The **OTHER** Super Swamp Fox build....

[Model Citizen]

I can only wish! A stock SSF weighs in at about 1,000 pounds. This one has a bit more frame, a bit more engine, and probably will have heavier tires. I should have gone with 1 1/2" axles....

Hit a big enough rock, anything is possible.

Bridget

[hydromike]

So, I'm a bad updater...

Believe it or not, I HAVE been working the 'Fox project. Over the past month or so, I've finished welding up the frame (that's a LOT of welding.... I'm not doing a whole frame for some time...), cleaned it up and got it painted. I finished up the motor mount and painted up most of the peripherals, including the twin stick shifter, laterals, etc. I'm a bit concerned that the transmission might try to fight it's way out of the frame a la' Hustler, so I've beefed up the mounting approach by tying it into the seat frame.



Truth be told, I DID have the axles and wheel flanges all done, but then realized a critical failure in the wheel hub approach (I'm not divulging what it was; there was beer involved), so I had to cut them ALLLLL back off. Through the graces of Racerone3 (via Lewis) [via Ken Bost Argo], I have six new-to-me Argo hubs to try out, which should just about eliminate the "holy crap, how did you do THAT?!" factor in this attempt to finish the axles. Thanks to all three dudes.

Now, there are ZERO promises, but there's the odd chance that I could get the axles done this weekend, steal five Rawhides from the Max VIII when it's not looking, run some used chain, rig up an exhaust, rig up a gas tank (thinking....exhaaaaaaaaust.....gaaaas taaaaank....hmm..) and have the machine moveable under it's own power at some point within the next... well... soon. IF (IF IF!) this goes down, it'll just be a frame sans Swamp Fox body.

It's all very exciting. I'm not ambitious about getting the frame IN the body, because at that point, it won't fit in the garage without moving something else out.

[jpswift1]

Nice work, dude! I can't wait to see these updates in person. Your 'Fox is an absolute monster, and I must nominate you for the "best overall AATV craftsmanship" award. When you get it up and moving, even without the body, be sure to warn spectators that if they get in the way they'll be flattened like a pancake......that thing is HEAVY!

[hydromike]

I was able to get the 'ol girl rolling today. I still need front/ rear chains, but it's getting there.

[LarryW]

Sure looking good!

[Stonewall]

It's coming right along! Where's that raincap?

[jpswift1]

I was able to get the 'ol girl rolling today. I still need front/ rear chains, but it's getting there.

You were able to get it more than just rolling! I won't let the cat out of the bag, but I will say that this 'Fox feels like it just came off the assembly line. The only excepetion is that I think they would have ran the rest of the rest of the chains so the middle tires don't leave burnout marks on the driveway and so you can control the machine and make it turn and not almost bash into stuff, but hey that's all part of the fun!

[Stonewall]

You were able to get it more than just rolling! I won't let the cat out of the bag, but I will say that this 'Fox feels like it just came off the assembly line. The only excepetion is that I think they would have ran the rest of the rest of the chains so the middle tires don't leave burnout marks on the driveway and so you can control the machine and make it turn and not almost bash into stuff, but hey that's all part of the fun!

There wouldn't happen to be a video of this would there???

[hydromike]

There wouldn't happen to be a video of this would there???

Ha! No, there's no video, unfortuantely. It wasn't all that dramatic, but while JP was up for Spacerfest, I fired it up and told him to take it for a quick 75' forward-reverse tour of the driveway. I only had the center axles hooked up, (no extra chain laying around) so we couldn't turn. This was 2:00 on a Sunday, and I wasn't going to buy cheapie chain and have to reinvest in good stuff later on.

The engine runs quite well, and the gearing is quite a bit higher than Big 5 (same engine). I told JP to goose it once and the buggy left a couple black streaks in the garage. He rocketed down the test-strip at a blistering (oh, I dunno 5-7mph?) toward the neighbor's Blazer. He quickly began to run out of real-estate, so he yanked the sticks and left a couple black streaks on the pavers, narrowly escaping certain death (or at least a smashed up Blazer, I doubt it would've hurt the 'Fox much.)

So, it runs and moves. I hope to run the rest of the chain as soon as I pick some up. She'll need to have chain adjusters finished up, and I'm going to double check a few other things before it's time to put the frame into the body.

[jpswift1]

I think I need to elaborate on how well the Kubota idled. This thing would run so smooth and at just a few hundred RPMs that you could stack champagne glasses on it and they wouldn't topple over......kind of like that old Lexus commercial.

[hydromike]

I don't know if I could recreate the champagne glass test (especially at that rpm!), but I'll admit that when tuned up right, these are really fantastic little engines. I didn't have a tach handy, but I'd bet we had it down to 200 rpm or so. The only problem I've had in the one in the eight wheeler was really odd. The rotor in the distributor actually broke, which is pretty strange. It was a $7 fix, I think. It's a very simply-designed engine with a classic pointless distrubutor. I wish there were more of them around, but the gas engines really seem to be few and far between. Kubota makes a WG600 (about 21hp), and a WG972 (about 31hp), but they seem to be less common. They share tons of components with their diesel counterparts, and the engine in the 'Fox is actually running a diesel valve train, and exhaust manifold. I have no idea how many hours are on this engine, but with a fresh valve job and compression up around 160 psi in each cylinder, I think she ought to run for quite a while in this application.

[hydromike]

I started this thread just about 11 months ago, and I was able to (finally!) take the Swamp Fox for a short ride over the weekend. Last week, I finished up the plywood/fiberglass repair in the bottom of the machine to bring it back to its stock configuration. After checking the fitment and compatibility of all the parts by building the skeleton up a couple weeks ago, I was comfortable that everything would go together well.



After the resin had completely cured and I got the high spots knocked down/cleaned up a bit, it was time to disassemble the buggy and start bolting parts into the body. Things went wicked fast, since it was all new hardware and I knew that everything lined up correctly. After spending Friday afternoon disassembling everything, things started to go together on Saturday. I took a slow Saturday afternoon and got the frame in, and all the axles/sprockets installed. I dropped the T-20 in and was set for the day.



My Dad swung by on Sunday to take a look at the progress and he helped me lift the engine and engine tray in (combined, about 180 pounds, or so). I spent Sunday morning running the chains, pinning the axles, mounting the gas tank, yadda-yadda. After everything was good and snug, I took it for a short little shake-down run down the street a couple times, and through the ditch across the street (I know... hard-core; right?) I only took a couple shots, principally out of embarassment that it's sitting on the street, and not in a mud hole.



There's still a LOT of work to do. Seat covers, engine cover, wiring, floor pan, gauges, trailer hitch, winch mount. It's comforting that I can move it under its own power, instead of forcing the 980 to tow the body around. I'm really surprised at how quick it is for such a big machine. I haven't GPS'd it, but it moves as fast as I'd ever want it to go. I hope to get some variety of 26" tires sometime in the next month or so, but we'll see how priorities go.

[thebuggyman1]

Looking good Mike....two thumbs up

[Mike]

I took it for a short little shake-down run down the street a couple times, and through the ditch across the street (I know... hard-core; right?)

And yet you post pictures of it on the street and not in the ditch? What were you thinking. Even the poser-iest of posers knows that the best poses are taken in the ditch.

It's looking great man.

[Stonewall]

Looking great!! How bout a video? Let's see this bad boy rolling down....the, uh, street....