83' Trailfire LX Resto

[a572mike]

Looking good!

[idMXLT]

Looking good!

Thanks! More pics to come but lots of progress lately. Spindles/steering has been gone through and greased, pan corrosion addressed, pressure test done, engine is back in, fuel pump and lines rebuilt, etc.

Fired it up Sunday but it's not running well. Spark seems weak, so I'm going to check my grounds and make sure I didn't paint over something.

[idMXLT]

Found some questionable grounding at the CDI/coil unit, spark seems better now. We'll see, I've heard the combined cdi/coil is unobtainium so I hope it's working right. I still have an issue with the engine drowning out at low speed, but I think that may be caused by the choke plunger sticking. Easy to check at least.


Before:




After:




Certainly not a show sled, but that's not the goal. I'd like these JD's to be our distance riding sleds, especially when we go snowmobile camping.


It may be too soon for this, but

[idMXLT]

Engine running issues are finally sorted out. Problems with multiple causes take patience and skepticism of your own work to resolve.

The causes:

• Paint on the coil standoffs and bolts. That ground connection is important! I sanded the ring connector, back of the hold down machine screws, and both ends of the standoff bushings to resolve this.

• The darn choke plunger! I've cleaned a lot of Mikuni carbs, so this one was a humbling experience. The choke plunger was encountering resistance when it was almost seated. From the choke air feed it looked like it was seated, but the plunger actually needed to go down 1mm more to seal the fuel channel. This resulted in all kinds of terrible running.

Now the engine starts easy and seems to run great. Once the skid and tank are done I think a spin around the field is in order...

[idMXLT]

Got the airbox and fuel tank installed and new fuel lines run. Terrible picture. Working in a dark shop at night makes it tough to get good pics.




I also got the skid pulled.



Good news:
-All the suspension shafts are free! They need to be lubed mind you, but they aren't rusted tight.
-Nothing is bent or broken
-Spring bushings and slider blocks are in good shape

Not good but expected:
-Shock is toast. No damping for bounce or rebound. I'll need to find one (AM 54745)
-Rear idler bearings are a little dry, but smooth. A bearing repack should solve that.
-Top idler bearings still spin, but are noisy and have lots of play. Rubber is in good shape, so I'll drill the rivets and replace the bearings (99502H)

Bad news:
-The left hyfax was worn through in the middle. Curiously, the right side was fine. I need to check the track and make sure there isn't a damaged cleat on the left side. The rail suffered some damage, but I cleaned it up with a file. Still plenty of meat to hold the slider.





Also kind of interesting. They had the front springs super loose. Must have really wanted ski pressure?

[smitfire]

Mostly likely your suspension was not set like that. It is in need of greasing to get everything moving freely. Something might be rusted stuck.

[idMXLT]

That's what I thought at first, but the front arm is completely free. Also the adjusters are all the way backed off. Just a weird way to set up a skid.

[idMXLT]

More progress....


Drilled the top idlers, replaced the bearings, and re-assembled with stainless hardware.






The rear skid got fresh sliders, I repacked the rear idlers, installed a new Bravo ski shock, and greased the cross shafts. The shock ends required shortening to fit.











I re-installed the skid and idlers. The suspension action is much smoother now, looking forward to testing it out.

I also got started on the seat! I picked up a couple stainless 1/4-20 T nuts and bolts to replace the corroded stock units.







Getting closer

[Steven]

Looks good! What exactly did you put the idler wheels back together with? Great idea with those t-nuts for the seat!


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[idMXLT]

Looks good! What exactly did you put the idler wheels back together with? Great idea with those t-nuts for the seat!


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I used stainless 6-32 x 1/2" machine screws and nyloc nuts.

[sledhead16]

awesome job on all the pics! Always neat to see everyones techniques and ideas!

[JDT]

Nice progress.

Step by step..... Way to deal with it.

[idMXLT]

awesome job on all the pics! Always neat to see everyones techniques and ideas!

In my case some good, some bad!

Nice progress.

Step by step..... Way to deal with it.

That's it. I've got plenty of time to bring these JD's back to life. When you go through a sled piece by piece, you really gain an appreciation for how many ways it can go wrong, and how lucky you've been in the past before you knew any better.

[JDT]

Very well said.

That is the truth.

[ammon]

I like the progress that you are making. OK, where is NH/PNW??? I am guessing New Hampshire, I feel I am wrong.