Attex Superchief Little Truck

[Stevo]

Hi,

I am already good mates with Don (G'day Don!), but I am keen to meet some other Attex Owners as well.

It looks like I will keep the Superchief Little Truck. I will try and sort out the "bugs" with the Chapparal 484cc in the immediate future, but I am considering ditching the Chapparall 484cc in place for a more reliable and less fussy engine. I have just not had much success with the Chapparal and it has let me down time and time again. A 4-stroke would be nice, but I would like to be able to reach at least 35mph. Not for being reckless or silly with, but to cover long distances (down isolated beaches etc). I have found that you need to get a little speed going just from a time perspective. I have toyed with the idea of a newer 2-stroke with CDI, but I need good reliability.

I don't know what engine to purchase, but I have heard that you can purchase 20-25HP 4-strokes and remove the governor and obtain extra speed. Can this be done? Has anyone gone from a 2-stroke to a 4-stroke? What needs to be done? Was the conversion worth it?

I have read some of the posts on tires too, but am a little confused. I have the choice of keeping Rawhides or Chevrons. I am not sure which is better for me to keep... Most of the terrain I drive on is dirt trails, beaches, loose gravel roads and the occasional straight line drive along asphalt. I am just worried the Chevrons will wear real quick.

Any opinions and suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

[George]

Hi Steve,

We've already spoken. You wrote to me as "SpideyTank" a few weeks ago.

I have a Chief that I converted to a 4 stroke two years ago. I bought a 16hp B&S from Richard Clark. It was all set up to drop in. I had an adapter made so that the engine would sit right on the old 2 stroke mount.

The tricky areas are the exhaust and the engine height. My engine sits too high to keep under the original cover. I'm using diamond plate aluminum to cover my engine now. My exhaust pipe is so close the the body that I had to install a heat shield to protect it. In addition, You'll need to set up intake and ehaust ducts if you're going to switch to an air-cooled engine.

Despite all the work, I love having the reliability of the 4-stroke.

My top speed is about 26 mph. It was much faster with the old JLO 400. I still need to switch a spring on the clutch on the T-20 to get more torque but for now it's acceptable.

Speak to Whipper on this site about going fast with a 4-stroke. He has a high performance B&S. His machine has the speed of a 2-stroke with the reliability of a 4-stroke. Speak to JPSwift on this site about keeping the engine down below the original cover. He's in the process of switching an Attex to a 4-stroke. Speak to HydroMike too. He put a 4-stroke Kohler in his Attex.

[jpswift1]

First of all, welcome to the site! It seems to me that a good solution for you would be to get a 4 stroke Briggs V-twin engine (with some performance parts) that revs at a higher RPM's. I know that our good friend Whipper, the guy famous for building the first 6 wheel independent suspension 6x6 and jumping over cars in an Attex in the 1970's, added this engine one of his machines.

eBay Motors: Bandolero Engine 30hp V-Twin Briggs&Stratton (item 270216506825 end time Mar-09-08 12:08:00 PDT)

It still is reliabe since it is a 4 stroke, but it also has the ability to get the machine the speed of a 2 stroke because of the capability of the engine to rev higher. There is also a guy that would be very helpful with knowing how to get a Briggs Vanguard engine to rev higher named Roger S. He has a very nice Briggs engine that sounds sooooooo good and really moves his Argo 8x8. I hope this helps you out. Nice 'Lil Truck by the way!

[LarryW]

Hello Steve,
I purchased my 208tt with no motor. It was suppose to have a briggs 8hp but I had a 16hp honda copy powermax. I purchased that new for a Go-Kart for $360 with electric start. Anyways if you remove the engine mounted fuel tank, change aircleaner and exhaust to differant setup,it will sit really short because of the angled cylinder setup. I have read in the Kart forums that the engine will rev out alot more but I never wanted to risk it. It is suppose to have a counter balance shaft to help the vib. Been a good motor. It is slower thought then the 2 stroke but has plenty of power. It seems small but the 16hp will spin all 6 tires with ease so there is more power then tractions from the rawhide terra's. I mean bigger is better but I am happy with the 16. I am getting new sprockets that will gear it up some so that should help with speed. I will see if I can get a gps and clock it before and after sprocket swap.

Thats a nice looking lil' truck you have. Looking forward to watching the progress and seeing more pictures.

Larry

[Mike]

I've got no advice to offer as usual but I just have to say that your lil truck looks great.