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1977 Tucker 542A Restoration Project

I installed an Eaton electric locker in the front diff. I usually only use the locker when pushing snow, otherwise I end up with one front and one back track spinning. That one locker makes a huge difference in push, and makes the Tucker hard to steer, so use sparingly. The Eaton system is instant lock and unlock, the hardest part is getting the dash safety switch to move! It has some child proof lock on the switch.
 
The Eaton numbers
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Track Addict said:
Clyde had an older 542? with terra’s out in McCall Idaho one year.

Was with another cat last winter that had them as well.

They don’t float or climb like the pontoon system. Also the contact area and bite on them takes a lot of effort to steer especially at slow speeds.

Perfect for our ice our east but heavy wet and fresh snow adds a lot of stress to the early tucker designs.
Click to expand...

Brian, Do you still have pics of the Rangley cat with the track refit?
 
Pretty sure those where MaxTrax which is not comparable to the Terra Tracks.

I’d say the MaxTrax that machine were only useful on ice or hard packed groomers if we are thinking about the same machine.
 
Update - finished up the rear fifth wheel plate repair and track install today. Measured for rear driveline and should have that in end of day tomorrow. We only moved the machine a small bit out of the storage garage, but it definitely did take a lot more throttle effort to move than the pontoons did. We literally moved the old pontoons out from under the cat with one hand while doing the swap today - hardly any resistance on those compared to the new Terra’s. Have to finish hooking up the seat heaters that we never got around to last year (was crunch time for the roadster show) and get our measurements for the roof rack. More pictures to come!
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Track Addict said:
Clyde had an older 542? with terra’s out in McCall Idaho one year.

Was with another cat last winter that had them as well.

They don’t float or climb like the pontoon system. Also the contact area and bite on them takes a lot of effort to steer especially at slow speeds.

Perfect for our ice our east but heavy wet and fresh snow adds a lot of stress to the early tucker designs.
Click to expand...

We actually ended up with that exact cat. But they had taken the terra tracks back off at the factory and sold separately. Bolted on some pretty worn out pontoons/axles and got it sold to the gentlemen we ended up buying it from. I think the used Terra’s sold for 41k back in 2020. We tried to snag them but there were others in front of us - that is a steal compared to what they cost now.

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They look great on the machine. They should break in and have less resistance overtime. Snow and water on them also will reduce the resistance.

We had a pack of zr 200 snowmobiles when the kids were smaller. The ones with most miles were always fastest once the sprockets idlers and tracks broke in.

Keep us posted!
 
Those weren’t even the molded terra’s like you got now. Those were belted rubber grousers and steel guides like on my 1443. Terra like.

Prob weighed a bunch more and not as smooth as your newer version.
 
Do those chains work as anti- rotation limiters? Steering angle limiters?
Better idea than the welded on square tubes
 
YamaDooPolCat said:
Do those chains work as anti- rotation limiters? Steering angle limiters?
Better idea than the welded on square tubes
Click to expand...
They are anti-rotation limiters. Or at least until you hit the bracket on a stump and snap the bolts securing the chain to the bracket. Must have happened at the tail end of the trip on Mt Adams and made the return to base slow and cautious. I think we flipped the track assembly another 4 times on our way down.

Got back and torched the old brackets off, cut out some new shorter ones, and added some gussets. I think we will break the fifth wheel next time if we hit a stump :ROFLMAO:
 
Update on our 543 -

The 440 felt a bit underpowered after its recent retrofit with the edelbrock pro-Flo 4 system while we were at the Serenade. Although it still ran well, we definitely were left feeling like there was some more untapped power it had to give. We ran a compression test on all cyls and found #1 to have zero compression. So off came the heads to find out if we had a bad valve, or a bad piston.

Turns out the valves and valve seats were toast. Cyl #1 had a broken valve which explains the no compression. No idea how long these heads were on this motor for before (if they were original, if they were used heads that Chrysler put on an industrial block to get it out the door?) but it looks like it sat for quite some time in between uses with lots of moisture. As you can see in the pictures there is a ton of rust on all the valves.

We ordered up some aluminum stealth heads from 440source.com as well as some new manifolds that don’t have the choke mechanism on them! We rotated the motor and no scoring in pistons or on the top of the pistons.

Anyone else running aluminum heads? Only concern would be heat and warpage.
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I applaud the speed at which you address needed repairs.

I mentally need to warm up to major service and repair. Starting with push rods, lifters and every other excuse to not pull the head.

We have a 440 powered 1744 that shows up to the snow cat clowder. Every year, they have 440 that snorts right along. He is not a ff member but i can ask him about heat.
 
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