More adventures with the Wankel Panther, when we last left off the carb was in pieces. In disassembling I tore a gasket and then the tip came off the needle when I tried to clean it so we clearly needed a carb kit. My local guy didn't have a Winderosa so I got some other crazy "universal Tillotson kit" which had fine gaskets but the worst needle and arm I've ever seen. Fortunately I had a Winderosa HR kit on the shelf that donated a needle. Got it all back together and it'd still run on the primer but wouldn't pull gas. What the hey? I farted around with it during the blizzard yesterday (with the garage door open and the wind blowing just right, it was pretty cool) and finally this morning discovered that the gas line in the tank was leaking at the fitting and wouldn't hold prime.
So it fired up and for the first time in 3 or 4 years it moved under its own power. I pulled it out of the garage and since the travel ban was still technically in effect I headed off down the street. We live on a dead end street so this is no problem anyway. Turned at the end of the street and had to put on my thinking cap, "which is the low needle?" Got back to the house, that wasn't the low needle... Finally got it running a little better and in a moment of foolishness headed around the yard in the 2.5 foot deep powder. I'd been told these old Panthers were really good in deep snow and I'm inclined to agree, once I found my balance we were going good until I ran out of yard and had to turn, I lost my footing (I'd taken the seat off to run a new fuel line) and lost momentum, whoops! Finally got the sled turned around and headed back the other way in my tracks. A little more fiddling with the carb and its running real good so I turned around again and headed back into the yard, made the turn but couldn't make it over the snowbank to the shoveled area where we walk the dog. Had to get Angie to drive the sled while I pulled a ski, it came out real easy doing that but during a quick stop Angie lost her balance and hit her nose on the handlebars. Be careful on these old machines!
Heres some proof:
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