My Trackster Build

[flippy]

I know from experience that sometimes people will scrap things instead of selling because they dont want the nuisance of the person who bought it constantly asking them questions or coming back to complain because they have buyers remorse.Family members are great at turning on each other over things bought and sold within the family.

[brushcutter]

Coop, the most attractive part of bed liner is that it will save a LOT of sanding and get me to the actual build stage a bunch quicker. As with any project of this kind there are hidden surprises. The cost of the paint and its relative components was a surprise, but then I haven't priced auto paint since I restored a '73 VW Beetle back in 1987! Your thoughts on doing the outside raises a question though - how to be sure the guys who spray it on cover all the bolt holes with something so they are not hidden. That would be a pita-having to search for all those holes ya know. I'll have to be sure and ask about that...
You can expect a lot of messages from me once the build starts, looking for tech support from our resident Trackster Guru!

I know from experience that sometimes people will scrap things instead of selling because they dont want the nuisance of the person who bought it constantly asking them questions or coming back to complain because they have buyers remorse.Family members are great at turning on each other over things bought and sold within the family.

Did I miss something somewhere?????? OK got it, you are responding to the earlier posts about people and our strange ways about what we sell and what we refuse to sell. I see your point. Long day, yesterday, didn't catch it right away, got to thinking about it while working today and had to laugh at myself for being so slow on it.

[Coop]

Vince....I would spray over the holes. When it comes time to re-assemble, the holes will be easy enough to find by laying the part over the area, using the part as a template. Then just take a punch, push it thru the hole enough to get the bolt thru and tighten it up. The bedliner will act as a seal around the bolt and washer. That is what I did and it wasn't that bad.

[brushcutter]

We finished the glass on the lower tub this morning. We started around 8:30, finished laying and had been sanding for about an hour when we broke for lunch. We got a head start yesterday by cutting the glass and laying the pieces in place, which sped things along greatly. After I took a nice long nap, we returned to the shop, finished sanding the highest spots, and coated the new glass with a thick coat of resin to make a more uniform surface. This will mean easier final prep for the bed liner. The last picture shows the float ring sitting on the tub, in preparation for marking the necessary cuts before being permanently attached, that process will begin tomorrow. I think we had a successful day.

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[brushcutter]

We're making progress with the tub, some days more than others. Here are a few shots of what we've done. The first shot is a cut out at the rear of the tub to give just a little more leg room and to help deal with a bowed part of the float ring that just wouldn't lay flat and protruded about 4" into the tub, for some reason it was built that way. .
The next is one of the cuts for the transmission. Then a couple shots of the fill work where the ring and body join together, and just as one would expect they didn't match up exactly. The ring had pulled away from the tub due to the sealant/adhesive turning loose and the lowest portions were curled away from the tub. We laid glass, then sanded and filled then went over that with 2 more layers of glass all the way around the tub. At present count we've put 4 gallons of resin and 3gal of "Bondo Hair", add sand paper, thinner for cleanup and the brushes for laying the glass and I'm over $350 and will have to get another $45 bucket of Bondo. I'll have over $400 in this tub before it goes to be sprayed. Seems like a lot, but probably if I had bought the other tub, I would still have had to do some work to it, so I'm feeling pretty good about things right now.
The outside of the tub is done, today we'll start the inside work to seal the joint and soon it's off to get sprayed with bed liner.

[Noel Woods]

Looking good man. Nice progress. Fiberglass takes alot of effort to get down and smooth, so I feel your efforts. The bedliner will look great on top of the smooth glass.

[azz7772]

great job it feels good to make something how you envision it. It will be very rewarding on your maiden voyage. I am just a couple parts away from finishing my predator build and the excitement is unbearable lol

[coosaridgerider]

Looking good brushcutter,It is great to see a father and sons working on one of the coolest machines ever made.

[brushcutter]

Thanks guys.
Noel, the glass smooths out a lot easier when a heavy coat of resin is painted over the last layer of mat. We actually stood the tub on edge to get the resin to work. Once the sides were done, we stood it on end to do them. It just cuts way down on the amount of bed liner prep sanding.
Azz, I well know the getting close to the first ride feeling. It can be maddening, and sometimes cause us to do stupid things like take a ride without floorboards-it was only a flip flop that got ate by chain and sprocket but it was a lesson well remembered. Just... beware.
Coosa, it sometimes takes a couple lbs of Hercules powder to get those boys loosened up from their I-pods and video games but they are getting to be some good help, and actually "seem" to enjoy themselves doing it.

[brushcutter]

Some years ago (back in September) I posted that the outside of the tub was done, any of you old timers remember that? Well... I thought it was anyway. But then I got to sanding ... and holy crap did the low places start to show up. Now I know that bed liner is supposed to hide a lot of imperfections, but I couldn't take the chance, so we have spent the last month filling, sanding and filling more, then sanding that and... repeat a batrillion times. Anyhooo Here are a few new pics for you folks to graze on. We are now working on gallon #6 of bondo hair, but holding at #5 on the resin for now. I'm making no more predictions as to a date for getting the bed liner sprayed since none of those I've hoped for have been right so far. Maybe hopefully within the next 10 to 12 years... give or take. But we are getting somewhere.

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[brushcutter]

brushcutter

I'd go with an aluminum tub and forget about all of the hasel of trying to re-glass the tub that you already have.

Holy cow I wish I had taken this route instead. Let me just say that YOU WERE dead on target with this one Dave!

[spookum]

But it is looking SWEET!!! keep it up!

[brushcutter]

Thanks Spookum! We worked on it all day yesterday, but the glass is finished and the tub goes to be sprayed with bed liner tomorrow! I gotta say I had begun to wonder if this phase would ever be finished, seemed like the more we did the more we discovered needed doing. Now to decide on a color, I'm thinking a light grey or similar. I don't want a dark color because it is dark enough working down in any tub without throwing a light sponging black or some other dark color on it. what do you think?

[Trackster]

Glad to see you are almost done with the tub, I say Arctic Cat Green! Pretty close to original but you can still get it everywhere so you should be able to match it if the need ever arises.

Looking good

[chris davison]

Im kinda partial to the aluminum tub also. Major revisions are a lot easier and once you shine a light in the bottom it reflects everywhere.