Tucker 222, 1957 Kitten

[vintagebike]

While you are still on dry land maybe try a choke circuit cleaning. Our Kitten was also hard starting when cold. The 100e Solex carb is a bit different than usual. Cleaned it up and lil' Cat started on first turn after sitting 6 months in the cold shop.

 

[GMoose]

Napa has spark plug extensions or non-foulers if these are of interest.View attachment 142940

That is cool, thank you.

 

[GMoose]

While you are still on dry land maybe try a choke circuit cleaning. Our Kitten was also hard starting when cold. The 100e Solex carb is a bit different than usual. Cleaned it up and lil' Cat started on first turn after sitting 6 months in the cold shop.

Did a complete carb rebuild last year. Starting much better now that I have spark plug gap. Thank you.

 

[vintagebike]

Let me know if anyone finds a Pertronix Igniter ll that will work on the Lucas distributor. 🤓

 

[GMoose]

Pulled the plugs again today after running the kitten around the yard, plug gaps were all good. Did add another copper washer on each of the plugs, 3 on each now, just to be safe. Starts much better and runs good.

Also replaced the lower radiator hose engine heater, it was missing the cord, this may also help starting when it gets really cold (assuming I remember to plug it in).

Also opened up the left pontoon and adjusted the clutch/brake mechanism. This is the one I had to repair last year after the welds failed. Clutch was slipping sometimes, so got it all adjusted now before the Joseph Oregon (Alpine Cat Jamboree). Should be good to go now.

Ran it around the yard, seems to work good, at least for now. We will see what we can brake on it at the Jamboree.

 

[GMoose]

Just a heads up to any kitten owners out there that may be interested. I have had a bolt that holds the alternator/generator bracket to the engine block brake off twice now. The first bolt was broken off when I purchased the machine, I removed the remnants and installed a used grade 5 bolt. I recently found that this bolt had also broken off, and just replaced it with a grade 8 bolt. We have put a lot of miles on this cat and it is a rough ride, and we don't baby it. Not sure why the bolts are braking, but thought I would pass this on so others might want to keep an eye on your bracket bolts, just in case.

 

[Track Addict]

That bracket looks improvised. The stock100e bracket supports the generator differently. Maybe the heat your bracket absorbs caused expansion combined with different pulley torque on the mount plus the hammer down effect?

 

[GMoose]

That bracket looks improvised. The stock100e bracket supports the generator differently. Maybe the heat your bracket absorbs caused expansion combined with different pulley torque on the mount plus the hammer down ef

Definitely a different bracket than what the manual shows. So, maybe this issue only applies to my Kitten. Thanks for the info!

 

[GMoose]

Built a ski rack for the kitten today, just need to paint it and it will be ready to go. Was able to use an old ski rack we had from a Ford explorer we had. The new frame to attach to the kitten uses existing holes so no holes or cat modifications were necessary. We will give it a tryout at the Alpine Cat jamboree in Joseph Oregon at the end of the month.