange, to which the steering
wheel is fastened, is drilled
out and pinned to the col-
umn. Pillow blocks, which
provide b e a r i n g s for the
real wheels, are screwed se-
curely to the ends of the
mounting cleats p r o v i d e d ,
and an 8-tooth s t a n d a r d
sprocket is fitted to the axle
in line with the t r i c y c l e
sprocket. Slotted mounting
holes in the latter provide
takeup of the roller chain.
Any 10-in. semi-pneumatic,
Like a tricycle, braking is done with the pedals, and if the driver has ball-bearing wheels can be
difficulty reaching the pedals, a back cushion can be provided used. Details in Fig. 2 show
how the left wheel is locked
to the rear axle.
The sheet-metal hood and
deck covering are attached to
the cleats with oval-headed
screws and cup w a s h e r s ,
spaced about 2 in. apart. The
windshield consists of two
pieces of clear plastic 5 x 8
in. which are fastened to the
body at about a 2-in. slant
with pieces of metal angle.
The lights used are bat-
tery-operated h e a d l i g h t s
purchased at a bicycle shop,
and are attached to the hood
by driving the m o u n t i n g
screws into wooden blocks
fitted under the sheet metal.
192 POPULAR MECHANICS