Sandy my new 115 hour Bigfoot project

[ARGOJIM]

Just acquired a new project thanks to superstorm Sandy so that's what we'll call her. This is a Bigfoot we sold new to a customer on Staten Island, he used the machine a dingy to get from the house out to his sailboat that was tied up in the Raritan Bay. After a year or two he had a guy make the mess you see on the front to keep it stable while tied up and also to cut the wakes on the way out to the sailboat. The salt water was not kind to it and the rims had been replaced, so were the bearings and chains.
Then came Sandy's storm surge and flooded parts of the Island pretty bad including where she was housed.

[ARGOJIM]

000_0007.jpg000_0006.jpg000_0008.jpg000_0013.jpgSorry, so it sat under salt water a while and filled it with debris, the engine is stuck, the chains are stuck, the bearings are stuck, the floor pans are not stuck and may have reached Europe or Cuba by now but we are going to redo her for Lindsay.
We are going to completely tear this apart and replace what needs replacing, repair what needs repairing and so on, the frame needs to come out and be tended to also.
Nothing looks awful except the latex paint job, yet nothing looks great either, here is today's pics and the progress just to get access to clean it, then we will soak it for a bit as I'm due for elbow surgery on the 29th and will be down a couple months, doubt it will make Busco in the fall but who knows though if it does, it will have a cage.

[rodp]

Looks like you have the same problem I have, someone's given it "a paint job". I've got 5 gallons of thinners and a bag of rag ready, just need the inclination now.

[ARGOJIM]

000_0009.jpg000_0012.jpg000_0015.jpg000_0023.jpg000_0025.jpgYes she is ugly but luckily it's latex so should come off decent which is more than I can say for the adhesive used on the pontooned bow. Here are some more progress pics, got the upper off cleaned out most of the debris in there, cut off the chains and actually got the engine freed up.

[ARGOJIM]

Some more.

[ARGOJIM]

OK, so after a long break due to the surgery which went poorly due to the severity of the injury which left me with some nerve damage we're back at it.
Sandy has sat idle since before Busco spring 2013 until February of 2014 when we cut the axles out due to sprockets being seized on axles and jack shafts along with many bearings.

[IMG][/IMG]

[ARGOJIM]

Next we removed the frame and cut out or off what needed replacing.

[ARGOJIM]

The frame went off to get sand blasted and painted which never happened due to weather, so we picked it up and wire wheeled, ground , scraped, sanded and power washed it, then on to cleaning the lower tub which was a chore due to the marine epoxy holding the fabbed bow on. As Jim Taylor thebuggyman1 says it does, the epoxy sticks, after hours with a gasket scraper, heat gun, 5 pressure washings and scrubbings with bleechwhite my elbow has said " No Mas!" and it will have to stay or wear off in time.


After a hiatus due to a rush in service for the dealership and all the Buffalo work we got back to it at the second week of April. Repairing and cleaning some more of the frame, replacing the bearing extension support tube, making new belly pan and supports, making new seat and gas tank support, making seat frame and lower body support and welding it all in.
Then a heavy paint job and install in the body loosely so skid plate could be re installed.

[ARGOJIM]

So it's now Good Friday and Busco is coming fast, so axles, bearings, chains seals installed along with chain tensioners and slides. Axle bearing extensions installed after drilling and tapping the 6 holes in the support tube.



Transmission and powerpack frame installed on Saturday. Sunday off.

[ARGOJIM]

Monday installed tires, cleaned and installed gas tank, installed brakes which led to new problems. Left caliper leaking, right master junk and full of water, stick mounts rusty, brake discs rusty, and found water in the transmission. Cleaned discs, replaced master, flushed trans., installed body seal, installed seat support.



Monday night found the engine to be unrepairable for the ride so searched for another.

Tuesday installed the upper body and ran fuel lines, electrical system, battery box, winch bracket and misc. while Pop rebuilt the caliper to no avail, so it was replaced,
and brakes bled and adjusted .

[ARGOJIM]

Errerrerrt rewind, Monday picked up a parts engine to change the heads and hopefully get the 18 going but found the chambers smaller in the 480 than the 580. So c/l found a 16 that wasn't there Sunday and picked it up,carried it up o the plant where Tuesday's work went on.

We found water and sand in the brake master cylinder which was pitted so replaced.


So Tuesday's work went decent even with some body shining, after removing some more paint. The paint by the way was not latex, it was boat bottom paint and required 6 power washings with graffiti remover soakings and some scraping with the trusty gasket scraper to get it to where it is (not done).



Wednesday led to the exhaust fabbing after trying to find something close in stock locally to no avail, so I cut some 1/8" to cover the end up which was gone, and using some electrical conduit pieced the pipes back together which had to be cut because the allen bolts where stripped last year. Stuck the engine in after putting the clutch on to get measurements and the welded up the exhaust. Put the engine in which now with the exhaust and the trans belt guard mad it near impossible to get the rear engine bolts in, near (if you seen my arm at Busco you'll know what I mean). Ok engine in, wiring hooked up, fuel line on,battery in , new winch on but not hooked up,let's start it, runs ok, charges, trans sounds ok, everything rolls free, test drive time.



Drove her out in the stone driveway, turns fine, power ok but clutches lazy because the never got cleaned, the quits on a small like wee small hill, starts back up, do some doughnuts still running but rpms at about 3000, won't idle. Hell with it it's 6:30 WED. and the trailer is still empty and 22 miles away. Good enough!.

[ARGOJIM]

Got to Busco Thursday night and asked fmints to check out the carb issue with JBF while me and Rickga headed to the coast to pick up a machine for Pop to run at Busco. Thanks again guys.
The machine ran near flawless all weekend with only a minor charging issue due to either a smaller charging system or a ground issue, sunday night the right brake failed due to over heating from disconnecting the brake fan I disconnected for the night ride but after cooling it down and hooking the fan back up we rode on.



Lindsay was very happy having her own machine and Sandy made every ride on her own with Lindsay and Bonnie or Lindsay and me except one while charging the battery.






Thanks to all that helped make Sandy so enjoyable for Lindsay at Busco this spring, all she wanted since we picked her up last year. Some more minor stuff and Sandy may be coming to a ride near you.

[Sol]

Thats amazing. What a transformation. AWESOME

[ARGOJIM]

Thanks Sol, labor of love.

[fmints]

Got to Busco Thursday night and asked fmints to check out the carb issue with JBF while me and Rickga headed to the coast to pick up a machine for Pop to run at Busco. Thanks again guys.
The machine ran near flawless all weekend with only a minor charging issue due to either a smaller charging system or a ground issue, sunday night the right brake failed due to over heating from disconnecting the brake fan I disconnected for the night ride but after cooling it down and hooking the fan back up we rode on.



Lindsay was very happy having her own machine and Sandy made every ride on her own with Lindsay and Bonnie or Lindsay and me except one while charging the battery.






Thanks to all that helped make Sandy so enjoyable for Lindsay at Busco this spring, all she wanted since we picked her up last year. Some more minor stuff and Sandy may be coming to a ride near you.

No problem at all with helping you out Jim,, that's just what we do!! I'm glad that Sandy had an awesome time in her own machine! Until next time!!