Mr.Modified's Simplicity Adventure Edition [2016 Build-Off Finalist]

Thanks. As long as I can stay working on it the next couple weekends it'll be there.

I finished welding up the gas tank. This is just a view from inside showing the pickup tube. The hole I torched out and patched over at the bottom. The angle it is in the picture is about the angle it will be at in the tractor. I just have to rinse it out with gas then dry it out good and coat.


Hood rack welded up except the brackets to bolt it to the hood. I could have just put some hooks on the hood to attach straps to, but this is mainly to keep your gear from rubbing the paint off the hood. It'll be bolted about a 1/4" up off the hood. Made from steel rod.

Rod and levers for rear brakes with skid plate bracket welded to it.


Aluminum skid plate, 3 bolts in front, two bolts in rear. I was going to try removing the sticker part of the sign with paint stripper (it's really hard to get off) but I kind of think it looks neat like that, so I might leave it for now. You won't notice it unless you flip over anyway.


Skid plate is tucked in pretty close to the lowest part of the transmission, so your not loosing much ground clearance. The only thing that's still exposed now is the link rod from the steering column to the forward steering pivot. If you get half over a log the steering rod could get bent. I may run a couple of bars down the middle of the machine to prevent that. One would be on the front axle and another from the front axle pivot to the rear skid plate.

Nice stof sign.

Oh yeah.

Started working on a muffler. Just a simple single baffle or whatever you might call it. In through the center pipe, through the holes into the big pipe, and out a short tail pipe. The main body of the muffler is a 3" pipe, end caps are some big washers I had laying around. The muffler will probably be welded one piece to the rest of the exhaust just to save time. I'm going to try finishing anything mechanical on this thing this weekend, so I can paint next weekend and then finish the wiring.

Nice skid plate. Are you going to paint it?

Thanks, I think I'm just going to leave it as is. Paint probably wouldn't stick to good, the coating is like a plastic sticker.

Muffler done. Made a couple brackets to bolt it to the frame. Tail pipe is angled under the frame slightly to keep water from splashing up when in a stream.


Mounts just under the right foot board.


If you remember from page two, I had two of those oil reservoir tanks. One I made into the gas tank. I cut the end off the other one today and shortened it to make my air box. Bolted to the hood with a couple 1/4" bolts. Two 1/4" bolts welded to the box will hold the cover on. Cut holes through the box with a hole saw and then welded the short pieces of pipe on. Snorkel of course will go on the top one. The plastic flexible tube will go to the carb.


Plastic tube will go under the edge of the hood. Cover for the air box will probably be aluminum with a silicone gasket. Once everything is fitted I'll cut out a foam filter. Hood rack now painted also. The plan is to start on paint next weekend if all goes well.

wow i really like the fab work on the airbox and the muffler ! good job !

I like that airbox, how are you going to keep water from getting in it?

How will it filter air? Just gonna fill it with foam?

Thanks! Filter will be a foam element with some open spaces around the inlet and outlet. I'll have more pics in the next few days. Snorkel tube will extend up from the upper tube about 4-6". You'll be able to run in water about up to the hood. I figure you've gotta leave some room for waves.

Brake rod being welded on the side of the original simplicity dash.


Brake band setup with the hub and wheel removed of course. The brackets are wide enough to run two thinner belts side by side or a wider one.


Left side of the tractor, brake handle welded to the shaft. Shaft goes under the frame to the other side operating the band on the other hub. Still need something to hold the brake lever from going too far forward. Maybe a spring to hold it forward onto the stop so it doesn't flop around on rough terrain. Brakes should be done tomorrow. I got sent the wrong fuel pump, correct one is on the way.

What is that band you are using for the brake from? I'm looking to make brakes that stop my tractor because if i miss a gear downhill i'm toast

It appears to be a section of serpentine belt.

Yeah, just a serpentine belt from a car. I had the idea after seeing how sometimes pulleys freeze up on cars and the belts take a lot of abuse before burning off. In some cases anyway. The idea of a rubber lining isn't all that weird, they do have cheap go cart bands with rubber linings (which people say are junk). It's more of an experiment than anything. I'm not worried about wear all that much, I can replace the bands pretty easy. The belt seems to stretch a bit more than I thought, but it does clamp down on the hub pretty good. Time will tell how well they'll work. Haspin is only about 3 weeks away, no time to redesign for that. Afterwards if needed it won't be too hard to rig it up for different linings or even a whole new brake system.

Air box painted, lid done. Probably use wing nuts later.


Decided to just put the foam in the center. Gasket is permatex black silicone. Seal is not perfect, I'll put some strip caulk on it to seal it up better before I use it, which is like a tacky putty type stuff.


Air box on the hood. Snorkel tube more or less how tall it will be. Eventually my idea was to make a fancy head with a screen so it looks like a jeep snorkel, but I might not have time before haspin. Still a lot to do.


This pic showing how the air box is connected to the carb. Plastic washing machine hose (or whatever it's from) is connected to the plastic Tecumseh carb adapter with a piece of radiator hose that fits over both of them. Still need to make a brace so the weight of all the stuff flopping around doesn't hurt the intake bolts or pull the plastic adapter off the carb. Things will probably need to be sealed up with silicone to make sure it's water tight before going into any deep water.


In other news, brakes are now finished. Clutch springs mounted, so the clutch is now 100% done. Few things here and there to do before paint this weekend. Tail light, dash light, various wire holders, throttle, snorkel tube brace, tie rods, shifter lever cut and re-weld (too close to belt guard in high gear).

Looking good! Have you run the engine yet?

Thanks! Not with this carburetor no. But it was a running engine before when removed from the walk behind mower it was on. It has a lot of hours on it. I have two or three carbs that will fit. One (I think the one on it now) has a smaller venturi. I was going to try that one first for better (hopefully) throttle response. I still need to make gaskets and the exhaust, then I can test run it. The fuel pump came in the mail, so now I have pretty much everything I needed to order. Just a couple of simplicity "S" stickers from vintage reproductions still on the way.

Tail light bracket and guard done.


My idea is to run the tail light through a two way switch. Flipped one way will be direct voltage to the light, the other will run through a turn signal flasher so the light will blink.

Plenty of time left. Finish the exhaust and any critical welding before paint this weekend. Finish up some more small bolt on parts during the week. Wiring next weekend. Then any last minute stuff and adjustments on the weekend on June 4-5. Then load onto the trailer monday afternoon June 6th for haspin. If anything gets messed up too bad I'll just put in a couple of late nights during the week to get it straightened out. Main issue is if the clutch is going to work correctly. I'll probably do a test fit sometime before painting just to make sure everything is where it needs to be. There are two places to bolt the clutch pulley on the clutch arm for adjustment, should have plenty of movement to work right.

Smoking right along! Clutches can be a pain, lol...

The start of the exhaust pipe laying on the hood. This post brought to you by coca cola.


One piece exhaust finished.




Installed with plenty of clearance to work on belts ect. Shocks removed with suspension all the way down on the frame to make sure the front tire will clear the pipe. Alternator belt tensioner installed. It will be spring loaded.


Pipe bends out away from alternator.


As of now the throttle is partially done. It rained this weekend so no painting yet. Might be able to paint a few small parts inside this afternoon. I'll get things ready for painting during the week.

Manifold and snorkel arangement.


Transmission out to modify the high/low range shifter, which I forgot about. Throttle pedal installed. Intake manifold just needs a bracket to hold the cable and return spring.


High/low shifter in it's new location. Torched a hole through the top of the frame. It's a semi tight fit between the battery and belt guard, but you should be able to use it. Original location was maybe 3-4" forward. I only remembered that I never put the lever back in when I saw it looking for something else.

Haven't had much time for taking video, but here's a quick walk around of the machine in it's current state.

Taped up one of the front wheels and painted gloss black.


Grill primed grey. As of now the grill is painted white, hood painted orange, and some other small parts painted black. Brake linkage rods, carb brace, exhaust pipe, alternator belt tensioner, and drive belt guide. This weekend should see the frame painted and then the start of assembly for Haspin.

Looks good. Looking forward to how the paint it turns out.