Joe's 252 Colt Trail Machine "Gadget"

[hydromike]

I bought one of the "Tomahawk" driven units from Don. That is what I plan on using for a secondary.

Joe.

I don't know if all of the T-hawk drivens were the same, but some of them required mouting the drive clutch backwards on the engine shaft to match the driven's centerline. It's a stock setup, so it shouldn't require any spacing mods, but just an FYI in case you hadn't seen them installed before.

With the drive clutch installed backwards, you have to push forward for reverse and turn left for right, but you get used to it pretty quickly.

<kidding>

[Don]

I think the T'hawk was designed that way so the drive clutch clears the chain on the four chain set. The driven was reversed to open the same direction as the drive. I think that was the.only way to make the taller OH160 fit under the engine cover.

[JoeMeg]

The latest undertaking has been lower tub repairing with glass cloth and ABS goo. Seems to be going quite well. If this stuffs bond is as good as it is easy to do,I should be in good shape.Upon giving this machine the once over when I received it,I was so intimidated by the holes in the lower tub that I bought the second one (the "PA mach") on ebay thinking it would be a better start. Turns out it was a whole lot more hammered than the "MI" body I'm working on now. This has been a great learning experience of which I see some knowledge aquired applying to my hustler build. There was a large crack in the bow so i leveled it off to patch it





Joe.

[jpswift1]

So far, so good, Joe. At least the bodies aren't as bad as the one on Drew's Colt that he built into a racer. Drew did a GREAT job patching that thing up, and it looks great. If you need more pieces of yellow ABS, I have a lot more.

[JoeMeg]

So now it's time for something a little more challenging. The left rear corner will be the first victim. The orig material is very thin in this corner from the forming process,it's no wonder it failed. I would like to cover it up and still maintain as much an outside radius as possible. Using an idea gleened from a fiberglass repair video (here's the connection to my Hustler build), I discovered the acetone does not affect plastic food wrap. I took a ball of shop towels and a piece of glad wrap and propped it up on the inside to "shore" things up.




This is after 3 layers of glass cloth and abs goo



This is the second repair,wish I'd of done this on the first but,hey,gotta start somewhere. This is the crack in the left front corner.



I thought to clean it up a little and round it off a bit also.



A suitable pc of glass cloth



First layer complete



Fixing up the rub thru from the clutch



Stay tuned,lots more to come,

Joe.

[JoeMeg]

Been working on cleaning the chosen frame up a little. Starting to notice subtle differences from the frame in Giz. I took a peek last nite just to refresh my memory (that never did work too well). One is the diff between the round vs square tubing the rear chain adjusters are mounted to (Team Attex pointed that one out to me ). Another thing I noticed are no "big" holes on the inner frame rails where the brg flanges mount,just the two flange bolt holes. The OEM units are a flush mount type,1" bore with 3 1/4" bolt spacing. I would like to ask (to avoid using the search function that I am totally challenged by,lol), What are we using at this position for new bearings? Also,my original thought was a question about the frame "designations". What are the 1972 frame in 252 Colt and the one in Gizmo that has the sq. tubes and "holes" on the inner frame rails,being referred to as, Thanks,

Joe.

[hydromike]

I would like to ask (to avoid using the search function that I am totally challenged by,lol), What are we using at this position for new bearings?

Joe, you lazy bum.

So on this frame we're talking about, you don't have the larger holes that allow the use of the two-piece pressed flange. You're going to use a one-piece stamped steel bearing flange that the bearing just presses into, correct? In that case, a Fafnir/Torrington YA100RR inner bearing (or equivalent) will do the trick.

31H8UAk4zjL.jpg

Note that it has a flat outer race, and set screws versus an eccentric locking collar.

Also,my original thought was a question about the frame "designations". What are the 1972 frame in 252 Colt and the one in Gizmo that has the sq. tubes and "holes" on the inner frame rails,being referred to as, Thanks,

Joe.

I don't know if this ever came to discussion in our monthly newsletter, but heck; I just call them a 4 chain or a 6 chain frame. Of course, the six chain frame with the round bars on the back is easily converted to a "4 chain" setup with the appropriate chain adjusters that you have on the frame here:



Nice work with the goo-n-glass, by the way....

Mike

[JoeMeg]

Thanks Mike! I can't figure out how to search for something like "inner bearing" or "inner frame rail",can only search out one word at a time. If that is the limit for the search func,I will certainly accept lazy over challenged

Yes, I'm familiar with YA100RR, the "4 chain" frame in Giz uses the RRB spherical OD version with back to back flanges. Do we re-use the "6 chain" OEM inner flanges and just install new brg units in them? (figured I'd ask before I break). As of now,the unit of this type I'm finding is a Faf/Tor "LFST" series however,these have a 3 5/8" bolt hole spacing.

I've heard the terms 1st. Gen Attex, 2nd Gen Attex (something to this effect) being used and was just wondering if this was some specific to the frames or what.

Thanks for the compliment on the glass & goo. That stuff is super easy to work with and the results are impressive. I would certainly encourage anyone thinking about taking on this type of project to go for it! Repairing these ABS plastic bodies was my greatest intimidation but is turning out to be a very rewarding experience.

Joe.

[hydromike]

the "4 chain" frame in Giz uses the RRB spherical OD version with back to back flanges.

Yup; You can press the bearings out of the flanges and install new ones. Most times, they seem to come out quite easily with a few taps of a hammer. As long as the new ones press (hammer) in snugly, you won't need any other special preparation on them. Don't get too ambitious about repainting the backside (inside) of the flanges too much during your restore. That little bit of paint makes a big difference in clearance. You might not have any issue, but just as a forethought......

[JoeMeg]

Thanks Mike!

Joe.

[racerone3]

also, hypothetically speaking, say you were at a ride and fragged an inner bearing.... and just imagine that you didn't have a correct replacement with you... I think you could probably pound a bearing with a spherical outer race into one of those flanges made for the flat race. I also suspect that if (and again hypothetically speaking) you got lazy and never fixed it, the machine would still be working just fine almost 3 years later... food for thought.

[JoeMeg]

Took full advantage of the 62 deg F temps in Cleveland,OH on Jan. 12, 2013. Yes,62! and partly sunny too! In order to access good welder(s),I need to take the mountain to muhamad,lol. The only transportation to and from work will be in my nice car with the back seats down,so,I wanted the frame to be free of crud to shed all over everything. Got the frame all cleaned,primed and painted. I will just remove the paint from the small area's receiving welds and touch them back up once complete. Spent the rest of the afternoon/evening using up almost all of my second batch of ABS goo. I believe I'm developing a "nitch" addiction to this part of the hobby (and it aint just from inhaling acetone fumes ). I just can't seem to repair/reinforce/touch-up enough area's with this stuff,it really has potential. I'll get some more pics posted soon. Meantime,Amphibiousdrew, I could use a little more donor ABS if you have any avail or could maybe grab some the next time you see Jeff. I'm thinking about a trip to Andover next wkend 1-25/1-26 so Meadville trip will fit right in.

Joe.

[jpswift1]

Glad to hear this, Joe. The 6 wheeler hobby is a slippery slope, isn't it? I'm sure you know this by now, but for anyone new to the hobby reading this post, be aware that our addictions only get worse as time goes on. In fact, I'm looking for more AATVs online right now. Anyway, I have all the yellow ABS you want and I have your floor pan too. I'll have make sure everything gets to Drew's this weekend for you.

[amphibious drew]

Yeah Joe, like swift said he is coming down this weekend. We will working in a few machines on Saturday if you want to stop by.

[JoeMeg]

I'm going to take advantage of the 40-45 deg temps they are predicting for Saturday and get the garage warming up early. Should be able to hide out there all day and work on toys. Jeff,thanks again for the ABS and the floor pan,we'll figure out something for that soon. Drew,thanks for warehousing all the stuff for me til I chance to make a trip out. As mentioned a few posts ago,probably 1-26 or 2-2 will be next opportunity to head out.

Brian,about the inner brg,can't decide if I'm more impressed with the determination of pounding the round peg into the square hole or by the shear confidence of leaving well enough alone for 3+ years.lol.

Joe.