My first restoration: ST/300/D

[Duck89]

Alright cool, thanks Mike. Ill give 'er a try!

[Duck89]

Here's an update on my project: Good news, I finally got the frame out! I ended up not using heat, but rather just got on the inside tube with a set of vise grips- not clamped on, just held hand tight and I was finally able to break it loose. Now I begin the fun part of cleaing the body, inside and out, to bring it as close as possible back to a brillant yellow shine!

The only thing I have a question on is- When I began the process of removing the axles, I started with the left front. I used some penetrating oil on the the pin and a little pit shot in between the axle and the tube. I tried to wipe up any excess, but when I removed the frame I noticed that tub underneath where the axle would be had turned to almost a 'pale green' finish. Is this something that can be taken care of with a little acetone/sanding/polishing or is it something that can't be removed? The first picture shows what I am asking about.

Here's some pics

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[amphibious drew]

Looking pretty good. keep up the work and you will be driving in the spring. As for the oil stain, I wouldn't worry about it. The acetone should take care of it. My colt project was stained, broken, and weathered and the patches I used were the same plus painted. I havnt done the wetsanding or polishing yet and it looks real nice now.

[LarryW]

Thanks for the updates. If the stain is not deep dont worry about it but if it deeper then maybe try sanding it some.
Now would be a good time to add some bracket structure to attach a little hitch to the back if you don't have one already. Do it so there is a plate of steel where the hitch would go mounted flush with the inside of the tub.

[Duck89]

Thanks for the comments on the stain. It just looks really weird so I thought I would ask about it to see what everyone thought. As far as a hitch is concerned, I had seriously considered one in the past when I was brainstorming but I don't think I will end up going with one. This project, when it is finished, will not be any work-horse or trail rig, so I don't think I will really need one. Plus, I am trying to keep it as original as possible, which isn't always a good thing (especially when attempting to track down decent balloon tires!)

I started the cleaning portion of my project today with a couple of plastic scrapers, blue shop towels, fine scruff pads and a can of plexo. I scraped a LOT of pine needles and other gunk out and realized that there is still quite a bit of stuff that has basically 'crusted' itself on the bottom. I was able to get the inside of the engine cover looking as good as new. I was quite supprised how good it looks with just a little bit of plexo and a scruff pad...and a little bit of solvent on the tin.

Still LOTS of cleaning to do

[jpswift1]

That cleaned up very well and it looks great, Martin. You might want to get some stuff at Autozone called "Purple Power" degreaser. It's the best stuff I ever used and it's simply amazing. That grease will disintegrate and wash right off after a little bit of that stuff, some light scrubbing and then a spray from the hose. So far, so good.......keep up the good work!

[Duck89]

Thanks Jeff! The engine cover did clean up really good, minus one spot hear and there. I also didn't remove the screens to clean under them, but I didin't see a need to. All of the fasteners are still there and in good shape so I said the heck with it. I am also wanting to hurry up and get this project done sooner rather than later so my grandfather can have a chance to see his old attex again! Someday down the road I will tidy up some of these areas I am intentionally skipping right now, but I just want to get it fairly cleaned up, shined up and running so I can drive it!

I picked up a bottle of that purple power tonight. It looks like pretty good stuff so I will have to give it a try this weekend when I have a chance to do some more work, unless it snows and I get to have one ride on my snowmobile this year

[Duck89]

Update

Well I have been tinkering away on my 300d whenever I have had a free second here or there and I am just about done with cleaning the inside. There are still a few spots that I am not going to worry about, such as where the frame sits against the tub, mainly because this will not be see anyway once it is put back together. I still have to clean up under the dash area, get the black paint-like substance off of where the guards were and maybe give the upper body a try at sanding/polishing. Heres some more pictures. It really does look like a whole new machine inside compared to what it looked like when I first got it!

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[Duck89]

...more pictures

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[Duck89]

I am still working on the cleaning stage of my project, but I am beginning to plan ahead to some of the issues that I am going to have to address. The first issue is the crack/dent in the right front corner of my lower tub. I have not done anything to this area aside from clean the inside and outside of it. What would be the best way to go about fixing this? I would eventually like this machine to be water-tight, although I doubt I will do much floating with it. Would making some abs goo hold up on this bad of crack instead of welding it? Also, there are no cracks around the actual dent, but there is one spot that looks pretty thin. Am I better off not messing with it so that I don't attempt to pop it back out and create more cracks or can this be popped back out with heat/force??? Any info would help. Thanks!

This picture is before cleaning

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[LarryW]

Looking good!
For the crack I would weld it back together with a soldering iron and then goop it up. Not sure about the dent. I have heated abs up but you have to be careful with not getting it to hot or it burns. Maybe try heating it up a little with a heat gun and pushing on it carefully. Thats sounds like my best idea but like I said Im not 100% sure. Please post what you try with results. Im curious. Thanks and good luck!

[hydromike]

Larry's right. Just throw some heat at it. You'll find that a heat gun is far more forgiving, but a hand held propane torch at a 6-12" distance will work, too. The yellow will start to burn quickly if you hold it in one spot for too long, but it'll just brown, really. Get it warm, and do a "poke test" with the back side of a screw driver or a blunt piece of wood to test to see how it flexes when it's warm. You'll want to heat up a large area and push with something large and rounded, like a metal bowl, or something with a shape similar to the contour of the eventual desired body shape. Just hold it in place, and cool it off by dumping a cup of cold water on it.

You'll get the hang of it....

[Duck89]

Thanks for the tips Mike and Larry. I didn't get a chance at all to even roll the attex out of the garage this weekend, but will hopefully get a chance later this week or maybe the weekend. Ill post my results with some pictures, or, if I screw something up, ill be asking for more advice!

[Duck89]

More questions...

Project update: I have not built up the courage to attempt to fix the cracks in the body, but I have been doing a lot of work on the frame/axles. I have the frame stripped down and just about ready to paint. I still need to find replacement inner bearing, which I will probably end up having to call/stop over at Buffalo Bearing for. I did, however, find new outer bearings (#205FF) which I can get for $2.40 my cost a piece at work. These are a dual sealed bearing but have plastic seals instead of stainless steel like the originals. I have most of the outer bearing assemblies almost completely disassembled and have thus discovered how much I hate snap rings! Like the inner bearings, I am having trouble finding the outer seals that press into the outside of the bearing housing. I crossed the original number (Victor #60392) and came up with a good National/Timken number of 471787. Unfortunately, I cannot get my hands on them at all through work.

Does anybody know of a different number that is perhaps more common or readily available? I am going to take an axle, bearing housing and seal to work tomorrow and try to take some measurements with our micrometer and see if I can’t find one in our Timken book that is close to this original. I figured I could go either a little thinner or thicker but that’s about all the leeway that I would have.

Any help that I can get I would appreciate!

[Duck89]

I have started prepping the frame for paint, which is a long process for those of us without a sandblaster/pressure washer to get the grease off...nothing but good old fashioned purple power and scruff pads! I also washed down the body again today and took scruff pads to it in order to get the rest of the dirt/grease off of it that was still there. After that, I tried a little bit of acetone on the front and was amazed to see that beautiful yellow finally start to poke through! I hope to do the rest of the body on the 4th and will post more pictures then.

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