'69 443A , upgraded to a 444 B...

[olympicorange]

……… so,... here's the start to a new saga ,... thanks again to Don & son,...and many thanks again to Brian,......for the discovery of the 'ol 443a ( which jay&doug @ b&b fab. & paint) , upgraded to ...what I call A ''444 B'' . now as far as I know , Tucker never actually made this model, but not positive. they made some mods to this sedan, that I think most of you would appreciate, etc. but, I will point those out as the pics follow in the near future. so, after a year of cell calls, text, emails, ''haggling, dickering, bartering'', etc.... here's a few pics of the ''rescue'' mission , from where it used to groom the local trails, ..and back to ''Tucker Lake'',..... stay tuned....

 

[olympicorange]

………. and the rest of the trip back,...……… sounds like an old ''Sherman'' tank (one of my favorites) ,..... creeping along,....

 

[loggah]

I see you got it home o.k. , you attempt to fire it up yet?

 

[olympicorange]

I see you got it home o.k. , you attempt to fire it up yet?

,...…… yes,.... went thru the paces first,... cup full of gas down the carb,...and it fired right off . sounds great. needs a mechanical lift /transfer pump,...… before a test drive,...………..

 

[Track Addict]

Glad that thing was allowed out from behind the shed!

Friend who fabs some of my parts commutes from wolfeboro to Rochester was taking the back round route their with his son. Spotted that thing from the road right after I broke my leg few years ago. Picked that thing over on crutches in the snow.

I’m sure you will give it the love it needs. Set of rubber tracks under it would do it well!

 

[olympicorange]

…….. first step as always; clean-up . put the ''suds'' to the skin, to remove the fungus, and let mother nature rinse it off. once the rain stopped, cleaned out all the spare parts ( mostly track parts) , and debris. rigged up the vac, although mine has a filter outlet attachment, I added a longer hose , as we discussed on 'ol Nellie. wasn't much signs of mice , ...or ''snake skins'' ..lol. but the chipmunks sure had a hell of a stash of acorns thru out the interior. next was to check all the drain plugs for moisture, metals, sludge, etc....all good there, quite clean & normal. then grabbed a 3/8'' ratchet & socket , to rotate the engine over 720 degrees, no issues there. checked fluid levels ; all good there. coolant still was under pressure when I removed the rad. cap. Don & son said they had it running 3 yrs. ago. the normal issue with the fuel tank; paint thinner odor . so, removed fuel supply line from the mechanical lift/transfer pump , to install anew hose to a gallon jug of fresh fuel. in doing so, noticed a ''blood'' stain on the side of the pump ''weep'' hole . but no sign of old gas at the oil pan drain plug or dipstick was present. installed battery , gave a splash of gas down the venturi , and cranked it.....fired right up. would only run on the cap fuel of gas poured down the carb. removed the fuel filter to check for a blockage ( of old ''tarnished/shelleced '' ) . filter was fine. cranked over to check lift pump operation-n/g. going to guess that old ethynol gas ate up/ruptured the pump diapram. ( usually gas in oil though). so , could possibly be a broken actuator arm, or bad cam lobe, etc. … will kow once old pump is removed..... so, one of the first things that caught my eye, the first time I looked at the buggy, was that they had added a fourth door to the left side of body, relocated the fuel tank to the rear, and added a bench seat to the middle location , hence the fourth door. I thought what a great update /mod. your passengers aren't so far away from the people up front. more mods. of this 443 to follow,.....

 

[olympicorange]

Glad that thing was allowed out from behind the shed!

Friend who fabs some of my parts commutes from wolfeboro to Rochester was taking the back round route their with his son. Spotted that thing from the road right after I broke my leg few years ago. Picked that thing over on crutches in the snow.

I’m sure you will give it the love it needs. Set of rubber tracks under it would do it well!

……… roger that ,..... ?? so by ''picked over'' do you mean ;...found fault with it ,..or picked parts out of it. …. ssshhh…. your giving away my plans on the tracks...lol. so remember the ''archives'' parts buggy. (R/S) …. yup...I've had a plan for quite some time …….

 

[Track Addict]

I have some doors for your project if you want to add the fourth.

Matching tucker of same error. Frames great skins are good other than the drop down bus windows installed.

 

[Track Addict]

I meant picked over the sad tracks and maybe grabbed some spare pontoons.

Those parts that may or may not come off would be useful spares on the East for a few local cats!

 

[olympicorange]

………. thanks Brian,... im happy with the body in it's current form, I can actually sit in it , with the ''wifey'' and shut the doors. more head room. so where did Tucker go wrong in the late 70's?? it has four doors now, which makes quite a nice upgrade. i'm not going to go crazy on this one, it's got a ton of updates on it already, which I will highlight as time goes on. it needs som Luv to spruce it up; fuel pump, wiring, lights, wiper blades, complete service, ''snug up the 5th whl. plates, etc.... the normal stuff. I will pull the engine, drop the pan & ''roll-in'' a set of brgs. & a new high volume oil pump, for piece of mind. it's one of the first things I do on pretty much every engine I intend to keep in the fleet. top ends usually out last the ''bottoms'' , 2-3 times longer .

 

[olympicorange]

………... I've always been a chevy guy , so this 5.7 is second nature,... of course , if it ever ''goes south'' ,... then it's ''B'' time ,...

 

[olympicorange]

............. took lunch break ystrdy to do a little diagnostics,.... replaced fuel pump , ck. fuel supply to carb.; o.k. fuel filter plugged -replaced . cranked it over , no fire. started right up last time with a splash of fuel down the carb. not today. ck. for spark-none. ck. current to H.E.I. -o.k. r&i dist. cap & inspect-o.k. replaced coil, re-ck. spark -o.k. just that quick to lose a coil. cranked it & walla; running. next was ; ATF was puking out of the dipstick /filler tube. trans. breather tube missing & port plugged with a mudwasp nest-cleared out . topped off trans. & restart-all good. ck. remainder of fluids; diff.'s , t/f case, etc. fired it up ; got the regular SBC blue smoke start-up; valve guide seals seepage. after warm up, ck. gauges , charging , temps, o/p, etc... all good. smoke cleared up. to return for each future startup is normal, till seals are replaced. so , hoped into it , grabbed ''D'' , and off we went. shifted thru the gears fine, rev. even worked . parked it back in it's place. removed fuel tank, full of varnish & sludge. nothing Marvel oil & marbles won't take care of,.....

 

[Snowy Rivers]

The mighty mouse roars again.....

Carrying a complete HEI cap and a module in the tackle box plus a fuel filter is great insurance when out in the bush...

Chevy 350 or ??? looks like a later model by the Valve cover style ??????

Which tranny does it have ???

 

[sno-drifter]

Make VERY SURE that the allthread stud which holds the air filter lid on is secure. I had one come lose, worked it's way into the cylinder, rocked the piston and cracked the block on a very nice 327. My allthread was shorter than yours but a good thing to check.

 

[olympicorange]

The mighty mouse roars again.....

Carrying a complete HEI cap and a module in the tackle box plus a fuel filter is great insurance when out in the bush...

Chevy 350 or ??? looks like a later model by the Valve cover style ??????

Which tranny does it have ???

…….. yes... 5.7L ,.... 1987 , correct ; center bolt valve covers, 1st year. don thought they had put an L81 corvette engine, but obviously it's a few years newer. runs great. started it ystrdy and no smoke out of the tailpipes. the tranny is a TH400, one of GM'S best for the era. they're tough. I've rebuilt tons of these for mud trucks, pulling trucks, plow trucks, etc. you can do some simple mods to them that makes them last & function for years. in fact the one in my ''burb'' , originally was in a k30 plow truck I had years ago. bought it with the trans. blown, rebuilt it , plowed the shop for years, sold it to my brother, he drove & plowed with it for 7 yrs. then I ended up with it again. drove it for 6 yrs., till the frame let go. then I put it in the ''burb''. been plowing & hauling with it for 8 yrs. ''knock on wood'' as they say... and even easier ; carry a complete H.E.I. DIST. assy. in the toolbox... self-contained unit....

 

[olympicorange]

Make VERY SURE that the allthread stud which holds the air filter lid on is secure. I had one come lose, worked it's way into the cylinder, rocked the piston and cracked the block on a very nice 327. My allthread was shorter than yours but a good thing to check.

….. good point,... I had that happen , back in h.s., on a s/b ,... small carb. nuts vibrated off . when I pulled engine apart, they were ''impregnated'' in the top of #3 piston.... thread-lock & jamnuts help for sure,....

 

[Snowy Rivers]

The TH400 is ALMOST indestructible.

The one weak place is the center support lugs in the case....if they get worn the center support will start wiggling and the "oil feed bolt" that feeds high gear starts leaking and soon the high clutch goes away.

I was going to go with a 400 but got such a great deal on the 350 that I decided to use it instead.

The 350 is pretty tough box though....

Best part of the SBC is parts are available at almost any drug store (Ah yeah)

The compact size is another blessing too...

Great package for the cat.

I have started looking for a 400 SBC to stick in the corner.

A long way off to upgrade the 2100, but I have a lot of corners...

 

[olympicorange]

..... good point,... so the trick there is ''thread-lock'' ,.. and to ''pre-load'' the support ''ccw'' before torqueing , and that usually works. as for the 400 sbc ... they're alittle more on the rare side ,... and the kicker there is that theyre ''externally '' balanced ,.. as opposed to the other sb's ,.. which are ''internally'' balanced. they look the same on the outside....

 

[Snowy Rivers]

The big deal on the TH400 center support WAS/IS if the case lugs have worn enough to allow the center support to wiggle back and worth...then there is trouble brewing.

Been there a time or two and earned my stripes figuring out why clutches were burning up.

Had a customer who had paid big $$$$ to get his tranny in a big motor home rebuilt and within a short time it went away again.....That was on the East coast...and we are here in Oregon.

Ripped it apart and discovered the worn case lugs.

A fresh case and some clutches and off to the rodeo.....

Another one had seen the anti fretting ring left out.....


As far as the 400 sbc goes...yeah they are externally balanced..... but the balance thing only deals with the flexplate/flywheel and harmonic balancer .......I see them on Craig's every so often.....

If I can find one reasonable I will grab it.....

They are not a screamer....but they can make big torque.....

 

[olympicorange]

..... getting ready for an upcoming wedding....removed the painted on /cleared over ,...old advertisings ,... and the front frame rails were bare.... removed the old manual trans. mounts on the frame rails....

 

[olympicorange]

...new ''grave digger' green...

 

[Track Addict]

Where’s the other green pontoon ?

 

[olympicorange]

….exactly,.... awhile back you had said you had both from Don, and some misc. pontoon parts...….so....''rugs in the tubs''....lol :th_lmao:

 

[olympicorange]

....... mission accomplished .....it's official....

 

[olympicorange]

........ from the bride & groom,...

 

[olympicorange]

........ took a ride to the end of ''Tucker Lake'',.....

 

[Snowy Rivers]

Looking great....just add snow and life will be sweet.....

How many acres is "Tucker Lake" ????

 

[olympicorange]

....... absolutely,..... but let's not rush the white stuff just yet,.... got a lot of things to do to get ready,... as many other people do I'm sure. ''Lake Tucker '' is 75 acres of flat area, and another 50 in the wooded area .... lots of play room,...

 

[Snowy Rivers]

I assume you are doing hay on the "lake"

We have 45 acres here and it is mostly timber....we recently logged 22 acres.

5 acres in horse pastures.

Not much play area....sadly

Yeah I hear ya.

I am in hopes of getting my outfit to a point this summer that the cab is on....If only temporary..

Likely be many fittings


Carry on.....

Looks like a marvelous play area you have...

 

[olympicorange]

..... yes,... when the water recedes ,... I like to call it ...;;algae control'',....