New hustler project - bucket of bolts

[Dan67]

Dan,
Where did you get those isolation pads?

I got the isolation pads second hand from a friend who worked at a machine shop. They got them from McMaster-Carr.

I use a pad on the bottom and on the top of the engine mount and tighten it down. It works good sofar, been on there for about 3+ years now.

[Mike]

Nice work filling in the hole. You remedied that issue pretty quickly.

[dirtdobber]

Thanks Mike. It was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be.

[dirtdobber]

Got the T20 together and i modified the case to accept a bolt for the U channel pivot point. I am a little concerned because the plungers are pretty deep in the case (recessed from the face), about half to 3/4 of an inch and they are pulled forward. Is it possible to put it together with a band overlapping itself? I can always crack it back open if I need to double check. I'll try to post a pic tomorrow.

Soon to be headed to the sandblaster with the frame. I can't upload a pic right now for some reason.....

[Dan67]

Make sure you get the frame cracks repaired afterwards, You wont see they until its clean. Also once it is clean would be a good time to reinforce the stock t-20 mounting holes. They get loose after time and is a major weak point. Go through the other hustler rebuild topics to get some ideas.

[dirtdobber]

Dan you are exactly right. I have already found three small cracks and there are probably more. I do plan to beef up the T20 mount.

[dirtdobber]

I haven't done a very good job keeping this post current with my progress, which has been slow by the way. Nontheless, here's a few pics.

Fashioned a new engine mount. I gave it a little adjustment with a couple of push bolts. It's just a piece of 1/8 inch angle on top of 1/4 inch angle with slotted holes.
20160428_185303.jpg

I've slowly been building new tensioners. I'm using angle iron to make telescopic tubing...much more sturdy than the original Hustler tensioners.
20160501_171242.jpg20160501_171232.jpg20160501_171202.jpg20160501_174114.jpg

If I can ever get through with frame mods it will be off to sandblasting and paint.

I fired the engine up the other night and other than a bad spark plug she purred like a kitten.

[dirtdobber]

20160626_182544.jpg20160626_182536.jpg20160625_101415.jpgFinally got everything sandblasted and primed.

[dirtdobber]

I haven't done a good job of keeping photos posted, so I'll try to catch up.

got a good coat of glossy black paint on everything and got the t20 mounted, steering sticks mounted and linkage installed. Same for shifter, and fabed a battery box.20160705_054544.jpg20160705_054608.jpg

My helper is 20 years old is more interested in girls (which I understand!) so I had to build me some help! 20160707_055327[1].jpg

It's been a slow process as I have had to take care of a variety of things along the way, such as repairing the bolt holes in two sprockets and one axle, and fabing new shift linkage that attaches to the diamond shifter on the T20. The pieces that bolt into the T20 and recieve the linkage were just sloppy, so I took some 5/8 hot roll, cross drilled it for the 5/16 linkage, and then chucked it up in my drill press to turn it down to 5/16 to pin to the diamond shifter. Spun it in the drill press and uses a hand grinder to get it close to size then finished it with a file. It worked out very well.

I'm in the process of getting putting the axles back in. Got 12 new bearings from Bufffalo Bearing (very helpful folks and great prices). I'm going to cut some type spacer to put between the sprocket and outer bearing, which will keep the axle from sliding out (just a little reinforcement for the set screws and locking collar on the bearings). The shoulder on axle at the inner bearing will keep it from sliding in.

I've got to make a decision on tires and wheels. That has actually been the hardest part of this process. Swim vs. mud vs. price, vs. 8" or 9" vs. what tire diameter will fit, etc.

[ARGOJIM]

Nice work, the next picture is a major milestone.