Wow- woke up to so much interest~

Tiring day yesterday, but she's on the ground and unloaded- resting at John's.

That tow truck driver was definitely a "get-r-done" type of fellar!!

Thanks to Mud and Daniel for helping out- the work and being there gave us the extra energy to finish up.

It won't be the last time, but I'll thank John again- nobody nicer!

The DUKW history is in the original thread...

The tours will stay in Prescott- they'll just be an hour long (more turnover = more money) and will travel the historic downtown square - then go into lake Watson for a bit before returning. We won't run into any Pink jeeps on the actual tour- maybe just to piss them off on free time!

John Sr- 'll definitely be calling on the TV stations and papers to do public interest stories once it's up and running, painted and with the logo's on. Hell, I might even storm the TV stations and demand it with this beast!

We'll be back at it today and getting the engine ready to assemble this weekend.

The manuals should be here- the guy sent them off on Thursday so we'll have all of that. I do want to get the old gent who used to own one over real soon to point out all of the stuff we don't know.

Anyone with electronics background for hire to replace all of the wiring with marine grade wires? There's really not much, but we want to run a circuit breaker as well.

I might also hire a carpenter to do the wood work. I have so much business and marketing to do in the next few months that the extra help / speed may come in real handy!

See ya tonight John!

Watson...cool, sounds like a cool tour. Will be interesting to see the DUKW running around the square! Be on the look out for a little blue festiva ( ) I realy dont want to get run over by that thing on my lunch break. My boss would never believe me.

Hey Brian, FWIW, if we have to move it into the backyard later, I measured my gate and it is 1 ft wider than the duck. So, if the city complains about it sitting out front, after we get the engine in we can move it out back to finish it up.

Just how wide is a DUKW? Street legal?

-Spike

what kind of engine motivates a WWII 14,000# vehicle?

quote:

Originally posted by xrock:
The DUKW history is in the original thread...

*ahem* And for those of us that don't follow the SWANKY section and had no idea this was in the works...

http://nissan4wheelers.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/146605233/m/66410637431

It is 8.5 ft wide and street legal.

The engine is a 270ci inline 6 that makes about 96 hp and 225 ftlb

The only way your going to win drag races with that kind of power is against hotrods in 8 feet of water. I bet it doesn't have power steering either. How about adapting a ram assist? There are units out there that can surely be adapted.

I dont think it has power steering.. didnt see any hoses for it inside the engine compartment at least.

quote:

The only way your going to win drag races with that kind of power is against hotrods in 8 feet of water.

There's a very succesful DUKw/SEAL tour operation in San Diego as well.
SD SEALS

i am dying to know how much it cost ?
and where you got it??

thanks

quote:

Originally posted by tomas hayden:
i am dying to know how much it cost ?
and where you got it??

thanks

Yeah, me too... but I didn't want to be the first to ask,

There's one for sale in San Fran right now for $150,000 - There's also some pretty wrecked ones for $15K

I got this one from a guy in Portland who is starting Portland Ducks - Only $32K compared to others and prices, this is a very good deal.
In about a month or so, it will be worth about $70K.

Course I'm not selling it- This will be my family's source of income starting October 1

thank you .

it's a great idea and project .
i wish you all the best.

i just love that thing.

Brian, next time I see you, I want to ask about insurance, etc. needed to run a tour outfit like that.

Sure- I had to search quite a bit, but I now have a lady who's great. I have 3 million in coverage with an umbrella.

Finally got some detail photos of the interior...

The CTIS.. its not hooked up.


The front axle:


The belly and rear axles:


The aft compartment:


Forward in the aft compartment.. yo[u can see the chain drive from the prop shaft to the big bilge pump:


Old dash. This will all get pulled out and redone with Autometer gauges when the wiring is converted to 12v this month.


Upper driveshaft is for the prop. Lower shaft goes from the direction/prop selection box to the transfer case:


The prop shaft exiting through the aft of the hull. The shaft next to it is the rear PTO output, which would normally go to a winch, but will not be used in this case.


The brake booster, i believe:


A nice shot of the triple output two speed transfer case... wicked cool!


Under the driver/passenger floor looking forward into the engine bay:


Air tank for the CTIS:


Definitely 1930's technology here..


Selector valves for the CTIS and forward/reverse/propeller shifter:


Valves for controlling auxilliary bilge pump compartment source:


Another shot of the aft end.. you can see one of the bilge pump suction pipes in the lower left corner:


A hatch on the rear deck:


Hatch opened... lets go inside!


Inside this compartment is the rudder control. Its all controlled with cables and pulleys from the steering column.


Here are the cables being routed to the front of the duck:


Spare tire:


Pictures dont do the size justice.. this thing is huge..


A great shot of the Higgins chain drive bilge pump:


The currently empty engine bay. What is interesting is that the radiator fan blows air through the radiator into the forward compartment:


The ancient electrics.. all this is going away.


The business end of the duck, complete with railing fitted by the New York State Coast Guard Search and Rescue:


The prop:


A couple shots of the rear axles. Notice that they each have their own driveshaft through the hull:

Wow, that thing is gutted. Lots of wood replacement and rust scraping to do.

Are the windows just covered with tape or paper or something?

The windows are broken and need to be replaced. They have paint on them.

The front axle steering joints look an awful lot like Birfields.

-Spike