CHUGSzilla hill climbing Sasquatch Works 2024-03-11 | CHUGSzilla descending after climbing a steep hill in Utah's Uinta Mountains on March 10, 2024
Heavily modified 1980 Tucker Sno-Cat climbing a hill in Utahs Uinta Mountains Sasquatch Works 2024-03-19 | This is our Thundercat project, and it’s the most comprehensively modified Tucker we know of. The original owner was the Canadian Broadcasting Company, and it lived in Western British Columbia. Originally ordered as a 1544 with long front tracks and a factory installed six-way front blade, it was equipped with a Chrysler 318 Industrial and New Process 5-speed manual transmission. Incidentally, the name is not from the children’s animated cartoon series. Military aircraft get names like F-4 “Phantom” or F-15 “Eagle”, and I think perhaps the coolest name is that of the Republic F-105. It was called the “Thunderchief”, and the name is evocative of serious power. Since this is a snowcat after all, we changed it to Thundercat.We installed a GM 8.1 liter Vortec engine and an Allison AT545 4-speed automatic transmission. We replaced the rear mid-length tracks with long ones, and performed the damper wheel upgrade to the carriers. Eaton E-Lockers are installed in both front and rear. We stretched the rear frame 12”, and moved the front axle and fifth wheel plate forward 2” for oil pan clearance. We made a new bed that’s 18” longer and 6” wider than the original. The bed's deck is constructed of extruded aluminum planks and the sideboards are Philippine mahogany with seven coats of hand rubbed tung oil. The firewall was replaced with one of polished stainless steel. We added a new stainless steel hydraulic fluid reservoir, new hydraulic winch in the rear, new aluminum radiator with two electric fans, three new Derale thermostatically controlled remote fluid coolers, new instrument panel, new gauges, new switches, some auxiliary lights, new seats (with seat heaters), new upholstery (to include sound deadening mat throughout the cab), a new one-piece tilting hood, new ceramic coated exhaust and new paint. We completely re-wired the machine, and perhaps the singular feature is we replaced all the Tucker factory rubber hydraulic hoses with custom bent, rigid steel lines, using only short lengths of rubber hose when flex concerns warranted them. As an example of the attention to detail, the new gauges are AutoMeter Sport Comp series gauges. We wanted a hydraulic fluid temperature gauge, but AutoMeter doesn’t offer one. So they built us a temperature gauge with no function (such as “Water” or “Trans”) on the gauge face. I had a local graphics company make up some “HYD” labels, and then shipped the gauge and labels to a company in California who took the gauge apart and installed the new label. Then, they put it all back together and did a beautiful job of it.
CHUGSzilla playing in the snow Sasquatch Works 2024-03-11 | CHUGSzilla playing in untracked snow in Utah's Uinta Mountains on March 10, 2024.
CHUGSzilla playing in the snow Sasquatch Works 2024-03-11 | CHUGSzilla playing in untracked snow in Utah's Uinta Mountains on March 10, 2024.
1986 Tucker 1544 hill climbing Sasquatch Works 2024-03-11 | 1986 Tucker 1544 attempting to climb a hill in Utah's Uinta Mountains on March 10, 2024.
CHUGSzilla hill climbing Sasquatch Works 2024-03-11 | CHUGSzilla climbing a steep hill in Utah's Uinta Mountains on March 10, 2024.
1986 Tucker 1544 Sno-Cat in Utahs Uinta Mountains Sasquatch Works 2024-02-26 | On a trail in the backcountry...
1986 Tucker 1544 Sno-Cat in Utahs Uinta Mountains Sasquatch Works 2024-02-26 | On a trail in the backcountry....
1986 Tucker 1544 Sno-Cat in Utahs Uinta Mountains Sasquatch Works 2024-02-26 | 1986 Tucker 1544 with Chrysler 360 Industrial engine and Allison AT545 transmission. Engine has been upgraded with a Hughes Engines camshaft and Edelbrock ProFlo 4 fuel injection system.
1986 Tucker 1544 Sno-Cat in Utahs Uinta Mountains Sasquatch Works 2024-02-26 | 1986 Tucker 1544 with Chrysler 360 Industrial engine and Allison AT545 transmission. Engine has been upgraded with a Hughes Engines camshaft and Edelbrock ProFlo 4 fuel injection system.
CHUGSzilla Video 2 on February 11, 2024 IMG 0198 Sasquatch Works 2024-02-13 | First day of testing after major modifications to drivetrain:GM LS engine (L94)Allison AT545 transmissionFront and rear Eaton E-Lockers
CHUGSzilla Video 1 on February 11, 2024 IMG 0197 Sasquatch Works 2024-02-13 | First day of testing after major modifications to drivetrain:GM LS engine (L94)Allison AT545 transmissionFront and rear Eaton E-Lockers
1986 Tucker 1544 in four feet of Utah powder at an elevation of 8,500. Sasquatch Works 2023-01-15 | This Tucker was optioned with the Chrysler 360 CID Industrial V-8 engine, an Allison AT545 4-speed non-overdrive automatic transmission, Warn model 8274 front winch and roof mounted strobe light. It has been extensively overhauled and reconditioned.
1984 DMC 1450 in four feet of Utah powder at an elevation of 8,500. Sasquatch Works 2023-01-15 | The DMC 1450 has a Ford 200 CID I-6 engine, Ford C4 automatic transmission and OC-12 rear differential. This particular machine was special ordered with a 7.83:1 ring and pinion ratio (stock was 6.14:1). The factory installed wide tracks were replaced with a set of tracks and grousers 12" wider than the stock wide tracks.
