cargo bike: head tube subassembly and cargo bay completion

well, the cargo bike is moving right along. i got the head tube assembly put together and installed correctly, completed the cargo bay, and started work on the cable steering setup. 

here is the assembly after i put it together but before attaching it to the front end of the chassis. the miters that attach the rail to the head tube had to be very precise, and they came out awesome. these were the joints that set the front head tube angle, which determines how the bike will handle. they need to hold the head tube vertical, in phase with the centerline of the rear bike frame, and set the front wheel at the correct angle. 

here i have attached the head tube to the cargo bay. first, i mitered the upright struts to the lower rail of the cargo bay. they are perpendicular to the long axis of the bike, but flare out in the short axis to add capacity to the cargo bay. once i cut the two matching miters, i supported the lower bay with a couple of struts that i put together out of scrap angle iron and threaded rod and leveled the whole chassis. 

here is the front view, after i mitered the front cross member to fit the flared upright supports and brazed it in place. i held the cross member with a couple of articulating welding clamps to tack it in alignment, and then added a lot of brass to keep it all together. man, the things you have to wrangle when you don't have a jig. 

once the lower cross rail was solid, i installed the long upper rails that also route the cables for the steering harness. here you can see the end of the guide that makes cabling the whole thing easier. once all that was in place, i completed the cargo bay by adding the last two members, the upper front cross pieces. 

here is the front end, complete and with the first big piece of the steering assembly test-fit. i will have a separate post on the whole steering rig once it i have it all together. for now, the chassis is complete! all that is left are the front cable steering pulleys, cable stops for the front brake, and the final mounting tabs for the wooden side and floor panels. stay tuned!