The suburban Hustler

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Thread: The suburban Hustler

  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2016
    Location
    Buford, GA
    Posts
    72

    The suburban Hustler

    So, I came across an Argo 8x8 for the first time a year or so ago on Craigslist where the guy just happened to be trading for something I was searching. I had never seen anything like it before and I wanted one. Well, I found this Hustler 6x6 on there a couple months ago advertised in the wrong section (score!) for cheap. My daughter and I went and bought it one afternoon while my wife was cooking dinner ("We're going out for a minute..."). I won't bore you with the same old pictures -the dirty old 6x6 full of leaves and rust and old bolts. It was that.

    I've learned over the years of building and customizing things to "build it to sell it" when I'm done playing with it, so I have to keep things "marketable" so that they can be profitable. Anyhow, since I live in an ever-shrinking oasis of farmland in the middle of suburbia, I'm going to build this hustler to appeal to the six-figure suburbanite. I've been inspired by the big flashy speedboats up by the lake with their matching trailers, and also by the shiny new Jeeps with every bolt-on available at 4WheelParts. Yay for Suburbia!

    Here are some pics of note:

    Day one:



    Day two:


    After starting to pull the axles out I found THREE of the them had rusted-on sprockets. I fought for three more days with two cans of PB blaster, a Map gas torch, and an air chisel. On day four I switched to the cut off wheel and solved my problem. But I got a new air chisel out of it!

    Then I went to HF and got the $99 shop press (I love buying tools out of... Necessity...?) so I could press all that junk off the axles. I beveled the edges of the axle halves, laid them in a piece of angle iron, and welded them back up. I made a couple passes over all the axles with the flap disc just to give the sprockets some space and to make sure that rusty garbage didn't happen again.



    Then I ordered THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY! dollars worth of bearings from Richard and his relics monopoly. MAN! In all honesty- those bearings are the same price at Tractor Supply, so I can't cry. I was extremely happy to be able to get all the stuff in one place from behind a computer screen.

    Aaaaaand then it was on to sandblasting...
    $120 for the frame, and then $65 worth of Northern Tool's blasting cabinet gloves and Black Diamond medium for the shop's cabinet so that I could do the rest at the shop for... free?

    THEN, FINALLY, my almost favorite part.
    Paaaaaaaintingggggg!!

    The frame got some gray epoxy primer just for the mock-up phase (bedliner will come later to hide the rust pitting), and all the small parts got black epoxy primer.
    My end game is glossy 3-gray camo outside with a big red star -yes, like Russia, and no, I'm not Russian- with gloss gray inside of the tub like a racecar.

    Suburbia, remember??


    Last edited by SeanD; 06-04-2016 at 11:23 PM.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    May 2016
    Location
    Buford, GA
    Posts
    72
    After spending nearly $150 yesterday at Ace Hardware on what seemed like MOST of the 3/8" nuts and bolts available, TODAY began my FAVORITE part of a build. Putting shiny parts and new parts together! It's the same feeling as being 12 with a new Lego set.



    It was nice to get the parts off my shop table and onto the pile of steel on the floor. By 6pm I had all 6 tires on. How about these swanky new wheels and tires, HUH?!? I found a closeout on ebay and the wheels were about $50 each, as were the tires. These are "Dirt Devil" 25x10x12.

    Anyhow, axles are SO much easier with new paint and bearings!



    I went ahead and plopped the new 670 twin from Harbor Freight onto the plate in the back. As soon as the new Comet clutch gets here I can line it up and drill the holes to bolt it down. I've read about height issues with this motor so I got some fat rubber mounts for a generator to use here. I don't know why, but there were two almost identical base plates stacked under the engine when I bought the Hustler. I guess some PO had an extra plate but no extra rubber bushings??? Who knows. I used just one.

    Loose:


    I've not dived into the dirty old T20 yet. I'm afraid it's going to need a rebuild, but if I ignore it it's not real, right?? I'll post in another thread as well, but one of the reverse lever diamond plate things pushes way down into the case and then flops around and deflects the movement more than it actually shifts into reverse. Ignore it, ignore it...

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Crestview Florida
    Posts
    550
    I like the way you do business my man. Really a classy looking job you've done there.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    NJ 08533
    Posts
    5,049
    Nice, what wheel are they? Haven't been able to find any aluminum 5 lugs.


    My new beer holder spilled some on the trails - in it's hair and down it's throat.
    Joe Camel never does that.

    Advice is free, it's the application that costs.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Location
    Mississippi
    Posts
    1,108
    Looking good. That looks like the machine I had my eye on in Northwest Georgia. I'm interested in the tires - how well they fit and the clearance around the tub when you get it all back together. I'm tire shopping for mine right now.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    shenendoah valley,va.
    Posts
    2,627
    beautiful job and nice shop to work in !! if your going to sell it , don't get it too dirty...... look forward to the '' finished '' pics. johnboy va.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2013
    Location
    Caldwell, Idaho
    Posts
    1,174
    Looks like a great helper you have there. A+
    ST400R ATTEX(Smiley)
    500 Super Chief


    I love the smell of Blendzall in the morning

  8. #8
    Join Date
    May 2016
    Location
    Buford, GA
    Posts
    72
    Quote Originally Posted by dirtdobber View Post
    Looking good. That looks like the machine I had my eye on in Northwest Georgia. I'm interested in the tires - how well they fit and the clearance around the tub when you get it all back together. I'm tire shopping for mine right now.
    Yes, that's the one! It wasn't actually in NW Georgia, though- that's the funny thing. It was right around the corner from me.

    Fingers crossed on the tires...!

  9. #9
    Join Date
    May 2016
    Location
    Buford, GA
    Posts
    72
    Quote Originally Posted by ARGOJIM View Post
    Nice, what wheel are they? Haven't been able to find any aluminum 5 lugs.

    I searched this:
    5x4.5 12x8 | eBay

    They are called Vision Buckshot something or other. 12x8.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    May 2016
    Location
    Buford, GA
    Posts
    72
    Quote Originally Posted by Andyman View Post
    Looks like a great helper you have there. A+
    Sometimes! I have stiff competition in the form of mermaids and princesses.

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