New Custom Sled Project......

[Maize]

Keep on, keepin' on!

I took a couple of hours off early at work. Had a bunch of customer's shocks to do up, and I still wanted to get a couple of things done tonight.

Man! Do NOT buy cheap studs. They are fine AFTER you run a die over E V E R Y one of them! What a PIA!

Anyway. I got all the studs in the track tonight, I also got the steering post, riser and bars on tonight.

I decided I didn't like the pink shock spacers and retainers. So I pulled them back off and took them to Rick at Cool Concepts and having him strip them and redo them in flat black. It just didn't look right to me....so....off they came. It looked better in my head, than on the sled. It kind of looked out of place, to me.

I also got the clutch guard put back together and the mountings put back on.

I have Thur off and only about 5 sets of shocks lined up. I got the new fan shroud, bar pad and windshield in today, along with the used clear wind deflectors.

I also got the pink base coat on the gauge trim rings and I will clear them tomorrow.

Here is the track ready to have the rear skid put in:





Here is the steering post installed with the riser, the bars and one of the handguards in place.



Here is the clutch guard in place with Jordan's (Arctic FX) killer decal he made up for me.



Here is the sled starting to look actually like a sled:

[Maize]

I wasn't going to tell the wife until it was finished. I told her last night that this is my way of showing cancer awareness to our family that have lost their battles. It hit her pretty hard, emotionally. She loves the idea and just got overwhelmed.

I lost my dad about 15 years ago to a VERY aggressive cancer in his liver and kidney (and lymph nodes and pretty much everywhere els). He held on long enough to see his only son get married, then passed 8 days later. Sheila and I got married on October 7, 1995, and we lost him on October 15, 1995.

We just lost Sheila's mom to bone cancer as a result of a mastation of her previous breast cancer. It was in remission for 10 years then showed up in her bones and we lost her on March 29, 2009.

Jordan at Arctic FX is working on bumper decals for them to be on the sled.

It is hard working on this and remembering how they fought and eventually lost. They never gave up, never complained and thanked God for the time they did have.

Every time I work on this I remember all the stuff me and dad used to do. I still miss him 15 years later.

This is what I do best, and is something I can do to tell them how much I loved them and miss them.

Anyway...enough of the mushy stuff....

[Maize]

I got a ton of stuff done today. I took the day off from Toyota, AND I had no shocks to do in the shop. I got a bunch in this afternoon to do up this weekend, though. So today was a good day to get it all done up.

I got and headed to the post office to sign for the starter that I got, I dropped an 08 Dragon 700 crank off at the shop to have new bearing put in it and headed out to Cool Concepts to get the spacers and retainers that I wanted redone from pink to black.

I had to clean out the furnace in the garage and get it ready for winter. I always pull the burners and clean them every fall before I fire it up. I also have to change out the pulley on the blower. Do I got all that done and set the temp at 65 and she fired right up perfectly.

I also cleaned the grill out and got it all ready for the winter BBQ's on Saturday nights.

So then it was at the wife's sled....

I got the motor put in, the front shocks on, the cotter pin in the top gear nut, the cover on, the HPV roller clutch set up with a 47-44 helix and a Goodwin Performance spring. I have the primary set-up where I think I want it, and the starter ring put on the primary.

I also got the wiring harness put in, the gas tank, tail light, headlight, console, kill switch, ignition key, seat and trunk all put in place.

I got the support plate bolted to the chassis on the underside, the primary side support plate in and the new holes in the motor mount drilled out and got the motor in the chassis.

I am still trying to find a pink paint that will match to paint the trim rings on the gauges.

Here is what got done today:

Here is the shock with the black spacers on it. This looks much better.

[Maize]

I got a bunch of little stuff done up today. I had to work until 1p, the watched the second half of the Mich/Illini game....what a slug fest...or should I say....what a lack of defense on both sides...WOW!

Then I had a few sets of shocks to get done up.

I got the Y-Pipe back on...That is my least favorite job on any sled. Tight quarters, no room....YUK!

I then got the starter put in, then had to drilla hole in the PTO side support for the muffler stopper. I also still have to drill a place to mount the center spring, and drill out a rivet on the muffler side to put the spring support.

I got the oil tank cleaned up, the recoil done, the oil lines finished and the brake caliper cleaned and put on.

[Maize]

I took today of work to get a bunch of customer's shocks done.

Tomorrow and Thur I have Tech Training for Toyota. So I will be out of town.

I got the shocks done up this morning and worked on the wife's sled this afternoon.

I have to make a fuel tube for the fuel line. It mounts in a different location on the clear tank, than o the orginal. No big deal, just time and $3 in parts.

I got all the wiring on the handle bars done up. I have to put a new electrical connector on the throttle side as when the previous owner changed out the pin connectors, they hogged out the connector so they will not stay in.

I had another old junk throttle that the thumb warmer burnt out, so I just used that one.

I did find out that the hand guards I got won't work...so....bummer there.

I got the brake system installed and bled out along with the handwarmers all finished up. I am just waiting on the J-Hooks to finish that out. Those will be here Friday.

I got the carbs done all back to stock. They were supposed to have 45 pilots, and 260 mains. They were running 55 pilots and 220 mains.

So those are all cleaned up and ready to go. I also synchronized the carbs. They were off a tad, but they open at the same time, and at the same distances.

I got the rear skid in the sled, and then played around with different front ski shock lengths to try to help Darcy out with his SC4 conversion.

That is it for today..I am heading to bed. I have to be on the road tomorrow by 7a.

[Maize]

I got the billet stuff in from Brian at Tricked Toys. As usual, the stuff looks FANTASTIC!!! His stuff is second to none!

I got the wheels on then saw how crappy the washers and bolts look on the REALLY nice wheels. So I will be getting those powder coated black to blend in.

Here is the sled to date:





I just have to attach the rear bumper, polish the wind deflector on the secondary clutch and get with Jordan at Arctic FX about the new wrap. I sent him a piece of the powder coated pink so he can match it up. He will back in his office on November 12.

[Maize]

The wrap and powder coating clash now. Jordan at Artic FX is getting that taken care of.

I didn't get a whole lot done this weekend due to customer's shock coming first. Keep em' coming guys and gals.

I did get the sled fired up today.

I filled up the gas tank, then removed the plugs and spun it a few times with the plugs to prime the fuel pump.

I put the plugs in her and she spun maybe 3 times and fired.

I don't know if you can see the smoke in the pictures, but she is running fine.







Not much left to finish her up. I just have to attach the Van Amburg edge rails, cut the rear bumper down and mount that, put the carbides on and line the skis up and put the new wrap on it.

It will be done by this weekend as it will be on display in Storm Lake, IA at the ISSA convention.

[Maize]

I was in the shop today.

I did up some customer shocks, then had some extra time to work on the wife's sled after taking a vacation day off this week to do shocks.

I got the gauge trim rings painted up and put on, the wires extended for the handwarmers, the VanAmburg edges bolted and riveted in place, the snowflap mounted permanantly, the rear bumper cut down and put on (I did find out BRP sent my two of the same side ends caps, so I need another of those) and the clutches cleaned up and are on permantly.

Jordan is working on the Pink Ribbon Riders' sled wrap and I still have to get carbides, shorten the front shocks, put the RPM Composites belly pan on, and powder coat the rear wheel and idler wheel washers and bolt heads.

Here is what it looks like to date with the old sled wrap on it:

[Maize]

The internals are complete and all fluids are in the sled: (I still need to put clamps on the front ressies but will wait to do that after I shorten the shafts. I have to order a different tool to get the bearing heads out of these.)

Here the final assembly shots of the all the internals.

[Maize]

I got the shocks shortened up and back on the sled.

Earlier this evening, Jordan sent me the proof of the sled wrap. So here is the new sled wrap that is going on her: