[FINALIST] - AK's LT-08 Rat Rod Tractor Build [2019 Build-Off Entry]

Great Progress! Lovin the setup.

Thanks!

I kept at 'er for a bit after the update as well, hoping I could get it sitting on the leaves without the C-clamps.

What I ended up doing was modify a couple of trailer axle clamps so they would clamp down flat on the leaf springs:







Worked quite well! I just had to drill a couple holes in the big piece of angle up front and use a steel strap underneath for each clamp. It holds the leaves very well, but I have to gusset the piece of angle up front as there's quite a bit of flex there.

But regardless of that, I'm very pleased to say she's fully sprung!!!





I'm really happy with the way the front end turned out, should be a sweet setup!

Let me know what ya think!

Cough cough test drive...

Man... you come up with the coolest ideas of how to use stuff in unique ways.  Awesome job!

Well thanks Mighty! I sure try, haha.

Anyway, I knocked the exhaust off the list of things to do. I had it on at one point but it wouldn't fit with the wishbone mounts.

All I had to do was change the pipe coming off the engine and clamp 'er back on:





Good to go! I had to cut a tiny bit out of the grille as you can see, but that's no big deal.



Cut a nice angle at the end of it:



She's looking pretty sharp these days if you ask me!







Gonna work on getting the rear rims painted and the final tires installed this week, be nice to have that knocked out.

Let me know what ya think!!

Would be a good candidate to run a old metal tractor seat, I was thinking of doing it on mine possibly..

I think it looks very rod rod name worthy, Good work! How does the front end do so far on a cruise?

Any video of it running with that sweet pipe?

mrshaft696 wrote:

Would be a good candidate to run a old metal tractor seat, I was thinking of doing it on mine possibly..

Yeah that'd probably look pretty cool! I'll have to see if I can find something.

Destructive wrote:

I think it looks very rod rod name worthy, Good work!    How does the front end do so far on a cruise?

Thank you! The steering isn't done so there hasn't been any test driving yet. Shouldn't be long now though!

MightyRaze wrote:

Any video of it running with that sweet pipe?

Haha, no video of it yet.

One more thing off the list, got the rear wheels ready to go on:





They didn't turn out as good as I would've liked, but they're not too bad I suppose.

Should stil look pretty cool.

Are they any wider than the old ones?

Nope.

Are you looking for it to look like the old one with red?  I think they look pretty nice...

Finished up some stuff yesterday. Got the new rear wheels on:



Also installed my choke cable:



Then I finished up the steering:





Works good!

So I don't usually do this, but here's a video for ya:



Let me know what ya think!

Finally!

LOL. You only kept it in 1st? Man that thing moves.

Time for some Permatex on that air cover screw...

Call it the banshee..  LOL

Who needs 3rd, but you can have screaming fast when you may need it.  Love the side profile.


Also, boy the birds like to poop on it.

MightyRaze wrote:

Who needs 3rd, but you can have screaming fast when you may need it.  Love the side profile.

Yeah, 3rd is for getting to the Mexican border before the Canadian law can catch him for smuggling suspension.

MightyRaze wrote:

Also, boy the birds like to poop on it.

Hold it right there, those birds have obviously worked very hard at that. Besides, it gives it a very distinctive look

Bit of progress today.. Got me a proper 1/2" belt to replace the one that was slipping:



Completely cured the slippage, but unfortunately the belt would not clutch at all. Turned out all I had to do was add a retainer on the clutch idler so it would pull the belt in:



Works flawlessly!! No slippage, and perfect clutch action!



After that I made up the little gussets for the piece of angle steel at the front of the frame:



Welded them in place then I tore the front end apart a bit to fine tune all the suspension geometry in.



I did it once before but I wanted to do it again after I got the leaves mounted and drove it around a bit. It tuned in quite good after a lot of adjusting, all the measurments checked out and on the quick test run I did in 2nd it handled just fine. Didn't even need both hands on the wheel, haha.

Then it sorta took a different turn when I got the GPS out to get a speed reading for you crazy buggers. I shifted 'er into the next gear and after I let the clutch out we came to a rather abrupt stop.

Yep, froze up the pinion shaft:



Haha, whoops. I had the oil extra full to hopefully keep that from happening but I guess it didn't work. I do know that some of these 600's had a lower pinion bushing instead of a bearing, so if this is one of those that might've been the problem.



It'd not a huge deal, I have a replacement 600 that I can throw in so tonight I'll start tearing into it tonight and check everything out before sealing it up.

Anyway, here she sits for now:



Only a minor set back, haha. She'll be fixed up in no time!

Awe, the poor trans! Glad to hear you have a spare trans, you can make the deadline, you're so close!

Thanks, yeah she had a rough go the poor thing, haha

Anyhow I tore the spare 600 down tonight and unfortunately it also has the bushing for the lower portion of the pinion shaft. But since the rest of the trans seems okay I figured I would remove the bushing and replace it with a couple of needle bearings.

Had to assemble a little puller to get the bushing out:





Worked good! The bushing is just 5/8" I.D. by 7/8" I.D. I believe,  so it shouldn't be too hard to find a needle bearing to fit.

I'll see what I can find tomorrow!

Looks so cool with the hood off. Seeing those leafs amd the engine

Figures. You still got plenty of time!

Man that's an awesome ride I really love that front suspension ! I'd call it King Rat if it were me.

Haha, yeah it does look neat without the hood and grille.

Anyways, I made out pretty good today. Did some messing around with the pinion shaft and what not, the upper ball bearing seems okay:



So I figured I'd just take the bushing to a local joint and see if they had a couple needle bearings of the same dimensions. I was only able to get one, but that should work fine.

Got it pressed in:



To make up for one missing needle bearing, I decided to add a second ball bearing above the factory one:



Should be plenty sturdy now! I also removed the seal on the other side of the bearing so it can get oil from the trans. I think it should be a reliable setup.

Then I put 'er together with the ol' Permatex and tested all the gears:



Everythings good to go! Hopefully I'll get 'er put back in soon.

diddie wrote:

Man that's an awesome ride I really love that front suspension ! I'd call it King Rat if it were me.

Thanks! I appreciate it!

That trans is going to be rock solid!  Great job fixing it!