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Snow Trac/Master sheet metal mod?

Snowcat Operations

Snowcat Operations

Active member
Ok here is a question for everyone but for LYNDON in particular.

The sheet metal louvers just behind the hood (Bonnet). Can I just replace that with straight sheet metal with no louvers? The reason why I ask is that I have seen other Snow Masters with this type of mod and also I just hate those louvers. They tend to let snow in the engine compartment and rust the top of the variators. Whats you thoughts?
 
Funny, because I've done the exact opposite.... My ST4 came without the louvres, but I wanted to install them.... I just thought they might help with de-icing the windshield by blowing hot engine air. I made a "overnight" blanket to place over the front windshield and bonnet/hood to keep snow and ice out.
 
If you still have your old panel with the louvres, it should be fairly easy to fabricate a new one without the louvres. I´ll check my old one and check the difference between the two. Photos in a day or two...
 
Well I wrote out an answer to this and somehow I must have muffed up on the posting. Anyway these louvers were a source of corrosion. The Pipeline made fake leather snap on covers. Only one of my machines had this feature so they must only be on late model machines. They are not critical, in fact they probably are not very effective as they allow hot air out of the engine to be sucked right back into the engine. They attach by about 10 small bolt and nut sets to the dash and are hard to remove. The area they attach too is prone to cracking. I've had to have this area repaired on EVERY ST4 that I rebuilt. The Root Cause is loose body hardware along the floor line the whole length of the body. It's mostly 1/4-20, with a few 1/4" Rivits mixed in.You can easily pick out the one's I'm refering to as they will be ovaled out. It's easier to Break them off and replace them than to try to remove them. Use a 6 Point 7/16 socket. You may have to have someone hold the other end with a #4(the big one) Phillips. On almost every machine I've looked at these had worked their way loose. It's the side panel that eventually becomes the side wall of the cab. The most apparent damage will be near the front with the hardware toward the rear being intact and likely not requiring attention past the drivers seat.
 
Here is a picture of the piece I am talking about. Forgive the crudy picture but I shot this in the dark since I dont have any lights out there.
 

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Lyndon I checked the bolts and they were all tight and in place. I remove a few and they are not ovaled out either. Both the hour gauge and miles were really close. About 444. The hour gauge I believe is 466. I believe there is only 466 hours on this machine. Speedo cable is broke so that is the discrepancy.
 
On a "Master" if the original gearing was 'Factory'(11 X 42) the ratio is usually 1 to 2, so it is likely that it has 880 mile + or -.
 
What I did with this piece is remove the (3) 1/4-20's on either side, remove the (10) 10-32 bolts and nut sets, hammer out the bent and mashed up spots, then had a guy with aluminum welding experience dress up the cracks and tears. Aluminum doesn't tend to 'Work Harden' as readily as steel so it's pretty easy to get it back to it's original shape. The cracks where this piece bolts to the curved side panels and mates to the Dash/firewall area are much more difficult to repair as it is almost impossible to get this part loose from the machine. I always repaired it "In-Place".
 
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