Newt the Bold project

[Mike]

I love this project. You said that things could go faster but you really made some headway since the last update especially with the machine work. It seems like if I have something to machine that requires more than one tool change, I might as well plan on taking up an entire night after work. Once I come home, change clothes, eat supper, etc there really isn't much time left to get a lot of stuff done and it gets eaten up pretty quickly. I'd say you are moving along fine.

Edit: I was looking at your pictures again tonight. On the T20, are the output shafts going to be directly over the middle axles? Where does the T20 sit in reference to the seat?

[hydromike]

Edit: I was looking at your pictures again tonight. On the T20, are the output shafts going to be directly over the middle axles? Where does the T20 sit in reference to the seat?

I don't know how I missed you questions, but I'm finally actually updating the thread instead of just posting pictures in the gallery.... The output shafts are going to be slightly in front of the center axles by a few inches. The T-20 is going to sit beneath the seat, just about like I have it in the Swamp Fox.

I've been working on a several different parts of the machine, but I'm just bad at updating. I've really been looking forward to figuring out the range box shift linkage. I wanted the shifter to be conveniently located, but not in the way. I've always adored the T-20 shifter on the Attex 8x8, so I put the high/low shifter right there. The hand lever moves a piece of linkage that goes underneath the T-20 to a bell crank that's located beneath and between the T-20 and the NP203. Another piece of linkage comes up between the two and attaches to the shift linkage on the range box. The throw in the shifter is just the way I wanted it to be, but it was a pain in the butt to get right. It's all hooked together with rod-ends that really tighten it up nicely.



Here's a lame video that I filmed with a potato. It sounds like I'm breathing heavy, but I'm really not THAT excited about it...

[mudbug3]

hydromike


If your high and low range works out as planned with your T-20, this will be the answer for forum member that really need a lower gear range like the older 3.3 ratio ,Argo transmissions.

[hydromike]

The NP203 is only a 2:1 reduction, so it's not going to be as neat as 3.3:1. The other option was to use a truck transmission, like a BorgWarner T-18. That've been nice, but the 203 box was free and available. I'll throw a T-18 in the next one.

[mudbug3]

Hydromike


How does the BorgWarner T-18 compare in weight to the NP203 that you have in the machine now?

[hydromike]

The T-18 is about 145 pounds. The NP203 range box (the way it's set up in the machine now...) is about 85-100 pounds....not quite sure. It takes three beers before I try to lift it out of the machine, so my sense of weight is blurred.

Oh... just checked.... 6.32:1 low range ratio in the T18, with a 7.44:1 reverse. Yummy.... Does anybody have a Newt the Bold they want to sell?

[mudbug3]

The T-18 is about 145 pounds. The NP203 range box (the way it's set up in the machine now...) is about 85-100 pounds....not quite sure. It takes three beers before I try to lift it out of the machine, so my sense of weight is blurred.

Oh... just checked.... 6.32:1 low range ratio in the T18, with a 7.44:1 reverse. Yummy....

WOW! That's some SERIOUS low end pulling power.

[JoeMeg]

Just read this whole thread a couple of days ago. Wow,Newt is really getting the drive line treatment. To incorporate "non-standard" devices in a build is one thing but to to structurally modify them to suffice is taking it the extra distance!

Joe.

[riotwarrior]

Just read the whole build, interesting how's it working out so far?

This is quite similar to what I want to do to my machine. Just the Muscateer not as big. I'm thinking a smaller lightweight box not the iron 203. No doubt it's solid and WON"T break, however too big/heavy for me.

I'll look at some toyota and suzuki range boxes and see what's what!

Nice work, love to see video of the beast running...

[hydromike]

Wow; I guess I haven't updated this since July? I'll try to keep up with things...


I have made a fair bit of progress since the last post, but I guess I've just posted pictures and haven't provided any narrative. Where were we last? I think I was wrapping up the twin-stick shifter and still fiddling with about a dozen or so other parts of the machine, making little forward progress but getting a good idea of where things needed to go. I got a great deal on a set of 12" rims at Ashtabula (thanks Jim; beer's on me this summer...) , and fixed them up late last fall to fit a set of 26x12 Executioners. They required a bit of welding, patching and Bondo-ing to make them pretty, but they wound up to be great.





The Kenda's didn't fight me too hard, but still wanted about 25psi to get seated, so I think they'll hold on their ok. I can always put more air pressure in them if they end up giving me a hard time. I doubt a couple-few psi is going to make ANY difference in ride quality in this pig.


I wound up refabbing the twin-stick shifter a bit, and got the T-20 together with the new bands, #60 output sprockets (Thanks Whip'.... ) and got that sitting in there once-and-for-all. The whole machine is going to have to come apart a couple more times, but I have to keep the body halves together for a while to try to minimize how many times that happens. it's not a ton of fun getting the V1505 out of there (it's 250 pounds) and then pulling the frame out (about another 250 pounds) is another issue. So, whilst a long, cold (normal) winter is upon us in WNY, I decided to get as much done on the engine cover as I could.
Much like with the Swamp Fox, I decided that there needed to be some sort of cover that (at least in my mind) flowed with the rest of the machine. The original engine in this was a flat-head 12hp Kohler that fit way down low, and was covered with a piece of plywood when I got it. The oil-burner sits a bit taller in that space, and I liked the idea of keeping it protected a bit while still having good access to the engine bay when needed. I built a 1" square tubing frame that's hinged at the back of the seat frame. It's big; I think it's about 38" wide by about 30" long. Since 'Newt has a fiberglass body, I wanted to keep the material consistent (I could've used poly....) so I built a positive-mold out of 2" polystyrene foam.





The foam segments are cut to the correct size that I want the (interior) dimensions of the engine cover to be so that they'll mount to the steel frame. The segments are hot-glued together, and covered with a releasing agent before I wrap it in fiberglass matt/epoxy resin.





Another member is working on a super-duper top-secret project and had some great results using the foam as a mold. My initial results were great until I tried to release the foam from the fiberglass. The releasing agent worked great in some spots, but in others, the epoxy burned right into (melted) the EPS foam. I'd like to say it wasn't horrible, but it actually was in a couple spots. Test pieces didn't yield these results, and the other member reported basically flawless performance. Oh well; I persevered and it worked out okay. Here's the fiberglass shell fresh-out of the mold. It's a big rough looking around the edges, but it was all in the plan since it was going to be trimmed dramatically...


I got it trimmed up a bit over the weekend and got a first fit onto the steel frame. After a lot of finesse working, it's starting to look like something.





The bump-up is for clearance on the air filter rain-cap. I could've modified things elsewhere so I didn't need the bump, but I think it jazzes up the unit a bit. I've got some half-hearted plans to build a cargo rack on top of the engine cover at some point, but we'll see how that goes.


Sorry for picture quality in the last few shots. I had aspirations of getting it pushed out in the sunshine for a few shots, but that didn't happen due to it snowing all day. (I'm lying... it's too heavy to push. )

[jpswift1]

Great work on "cobbing" up another fiberglass "turd". All of us who work on and build our own machines have something that can't be bought........an imagination. Very nice work, probably one of your best builds yet!

[JoeMeg]

I like the foam idea. Perhaps the entire thing could be "Saran wrapped" then lay the glass on. Should act as a "release agent".

[hydromike]

Perhaps the entire thing could be "Saran wrapped" then lay the glass on. Should act as a "release agent".

Not a bad idea Joe. I used aluminum foil when I did the Swamp Fox engine cover, which didn't work THAT badly....





If I were to do it again for the Newt, I'd probably use foil. I'm also working on a battery cover with the pink foam and fiberglass method without the releasing agent, and it's burning the foam again....

[riotwarrior]

Looks good, can't wait to see this finished! You are giving me an idea for my own engine cover when I toss in the oil burner!

If I may be so BOLD LOL to offer some suggestions with fiberglass production, I may be able to help.

If you take and can afford to lay up on the foam with some drywall mud and completely cover it with drywall mud sand smooth recover and so forth, then a decent paint, you should be able to use wax and PVA Poly Vinyl Alchohol and get a perfect release every time.

There is a particular wax a non silicone based wax IIRC been 20 years...for PVA. PVA can be brushed or sprayed on spraying is best. It is a water soluable release agent that in essense if done correctly...is 100% assured of release!

I've done maybe 70 different plugs/moulds in custom fiberglass production so I am able to speak with some authority on this.

Got questions...I will do my best to answer

[hydromike]

Hey Riot,


thanks for the tips... Actually, I used PVA. I think most of my issues with the bleed through of the resin (and melting the foam) stemmed from technique problems, and partly due to impatience. I'm doing this work in a cold garage (as far as good fiberglass work is concerned). After the form was done, I PVA'd it up and let it dry, then went to town. I think that spreading the epoxy out the way I did actually mechanically wore some of the PVA material off. After the Swamp Fox engine cover, I read up a bit on how folks were getting good results with the PVA and waxing methods, but in all honesty, I threw a lot of it out the window and just tried it. In hindsight, I guess taking the extra effort to wax it up would've helped. I like the idea of skim-coating it, too. I've never heard of that approach, but I bet it works fantastic.


In the end, the cover is straight and fairly rigid for only a couple layers of matt and a layer of woven cloth. I'll probably add another layer of cloth a little further down the road; I don't like doing to much of this stuff in a poorly ventilated, cold environment. You start seeing things that aren't there after a while.