anyone know the history on this racer?

[jpswift1]

Hey Racer,

The T-20 re-seal kit is about 30 bucks...so provided there are no hard parts damaged, it is a cheap fix. For bearings, I would highly recommend Buffalo Bearing 716-874-1721. Mine were very reasonable, plus they are triple sealed!

As far as your other questions...others may have some better suggestions than me. Good luck, does not sound like your rebuild will cost too much.

For sure give Buffalo Bearing a call and tell them that Jeff, the guy with all of the 6 wheelers sent you and they will take real good care of you. You can have them cross reference the Fafnir part number RA100RRB and get less expensive import bearings which I have had good luck with. I would probably get a double or tripple sealed bearing if you will be taking it in the water. If you're doing this machine right, you would be extremely impressed if you added Whipper's 1 1/4" axle upgrade as well.

[racerone3]

no fear

no problem on the sawzall whipper. i cut up $100,000 race cars every day because someone doesn't like how something looks! i'm going to make a decision on the axle upgrade once i see how many of the 1" ones are left. if the stock ones come out intact, i'll run them for now. budget is tight but we'll see what happens. jeff, thanks for the info on bearings. i'll give them a call once the afore mentioned desision is made.
who else has sources for me??? chain, carb kit? what else have you guys run into that i haven't even thought of yet?

[hydromike]

We need more racers...

Hey racer...

Beat up old Attex projects are typically the Attex-owner's specialty. As far as chain goes, there are several different suppliers of chain out there, but opt for a quality replacement such as Tsubaki, or U.S. Diamond (both suppliers have their respective domestic and imported brands, I've had good luck with both, from each). I get most of my chain from Motion Industries. They have lots of locations in NC. Motion can also give you decent pricing on the bearings if Buffalo Bearing doesn't work out for you, or don't have them in stock in time.

Like Whipper says, save yourself a lot of work if the axles start giving you trouble. They're nothing fancy. Cut 'em! That way it's tremendously easier to press the remaining nub out of the sprocket tube.

How bad is the tub? Do you have any pictures of the really rough spots?

You can get most of your engine parts from places such as SledParts.com. They should have your JLO fan belt, but I don't know about the carb kits. If an older carb has been exposed to the elements for a looooong time, it might actually be easier to get a carb off ebay from a machine that was running. I would imagine that it's a Mikuni VM32. You could swap over your jets if they weren't the same, and might get out of the whole deal for just a little more (if that!) than a carb kit itself.

Check out the frame closely, especially the front cross-tube, and the front frame rail. Even in machines that never saw racing duty, both of these are cracked in one way or another. It may be in your best interest to beef these areas up while you have the frame out. It's a bit of work, but worth it in the end. I can show you some pictures of a couple such frames I've done this way, or ask George for a pic of his frame.

While it'll be a serious PITA, you can bring that body back to a bright yellow shine with a lot of elbow grease, some wet/ dry sandpaper and a bucket of water. It's a real time investment, but what you get out of it makes it worth it. It's also the time to commit the perfect crime immediately after you're done sanding, because, if you're anything like me, you'll sand your fingerprints right off....

This looks like a very fun project! Ask lotsa questions! We're all here!
~m

no problem on the sawzall whipper. i cut up $100,000 race cars every day because someone doesn't like how something looks! i'm going to make a decision on the axle upgrade once i see how many of the 1" ones are left. if the stock ones come out intact, i'll run them for now. budget is tight but we'll see what happens. jeff, thanks for the info on bearings. i'll give them a call once the afore mentioned desision is made.
who else has sources for me??? chain, carb kit? what else have you guys run into that i haven't even thought of yet?

[George]

I may have an extra JLO fan belt laying around.

[racerone3]

cutting axles

hydromike, thanks for all the tips, attached are pics of the carb, and the back corners of the tub. if i can find some donor abs, i'm going to try the acetone paste and patch what i can. when it comes to cutting axles out, where do i cut them without killing the sprocket tubes? they are in good shape so i plan to reuse them. also, what are the measurements of the holes (from end of axles) i'll try to get them off what's left when they come out.
how much chain do i need to buy? (6 chain attex) please forward me some pics of frame reinforcements. it's coming out tomorrow to go to the blaster so i might well get that done when it comes home. once i get the axles out is there anything wlse holding the frame in the tub? thanks again for all the help.
george, if you have that belt i could use it. mine is so loose it rubs the housing. let me know what you want for it

[Don]

You'll need about 25 feet of chain for the whole machine. The center axle on the right side is different than the rest, so you'll need to keep that in mind when you make your new ones.

Once the axles are out, the only other thing may be the trailer hitch, if there is one.

Good luck.

[hydromike]

Here's a pic of George's frame which was reinforced with the solid cross-tube and a doubled-up front end.



It's difficult to actually see the piece of 3/16" plate that was welded from side to side on the very front of the machine in this picture. I left all the final grinding, sanding and painting for George, so maybe he has some pics that would make my work look a bit more respectable . This is by no means a cure-all for extremely harsh landings, but I did roughly the same thing to the D/stock, and it sails through the wild-blue-yonder fairly well with no ill-effects.

The overall added-weight is minimal. I'd wager 4-5 pounds maximum.

~m

Edit: Oh, and I have at least one decent ABS body if you'd be interested. I won't make any claims as to how much better it is than yours (haven't looked it over closely in a while), and it's also way up here in Yank territory. PM me if you want to discuss...

[racerone3]

axle/ sprocket removal

i'm trying to get the axles out of my attex. don't care if the axles die in the process, but i want to save the sprockets and tubes. i've been told to just take a sawzall to the axles, but i can't figure out where to cut. the sprocket tubes run from bearing to bearing, so anywhere i cut is going to kill the tubes. do the tubes need to run the full width? if not, problem solved but it seems like having them full width should help reduce bent axles. the rear axles came right out... everything slid right off. what am i missing here guys?

[whipper-ag]

Racer,

Just cut them where you can, & try to keep the tubes as long as possible.

Whipper

[racerone3]

thanks whipper. i just didn't want to go crazy cutting them and then spend my next 4 lunch hours at the TIG welder trying to put them back together. with all the bearings unbolted and hanging, i can get a cut off wheel in just inside the outer bearing, that should get me moving.

[jpswift1]

Here is a link for a belt that drives the cooling fan for your JLO engine.

eBay Motors: Vintage Snowmobile - Fan Belt -JLO/Rockwell/Cuyana (item 110121392135 end time May-23-08 16:05:39 PDT)

[racerone3]

still no luck on the axle removal. 30 min with the sawzall put a 3/16 cut into the axle. another 30 with the cut off wheel yeilded less results. i'm thinking these are not the stock axles! i've never met a chunk of steel i couldn't cut through! this morning i built a huge slide hammer at work and tried to pull the sprockets from the outside... nothing! man this is getting frustrating!

[Don]

I've torched them out before by filling the tub with water up to the axle and lining the sides with sheet metal or a welding blanket.

Don

[boncrshr]

The real question is...how does your back feel after all the hours bent over the tub??

[racerone3]

don, i don't know if i have enough duct tape to make this tub hold water!! if i could i'd fill it with pb blaster!

boncrshr, lousy, but you already knew that!