Props for Spaulding Vintage

I mentioned the new seat tabs in my last post, I picked them up From Spaulding Vintage Snowmobile online at http://www.spauldingvintagesnowmobile.com and they're fantastic!
The whole process was great, I ordered online just before Christmas the parts arrived just after Christmas and they're exactly what I expected. Shipping was CHEAPER than actual, he charged me $1.29, actual was (from the USPS label) $1.92. In a day when so many places make a profit on shipping its nice to see somebody who doesn't cheat you.

I'll definitely be ordering from Spaulding again, they have a tunnel repair plate should I need one and I definitely need the rubber strip that holds the windshield down. Speaking of which I may go order that right now!

One step forward, two steps back

Got some spare time yesterday to start welding the old '70 Ski-Doo back together. This is the first work I've done on this sled since 2008 and its sorely needed.

First I pulled the old seat tabs off. The old tabs were held on with screws which of course means each leaves behind two holes in the tunnel so step one was to weld the holes back up. This is kind of a fiddly job involving a small rosette weld. With that done I welded on the two front tabs:

Today I went out to test fit the seat and ensure the spacing was correct, I'd only tack welded the tabs in case my spacing was off. I rapidly discovered that although my spacing seems good the board I used for the seat base is too thick and the tabs won't fit it. I used 1/2" plywood which I thought was the same as what was there, apparently it was originally 1/4" ply.

If you look carefully at the picture you can see that the top of the tab just barely pokes through the ply. Part of the problem is that the wood is thick, the other part is that there are stiffening ribs that run perpendicular to the tunnel which raises the wood a little. This raising is actually a good thing because it means that the bottom of the wood has a chance to dry and not rot out as quickly. To help that I've polyurethaned the wood within an inch of its life and just before I install the seat I'll wax the wood which should help it shed water even better.

With the seat not fitting I didn't know what the problem was and still didn't know if my spacing was any good so I removed the million staples that hold the seat base to the seat so I could look. In reality I shouldn't have attached the base to the foam before making sure the tabs fit right...

So my options are to bend the tabs until the seat base fits right, go with a thinner seat base, or put the tabs on spacers. I measured and played and found some 1/8" strap steel in my garage that will make the perfect spacer. So I'll weld the tabs to a scrap of the 1/8" steel and weld that to the tunnel. Further investigation reveals I had the tabs 1/4" too far forward anyway so its a good thing I didn't finish weld the tabs in.

Before anybody says anything, yes the paint I put on the tabs is a terrible match, I had some Cub Cadet yellow that is a much better match but I can't find the stuff so thats just Rustoleum to keep rust at bay. You'll also notice the tunnel is very rusty. I'm thinking this summer to strip the whole chassis down to nothing and have it sandblasted and repainted. That might require the tunnel top be replaced but we'll see...

Ski-Doo repair!

Heres a post I bet you thought you'd never see. Today after I got my Pantera started I also started my 1964 Cub Cadet garden tractor and pulled my 1970 Ski-Doo Olympique 12/3 out from where it has sat for nearly 5 years. One thing I was reminded of immediately is how light this machine is, the rated dry weight is something like 295 pounds. Because of that weight I probably didn't even need the Cub Cadet, I could have hauled this by myself. We went all the way around the yard because its hard to turn a sled strapped behind the tractor, and into the garage. The last few feet I put the sled on a furniture dolly so it was very easy to position. Now in my garage I could more easily access what I'm up against. The last time I ran this sled the seat broke loose from its moorings and when I ran it low on gas it sucked crap into the carb. Fortunately I'd fogged the engine good so it's still free. The last I checked the engine was low on compression, around 80# which could be carboned up rings from running too rich a mix and from not getting run hard enough. My plan is to get it running again and take it on the trails in our local state park. I'm told that somebody running something like that early in the season won't be hassled. So I need to place an order with Spaulding Vintage. I need seat clips which I will weld onto the seat frame, and a rubber for the windshield. This sled has a cut down windshield that I really like so I'll keep that. Once I get those installed I'll clean the carb and probably set myself up with a small gas can for testing, then I'll look at the main tank and see what needs doing. If I can run it on that this year I will and next summer look into cleaning and resealing again.

And we're back!

Boy its been a long time hasn't it? 2012 has been a washout for snow. The 2011/2012 season was completely lost, we had two feet of snow in late October 2011 and not a flake until March when we had another four inches. I got the '78 Pantera started for that snow in October, managed to get halfway around the yard before I buried it in the soft wet snow and there it sat for two weeks until the snow melted. It taunted me because each morning when I went to work the snow would be all nice and hard but I didn't want to wake the neighbors and at night it would be all soft again until I was ready to go to bed. So phooey! Here at the end of 2012 we've been taunted a few times but nothing worth reporting has fallen. I did managed to get the '95 Ski-Doo Grand Touring out of its slumber. I was pretty much shocked when it started right up. I'd expected it to fight me but it was really just a peach. As a reward I washed, polished and waxed it up nice and gave it a new tarp which I managed to rig in such a way that the whole seat is covered. The previous tarp left the rear of the seat out in the open which is of course hard on it. Today I started the '78 Pantera which was unsurprisingly difficult to start but once running didn't give me any problems at all. It also got a nice new tarp but needs a little time with the vacuum cleaner, leaves and stuff have a way of getting inside even though its covered and I put a jar of mothballs to repel the critters. That works by the way, get any kind of glass or plastic jar, don't use metal as it'll rust just from condensation, and put a handful of mothballs in. Put jars on the running boards and in the engine bay. If you do put them in the engine bay remember to remove before you start up in the spring. I find putting them near the engine isn't really required anyway. A jar will last forever as long as it doesn't get seriously wet. I've got a couple gravy jars I've been using for years and years.

A good day!

Well a good day following a mediocre one:

Highs from yesterday:
Got to ride some new territory with a friend
Got the '78 Pantera running

Lows from yesterday:
Pantera quit after 1/2 lap of the yard
Wankle Panther has no spark (AGAIN!)

So I took the Ski-Doo and went riding

Today I picked up a new (to me anyway) snowmobile trailer. Sadly my beloved 6' Cox rotted out and late last winter the tongue ripped out from underneath almost causing me to lose the Ski-Doo. Got to meet some good people in buying this new one and it'll be nice to have an 8' trailer...

Today I did about 30 miles on the Ski-Doo in and around Lake Dennison park. Angie took the dog snowshoeing, which is to say Angie snowshoed and the dog went with her, he doesn't have snowshoes...

First ride of the new season!

Last night I took the '95 Ski-Doo Grand Touring on a worldwide tour of the goat path to NH. 6 miles round trip and I could hear the rocks slapping the skis the whole way. A trip not without excitement, the little trickle of water I usually cross was a veritable TORRENT! Three feet wide and maybe 4 inches deep. On the way back I hit a rock on the upslope and tipped the sled on its side. For an IFS sled this machine is VERY tippy. Angie and I had it on its side way back in 2008 trying a similar maneuver after crossing a smaller brook.

The '78 Pantera will start but won't run. I'll get Angie's help to tow it out of the backyard and haul it to Randy's. I'll have to borrow his trailer though, after the last run last spring on the return trip home the tongue ripped out of my trailer. Turns out all the metal that holds (held?) the pivot is GONE, rusted away completely. Further inspection shows tons of rust perforations all over the thing. I could probably weld it back together to get through this season but instead I'm going to junk it (maybe weld it back enough to use on the farm) and get something new. After months of searching I finally found an 8x8' trailer out west of here for a good price. Its funny I followed all kinds of Craigslist ads but got nowhere. Then I finally posted an ad on Craigslist and one on the NHSMA board and got 2 good leads... An 8x8 will be nice to have, my 6x6 was really too small for 2 sleds.

End of the season

So I'm going to have to call it...
We got a goo 6" of nice wet snow on Thursday so Saturday Angie and I decided we'd try to ride Leominster State forest. I've ridden there a ton in the past and there aren't too many places where all the rain we had on Tuesday would cause serious troubles.

Well I got about 100' behind my friend's house when I found a water hole I didn't know about (it'd never filled up like that before) and sank the big Ski-Doo to the running boards in knee deep slush... Half an hour of digging the slush out of the way and the sled came out easy peasy. Then I rode another 50' before realizing that the trail to be main trail was totally clogged with treetops that fell during our ice storm in '08. The trail was COMPLETELY impassible. Even walking it took us an hour to go 300 yards to the big trail. Too bad, the big trail looked pretty good.

Anyway, its the second of March, the chances of us having any more ride-able snow are slim and even if we do the big trails won't be opened again this year... So its about time to drain the gas out of my bike so I can finally replace the choke cable and get ready to ride that.