Hi John,
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Just wanted to let other people out there playing with old Wildcats, that they shouldn’t be scared of the Wisconsin engine.
Everybody seems to want to rush in and replace it with something else, when it can be repaired reasonably cheaply, if you have a bit of engine knowledge.
I have included some pictures of my own Wildcat with the Australian built Wisconsin my son and I recently rebuilt. It was a result of the previous owner leaving it out in the weather and water flowed into the exhaust via a broken off muffler.
I must admit that it was only a top end rebuild, including new pistons, rings, gudgeon pins, four exhaust valves and a new intake manifold, as the old one was rusted through. I had my local engine machining shop install two 1/16 thick sleeves into both cylinders, as one pot in each side was badly pitted. He was a bit dubious at first about doing this, as the side walls of the cylinders are very thin, but I had nothing to loose as they were unusable the way they were.
I purchased parts from a supplier in the USA and were very reasonable, I think from memory the pistons, pins and exhaust valves came including post the very next day for under $300 Aus. It has cost me about $1000 to get the engine running again plus some paint and a bit of TLC on the tin work, which had rusted away in spots.This is a hole lot cheaper that buying an equivalent horsepower engine and retrofitting.
I have completely degreased the whole machine and have to replace the rusted out floor at the front, but hope to get it ready soon for the original green paint when the weather warms a little. I had a good friend of mine in Melbourne vinyl cut the “WILDCAT” decals for the front, so should look a treat.
I have always had these machines embedded in my memory, as my late grandfather had one in Cape Conran near Marlo Victoria, where he used it on his farm, and then later building the Burbang Adventure Caravan Park, which has now been named Jungle Beach. He had a front end loader, slasher, rippers and a blade and it got used a lot. An amazing little machine! I think there is some old video footage around of him working it if you are interested.
I hope to build a front end loader for mine and if anyone out there has one, I would like to be able to measure it up.
Anyway, your site is great and if I can be of any assistance to anyone, please don’t hesitate to contact me on pj.dew@bigpond.com
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Yours faithfully,
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Peter Dew.
Lakes Entrance Victoria.