Buried treasure- my father's old Attex (now in bad need of TLC!)

[NN4S]

Hello everyone! My name is Don, screen name's my ham radio call sign in case anyone was wondering. I found the site recently when looking around for some info on this old Attex that I inherited from my father. It's been sitting in a shed for at least ten years now and is in bad need of some TLC before it will be able to provide any of the joy I remember from my youth.

Here's a shot of it dug out from under all of the junk, but still pinned in by everything surrounding it (including the two 10KW ex-military generators behind it that weigh in at 850 pounds apiece!)

The cockpit is relatively clean for something that's been sitting for so long, even though I see some signs of field mice having inhabited it at some point (cleaned one small nest off the engine cover before opening it, but so far haven't found one inside).

One of the things that he did to this machine when he was playing with it was to separate the front/seat section of the engine cover from the rear so that he could flip it up without exiting the vehicle (he decided to do that after the engine died in the middle of a large mud pit and getting it for troubleshooting was a pain). He added reinforcement to both parts in the form of marine plywood and metal to stiffen them back up, though I have to wonder if it wasn't overkill.

The data that I was able to find on the site leads me to believe that this is a 1972 Wild Wolf- it has the metal gas tank and electric start, although I have no idea if the engine is a 295/297. I can't get to anything down in the engine compartment because of lack of space to move around in right now, but I'm hoping that it isn't locked up from sitting all this time. When I can get in there, I plan to pull the plug and put a few teaspoons of ATF or Marvel Mystery oil in and let it sit a while before trying to turn it over in an attempt to keep from breaking a ring.

Anyway, there it is- hopefully I'll be able to resurrect it with some assistance from the denziens of this group!

[Model Citizen]

We'll be looking forward to a beautiful ressurection on this one.

Bridget & Whipper

[amphibious drew]

Welcome to the site. Jpswift is a master at identifying these old machines, i would trust his insight to what it is. It looks like an easy little project. Many members, myself included, have taken on projects in much much much worse conditn than what you have there. I bet with a few hours of work she would move, as for restoring the body, get acytone and lots of it to clean that gem up back to the origional yellow shine.

[jpswift1]

Thanks, Drew. I'm not as good as some members, but those guys have certainly taught me a good bit. Anyways, that Attex you have looks like it has lots of potential. It certainly looks to be a 1972, but it's most likely a ST/295, not a 295 Wild Wolf. The Wild Wolf has a 4 chain frame, the body curved down on the inside of the tub a little more than the ST style that was riveted flat against the lower tub. Also the 1971 & 1972 ST style Attexes didn't have the removable front nose piece between the headlights, that wasn't started until 1973.

[George]

Very cool.

Looks like an unusual tread pattern on those tires. Is it me or do the look like "W"s?

Good luck.

[jpswift1]

Very cool.

Looks like an unusual tread pattern on those tires. Is it me or do the look like "W"s?

Good luck.

You're right, George. Those could be the old Ohtsu Honda ATC90 3 wheeler balloon tires, or maybe some kind of sand tire.

[NN4S]

Thanks, Drew. I'm not as good as some members, but those guys have certainly taught me a good bit. Anyways, that Attex you have looks like it has lots of potential. It certainly looks to be a 1972, but it's most likely a ST/295, not a 295 Wild Wolf. The Wild Wolf has a 4 chain frame, the body curved down on the inside of the tub a little more than the ST style that was riveted flat against the lower tub. Also the 1971 & 1972 ST style Attexes didn't have the removable front nose piece between the headlights, that wasn't started until 1973.

Thanks for the welcome and the info, guys! I was guessing at the model going from the ID sheet; the metal gas tank and the electric start were listed there as the 295 Wild Wolf or the 400 Chief for a twin. Anyway, I expect to be able to get a better ID once I can pull the floor pan out of it and get a few more pictures... I was already out of daylight when I took those pictures (used a spotlight to allow the camera to focus well enough for a flash photo today). And it definitely doesn't have a removable nose piece up front... it's solid all the way across.

George, the tires are different front to rear- the fronts are ribbed parallel to the rotation, the centers are the normal V/chevron pattern and the rears are that W pattern you mention. I don't know if any of them will actually hold air or not, though the front left does seem to be inflated somewhat.

[lewis]

Nice looking machine and glad you will get to resurrect a old family friend.

Note: I noticed on the exhaust pipe there was some remaining insulation wrap. Use caution with that material it is probably asbestos and that is bad juju. Do not let that stuff get to be airborn. (Use dust mask) Prior to removal take a squirt bottle with soapy water and saturate the material, then wrap pipe with a plastic bag so the material will fall into the bag, seal and dispose of it. The rest of the machine should be checked for the remaining loose material that may have fallen off through the years. Once machine can be moved to a open location use a soapy water solution and gently spray the machine down to keep dust down and then rinse the machine off and then you should be good to go. I know this sounds a little over the top but,.......asbestos is something you do not want to expose to you or your family.

Hope you have a great time rebuilding the machine and may your children have the same fond memories that you have had the opportunity to have.

Lewis

[mustangwagz]

Nice looking machine and glad you will get to resurrect a old family friend.

Note: I noticed on the exhaust pipe there was some remaining insulation wrap. Use caution with that material it is probably asbestos and that is bad juju. Do not let that stuff get to be airborn. (Use dust mask) Prior to removal take a squirt bottle with soapy water and saturate the material, then wrap pipe with a plastic bag so the material will fall into the bag, seal and dispose of it. The rest of the machine should be checked for the remaining loose material that may have fallen off through the years. Once machine can be moved to a open location use a soapy water solution and gently spray the machine down to keep dust down and then rinse the machine off and then you should be good to go. I know this sounds a little over the top but,.......asbestos is something you do not want to expose to you or your family.

Hope you have a great time rebuilding the machine and may your children have the same fond memories that you have had the opportunity to have.

Lewis

NO kiddin?...asbestos?! had no clue! glad to hear that since ill be tearing mine apart soon and ALL of my loin clothe is still wrapped around the header pipe! id have been out ther hacking N coughing and destroying that stuff. lol Glad i found this!

-WagZ-

[lewis]

This was a regularly used product back in the 70's, no better material for the job. Sometimes people have replaced it with other types of material but unless you test it you will not know....so why take a chance. If you get this material in your clothing it can be transferred to all cloths that are washed with it. I mean not to scare but to inform....you have to get a pretty good dose of the fibers but it can take up to 15-40 years to show up. Mesotheloma is what killed Steve Mcqueen, but this takes mega doses over years to bring on this terrible effect. My thoughts are why take any chances with this. This is one of the classes that i give for our maintenance and electrical groups.

I have put out a couple outer threads on this subject, you may want to take a look at them also. Hope this helps.

[NN4S]

Glad to know that it's not going to be a major thing to deal with- wet it, wrap it & remove it.

I'd figured on wrapping it back up with some of the header wrap that's currently on the market once I got everything ready to go back together. Has anyone given that stuff a try (or is it really even necessary)?

[lewis]

I have used the header wrap on the Crush and it works pretty good. Advance, Jegs any auto store sells it. I use it to keep the heat away from the rollcage.

[racerone3]

Glad to know that it's not going to be a major thing to deal with- wet it, wrap it & remove it.

I'd figured on wrapping it back up with some of the header wrap that's currently on the market once I got everything ready to go back together. Has anyone given that stuff a try (or is it really even necessary)?

You need to run some wrap there ar the back of your seat will get melting hot. just a heads up, you can get the same stuff from McMaster for about 1/3 the price. McMaster-Carr If you wet this stuff before wrapping, you will get it on much tighter and have a lot less fiberglass in your hands at the end of the job

[NN4S]

Still haven't gotten the machine out of the shed, but I did run across the service manual for the JLO engine while going through a bunch of his books the other day. It says that it covers a bunch of different engines (both singles and twins) has the Attex, Inc. label on the back of it. It's 64 pages cover-to-cover, and although not in the best of shape it could probably be scanned into a usable PDF file. Is there an archive on the site for this sort of stuff? I don't see much point in scanning it unless there's a place to upload it so that it can help others with their machines.

[Natedog]

Well Guys, I hate to bring back this topic... NN4s (Don) passed away a few months back. He was like a cross between a best friend and a father to me, and I'm helping his wife with many of his projects. I found this site by simply googling his SN, it is sometimes like he was leaving me clues...

It would mean a lot if some of your guys could help give me some pointers on value of this thing. Its a little out of my realm, but I don't mind getting a little dirty... Thank you for any help.