| 10/10/98: This is how we found the cats early in the morning. Looks like they are in pretty good condition. |  |
| Right side looks OK, door fits, track is in good condition, and tires just need some air. |  |
| Left side looks good also. |  |
| Looks ma spare parts, grousers and a spare track, cool. |  |
| Instrument panel doesn't look like it's been modified too much. |  |
| Engine looks a little like it needs some work, we haven't tried it yet. What you can't see in this picture is that there is nothing connecting the engine to the transmission. Someone took the clutch out and never put it back in. |  |
| 11/1/98:
Few things have happened, the first cat (Spryte #2) we worked on is out of the shop and
the second cat has been moved in. Several things happened before this picture was taken,
the clutch was reassembled and installed, and a new starter motor was then installed.
After dealing with a brand new starter motor that didn't work the first thing we did was a
compression test, the cylinders measured 110, 110, 40, 0, 0, 25 psi respectively, not
good. So off came the head, valves all looked OK, pistons looked OK, everything looked
fine, so what's up! 11/8/98: We determined that the lifters were not working right and the valves were not closing all the way. So we cleaned up the head, valves, pistons, replaced 12 hydraulic lifters and 12 valve stem seals. |
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| Here you can sort of see the reassembled head sitting diagonally across the engine compartment. The gas tank has also been removed from under the passenger seat so that it can be dumped out. |  |
| This is a better shot looking down on the engine compartment with the head sitting across the top. |  |
| The head cleaned up pretty well. |  |
| Here's the head, and rocker arm assemble reinstalled on the engine. We did a compression test at this stage of reassembly on one of the cylinders that read 0 before, 100+ now!! This is looking good! |  |
| Valve cover is back on the engine and all the plumbing has been reconnected. Radiator is back in, it's time for the moment of truth. |  |
| VROOM!!! ahhh hahahaha it lives... |
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| 11/15/98-11/16/98: Well the front end it working, now it's time for the rear end. First thing we did was replace 1 broken stud on both the left and right drive shafts. What we thought would be an ugly job turned out to be not so bad. All it takes is the proper tools, in this case a 20-ton hydraulic press and a big gear puller. Just to replace the stud the whole thing has to come apart! |  |
| This is actually an after shot, but you can see the main drive gear, and what a gear it is, and the hub at the far end. (Those are the legs of the master mechanic who's garage we are working in!) |  |
| There's the drive shaft on the right and the housing on the left. |  |
| This is what the rear end looks like with the drive shaft removed. You can just barely see at the top of the opening the gear that engages the big gear on the end of the drive shaft assembly. |  |
| 12/01/98: Well 2 weeks of sanding, scraping, stripping, and cussing, 30 years and 5 or 6 coats of paint are gone from the body of the cat. The undercarriage only seemed to have had one coat of paint on it and spots were starting to rust. |  |
| OK, so there is a little paint left here and there, but you know, it either won't be seen or the paint is stuck really well and won't come off. |  |
| You can see here how the bogie axles are attached and how the rear drive shaft mounts to the frame. |  |
| This is going to be cool when it's painted! |  |
| Hopefully the next picture you'll see is the cat with a fresh coat of paint. |  |
| 12/13/98: It's taken a lot of time, but the primer is finally on. |  |
| Doesn't look to bad in just primer, but the paint goes on next. |  |
| 12/26/98: 2 coats of paint and 1 week of drying for each coat and it's ORANGE! |  |
| Last thing to do is check out the rear end and make sure everything is in order before it's sealed and filled with oil. Everything looked fine. |  |
| 12/27/98: Well the cats on tracks. |  |
| Now to just connect the ends and make them an endless loop. Hope it goes as easily as the first cat did. |  |
| NOT! 4 hours and alot of pain later they are done. New bogie tires and filled monorail tires changed the dimensions, we had to loosen the front adjusters to get the ends to come together. |  |
More to come as the saga continues. |
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