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1953 Tucker Sno Cat 443 Mt Washington WMTW Channel 8 Restoration

Point of order raised by our expert Tucker Panel.

Just because Tucker did something doesn’t mean you should. These spring hanger brackets need to be tight but also loose enough to allow the spring to expand while working.

Slack also needs to be taken up here over time with enough use.

Thread deforming locknuts will solve this problem on final install.

5/8-18x5” from McMaster Carr got me the shank I need for the fixed side of the table.

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New leaf springs being made up to match x 4. New u bolts on the way.

The u bolts and shackles on Marty are bent. They are 3/8 and the rear has an additional
strap to keep the u bolts from splaying out. All the bolts on the donor and Marty are widened quite a bit at the top probably from loosenig and being run.

The later 50’s donor cat and up to my 73 anyway use two 1/4” shackle plates double up.

Doubled 1/4” will be replaced here.
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Mocking up the donor drivetrain while the new springs are getting made. Got some quality grade 5 u bolts from uboltsdirect.com with new tall nuts. These are just snug so we don’t stretch the bolts until install.

The donor drive shafts and rear ends are later 50’s and already has some new rework. Between the two sets, there are enough parts to make correct and serviceable.

Marty’s housings are thrashed but between the two we can retain the original P96 Cleveland strap u joints and yokes. The yokes are the obsolete part. The knurled strap unjoints still exist. Robbed one with the dust shield from Marty. Rear donor will get one as well.

These rear housing also have drain plugs which is a win!
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Drive line and tie rods next up.

Donor parts came with enough new and OE pieces to preserve the Dodge Cleveland U Joint driveline.

Tucker used swaged tie rods during this period. One has been heated and re bent multiple times it appears. Have a plan to preserve these while enhancing the design.
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Got the tie rods ends off. Concern was the condition of the threads which as you can see is excellent.

The short tie rod measures 29 3/16” and the long 39 11/16”. The short one is in excellent condition and the longer once has some bending you can see in the pictures against the level.

I expected these swaged tie rods to be very thin like the OE on 60/70’s models I have worked on. Here these are beefy 1.250 OD and 7/8” ID.

Plan is to cut out the warped section and attach the strait swaged ends to a new tube welding them together with solid rod inserted in the joint. I marked the tie rod lengthwise before cutting for correct assembly alignment.

I expected to find one end of the tie rod threads worn out. Tucker design as some point allowed one end of the tie rod to pivot. This one had double clamps which some did but these appear to both be clamped right.

Even with the clamps on both ends, one clamp would be lose enough to facilitate rotation. The firm clamp here saved the threads. Upon assembly we will let the pivot end be lose under clamp and take up slack as it wears.

These clamps and tie rods also have primer which is not Tucker. My guess is parts that Tucker bought but didn’t produce may have had some paint finishing already. Could also be 70 plus years of who know who did what?


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ID on the new tube and OE tube are slightly different. Little lathe work to make the rods fit tight. Heated the OE tube then inserted the bars and allowed to cool for tight fit.

Weld and final fishing up next.

Moog ES2010L and ES2010R tie rod ends should be here tomorrow.
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Vickers steering booster getting ready for mockup install. Going to align and center the pivot before squaring and installing the tie rods.

Already rebushed the steel steering piston mount. New bronze rods fabricated ready for 3/16 roll pins. These bronze pins are an upgrade to the steel pin design. Transfers the wear to the easily replaceable pins instead of the steel ends.
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On to the steering.

Linkage rod needs a weld.

Drained the oil and cleaned up the Gemmer steering box. This is a model 34587.

The steering wheel was missing and the stem cut. It had a small steering wheel welded on that looked like it came from the 80’s arcade game Pole Positon.

Had a wheel of a 69 that is a great donor. Will probably trim and thread the shaft to fasten the wheel with a spacer and bolt.

There’s a tube that covers the steering shaft. Bottom has a clamp that’s missing and the top had bearing that supported the steering shaft under the wheel that was blown out.

Top of the tube was crushed as well. Was able to get some of it back round. My solution will be to fab up a UHMW insert that is the id of the tube and od of the shaft. Will be a great no maintenance enhancement.
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Fabricated a UHMW bushing to replace the OE ball bearing. The upper tube is deformed so I pressed it in from the bottom.


The steering stem had the threads cut off in life so I threaded the ID 9/16. Had to modify the donor horn switch plate and make a few spacers up. Good as new.

Just need to find a lower steering tube clamp now.
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Took the steering box apart to clean and inspect. Figured I’d be opening a 70 year old disaster but quite the opposite. The design of these Gemmer steering boxes doesn’t promote fluid changes. This one was full of some sort of oil and sludge.

This box is out of a late 40’s early 50’s dodge truck. For the Tucker application it’s mounted upside down. Not sure what the OE fluid level would but to lubricate inverted, the box needs to be filled level to the plug.

All cleaned up and serviceable as is. Bushings and bearings are in great shape. Pretty simple design. The input shaft taper bearings are set like the dodge axle end play with shims/gaskets.

The worm gear uses a screw adjustment to take up wear fixed in the cove. 600w oil is what will be installed. Grease was a thought even corn head grease was promising. After research and expert feedback the minimal rotation needs a thick hyoid oil for optimal service life of the taper bearings/races and worm gear.

Need to find a new cover gasket but can make if needed. Shim/gaskets and be reused if I can’t source as well.

The input steering shaft is actually hollow and passes right through the box. This one was gunked up plus found a bolt and a cigarette filter that came from the steering wheel end in life!

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Centered the steering piston and aligned the tables like the later Tucker guidance suggests. That resulted in more rear table turn one way vs other which is bad on this period steel upper lower table setup.

The front table has more run out left right flexibility than the rear. If the rear turns too far left or right, the table retainers will fall off the lip and bind the return stroke.

Early Tucker’s of this period had a work in progress geometry. The photos make you wonder what to put the protractor?

Plan is to center the piston stroke of just about 6” so the rear table works then figure out the front.
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Steering Booster and tie rods all adjusted. Very pleased with how the reworks of the frame down operates in concert.

We did a good job carrying all the measurements over from the OE lower frame that was replaced. Might even say better than Tucker tolerance.

Had the youths in the shop for a minute to act as my power steering. So smooth that crocs can articulate the motion!

Setting the rear table first and centering the piston was key. Front is more like a modern rear table forgiving to over run. This rear table design if it over rotates left or right equals BAD.

Found the timing marks on the driveline. Front and rear shafts are identical length on this model. Installed the rear to double check for binding and fit with all the new frame work. All is well.

Front dimensions did not change so won’t bother installing the front drive. Stripped down the other shaft. One has a little dent so will swap in the nice donor provided.
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Steering Box reassembled and adjusted.

The input shaft uses multiple gaskets to set the taper bearing play on either side of the worm gear. Same idea as a trailer hub. The three installed OE are in spec.

The output shaft uses a screw and keeper on the cover. Cut a new gasket and installed the cover. Took up one keeper worth of slack. Installed new output shaft oil seal. Tight and in spec.

Filled the box with old school 600w. Research says it’s about SAE250. Not sure the stuff could leak without gaskets.

Steering feels excellent. This box is mounted upside down so letting it sit for the night and check for leaks. Easy to overfill these in this orientation as well.

The input shaft and bottom cap are open to the oil box. If you tip the column too low oil will over flow the tube and leak out.

Found another number stamped on the steering box. Can’t tie it to anything yet.



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Steering box back in and hooked up. Quite the crude but functional design. Put the cat up on stands to test the centering and action.

Works as designed.

Sourced a lower column clamp that was missing and got the wheel fitted.

That finished up the mock up after the frame swap. Next steps to take it all apart finish the roof blend then back to the finishing the frame.

Should be ready for paint and the assembly process come spring!
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Removed the side and rear panels for storage. These will be one of the last components to be installed during the finishing process.

Turning attention to the roof joint that was roughed in. Both sides need scribing, and sanding, and seeming.

Plan is to sand the OE roof cut straight and flange it again. From there scribe sand flange repeat on the donor for optimal fit.

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Longboard hand sanded the OE roof to laser straight as measured by Tucker tolerance then ran the flange tool down it again.

Installed the donor rear section to scribe. The rough in was close but needs fine tuning. The low step on the flange needs to take the pencil line as I work it down the line.
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