83 Liquifire Restoration

[ihengineer76]

About a month and a half ago, I purchased a pair of 83 Liquifires from a fellow Deere junky. One is missing the engine, clutches, seat, and some other various parts, but will be a great candidate for the 530 Cat motor I have sitting on the shelf. The second sled is the one that I am currently restoring. When I bought it, it had a piston crown that had failed from an air leak, but is otherwise complete with a little over 900 miles. I plan on doing a complete tear down and restore, but am waiting to do the chassis until I move at the end of March. For the time being, I am doing the motor. I pulled it down and found the jugs were fine, so I went ahead and ordered Wiseco forged pistons and a gasket and seal set. I have the bottom end assembled so far and will work on more this week.

[ihengineer76]

Here's some pictures of the engine progress.

[ihengineer76]

Here is a pair of NOS skis I cam across for the restoration. Interesting reinforcement on the ends. I was told it was for the Canadian sleds, but am not really sure about that.

[acesillini06]

Looks like you're making great progress fellow Deere junky!

[ihengineer76]

A little update on the progress. The motor is back together and ready to be dropped back in!

[motoXman]

Excellent. Keep the pics coming

[ihengineer76]

It has been a while since I posted about this project, but moving slowed it down a bit. In the last few days, I have gotten the sled mostly torn down. Decals came in last week. I still have to split the tunnel and bulkhead, but I hope to start media blasting parts this week. I will try to get some pictures up as soon as I can.

[MARK S]

The OEM ski's were part number AM55307 and back in the day Deere listed them as Ski Welded SWEDISH......I don't remember if we found out about them through service bulletins or if the Consumer Product person told us about them..I do remember ordering a couple sets for myself and I think it was around the time I set my 84 liquifire up at the dealership..Mark

[ihengineer76]

Mark S, thanks for the info on those skis! Do you happen to know what the purpose was for building them that way? Here are a few pictures of the progress on disassembly. I also snapped a shot of a few of the sleds while I was cleaning up the shop. Monday, I started with the sled completely together minus the engine. My wife was out of town and I had plenty of beer. Amazing what progress can be made!

[JD600]

Very nice 1206! I always thought the white rear rims, radiator support, and fenders was a cool look. Too bad you can only use them in weather above about 50 degrees lol.

DE

[ihengineer76]

Thanks JD600, I restored that a couple years ago. I only has a little over 2300 hours on it. And thank God for the block heater!

[ihengineer76]

Made a little progress on the sled this week. I steam cleaned the belly pan and have been wet sanding and polishing the tunnel.

[smitfire]

Super nice job on the tunnel, what did it take?

[ihengineer76]

400, 600, 1000 grit sand paper, followed by buffing compound, a power ball and aluminum polish, and finished with Wizard's metal polish. This sled is just going to be my rider. I am almost scared to think about the finish I will try to get when I do my 84 Sportfire!

[JoeRainville]

IHE,

That tunnel looks sweet. Nice job. You might not like this next suggestion but if you are this far down, I would suggest pulling the TPR and splitting the tunnel so you can sand blast that bulkhead and check for rust damage. Yes, I have done this several times myself, and I am currently putting a new bulkhead on my 80 vintage racer. I am checking into have the bulkhead and tunnel powder coated flat and gloss black respectively.

Good luck with your sled!
-Joe Rainville