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newer engines fo snowtrac
- Thread starter clhsmith
- Start date
the vw liquid cooled motor bolt in nicely but you have to re drill and tap the block there are addaptor kits for other lc motors but grose modifications to the hood are always required the subaru option might be the nicest but parts for motors fron the 80's are far and few next option and the nicest is the 326 porsche that one will rev to 8 grand. or just the good old 1600 and dont break 4500 rpm it will last for years i'm on the second year on mine i use it year around and put more miles on it in a month than most folks do in 2 years did 80 miles rround trip last weekend and another 21 today likely to do 40 tomorrow the air cooled engine has the advantage of being simple to change out in the field and inexpensive to operate parts are aalso cheep and the heat works great with good j-pipe heaters
deerhunter
New member
Hi: I am still working on my project but getting very close. Mine is a 1976 model SN # 1975 The VW expert that has helped me some, says the engine is 1200cc from the mid 60's and the transaxle is late 50's--My problem is that I want to restore the wiper system to the original. The manual I have shows detail for the above window wipers and mine is below windows design. Can anyone take a photo or email me a detail of this linkage. Mine still has the wiper motor in the engine compartment (that works) but no linkage beyond the first 3" swivel. if I had a photo or dwgs. it would make things much easier. Or maybe someone can tell me if it is VW with year and model. Thanks
sounds like you have a machine put together out of spare parts by the 70's i believe they were up to 1500 cc engines and the transmissions were bug transmisssions with a bus shift tower the newer st's had wipers mounted below the windows i retrofitted my left wiper with a pantagraphic wiper and motor off of a lull forklift mine also have the wipers above the windshields
deerhunter
New member
Thanks Don, My machine came out of BC and was used by the CN railroad. I have no way of knowing if the engine and trany were swapped. But my wipers are on the bottom of the window. And My serial number is 1975 and my year of manufacture is 1976 or Vise-versa. Maybe my expert is mistaken? I thought I was mistaken once, but than I found out I made a mistake!
All the VW engines will mate to the transaxel. There are clearence issues with Dual Port engines and the Variator towers. The really large displacement engines like 2400 CC, are probably too wide and would hit the drive chains. Rabbit motors will fit under the hood. My first choice would be a Jetta TDI, 90 HP Turbo diesel. It has a very high rev range for a diesel and would be like having a Porsche "SUPER 90" engine.Power, Torque, and high top end.
Conversions of this nature require extensive re-work of the heat and defrost systems.
Conversions of this nature require extensive re-work of the heat and defrost systems.
ABOUT THE WIPER ASSEMBLIES
Early years use thru-the-windshiels design wiper motors mounted directly above the windshield. After a certain year, not quite sure what year that was, they progressed to a central motor that I believe is a VW , VDO or Bosch wiper motor mounted on center in the cab. But as far as I could determine the rods connecting them were NOT VW. They were pressed sheet metal and had Nylon ball joints. The assembly that that the wiper arms actually rode on had a tendancy to freez up. They would rust so solid that they could not be freed up. Even though I had extras of the ball joints and complete extras of the linkage bars they could not be made to work. I resorted to pluging the holes and putting in conventional top mounted one. Boat places make nice ones, but they want an arm and a leg for them. Jeep places also handel them. Most supply houses have them.
I have seen other Snow Trac and Snow Masters that had abandon the central motor and gone to the 2 seperate motor system. Apparently Northwest Tell, the Yukon Territory's phone company had trouble with them because thats where I got the spare parts.
Early years use thru-the-windshiels design wiper motors mounted directly above the windshield. After a certain year, not quite sure what year that was, they progressed to a central motor that I believe is a VW , VDO or Bosch wiper motor mounted on center in the cab. But as far as I could determine the rods connecting them were NOT VW. They were pressed sheet metal and had Nylon ball joints. The assembly that that the wiper arms actually rode on had a tendancy to freez up. They would rust so solid that they could not be freed up. Even though I had extras of the ball joints and complete extras of the linkage bars they could not be made to work. I resorted to pluging the holes and putting in conventional top mounted one. Boat places make nice ones, but they want an arm and a leg for them. Jeep places also handel them. Most supply houses have them.
I have seen other Snow Trac and Snow Masters that had abandon the central motor and gone to the 2 seperate motor system. Apparently Northwest Tell, the Yukon Territory's phone company had trouble with them because thats where I got the spare parts.
deerhunter
New member
Lydon do you have any parts for sale or drawings and/or photos on the linkage for the bottom window wiper setup? I can try to replicate what you provide. My machine must have locked up because someone put individual motors on the wipes but they hugged out the dash. I rebuilt the dash and would like to go back to the original setup. Thanks
I might have drawings, but I sold my entire parts inventory some years back. I did succeed in collecting one of every part for 2 & 3 Belt Snow Trac's, and 4 and 5 belt Trac & Snow Masters. I dread to go see the guy I sold it to. If he sold any of the one of a kind original OEM parts all my efforts were destroyed. I had parts reproduced and never used the NOS parts. But lots of folks are not as dedicated to their hobbies as I was.
The little ball joints used were larger than VW ones. It is possible that one might be able to modify ones from a type 3 or type 4 for the application.
Motors ON the dash suck. Up above they are not near as obtrusive. But again, the little short stubby shaft that stuck out the front was a maybe 1/4" diameter shaft, carried inside a slightly larger brass sleve. The 2 disimilar metals didn't get along.
Krister Morlind, in Sweden does have all the original blue prints and technical drawings. Have you tried him for the linkage bars?
**For the not "Deyed in the wool" VW enthusiasts, Type 3 & Type 4 are specific runs of VW's, a bug is a type 1, a bus/van was a type 2, the fastback and squareback are type 3 up to a certain year when they become type 4's.
The little ball joints used were larger than VW ones. It is possible that one might be able to modify ones from a type 3 or type 4 for the application.
Motors ON the dash suck. Up above they are not near as obtrusive. But again, the little short stubby shaft that stuck out the front was a maybe 1/4" diameter shaft, carried inside a slightly larger brass sleve. The 2 disimilar metals didn't get along.
Krister Morlind, in Sweden does have all the original blue prints and technical drawings. Have you tried him for the linkage bars?
**For the not "Deyed in the wool" VW enthusiasts, Type 3 & Type 4 are specific runs of VW's, a bug is a type 1, a bus/van was a type 2, the fastback and squareback are type 3 up to a certain year when they become type 4's.
the only problem i have with my top mounted wipers is the narrow little band you have to look through the pantigraphic one on the drivers side works better.i would bet that couch loafer may have the rodds you are looking for
deerhunter
New member
No I have not tried Krister Morlind, how do I get a hold of him? And "couch Loafer"? Do I send them a private message? Is that how it's done? On the Brass sleeve--nylon/delrin would probably work better. It's not like you use the wipers that much, right? Thanks again for all your help.
just send couchloafer a pm and you can google up chris morland if i was you if you don't have the 1600 i would look into the upgrade makes a st come alive
Here's the link to Crister's site:
http://www.klovsjo.com/snowtrac/
For all practacle purposes he is the ONLY real Snow Trac parts dealer. He bought the franchise about one year after I got into collecting the machines. He doesn't have every part, but he does have every factory drawing and can have parts made. He used to have a fairly complete inventory. He also did the same as I did and had lots of parts made by copying an original, NOS (New Old Stock) part. He was also very reasonably priced. The only remaining dealers when he took over the franchise got all their stuff from him and marked it up as much as 300%. But they are all gone.
The US importer was Twin Pines Equipment out of Boston.
The dealers in Minisota, West Yellowstone, and Seattle all worked thru Twin Pines.
Alaska had a series of 3 dealers that got their stuff directly from Sweden before Krister took over.
There were also 2 dealers in Canada.
All have died off, sold out or retired.
In North America a few stashes of parts exist in Whitehorse Yt, and possibly in Prince Geroge and Kamloops. These were Canadian phone company service headquarters. When Northwest Tell sold out I got all the Snow Trac parts from Whitehorse. But the phone company kept all the Snow master parts.
I bought out the intermediary Alaska dealer in Delta Jct. Alaska. Jerry Mentzel bought out the last dealer in Alaska, Bill Bolunis. A man in Washington bought out me and Jerry, effectively cleaning out the supplies.
A dealer in canada still had some stuff, but I believe he sold out as well.
There is still a possibility the when Rudy Robinson's daughter sold out all the parts from Twin PInes in Millinocket Maine, that someone is sitting on this stash of parts. I had traveled to Millinocket and inventoried their parts collection in 95 and was dying to get my hands on a 4ft by 6ft AKTIVE Banner, but was unable to locate who and where the parts went to after Lisa Robinson liquidated.
It might be worth investigating the Iceland Snow Trac group as there may have been a dealer there. From their Website it sounded like they currently purchased their parts from Sweden direct.
Northwest Tell was a subsidary of CN, Canadian Railways and it is also likely that they had a stash of parts at a central canadian location as well as an eastern one. The head of purchasing for CN said he shelled out 30,000 for the last snow master, # 2315, and it went somewhere in central or eastern Canada.
Twin Pines in Maine had Snow Master # 2311, offered it to me for some too high price, then gave it away for a fire sale price when they sold out. It was a short cab groomer with full groooming attachements, the only one I ever got to see up close and in person. It did not have the side flip down battons, instead it had a rear mounted 10 or 12 foot wide assembly and a blade in front instead of the front roller. NOthing like the Soporo Japan Olympics machines.
The rule of thumb is: if it has a 111, 211, or 311 part number, it's VW. If it has an ST part number, either you make it, copy it or get it from Crister as it is a Snow Trac part.
The only parts that no one had, or reproduced were the Emergency Brake Cables, and the Spedometer Drive cable and Spedometer. The E-Brake cables can easily be frabricated with some copper tubing and a VW Bus E-Brake kit.
I don't think anyone had the special heater boxes either. Westermaskiner, and later Aktive, just took stock VW ones and modified them to fit around the variator towers. I just did the same. It requires a pair of aviation tinsnips, and good braising skills or someone that is good with a small wirefeed welder and patching together thin sheet metal.
http://www.klovsjo.com/snowtrac/
For all practacle purposes he is the ONLY real Snow Trac parts dealer. He bought the franchise about one year after I got into collecting the machines. He doesn't have every part, but he does have every factory drawing and can have parts made. He used to have a fairly complete inventory. He also did the same as I did and had lots of parts made by copying an original, NOS (New Old Stock) part. He was also very reasonably priced. The only remaining dealers when he took over the franchise got all their stuff from him and marked it up as much as 300%. But they are all gone.
The US importer was Twin Pines Equipment out of Boston.
The dealers in Minisota, West Yellowstone, and Seattle all worked thru Twin Pines.
Alaska had a series of 3 dealers that got their stuff directly from Sweden before Krister took over.
There were also 2 dealers in Canada.
All have died off, sold out or retired.
In North America a few stashes of parts exist in Whitehorse Yt, and possibly in Prince Geroge and Kamloops. These were Canadian phone company service headquarters. When Northwest Tell sold out I got all the Snow Trac parts from Whitehorse. But the phone company kept all the Snow master parts.
I bought out the intermediary Alaska dealer in Delta Jct. Alaska. Jerry Mentzel bought out the last dealer in Alaska, Bill Bolunis. A man in Washington bought out me and Jerry, effectively cleaning out the supplies.
A dealer in canada still had some stuff, but I believe he sold out as well.
There is still a possibility the when Rudy Robinson's daughter sold out all the parts from Twin PInes in Millinocket Maine, that someone is sitting on this stash of parts. I had traveled to Millinocket and inventoried their parts collection in 95 and was dying to get my hands on a 4ft by 6ft AKTIVE Banner, but was unable to locate who and where the parts went to after Lisa Robinson liquidated.
It might be worth investigating the Iceland Snow Trac group as there may have been a dealer there. From their Website it sounded like they currently purchased their parts from Sweden direct.
Northwest Tell was a subsidary of CN, Canadian Railways and it is also likely that they had a stash of parts at a central canadian location as well as an eastern one. The head of purchasing for CN said he shelled out 30,000 for the last snow master, # 2315, and it went somewhere in central or eastern Canada.
Twin Pines in Maine had Snow Master # 2311, offered it to me for some too high price, then gave it away for a fire sale price when they sold out. It was a short cab groomer with full groooming attachements, the only one I ever got to see up close and in person. It did not have the side flip down battons, instead it had a rear mounted 10 or 12 foot wide assembly and a blade in front instead of the front roller. NOthing like the Soporo Japan Olympics machines.
The rule of thumb is: if it has a 111, 211, or 311 part number, it's VW. If it has an ST part number, either you make it, copy it or get it from Crister as it is a Snow Trac part.
The only parts that no one had, or reproduced were the Emergency Brake Cables, and the Spedometer Drive cable and Spedometer. The E-Brake cables can easily be frabricated with some copper tubing and a VW Bus E-Brake kit.
I don't think anyone had the special heater boxes either. Westermaskiner, and later Aktive, just took stock VW ones and modified them to fit around the variator towers. I just did the same. It requires a pair of aviation tinsnips, and good braising skills or someone that is good with a small wirefeed welder and patching together thin sheet metal.
glad to see your checking in again always good t have the expert checking in
deerhunter
New member
Thanks for the info and the nice history. I am in Vermont so Millinoket, Me. is not that far...I will check with couchloafer and Morland. How can you tell what size engine you have without measuring the piston diameter?
post a picture of the whole engine and a pic ot where the intake ports attach to the head also if you can see the serial number under the oil filler alternator mount combo i can also tell you what it should be pics are a good thing to identify what family it should be also is the oil filler alternator mount attached to the case with bolts or is it cast as part of the case if it.s bolted on likely you have a 1500 or 1600 engine
deerhunter
New member
Ok I will take photos and look for some numbers....but how do i attach photos to this message? I tried that a year or so ago and could not get them to go!!! But now that I can handle myself around the key board a little better ---I'm almost as good as My 5 year old grandson---I would like to send photos of the before and present also Thanks Rolie
i use micosoft office picture manager and compress pics to documents size than they load and post quick
I grew up in Amherst Mass, and skiied alot in Vermont back when Snow Trac's were in their prime. I've also been associated with VW's since 1958.
This threads has some info on identifying VW engines.
http://www.forumsforums.com/3_9/showthread.php?t=35731
I could go on about VW engines all day, but you probably have petter things to do!
This threads has some info on identifying VW engines.
http://www.forumsforums.com/3_9/showthread.php?t=35731
I could go on about VW engines all day, but you probably have petter things to do!
deerhunter
New member
Lyndon: I believe my machine has an industrial engine 1600cc.
After reading what you told me and the thread you suggested I found the following: Serial # plate off of the dog house says Typ: 126A motor Nr: 126-059376 typzeichen: 10178 Ausf.: A lubr.: 1584 cm3: 46 PS bei: 3600 U/min plus the pedistal is a bolt on --the fan housing has clean air tubes coming from each side ---and finally the number under the firing order on the pedestal is AB-044334
If it is a 1600cc industrial engine that is good right? i am going to have to have someone come in to get some photos to you Thanks Rolie
After reading what you told me and the thread you suggested I found the following: Serial # plate off of the dog house says Typ: 126A motor Nr: 126-059376 typzeichen: 10178 Ausf.: A lubr.: 1584 cm3: 46 PS bei: 3600 U/min plus the pedistal is a bolt on --the fan housing has clean air tubes coming from each side ---and finally the number under the firing order on the pedestal is AB-044334
If it is a 1600cc industrial engine that is good right? i am going to have to have someone come in to get some photos to you Thanks Rolie
What you have is a VW Bug motor with the fan housing from the original 126 motor, and likely the exhaust heater boxes off a VW Industrial. The AB Block is a standard 1600 Bug engine which will preform just great for a snow trac. That engine may rev a bit higher than the VW industrial, 126 engine. The industrial would have had a mechanical advance distributor, where as the bug engine would have had a vacume advance. both will preform nicely. Parts are a bit easier to get for the bug engine.
If your engine had been a original 126, this number would have proceeded the serial number on the block. Also there would have been a "Crank-Nut" for a hand crank. Most of the time when the transition is made from one engine to another the 3 belt pulley and the hand crank nut don't manage to make the transition. The hand crank was a nifty feature if you had the engine tuned up well and owned one of the hard to get correct hand cranks that came with a snow trac. They are rare enough that people tried to steal them at VW vintage meets where I used to show the machines.
HI DON! Actually I've been following the site sporadically. There have been no less than 50 ocassions that I DIDN'T chime in because I didn't need to. You are rapidly becoming the "Resident Expert" and my two cents wasn't needed. That probably stems from the fact that you use your Snow Trac possibly more than anyone else I've ever met or conversed with. Good job!
deerhunter
New member
Great ---at least now I know I have the 1600cc bug engine...however..I have no vacuum advance on the distributor and I have the triple sheave and can feel a ratchet type nut in the recessed center. Do you think that a short block ( bug 1600cc) was fitted with all the old engine parts from the industrial engine?
Last guestion for today I wanted to change the ignition to electronic and bought a "003" distributor that came with vacuum advance and a high voltage coil, but when I put it together I had not spark!! The company expert said that the distributor was bad and they are replacing. Do you think that he is right? Rolie
Last guestion for today I wanted to change the ignition to electronic and bought a "003" distributor that came with vacuum advance and a high voltage coil, but when I put it together I had not spark!! The company expert said that the distributor was bad and they are replacing. Do you think that he is right? Rolie
you may have had the bug engine pu in it or had a distributor upgrade to a 009 dist at one time the 009 was the one to have also check that you have the pict 30/31 as alot of the time the pict 28 gets installed on an engine change and she will run lean and wimpy at the top end i'm not sold on electronic ignition coponents if you have a problem you have to buy the whole kit as lyndon said i run the snot out of mine and just have to clean and adjust points once a year if i have a problem in the field a piece of sand paper and match book will get me running again
deerhunter
New member
great advice guys---but Don what did you mean by pict 30/31? Are you referring to the point gap setting--should be .030-.031 as opposed to .028.
model number on he side of the carb look on the passenger side of the carb on theside of the float bowl should have a number with pict and than a number 28 for early engines 30/31 1600 single port motors and than 32 for duel port motors at least that is what i've seen on the aircooled engines i've worked on in dredges and snow tracs
deerhunter
New member
Yes it is a 32
sounds like you have the duel port motor it's newer and new heads are available and inexpensive good luck on your project