Another Muskeg

[J5 Bombardier]

Picked up this Muskeg (MT73) , with a 318 dodge on Monday. Ex Hydro unit, brought it home in 2 trailers , tracks and roll bar on one and the rest on the second. Going to give it a once over front to back, and see if there are any surprises, first thing to go was the cable rack, the bolt pointing down is @#$%$# hard on the head ! Pics to follow.
J5 Bombardier

 

[pixie]

Nice !!!!

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Well this muskeg project , reminds me of my 1959 J5 Quick Restoration thread . Things seem to snowball, once you get started, so it looks like it will be a strip to the hull and go over everything. Good news on the 318 dodge , it came to life, but will need a fuel pump and carb rebuild, looks like it has about 400 hrs since a rebuild. Gotta love Hydro keeping a log book of repairs.
J5 Bombardier

 

[Bobcatbob]

That is going to be a great project!

 

[pixie]

Oh...ahh !!! Big winch

Is it PTO ?

 

[J5 Bombardier]

From what the Bombardier museum said ,this muskeg was made in 1973 with a block heater and a winch for accessories. It is pto driven , the way it was installed would make me think an outside vender did it other than the factory. But a lot can happen in 44 years.
Anybody ever price the Harris silent bloc bushings on the bogey tandems, 8 required ? part # 114 0327 or pn#114 1477 00 .
Easier to remove these beams than the old style , but my bushings are done.
J5 Bombardier

 

[IMP]

Looks like it's been gently treated in it's life. Nice straight tub with no major dings front. It's going to be a beautiful thing when restored!

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Thought I wood check the 318 over while I wait for milder weather before going back at the hull . Going to reweld the cracked manifolds, may have to square them on the mill after, they are pretty dainty, factory bombardier or somebody's handiwork, I don't know. Looks like a clutch , ring gear , starter pinion drive and reshim the PTO on the trans , will have to be put on the to do list.
J5 Bombardier

 

[Bobcatbob]

Looks like the start to a great adventure! Were you able to track down those bushings?

 

[sno-drifter]

I would start over and make my own headers. The flange is too thin especially if you have to mill it flat. Use 3/8 plate there. Those mitered 90's are flow killers. Get mandrel bent 180's and cut what curve you need from them. I would match the header plate and pipes to the exhaust ports. Maybe a bit of work but leaking exhaust is expensive too. Death is natures way of saying slow down. There is an asbestos substitute wrap which will keep the heat away from the engine and quite the noise that I would wrap the finished headers whether you roll your own or use what is there.

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Still more tear down, managed to tear down the 3 bolt prestolite starter drive on the 318 , needs a pinion gear and a set of brushes. I'm still toying with buying a 2 bolt gear reduction starter to try as I believe these mopars all used the same starter, this 3 hole cast bellhousing being the exception. Turned the flywheel and stripped the remaining tires off the beams, looks like 8 solids are good, maybe stretch it to 10 and the remaining I'll convert to air.
J5 Bombardier

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Spring is here, started back on the muskeg, hope to have it mobile for this coming winter. Cleaned the hull tub, welded a cracked transmission mount , then some paint and put the 318 back into place. Next up will be plating the holes in the hull and front bumper . Wood splitting season has arrived, so the progress could be slow.
J5 Bombardier

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Still poking away at the muskeg, hull patches are 75% done , motor wiring fairly complete, winch and drive are done. New worm gear seals were installed in the Braden, and 1 u joint changed in the driveshaft. The large brass gear showed a lot of wear, with over 100 feet of cable on the drum the Hydro crew must have climbed many mountains, and dragged through many swamps . Put the feelers out for a small mast off a skidder , if one shows up it will save me building one. Next up, repair the rails and strip and reseal the planetaries , so I can put the diff cover on. J5 Bombardier

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Cleaned up the final drives today and made the 6 gaskets. No surprises , all the ball bearings were good, removed all the old fill/drain plugs, already have the seals . So should be another piece of the puzzle to go back on .
J5 Bombardier

 

[J5 Bombardier]

A little more progress on the Muskeg , installed the final drives, cleaned the Differential housing, repaired and installed the diff cover. Put the fuel tank in and mounted the cab .
I had no luck matching a splined hub (18 splines x 2" ) to repair my collection of broken muskeg axles, so going to work out some machine shop prices . That should delay my retirement !
J5 Bombardier

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Been putting off repairing the side rails, left the worst one for the last, lots of patches , but finished it yesterday. Had some help near the end , yes you can teach an old dog new tricks !
J5 Bombardier

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Rails went back on today , they have been been off for a year, nice to see parts going on . Painted the hull top and bottom, going to work up top for now and leave the suspension later.
J5 Bombardier

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Will be able to repair the cracked /worn splines in our muskeg axles now . The hubs arrived today, it will be nice to have some spares ready , just in case.
J5 Bombardier

 

[JimVT]

Will be able to repair the cracked /worn splines in our muskeg axles now . The hubs arrived today, it will be nice to have some spares ready , just in case.
J5 Bombardier

who did you get the spline inserts from?

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Place out of Kitchener Ontario, Rapid Gear . They do nice work. J5 Bombardier

 

[MNoutdoors RIP]

Place out of Kitchener Ontario, Rapid Gear . They do nice work. J5 Bombardier

Less than factory price? Broached?laser?waterjet?edm?
Just curious

 

[J5 Bombardier]

I have no idea on factory price, a used axle would probably go for a thousand canadian here. So I won't go that route, parts machines usually have well worn axle .All said and done if I have around $ 5-600 tied up in each one , may as well fix them myself. They are broached, never could match the spline with anything else out there.
J5 Bombardier

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Finished the exhaust manifolds and installed, busy making up axles for both style of muskegs. I will feel more comfortable having a couple spares around on standby, I'll post some pics when their finished.
J5 Bombardier

 

[J5 Bombardier]

We have been working on the walking beams, the right side beams being true , as were the axles , only needing new bushings and pin for the adjuster. The left side was a different story ,a rear axle shaft was bent, had to make one up, along with bushings and pin . Couldn't believe both left side walking beam shafts (2 1/4") x 30" were bent, so did it fall off a float or mountain , who knows. So they were cut off and drilled through on the mill enough to torch them , then pressed out . I picked up 5 feet of shaft on the way home, (got to love those steel tariffs) and the project continues.
J5 Bombardier

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Had a little trouble pressing the old shaft out of the rear beam, ended up cutting and removing the sleeve in the beam. Still have to cut the new sleeve to size before welding it in .
The second pic shows two muskeg axles that have the new splines welded in, the taller one is for non planetary. The shorter one is an old non planetary that was damaged, cut down with a new spline installed and sleeved for the larger seals in the planetary drives.
J5 Bombardier

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Finished the two front walking beams today , added a link for some spring in a can to be mounted. New washers , a step up sleeve for the bushings and the bushings themselves were installed. A coat of paint and their ready for wheels.
J5 Bombardier

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Cleaned up the parts for the sprockets install, made new outer supports ( shark Fins), just have to weld them up. Fitted the axle shaft to my new repaired axle, it was tight, needed some filing There is a slight difference on the root cut between non planetary and planetary axles and as I sent an old style axle for a sample when my new couplings were made, it was a surprise. Either way they are ready to install, one more item to take off the list.
J5 Bombardier

 

[pixie]

Love seeing those shiney splines and fins

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Finished installing the drive sprockets today, and filled the diff with TDH. Going to repair the 4 saddles on the hull for the walking beams next, then sort out the 16 wheels to install. Hard to think of this machine in snow as the temp is 87 degrees so far today.
J5 Bombardier

 

[J5 Bombardier]

Sorted out the wheels , ended up with 8 solids, 4 foam filled, and 4 brand new air tires. Finished welding up the new " spring in a can ' , just have to compare max stroke on an original to make sure their long enough.
Started packing wheels, 2 down 14 to go !
J5 Bombardier