78 Spitfire project

[400brian]

So the new shock shaft arrived. This shaft is part M67802 and was used on the early Spits both as the lower shock shaft, and the shaft at the front of the rails that the suspension limiter strap attached to. On the later Spits it was used only at the front. It is a 7/16" diameter shaft drilled and tapped for a 5/16" bolt on each end. Cleaned the surface rust off, and still need to chase the threads. Some nylon bushings went on either side of the shock to keep it centered, but they were sacrificed to heat the shaft for removal. Probably going to use aluminum tube in its place.

[400brian]

Matt Gabler had suggested that a dingleberry hone was the way to clean up the bore of the tubes. I had never owned one, so I got on-line and rectified that. This 3/4" hone is advertised as 120 grit, and was less that $20 plus shipping of course. I had to use an extension to reach to the center of the longest tube. Really worked slick, I lubed it with a little 2-stroke oil cause that is what is in the oil can, and in just a few seconds, the bores were looking 100% better. I don't think these hones are hard to come by, but if anyone is looking for a 3/4" model you can go here: https://regismanufacturing.com/3-4-x-19 ... 1ZW9dje6nY

[400brian]

I used the same setup to remove the pivot bushings from the spindles. One ski bolt had come out, the other was stuck and twisted off. With heat and a lot of pounding, I did get the bolt out, so it was on to the bushings.

I took an old ski bushing I had sitting on the bench and sanded it smooth on the bench sander. I set up the puller as shown and wound everything up tight. I then heated the spindle until it was turning red and tapped the bushing end using a impact socket on the nut, that way I was impacting the end of the bushing through the washers.

I got it to move slightly, wound up the nuts and tapped on the end again. I had to heat it several times to keep things moving, if it cooled too much it would stop. Both bushings were removed this way, and I think all is good.

[Mark633CSi]

I hate to be like my wife and bring up things from the past but, have you made any headway on this since the last post!? This has been, as always, a fantastic write up!

[400brian]

The spitfire went on the back burner for a bit. I built a 76 Cyclone for my wife last winter, and I am working on a 78 LF CC clone right now. The grandson is 8 years old now, so the Spitfire will have to be next I think. I was hoping the reproduction tracks would be available to go into the build.

[Mark633CSi]

The spitfire went on the back burner for a bit. I built a 76 Cyclone for my wife last winter, and I am working on a 78 LF CC clone right now. The grandson is 8 years old now, so the Spitfire will have to be next I think. I was hoping the reproduction tracks would be available to go into the build.

Excellent!

Reproduction tracks would be nice! We had a conversation at work the other day about “What would you do if you won the lottery?” Quite a few of the guys looked at me funny when I said “I’d pay for a run of out of production JD snowmobile parts. Especially Spitfire tracks.”