Combat Vehicle Simulator Build

[racerone3]

Ok, so just short of 2 weeks is my limit! I caved today and tore the tank trainer down to a pile of parts. Took about 2.5 hours to strip it down. My racer was the first full tear down I ever did, and it required the sawzall, torches and a cut off wheel for nearly every step. I'm glad that one was so tough because every one sense has seemed easy in comparison

Tear down went pretty well. a few axles were tough, but no WMD's were required to get it apart. All the parts look to be original including axles which is pretty amazing.

The Body is hammered and will take DAYS of plastic welding to put back together. I thought my Hustler Bigfoot tub was bad, but it was just a warm up for this one. I ordered 2lb of ABS welding rod yesterday and I'm wondering if that will be enough.

Preliminary inspections of the frame reveal no cracks or broken welds, but once I get it clean some might surface.

The T-20 has a broken off fill plug to be dealt with. The pivots for the tongue depressors are mangled (really old style T-20). This is the first one of this case style that I have ever seen in person, and I have an idea on fixing the pivots, but I'm not sure if it will work. I will know more on that once I get it torn apart.

The plan as of now for the rebuild is to use Argo axles, sprockets, and outer bearing flanges for the drive line (with a lot of help from Lewis, and Ken Bost). I want to replace the chain adjusters in one location with a different style. The engine will be the stock 18hp Vanguard that was removed from Beths Max II. If I can't fix the case on the transmission, I will throw my spare in this machine and once again be on the hunt for a spare T-20. Other than the addition of a full poly skid plate, the Body will be put back to original OD green and I will try to duplicate the paint scheme that it had while in possession of the US Army. On top of all the cracks, the body has also sagged badly over the years, so I will copy the skeleton that Hydromike added to Big 5 in an attempt to give her a lift. Thanks to Gus Marrone, I have an original roll cage, and a NOS floor pan so I don't have to fix the ones that came with the machine.

I realize I've set the bar pretty high with the time line on my last few builds, but this one will be a much slower process. I figure a solid week just on the body. Funding for this project is still slightly in the negative as well... not that I've ever been stopped by that before

[Dan67]

I knew you could not resist. Glad you have the time to work on it. I can see you spending hours just on repairing the holes and cracks in the tub. Looking forward to seeing it at the Fall Busco ride in October. Hopefully I'll have a 980 Bigfoot by then.

[Stonewall]

I bet a Peterbilt or Kenworth air suspension seat would make a very nice pilot seat in that rig. It looks like there's enough room in there for a real nice one!National Seating Standard Plus Truck Seat — Gray Cloth | Suspension Seats | Northern Tool + Equipment Yeah, they are a little pricey, but you could probably get a used leather one for a little less; and the ride with an air seat is like night and day over a mechanical suspension seat.

[LarryW]

Sweet!!!! I cant wait!
Do you plan on doing some of the metal reinforcements that hydroMike did?

[lewis]

Go Race! Next week-end. I have a sander! Hey, and sanding party!!!
Dogs and burger and six guys sanding and welding! Just a thought!

[amphibious drew]

I know ashtabula may not be in the cards right now. But I plan on motivating you by saying....we should have a tank trainer race this year!!! Hey hydromike I know you would be down with this. Lets convince brian it's a good idea.

[techfx]

I know ashtabula may not be in the cards right now. But I plan on motivating you by saying....we should have a tank trainer race this year!!! Hey hydromike I know you would be down with this. Lets convince brian it's a good idea.

An 8x8 class would be interesting.

[racerone3]

I've been sick as a dog with no energy, and Mower business has been really slow. Perfect conditions for a few days of plastic welding. 17 hours and 45 feet of ABS welding rod has the lower tub back in one piece. Once the cracks were welded I decided to try an Idea that I've been toying with for some extra strength. I mixed some really thin ABS Goo and soaked fiberglass cloth in it. Brushed the body with acetone several times to get it soft, then wrung the cloth out to get rid of the excessive goo and laid it in place. Hopefully it will stick better than fiberglass resin and add some much needed strength Once I split the body and can flip the lower tub upside down, I plan to do the same in any areas that will be covered by the skid plate.

today I got the exterior of all the cracks in the upper body welded and the paint mostly sanded off.

Tomorrow I hope to get the body halves separated and weld the inside of the upper. Those welds will also get the Goo/ Fiberglass treatment (only on the inside of the body).

I needed to put the frame and drive line back together to work on some alignment issues and to replace a couple bad chain adjusters. Temptation got the best of me, and I had to make it drivable
This is actually rather handy as I can drive it into the shop to work on it, but it can live under a tarp in the back yard freeing up a bay in my shop for mower work. As a bonus, it's a blast to drive!

[amphibious drew]

Awsome race,

I was toying with the fiberglass cloth idea too. I've got 2 holes i can stick my head through on my racer, and i read on a camper forum that it works and ads strength. I also think Its pretty cool your driving the frame around.

[LarryW]

Race, Great Idea with the fiberglass cloth. You sure do work fast. Glad to see it coming along. Are you bringing it to ash? Im not sure what I am doing or if I am going but if I do go and bring my trainer and assuming Mike C does too it would be cool to have 3 trainers together there. Last year it was cool for Mike and I to have 2 together. I got a lot of bugs worked out of mine that I had last year as I only had a couple weeks to throw a motor in and get everything else up to stuff. Im not sure if Im going though so we will have to see. Great work so far though!

[racerone3]

Larry, not sure if we are going to make it to Ashtabula this year, and no chance of "the tank" making it up there. If my racer goes, someone else will be hauling it. Hopefully next year I will have some tough decisions as to which machines get put on the trailer

Today I finished all the welding on the upper body and got the fiberglass/ abs goo applied. the lower tub is all welded and glassed on the inside. once it dries, I can flip it over and do the last little bit of welding on the outside. once that's done there will be about a day of sanding and filling a few low spots and the body can get paint. Then... the machine gets to sit for a while till I can come up with some cash to move forward. once I repay a debt, the next step will be a skid plate. I want the lower tub to be bullet proof, so that is the logical choice.

I have a few very minor modifications to make to the frame before it gets paint. If the plan to do the Argo axles works out, this could take a while. If not, it could go back together with the 1" axles very easily. The only purchases would be the poly and rivets for the skid plate, and 16 bearings

[racerone3]

95 hours of work, 13 yards of fiberglass cloth, 2 gallons of ABS goo, 4 gallons of Acetone, 1.5 lb of plastic welding rod (about 130') and the body is back in one very solid piece. The upper body was finished and ready for primer Monday morning, but the weather hasn't been in my favor. It is probably for the best though as the lower will be done tomorrow morning (about 20 min of sanding once the last coat of goo dries). I would have primed the upper as soon as it was ready and had to mix and spray primer again a few days later. I will be very relieved when I can put body work behind me and get down to the metal fabrication and mechanical aspects of the build.

I'm thinking once this machine gets done, I will need to take a long break. Both the bigfoot and this one have been very tedious builds, both requiring extensive repairs to the body. Part of the issue with the Bigfoot was that my last full build previous to it was another Hustler (I get bored doing the same stuff mutilple times). With the exception of my racer which got reborn last fall, (and it was mostly fabrication work) It's been a while sense I've done an attex. hopefully my motivation level will pick up once I can push the body aside.

I need to confer with Lewis about parts availability, and then make as decision as to weather I'm sticking with the 1" axles, or trying to move forward with 1 1/4. Beyond that, there are very few parts that I will need to round up to finish the build. The next step is to change the chain adjusters that I mentioned in an earlier post. then I can tear down the frame and start fabrication on the supports that will be added for the body. Once that is done, the frame can get sandblasted and painted.

[amphibious drew]

Hey race, i gotta go to buffalo on saturday to pick up some stuff of jpswift. I believe recretives has the 1 1/4 splined axles. If they're open on saturday i could grab them for you and drop them off when I get the cage.

[racerone3]

thanks for the offer Drew, but if I go with the 1 1/4's they won't be coming from Recreative

[racerone3]

Every now and then, a local fabrication company allows me to pick through their "drops". I try not to abuse the privilege, but today the pickins were just too good. Got everything needed to build the support structure for the body of the tank. Much like the cage on my racer, this is a ripoff of a Shoestring Hardtails design with a few modifications. As it is going to take quite a while to accumulate all the parts needed to upgrade to the Argo axles, I've decided to put the machine back together with the stock 1" stuff until I have everything in place for the upgrade. For that reason, I wanted the frame to be removable without having to remove the 64 bolts holding the body band and upper body in place. This meant that all the supports running from the frame to the inner body band need to bolt in instead of welding directly to the frame.
Everything is tacked together, and will get removed and finish welded tomorrow. once that is done, I will need to cut the front and rear of the inner band to shape (marked in flaming pink duct tape in pics)
I had to build a die for the harbor freight bender to use it for the flat stock, and was surprised how well it worked