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Author Topic: My 1979 American TriPed MicroCar -- first run in 25 years!  (Read 1177 times)

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My 1979 American TriPed MicroCar -- first run in 25 years!
« on: April 11, 2019, 09:57:10 pm »
Well, this is sort of engine-related.  I've had this stored out in the barn for the past 25 years or so, and with all the engine shows my wife and I have been going to for the past couple of years, I decided to get out my MicroCar and get it running to have something to run around on at the shows.  There were only about 500 of these made, and they were actually street-legal when they were manufactured. 

It still needs some work before I start taking it to engine shows, but just getting it running again was the first step towards a restoration. 





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I like the way you start MicroCar. 8)
Carl "There is a better way for everything. Find it."TAE


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"MoPeds" were quite common when i was a teenager. It was one of the reasons i dragged this home 30 years ago. Just never really had a good use for it now!
crazydoug

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Haha don't go rolling too fast down that driveway and into the pond  :D  But if you do, make sure the Tech Guy Mrs. Crazydoug is filming  ;)  ;D
Nick

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Great little machine! And I like the Eco air meter on the wall, too.
Bob

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That was fun Doug !


I have a "Puch Trilet" disability scooter here, that i bought a couple of decades ago, which sort of reminds me of your MicroCar.


(example-pic lifted from the web, mine is in storage)
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Cheers
Jan
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Very cool Doug.

This will be great for the summer show circuit.

You should make a little trailer for it.

How fast will it go?

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Looks like a fun little machine - hard to believe it was street legal forty years ago. Glad to see it starts okay - just hope the starter doesn't get too tired.
Regards,
Larry

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well isn't that a heck of a thing, I can really see the use for that at the shows, save you a lot of walking, very neat Doug. I like your "Puch Trilet" as well Jan.
Bruce, St. Paul Indiana, USA
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In answer to several questions-no, i did not put it in the pond, but i did flip it over almost immediately- my wife did video the mishap, but i would not let her put it on youtube!
My wife clocked me at 25mph out on the public road- it claims to do 30, maybe when proper tuning and carb adjustment is attained.
Jan, is your trike electric start/ I considered putting a chinese 50cc electric start engine on this if i couldn't get it running with the original Minerelli engine.
And i already have a small 4' x 6' trailer with a ramp tailgate which will haul the microcar and my only full sized engine, an Fairbanks Morse Eclipse vertical hit/miss.
crazydoug

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In answer to several questions-no, i did not put it in the pond, but i did flip it over almost immediately- my wife did video the mishap, but i would not let her put it on youtube!

Glad you're okay, but I think you should share the video on youtube, it may even go viral  ;) :D
Nick

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...Jan, is your trike electric start...


Just a few years after mine, they did start installing electric starters on them.
However, mine being the first version, it merely sports a string with a return spring on the right side of the seat.
(Same starting system you find on the smallest Briggs & Stratton powered lawnmowers)


When fully assembled, does yours have the head/cylinder completely enclosed as well, and cooled by fans on the flywheel, to keep it from getting too hot when driving very slowly for extended periods?
Cheers
Jan
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Yep, a little plastic fan that bolts onto the flywheel-so that's what it's for!
crazydoug