442 Refurbishment Project

[Blackfoot Tucker]

Rear end bolted back in place and officially out of dry-dock, i.e., off the oak stands. End brackets cut off center channel.

Dave,

That looks REALLY nice, and working on snowcat stuff in the heat of summer gets you major style points!

I don't know if it's the same on steel track Tuckers, but on rubber belted Tuckers the rear bolt on the left forward spring pack, and the forward bolt on the right rear spring pack are inserted in the opposite direction from normal, with the bolt head on the inside and the nut on the outside. The reason is for greater clearance with the steering components.

 

[DAVENET]

Dave,

That looks REALLY nice, and working on snowcat stuff in the heat of summer gets you major style points!

I don't know if it's the same on steel track Tuckers, but on rubber belted Tuckers the rear bolt on the left forward spring pack, and the forward bolt on the right rear spring pack are inserted in the opposite direction from normal, with the bolt head on the inside and the nut on the outside. The reason is for greater clearance with the steering components.

I double checked that on the front and then doubled it on the rear. BUT, it was going to be a pain in the ass to get it out there as an assembly without the wheeler, so I had the boy help me carry the refurbed axle out and then brought out the table / spring assembly. To get them mated again easily I removed the spring bolts, swung the springs over onto the axle, bolted everything together, then flipped the table up and re-bolted (incorrectly)! Thank you for catching that because I probably wouldn't have, until after contact was made.

 

[DAVENET]

Looking clean. Did you have a spring shop punch out your leaves or add a new leave when you rebuilt them? Or did you just disassemble, blast, spray, add new bushings? I'm debating taking a leaf pack to my local spring shop and asking if they could refurbish them.

The rears were obviously worked the hardest and only had hydraulic hose bushings. I took to my local spring shop and had them re-arched and nylon bushed. Then blast & paint.

 

[DAVENET]

Busy week & weekend now that the heat finally broke. True hillbilly sh!t out front with an extension cord thru the woods to run a fan to make it bearable before that! Lifted both ends so everything could move freely. Hydraulic cylinder centered and draglinks adjusted to get front and rear running inline again. All tightened back up. Electrical dash work 98% complete. And by the grace of the Sweet Baby Jesus it all works as it should. Had a glitch with the 'auto park' feature on the wipers. I had run them multiple times without the dash in place to make sure everything was set. Of course, after reinstalling the dash the LH side sweeps half way and stops. Yank dash, cuss, test motor, cuss a little, check harness, cuss some more. Leave auto park unplugged and all is good. Screw it- I know how to push the switch to stop them at the edge. Cuss and reinstall dash, again. (Whoever got that task at Tucker when they were being built was being punished). The faceplate support brackets designed by the masters (Scott & BFT) worked brilliantly. Reinstalled radiator and all plumbing to start rehydrating.

 

[DAVENET]

Tooned up

 

[DAVENET]

Labor Day gave the first run in 6+ years since I really started ripping stuff off. Front water bypass hole leak prompted multiple cuss sessions trying to figure out where it was coming from since it appeared to be the back of the water pump. New (correct!) head gasket installed and problem solved.

 

[DAVENET]

Second run up

 

[redsqwrl]

What kind of medication does one take to start and finish one project?

 

[m1west]

Going broke will end the sickness, maybe

 

[230 Pilot]

Looks great, keep up the good work.

 

[Pontoon Princess]

fabulous, fabulous, fabulous...

 

[DAVENET]

What kind of medication does one take to start and finish one project?

Seagram's 7

 

[Track Addict]

This is the only medication I know of but then again I don’t know much!

 

[Snowy Rivers]

Sucking on the "Cat KOOL-AID"

Snow cats...An incurable disease......
Mix the Kool-Aid 50/50 with some good high octane libations .....Does not cure the issue....but it will take your mind off it for a while....

 

[PJL]

What kind of medication does one take to start and finish one project?

Ethanol.

 

[Cidertom]

Ethanol.

I am not advocating anyone consume ethanol. But, in several of my projects, where I dither about this or that or the other option, the application of "thought solvent" (AKA, Eagle Rare.....) and I make progress as it becomes evident which option to do. So far the only time I woke up in the morning after with a feeling I made the wrong choice is when I told the guy' Yes, I'll buy the snow trac'.

 

[DAVENET]

Got the mouse deterrent panels (doors) hung just in time for the fall nesting period. Seats installed. All glass installed. Back wall attached.

 

[DAVENET]

Round 2

 

[230 Pilot]

Looks great ,Dave

 

[Blackfoot Tucker]

Wow!

Absolutely gorgeous, and the before and after pics really highlight the beautiful and thorough job you've done!!!!!

 

[1boringguy]

I'll second that, "Wow". Really looking good. Maybe I missed it in an earlier post, but what's the black material you used for the doors and floor?

 

[DAVENET]

Plain ole anti-fatigue mat from Home Depot. The heater would cook you out even if it was bare aluminum, but wanted sound deadening. Also installed a 90* shutoff in the heater line to help control the flow of coolant to the heater.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Traffic...48-in-Foam-Mat-60-169-0900-30000400/203992918

 

[1boringguy]

Looks good. I'll have to check it out next trip to HD. Good find on the seats as well.

 

[Snowy Rivers]

It's amazing what sort of materials can be scared up at the Depot...
The rubber mat looks great

 

[Bennyboy1337]

Tooned up

Did you have to replace any of the studs on your pontoons, this one looks like it was a goner. Did you just weld some stock threaded rod to a plate and sandwich? Curious how much of a paint the repair was

 

[DAVENET]

Did you have to replace any of the studs on your pontoons, this one looks like it was a goner. Did you just weld some stock threaded rod to a plate and sandwich? Curious how much of a paint the repair was

To quote, "a complete pain in the ass". It was accessed from the back side of the pontoon. A bolt and shaved fender washer were glassed in. You can see the plugs in this pic. Two needed to be repaired like this.

 

[DAVENET]

Spent yesterday getting the pontoon shoes cut and bent to match the template. Glad I had the day off! Took a little while to figure out the 'cheats'.

 

[DAVENET]

Mild update. All front panels & grill attached, exhaust run, headlights hung and lights providing illumination.

BFT: I was going to revamp the lower exhaust tube on the muffler section you gave me to try to make it workable, but no easy way for it to happen. PP realized this going in and gave me an intact OEM setup that slid right into place once I had the new outlet pipe bent. So, to pay it forward, if someone needs a muffler section (2" inlet / 2" outlet) let me know and we'll work out how to get it to you.

 

[DAVENET]

Headlights done (with a spare shell)

 

[DAVENET]

Still Tooning it up. More of a PITA than expected.