100th post! Wankel Panther back from the dead!

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:

Work continues

Got just a few minutes to work on the Polaris today, got one more fuel line cut and installed. I'd started this last weekend but ran out of zip ties. I always zip tie the fuel lines on since the time I had them fall off the El Tigre while I was riding...
I tried to reinstall the left carb which I'd removed Sunday to install a jet I'd accidentally left out. I'd left the carb off because it made it much easier to install the fuel lines but I found with the carb boot cold (about 5F) I couldn't get the carb to go into it, the rubber was too hard.

So I'm kind of stuck, I can't finish wiring the grips until I can run the sled to prove the wire I think should be a hot lead really is. I can't run the sled until I get the left carb installed and I can't get the left carb installed without it being warmer. I dare not run a heater near the carb boot because the left fuel line is disconnected and I don't want to start a fire. Until I figure out how to warm that carb boot up I'm sunk.

On the seat front I finally had to tear the plywood base off the seat, it was holding moisture like crazy and I didn't want to install the seat with the new seat cover knowing I'd have to redo it soon. Although in the spring I still want to pull the seat, sand the tunnel and repaint. Clearly the moisture buildup there has been a problem for some time. Unfortunately I don't have any 3/8" plywood on hand and Angie took the pickup truck to work today so I could put the snow tires on my car. Tonight I'll plug in the car's block heater (its supposed to be below zero tonight) so she'll have no excuse not to take the car tomorrow.

Arctic Cattin around

My '78 Arctic Cat Pantera has been sitting for a couple weeks now, I took it for a ride after our first snow of the season and on the way back decided to open it up and "blow out the cobwebs". That turned out to be a big mistake, as soon as I got to full throttle the sled bogged and died. I got it started again but didn't get far before it quit again. Rinse, lather, repeat.
Finally I called Angie to come get me and we towed the sled home the last half mile with the pickup. What an inglorious way to arrive. The sled restarted easily and seemed to be back to running normally until I once again went for full throttle. This time when it died it stayed that way.

Finally today I got a chance to get out and clean the carb, in doing so I found a mouse nest in the airbox. Clearly when I went for full power I pulled crud into the carb... Wasting no opportunity I shot a video as I cleaned, hopefully in a week or two I'll have it up here for you to see.

So now the sled runs, it doesn't idle well though, I can't tell if thats watery gas or if I didn't get the idle jet clean enough. I may just run it a little more and see if it cleans itself up.

Another one back from the dead!

Christmas Eve eve I went over to Ed's and finished the deal for his '77 Pantera. Angie has wanted this sled since Ed hauled it home so when I heard he was looking to get rid of it I knew I should get it. Unfortunately it had sat out for a year and wouldn't start so we manhandled it into the truck and I dropped it off at home. The yesterday I finally manhandled it into the garage. There wasn't any gas in the filter so I started by cutting away all the gas lines and rebuilding the pump. The kit I'd bought for the pump was too small but I cleaned everything good and put in new check valves, then put it back in the sled with all new gas lines. Before I connected it to the carb I pulled the engine over a couple times to prove the pump was pumping which it was.


Today I connected the carb and free'd up the slide which was sticky but the sled still wouldn't go. I shot some starting fluid down the plug holes and the sled fired right up which at least proved it COULD run. So I pulled the carb, the bowl was completely empty and the needle was sticky so I shot some carb cleaner into it until it moved reliably, cleaned everything good and put it back together. 5 pulls later and it fired right up. It took a good 5 minutes for the goo to work through and get to where the sled would idle correctly and get good throttle response.


I also had to spend some time to free up the brake too, I think it was just frozen but I pulled the cable and shot some oil in until it moved good. Once the engine warmed up the brake light even worked properly.
The only real issue with the sled is that the trunk door is missing. I know its at Ed's house somewhere but we couldn't find it. I'll look again in the spring.

Before getting the sled running today I made the trip down to Worcester and found the snowmobile/boat/atv registry. Hint its in an unlabled building... The lady was very nice and now both the Pantera and Grand Touring are legal to ride in MA. Now all we need is snow...