John Deere Sprintfire 1983. Long time project....

[SS440-80]

It's fun to put things back on the sled

The brake disc has some rust on it, but once the sled runs again the rust will wear off.
But not the center of the brake disc, so I painted it with same heat paint as I used on the Y-pipe.



Not a perfect circle, but who cares



The paint needs to be exposed to heat for one hour to be hard.
So when the girlfriend was not at home, I used the oven like just a man can...





The shield above the brake disc is missing, so I had to make one.







Brake and speedometer drive mounted. And the shield fits perfect.




On the other side of the drive shaft I put some copper paste on before mounting the secondary clutch,

[sledhead16]

Nice attention to detail

[SS440-80]

Thanks Allan Now the remounting really begins and it's fun


I don't know if there should be some type of bottom plate in the gas tank compartment? I made one.
I cut out a plastic square that fits perfect under the compartment and a foam to place under the plastic






Gas tank there






Tail light






And the seat has been ready for a long time







Seat strap

[SS440-80]

When the previous owner mounted the Polaris engine and exhaust in the Sprintfire, he cut out the front of the belly pan.
Not easy to repair the plastic, so it will be a layer on layer repair with aluminium, plastic and rivets. Won't be beautiful but it will be strong enough and hopefully not that visual behind the bumper.




First making a template with paper...





Aluminium plates on the inside



Painted plastic on the outside. And a lot of rivets

[jep_800]

Wow, I'm impressed with your detail and progress!

[SS440-80]

Thank you Jason.
I have to improvise both here and there because there are no junkyard filled with John Deere to get spare parts from. I have had a lot of help with smaller parts from Joe Rainville and David Dant, but bigger parts like the belly, hood, exhaust or skies I have to repair or remodel from other parts. Often from non-sled related things


Like when I repaired the front end of the right "horn"
The previous owner did not only cut a peace of the belly front, he cut 4" of the right horn so that he could fit the Polaris exhaust.



To repair the horn without welding, I used a peace of aluminum conveyer rail that I rounded with a grinder





Fits in to the stump



A hard squeeze with the pipe wrench get it in place



Secured with bolt and nut, it's just as robust as the original left horn

[sledhead16]

Yes your doing a great job fabricating!

[SS440-80]

Yes your doing a great job fabricating!

More fabricating will come Allan, more will come


Got a parcel... spark plugs and caps was some of the parts in there



and a new fuel pump and a filter



also got a new ignition switch

[SS440-80]

Almost time for the motor to get back in the sled, but first there are some small things to fix...

One is to sand and paint the hood hinges and exhaust bracket



Another thing is to open up the intake air silencer


Not clean at all





But after some brakecleaner and compressed air the filter can breath again



New carb intake rubber and carb cleaned in ultra sonic cleaner



And the hoses looks better when cleaned and covered with a glycerol solution

[jep_800]

Awesome! I love your pics! Keep em' coming.

Jason

[SS440-80]

Awesome! I love your pics! Keep em' coming.

Jason

I'm glad that you like the pics. Aint no pro photograph, but I think that a forum thread with lots of pics is more fun to follow than a thread with only words...



Looked over the primary clutch.
Rust on the cover and spring and a lot of aluminium oxide inside the cluch







A good cleaning and lubrication of all movable parts with a special Bor-based liquid. Spring repainted.

[SS440-80]

Finally the motor goes in the sled


Was no problem to bolt it in place






Oil lines connected



Air box and fuel pump



Coolant hoses



Carb mounted




When the motor was in, I mounted the front bumper that had got new black paint



Original it's white reflecting tape, but I think that the sled will look better with a tape with color.
Yellow or red....?





I choosed the yellow tape on the front bumper



Think it will look good in the dark when meeting another sled




And the primary clutch there...

[sledhead16]

Red tape wouldve matched the hood!

[SS440-80]

Red tape wouldve matched the hood!

Red would have been nice, but yellow is a bit more Deere color


Now it's time to fabricate again
I don't have a clutch belt guard, so I will have to make one.

I could make one in metal looking just like the original... but why not make one that's lighter, stronger and more easy to take off and put back


A plastic barrel with strong plastic.



cut out a piece



heated it up with a hot air gun and formed it...



Another piece of plastic, same high quality as in hyfax.
And also made a secure pin





Mounted on the belt guard with wagon bolts







Also used wagon bolt on the footrest upper mount



On the underside I made distances between the washer and nuts



And this is how the rear belt guard lock works




The front securing I made of stainless steel and plastic block



and a spring to hold things in place



test mounting in the sled



Mounted on the front of the belt guard





Belt guard mounted




Strong and stabile, will hold for a belt explosion

[JoeRainville]

Robert,

I really admire your "can do!" attitude and creativity with getting your Sprintfire back together. I will never take for granted have access to parts and parts sleds over here. Glad I was able to provide some assistance to your project, and good luck with the final stages.

They are a fun little machine to ride, I have three of them myself, 82, 83 and an 84. I have been known to take my wife's 83 on several all day rides of over 150 miles (~250 kM).

Holler if you need any other smaller parts shipped over the pond,
-Joe Rainville