The Liquidator is alive !!

JDCornFlakes · Post by **JDCornFlakes** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 2:18 pm

We raced a 1980 Liquifire from 1980-83 and had interest in finding a Liquidator with Dator motor.I looked
at this exact sled for sale back in 1982 with my Dad and Brother at a huge farm set-up were all the equipment was green.
The rich farmer bought it for his 18 year old son.. We did not buy it because it had a 1977 Liquifire motor transplant.
In 1983 when went to look at another we heard was for sale at a dealership.
When we arrived the entire sled was there but no motor in it. We asked the dealer what happened to motor
from this Liquidator. They had done a full rebuild on the Dator's motor ( Pistons, crank, block work, head work )
and the owner then defaulted on paying the bill. He mentioned it was quit expensive to do motor. It sat for over
1.5 years while they got legal ownership through a mechanics lean on sled. Then after about 2 years some guy came
in and asked to buy motor from it. The Dator motor was sold for what the value of parts were into it. So along
we come and here sits a Liquidator with no motor ....and we did not buy that one either.

So as life progressed the sleds were all are sleds were sold. My dad passed away suddenly in 1985 and my brother sold
all interest he had in sleds.
Well fast forward ahead to Spring of 2006 . In decide to buy a old early 80's Liquifire for a rider. A friend tells me of one that
is mint stored in heated storage for many a year. Go to see it a and end up buying it. While shooting the poop with the owner,
I mention our Deere sled addiction and our quest for a Liquidator. He says I have a motor for one here, with pipes and rad etc.
When asked how he got this Dator motor....he says " I got it out of sled at dealer over 20 years ago" . He used it in a 76 Liquifire
for a season and said it was way to fast for normal use. So he took it out of sled.
I told him you're the guy that took that motor !!! So bought the motor, pipes , rad, spare parts carbs etc. for the overwhemling
price of $100 bucks !!

So this newly acquired motor gets me a thinkin' . I wonder if that Liquidator at the farm is still sittin there afterwell nearly 25 years.
I know what are the chances of that Dator beiing there after a quarter century !!
I drive out the farm one Saturday, say to the farmer this may sound crazy but I look at a old green John Deere sled here in 1982.
He said sorry sold at farm auction over 10 years ago at next farm just to get rid of it. As it would not run and had not run since about 1988-89.
Yeah, ironically the farmer across the road bought it at the auction for $145.00. But he says I think he just sold it.
I go to other farmer across road and he has sold it to his brother 8 years ago because never get it running. So he calls his brother and he
had sold it also only 6 months prior. Brother calls guy he sold it to and he traded it even for at 1979 Spitfire.
I then get ahold of this owner and he sold it to a snowmobile salvage parts place. So Septenber 2006 arrive to look at the same Dator
I looked at in 1982 with dad and Brother. It still had the Liquifire motor in it and no it would not run.

So after buying this Liquidator that we originally looked at farmer's in 1982 . And now getting the lost (removed) motor from the Liquidator we
looked at the dealership. Afternearly 25 years the motor from 1 Dator will go into the other Dator.

So I got in running now (with Liquifire motor) and she seen snow for fist time in 18 years !! See the pixs !

Now let the resto begin.

Let' hear your Dator find story .

78440liquid · Post by **78440liquid** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 3:05 pm

Was the salvage place 'Snowline', by any chance? Joel. PS My email is non-functional at the moment.

JDXspec · Post by **JDXspec** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 3:09 pm

Cool story! i will share my adventures of my 2 liquidators and a 340/s thats kinda neat. I'm getting close on the 2nd dator running after 25+ yrs of dormancy. And I'm going to have a good chat with the former racers of these 2 also. It should be interesting. Nice to see the old sled alive again!

Danzig · Post by **Danzig** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 10:46 pm

How long have you had this sled?

Just so happens I already have a pic of this sled from last year.

Deere Daze · Post by **Deere Daze** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 11:21 pm

Looks like the one from Snowline.Was going to buy it, but it needed alot,and the price was to high.

JDCornFlakes · Post by **JDCornFlakes** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 10:18 am

Yes, is the one from Snowline. I just bought it September 8/ 2006 from London, Ontario. It was there for about 4-6 months and he said if someday every wished to sell it he would give me first crack.
I paid $ 700.00 CDN for it. Which would be about $ 575.00 USD at the time.

Then only paying $100.00 for the motor which is supposely having less than 100 miles on it. Was I thought a pretty good deal. At this point I only have $800.00 into it.

Guys are paying 500-700 for old 76-77 Liquifires nowadays.

Let's here some other stories !!!

Ed : Is there not a $50 Dator story ?

Dave

Deere Daze · Post by **Deere Daze** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 11:24 am

Dave, Rob got that sled about 2 yrs ago. He wanted $2000 for it when he first got it.And yes, the $50 dator story, I got a call from a guy few yrs ago who said he had a 70s liquifire in his barn that didnt run,so I went and took a look at it,turned out being a Liqui"Dator", so I thought it was worth his asking price

Sometimes... you just get lucky.

Post by **JRC ETD** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 3:41 pm

Great story...makes this passion even more passionate! This girl has obviously realized her wild misgivings and decided charm school would be her best ticket for salvation......realizing "salavge" was a dead end for a 30 year old overweight racer even with a wild, and tempting ride gurantee! Never said these vixens were not cunning! Be careful....very careful....I would guess she's not real happy with her implant history! Could and would be expected to bite at any time....I would call this one "Eleanor"....certain to have a strong opinion about how she has be wronged! Best JRC

tieszo6 · Post by **tieszo6** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 12:56 am

I found my complete Dator in a tree line in the middle of S. Dak. I watched it for one pheasant season, then the next summer I went and inquired. It had sat for 3 years with a burnt piston and the guy said "it was still faster than anything I've ever ridden even if it did have one bad lung!" He was working on it for a couple brothers and had no luck finding parts for it. I was a bit younger then and I think my persistent calling every other week for 3 months finally cracked the old guy. My dad and I went to pick it up just after a couple other guys pulled in and started asking about the "Liquifire with that funny radiator up front." The older guy knew my enfatuation and was nice enough to hold it for me. I wrote my check for $100 and could stop grinning all the way home. I stripped everything down and had to wait a couple years before Larry made a run of pistons. The straw that broke the camels back was when it needed crank work too. I decided I'd rather see it running than sit in the shed and sold it to Chuck. With his wealth parts and knowledge it has been resurrected and Chuck has been gracious enough to let me ride it at Waconia. This was an experience I truly appreciated and one that I will cherish for many years. Those pipes are sweet music to the ears.

Best $100 a guy could spend.

Mark

Mr. Deere · Post by **Mr. Deere** » Thu Feb 08, 2007 5:24 pm

WOW Talk About A Small World. BOB

chains1017 · Post by **chains1017** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 2:49 pm

A story like this is possible in other states. I live in an area where there are fifty guys drueling over any deal at one time. The sleds that do go up for sale in the local paper are sold before the ad even hits or the areas I live in the sleds have all been picked over( dang it! I did have a good one like this though, but it was a speedway. I sold this sled 8 years ago due to hard times, and for nuthin 400.00. I wish I wouldnt have now that the vintage thing is back, but then it was just another old snowmobile to most, and I needed money bad. But the story was this. My dad was a former Rupp dealer and had a reputation for repairing sleds around our area. One day a neighbor and friend showed up and asked him if he could get an old snowmobile running for him( 1973 speedway 440) Well you can Imagine my dads reaction when the guy showed up with this with 68 miles on it. Well my dad just kept his mouth quiet and fixed the old monster. Well the neighbor was more than excited to see it run and tried to pay for the work, but my dad refused as it was a couple of carb kits out our old rupp stuff. But he asked the guy to let him know if he would give him the first right to buy it should he ever sell it, and randy said sure thing! Well about two months went by maybe less, and sure enough the guy called and said he tried trail riding it and it was impossible to steer, due to the skis hangin every where it went. Of course my dad was interested and asked how much. The gentleman told him he would sell it for 75.00 because he had done the work for free. My dad purchased this sled for 75.00 with I think 77 miles on it. It was like brand new! This was my first shot at racing, I ran in tip up town on jordan lake in Michigan in 84 I think. The funny thing is I was put into studded class due to a few worn down cat claws, and got stuck in d stock I believe( its been a while) When I pulled up to the line you shouldve seen the crowd liven up, they were more than happy to raise the ribbon for me to get into staging. But back to the best part, I was lined up in a class with 3 John deere liquifires, which were fairlly new or new at that time. These guys thought they were beat till about 30 feet off the line I spun and they kicked my butt. But wow, its one day ill hopefully never forget. But that dator story is awesome, since ive been reading what you guys have been postin here, I look at every old barn I drive by and wonder, is there a dator in there? You never know. I never paid much attention to green but these stories have got me hooked. I have other projects but they dont have the validation like these here. I guess thats why you all are so passionate about the deere sleds. Ill quit ramblin, that story was just awesome!