finally got my hands on an attex!!

[6x6rebuild]

hey guys my names mike and im located in north jersey and im 21 years old. right now i own 2 max ll's. ones a 4 stroke and the other has a 440 kohler in it. I have been looking around for an attex forever that is in decent shape with potential but i have always seemed to just miss out on deals. Finally is has happened. Theres a atted chief on ebay right now loacated in indiana and i got a hold of the guy and i was able to buy it. im super pumped because it looks like its in decent shape with. has the endgine trans so it looks good to me. only downfall is its 738 miles away from my house but im determined to get it so ill be dirven out there within the next week with my dad. theres only one crack in the machine and its located on the bottom of the tub..i wanted to no if anyone can tell me about plastic welding and how its done and how i can go about doing it. or if anybody has any suggestions on how i can repair this. im gonna be restoring the machine this winter so ill be sure to post up pictures as it starts from begging to finish. so happy right now!!!

[racerone3]

congrats on the new to you Attex. that machine should be an ABS tub. abs repair is super easy. first get some donor plastic. i can send you a little if you need it. get a quart paint can with lid, a cheap paint brush, and a quart of acetone from any hardware store. get some bondo spreaders from an auto parts store. cut the donor plastic into small pieces and throw them into the paint can. dump in some acetone and put the lid on. stir it once a day for a few days to make "ABS GOOP" if it seems too thick add acetone, to thin add more donor plastic. you are shooting for something between peanut butter and ketchup. once your goop is ready, cut the crack out into a V shape with a dremmel, or die grinder. go an inch or so past the visible part of the crack with the V. take a cheap paint brush and brush some acetone on the crack area. go back over it with acetone every 8-10 min for 3 cycles. then use an old spoon to scoop some goop onto a bondo spreader and work it into the crack. let it dry for a few days then repeat the process till the crack is filled (always waiting a few days between layers). the most important part: DO NOT do anything that will flex the body for a few weeks after the repair is made. the abs goop takes WEEKS to dry fully and if you drive the machine, or move the body around a lot you will crack it again before it ever has a chance to set up. don't even worry about cleaning the bondo spreader after use. once the abs goop dries it will chip right off the spreader and you can throw it back in the can of goop for reuse. also, i have found that a working temp of close to 70 degrees and very humid seem to work the best. i'll wait to do abs repair on a rainy day with all the shop doors open

[6X6]

Congrats 6x6Rebuild. They are quite capable machines. I was looking at that machine the other night, but out of curiosity only, I have too much already. You won't be disappointed, tuned up that thing will FLY. As race said, ABS repairs best with goop. My Wolf had a good 4 FOOT crack, that has been repaired that way and held for years now. Hope to see photos of the rebuild soon!

[6x6rebuild]

Hey guys thanks for responding to my thread. it means a lot. i love 6 wheelers..im pretty sure iv become obsessed. alls i do is work on my jeep..go to work and save money to buy kool stuff for the 6 wheelers i have. my dad and i have restored both maxes i have. ones a brown max thats 4 stroke and its a 1995. the other machine is a red/orange upper body and its a 70's model with a kohler 440 in it that has been rebuilt from the ground up. im not looking forward to this 730 mile drive to indiana but im super pumped to get the attex. anyway thank you racerone3 and 6x6 for your input and suggestions. im probably going to pick up the machine and when it gets back to the house im gonna let it sit in the other garage inside for a little while till i get my other projects done. im kind of confused how to post pictures on this website but as soon as i figure it out ill post pictures of the entire build. this is the ebay link of the machine i purchased. attex chief.

attex 400 6x6 : eBay Motors (item 130442723402 end time Oct-13-10 20:38:08 PDT)

[hydromike]

Great purchase, 6x6....

It looks like the Chief suffered the same crack underneath the exhaust hole as most of that body style did. Race's writeup on the ABS GOO is dead-on (wow...nice concise writeup, dude). Another way to add substantial strength to the cracked area is to rivet-in another piece of ABS, layed inside the tub. This method is really never water tight, so you'll likely have to do the ABS GOO as a first step. You can always add a poly skid-plate to the bottom, as well. They're labor intensive to install, but you're addicted, right?

So what are the plans? Are you going to turn it into a racer?! Silly question. Of course you are. Lots of good cage designs out there. Astabula is only 8 months away! Tic-Toc!

~m

[nate52]

congrats on the purchase. my attex suffered the same crack in the same area, and not having a plastic welder I started looking around for plastic dealers in the area who might be able to help. Finally found someone about 50 or so miles away who had a little shop set up out back his house. he welded it up and then layered it with abs on the inside and outside of the tub to strenghen it, as you will see if you check out my pictures. Now that it's almost done and the body is complete you can't even tell where the crack was or even thats theres another layer of abs over the welded area. It blends in really well, and is completely water tight after doing some testing once I got the axles and frame back into the tub.

[6x6rebuild]

Thanks hydromike and nate52 for your replies. nate52 i really like how your machine is coming out. it looks awsome and im diggen the skid plate you put on the bottom of it. youve done an exellent job to it so far. And Hydromike im really not sure what im gonna do with it yet i didnt have nay plans. i was so pissed off i didnt make it to Astabula this past June. i had my max 2 2 stroke i was trying to get together to bring and i also wanted to meet everyone iv been talking to but i couldnt get the machine done in time. now its finally done and iv been riding it around breaking it in. where i live at my dads house he has a big garage and 6 acres so im always cruizeing around. im deff gonna be bringing that to Astabula in 8 months i just have to get a cage on the max. And for this attex i just bought...i think im gonna strip down the whole thing. take everything out of the tub. paint and prime the frame and start from the bottom up. im sure it will be done in months but incase it isnt ill still be there with the max but im sure it will be. im deff. gonna keep the body yellow and i was wondering if anybody new how i could bring the yellow color back. i wanna keep it that color but i wanna make it shine. do i actually have to repaint the body or what and if so what kind of paint do i use. im most likely going to turn this thing into a racer so somewhere down the road im gonna try and hook up with someone to build a cage because i dont have a welder. ill post up pics once i get the machine. i should be driving out there in a week. 738 mile trip

[racerone3]

i've got a cage for sale if your interested, that should bolt right on. use the search in the top right of the site for "shine" or "abs shine" and you will see a lot of threads on the subject... no point in writing it all out again.
here is one to get you started: http://www.6x6world.com/forums/attex...ack-shine.html

[hydromike]

I think you can get around painting the body by wet sanding and using some acetone on the body. Wet sanding takes a LOT of the dirt and weathered plastic off of the surface of the machine, and the acetone chemically dissolves the top-most surface, and effectively seals it until the UV breakdown starts again. Your Chief looks pretty good, so I don't think you have a ton of labor ahead of you.

You can probably have the whole thing stripped down in an afternoon, if the axles don't really fight with you. 738 miles isn't so bad. I drove 700 and change to Busco last week, and I didn't even buy a machine! Ask JP how far he drove for his Bigfoot in a weekend. That's committment.

~m

[jpswift1]

Hydromike is absolutely right, sometimes you have to make the effort and drive a long way for a machine that you really have to have. I drove to just outside of Birmingham, Alabama from Buffalo, NY to get my Hustler 980 BIGFOOT. It was soooooooo worth it!!!