hey guys just thought id show you some fun weve been having at work with an old aircraft tug,,,Im a Helicopter engineer by trade and well weve had this old girl laying around for some time at work and the old dodge 6 has nearly given up th ghost ,so i grabbed our new apprentice ((ricer driver)) and decided to learn him up on hot rodding,its 42 model ?? with what looks to be an old kew motor but its data plater says chrysler industrial engine(in art deco font) 3 speed no syncro box ,,,,it weighs 5 ton and will currently change the rotation of the earth if you wanted to pull it,,, weve put in an aussie 253ci small block and what we call a trimatic (traumatic) gearbox,,,they are cheap over here and good low revving compact in size,,,it is left hand drive so ive converted it to power steering but used our RHD holden (GM) box etc set up side steer ,,,new paint seats and block huggers will be fabbed up here at work ,,,,we usually lend this tug to the erikson skycranes when they are stationed here for the forrest fire season as it is one of the only tugg with the low gearing to drag those things around ,,,but next season theyll be smoking rubber and wheelstanding in this jigger!!!!! Ive posted the pics to see if i can get any more info on the tug,,apart from the data plate the only other infor is cast into the rear bumper and it just says Illanois,,hope you like it,Flames dropped axle and loud pipes are on the way
the rear fenders are cast iron,,,they are 2.5 inches thick at the edges of the wheels and near 5 inches thick inboard from that,,solid steel!!! weve moved the axle forward 12 inches and a new hood will be fabricated to suit!!! im the only rodder at work ,,all the other guys are ricers and crotch rocketeers ,,,but its been amazing how theyve all gotten intersted in this old girl,,,,a few weeks back they wanted to send her to scrap!!!!
here some pics of the original engine,,it has pto fittings off th side of the block etc,,,,we used to pinch the cranks outta these engines to rplace those in our early gm 6 cylinders for racing,but this engine still runs and is too good to do that to cause shes really never been outta service since new(i tell a lie ,it was until i got there 4 years ago, i think it had sat for about 10 years only being stared about once a year),,,has anyone any info on these motors,,,,its an industrial motor not a car of truck kew variant,,,,,,any help would be great
Chrysler Industrial engines are the same basic block as the automotive engines, heavier pistons, usually updraught carbs, stuff like that. Some were the big engines, some the little Plymouth block. Those airtractors go for big bucks up here!
That looks like a fun build, I am not familiar with the chrysler industrial engines. A lot of those industrial units around here have Hercules or Continental Industrial engines in them.
Yeah the boss wanted to scrap her but i scratched some paint off her dog tags and it showed she had done time with 2 of our now major airlines a real long time ago,,,there are a few more of these old girls floating around the airport i work at but this was the only one left original,,,(i kinda feel bad about hacking her up) but its was get the guys at work interested or she was doomed!!!!!,,thanks for your info,,,ill keep you guys posted,,,,,im keeping the engine just so it can be returned to stock if need be,,,,the front plates and push bars on this machine are bent and buckled but they are also 1/2 thick steel,,,so god only knows what torture the old girl was put through in her previous life!!!!! ill try and measure the stroke coathanger style as i dont want to crack the head gasket as she still runs so sweet...many thanks
best part of this build is we dont really have to comply with any road going rules it just has to be able to drive ,steer and stop!!!!which it will soon again do but with much more power and grace!!!!
its been a fair while since ive posted anthing on the old girl,,,the steering box conversion has been done and is now a right hand drive Holden (GM )power box that weve turned upside down and relocated to the original left hand drive configuration,,using a toyota hilux drag link (near identical to the 1943 original),column is a shortened 7" colapsable unit from the same aussie car,, All the throttle linkages have been made from 1/4" rod and heim joints,,,,an old tbar shifter has been relocated to the dasboard and linkaged through the firewall and down to the transmission,,, New Ally tbucket radiator fitted,, New 3 piece hood fabricated and fitted New Radiator surround Fabricated Exhausts got finished today and we used a new set of cheapy sbc block huggers(the 2inside pipes are the onlyones that line up,,the other 2 and the collectors were remanufacuted by us,aircraft/racebike style floating pipes with springs attatched,,,and no it doesnt leak!!! ill post some more pics soon,, a whole lot more work has gone into it,,,for example we had a special pulling tool made up to remove the rear hubs from there tapered and keyed axles,,(which i just sold to a restorer in the USA who is now renting it out to other guys with these old girls) All this work is being done by 3 buddies after work each nigh over a few cold beers,,,,
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