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Snow-Trac Restoration Current Progress

Just wanted to post some pics of the current progress on my Snow-Trac restoration.

The first few are of the engine, tranny, radiator, AC condenser, electric brakes, and some other parts after initial fab and fitting. Then the rest are after removing all those items to prep the engine bay and parts for final assembly.
 

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Prepping for final assembly.
 

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Cidertom

Chionophile
GOLD Site Supporter
waiting to hear about the electric brakes. I was leaning that way myself. With out a booster, the disc brakes I used under-preform.
 
The electric brakes solved a lot of problems that existed with hydraulic ones. Yeah, no space for the master cylinder and booster, especially since I moved to the transmission rearward 3 inches. Electric brakes allow me to control them with two electric rheostats attached via a control cable to the brake pedal. Also, it's very simple to set up an auxiliary steering system with just an electric rocker switch or joystick. And, no need for running hydraulic lines and proportioning/splitter valves.

But mainly, the electric brake drums took up less space than rotors and calipers.

I'm not too concerned about breaking power. I have the exact brakes on my camper trailer and those brakes alone are more than enough to stop the camper, and the vehicle pulling it.
 
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Snowtrac Nome

member formerly known as dds
GOLD Site Supporter
electric brakes are a good idea ,the Subaru motor fits in nice too got to ask what do you need a/c for
 

300 H and H

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
I guarantee there will be a time that I'm glad I bothered to install the AC. Not sure when that will be..

My bet is you will use it a lot to rid the interior of moister and keep the windows from fogging up, on warmer days anyway. :smile:

Regards, Kirk
 

PJL

Well-known member
My bet is you will use it a lot to rid the interior of moister and keep the windows from fogging up, on warmer days anyway. :smile:

Regards, Kirk

Yep, it will make a nice moisture free cabin.

That Subaru motor looks real nice.
 

jask

Member
That is looking really good Jay, a Snow-Trac with AC!! whoda thunk it!? ;)

I really like your fab work on that valance/receiver and radiator, and am looking forward to seeing what you have in mind for the cabin side of the heat/ac.

is that a Kennedy plate and flywheel?
 
Yeah, Kennedy plate and flywheel. And German Transaxle of America in Oregon did a custom rebuild on the tranny. I wrote another post illustrating the custom 18 tooth rear drive sprockets I machined to give me more speed out of the Snow-Trac.

Here are a couple pics of the machining job I did to the brake drums and drive sprockets to attach them together.

The radiator/condenser/fan and brake backing plates are all attached via couple of thin plates that are bolted to the front skid plate. The skid plate is 1/4" thick steel and extends from the top of the grille area to just the point that it becomes parallel with the frame rails below. In the previous pics, you can see that I built a receiver pocket into the skid plate. It will accept my winch, or anything else mounted by a piece of 2" square tubing.

You can also see that I trimmed back the fenders so they no longer extend so low and forward of the grille area. I fabbed a steel structural strut for the front edges of the fenders that will keep them from getting damaged easily. There will be no bumper on this machine. After much debate, I decided to keep the front sleek. Oh, I'm going to TRY to run without any existing venting for the radiator/condenser/fan. The cool temps in Alaska might allow enough cool air to flow through without needing to cut an opening. If I experience any over heating, I'll open some more louvers on the front foot of the hood, just ahead and above the cooling fan. But at least the skid plate will remain uncut to keep as much snow as possible out of the engine bay.
 

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Snowtrac Nome

member formerly known as dds
GOLD Site Supporter
it needs a little bumper you get too sleek it might start to look like a krusty and certainly no glass packs on the a pillars.
 

luvthemvws

Active member
Your fab skills and craftsmanship are top notch! Nice work!
It looks like you've dangled a bunch of weight at the nose though.
I recommend you be REAL careful the first couple times you drive forward over an embankment or ledge. It looks like it could nose-over pretty easily.
Still, I am looking forward to see how it performs!
 

Cidertom

Chionophile
GOLD Site Supporter
Interesting difference in our approaches to mounting new brakes. I have been set on using the existing holes in the sprockets, where it looks like you machined new holes to match the studs in the drum. H'mmm perhaps I have been too set on using the trac parts as-is. For the Disc, I machined a set of Ford F-150 discs to fit. Have to give this some thought. Thanks for the effort.

If you are willing, what brand/size are you using?
 
If you are willing, what brand/size are you using?

Of brakes? They're 10" Dexter trailer brakes. The drums originally had built-in hubs and bearing races for slipping onto a trailer axle spindle but I machined those away. Once I had a hole in the middle of the drum (exactly 3", if I remember right), then I machined SOME of the thick wheel mounting surface away to make the drum fit closer to the sprocket. The wheel studs had been removed during all this machining, obviously. Then I machined the Snow-Trac sprockets to trim the 6 gussets down toward the center and make a "hub" that would perfectly slip into the new 3" hole in the drum. Lastly, I drilled the holes in the sprockets for the 5 studs.

Something important to note would be that the 5 stud holes in the sprockets aren't perfectly dimensionally spaced. I don't have a milling machine. So I drilled the holes with a drill press based on transfer punch marks. I oversized the holes slightly so all the studs would not bind up on any of them. The backs of the studs just have regular locknuts, not acorn-type lug nuts. The key to the drum remaining centered on the sprocket is the central hub and bore that I machined into the parts.
 
If anyone is considering an engine swap, they may benefit from knowing that the transmission can be slid rearward 3" without any clearance issues. This opens up the space in the engine bay for a bigger or longer engine, radiator, brakes, etc. This mod also moves some of the weight to the rear, which is beneficial. For those worried that they'll break a variator belt in the field, this mod still allows the belt to be removed.

Just cut out the crossmember for the rear tranny mount and build a new one 3" back with the same mount and holes for the all-thread support bars. The rest is just some minor trimming.

I kept the front crossmember the same but built the Subaru engine mounts onto it.

I can't speak for any heater ducting interference. I've removed all that and my new heat ducting will come in the cab through the side below the dash area.
 

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The original tranny cover will have to get modified or rebuilt. The steering column needs no modification, but it will enter at a higher angle and be taller. The clutch linkage needs shortened And some trimming needs to be done on the firewall, as the variator linkage needs to pass through when steered to the left limit.

I don't know if the original master cylinder would interfere. Mine is removed since I'm using electric brakes.
 

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Cidertom

Chionophile
GOLD Site Supporter
I got tired of getting under the dash to remove the cowling. I used stainless steel rivnuts set into the cab. Now I can remove the cowling in about 5 minutes which makes working on stuff against the firewall much easier.
 
Would a VW automatic transmission work in that application?



Anything will work, depending on how much modification you want to do. I don't know if automatic transmission was available for those old beetles and busses.if so, there might be a good chance of a direct swap.
 
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