'80 Sportfire for Charity

Post by **Matt** » Sun Apr 05, 2009 6:18 pm

"PJ Sportfire" has offered up an '80 Sportfire to be donated to benefit a charity on behalf of JDsleds.com. He is willing to do the work, but will need some help from us in the way of parts donations. As of this point, the chassis sounds like a parts machine itself. Maybe he can tell us more about it.

PJ is not specific about where to give the sled away, or what charity the funds should benefit. Waconia was the first suggestion, however, a group has already stepped up to donate a 340/S on behalf of Make A Wish, which is a regular thing for them at Waconia (Last year they built a Blizzard replica, and auctioned it off for $4500), and adding another charity Deere may hurt their fund raising. The Waconia board HAS offered to promote the sled in any way possible if we are going to give it away at another event that is after Waconia. Passing out fliers, PA announcements, etc. They are happy to help.

My personal suggestion would be to auction it or raffle it (up to Loren) at THE Snowmobile Hall of Fame in St. Germain. They've been very supportive of us, and we've been very supportive of them.

However, I'm open to suggestions on where to auction/raffle it, and who it should benefit. Post here, or PM/e-mail me.

pj sportfire · Post by **pj sportfire** » Sun Apr 05, 2009 7:15 pm

Good idea Matt.

If anyone is interested, I can take pictures of the sled, so everyone can see what we're working with. (if everyone still wants to do something like this) It's a pretty solid sled and wouldn't take much to "get 'er done" to make a nice daily rider out of her that some one could enjoy.

Let me know.

PJ

River Rat · Post by **River Rat** » Sun Apr 05, 2009 7:27 pm

Count me in PJ.. I would have parts from three sportys to help out.. I agree the HOF would be a good charity, although I would also be up for a raffle/charity for the proceeds to benifit JDSLEDS.. (maybe another time) Where would we be without Matt and this site.??

Frankie

Post by **Matt** » Sun Apr 05, 2009 8:24 pm

Hey Frankie, I'm OK for money between sponsors & donations, I'd rather it goes somewhere else.

Post by **WinnipegStPaul9** » Sun Apr 05, 2009 8:26 pm

Love the idea of the HOF and of course I'll physically help with the project since I'm lucky enough to be close to PJ. DA

pj sportfire · Post by **pj sportfire** » Mon Apr 06, 2009 8:59 pm

95 people have looked at this topic as of Monday night and no one else but 4 on this entire board want to participate in building a sled for charity???? Geez......

pj

JD600 · Post by **JD600** » Mon Apr 06, 2009 9:04 pm

i would like to help if i can. I'm too far away to help with man power, and don't have any parts. Maybe i could donate paint? JDSleds has helped me out a lot, so i will give back any way i can

webman · Post by **webman** » Mon Apr 06, 2009 9:31 pm

I am in the same boat (sled?). Too far to travel and no parts.

S_Kyle · Post by **S_Kyle** » Mon Apr 06, 2009 9:43 pm

I think it sounds like a great idea. But I am in the same condition as webman and jd600. May be able to contribute something to the project further down the line but will wait until that time before saying to much.

pj sportfire · Post by **pj sportfire** » Mon Apr 06, 2009 10:13 pm

Well, here's what I was thinking~
I'll pull that charity sled out of storage and take pics of it for the board to see. Then I'll take inventory of what it needs to finish the thing, list those parts needed and then folks can ship whatever to me or Don here in Indiana, so we can put her together at my shop. I'll keep a running list of parts we need and what's been obtained, that way we can keep track of everything as we move along. Pics would be posted along the way for everyone to see of course.

If someone wanted to donate their time to help, that would be great- just drop by the shop after work hours here. Donate some parts (new or used) that would be great too. At the very least, donate a couple of bucks to help the project along until it's done, that would help a bunch and maybe Don can help me collecting that?

I'm donating the entire rolling chassis to the cause that includes the front/rear suspension, tunnel, track skid frame, belly pan, steering system, fuel tank, seat, clutch, final drive and a bunch of other misc. stuff for free. I'm also donating my time and my fully equipped shop for free to. However, I can't do it all myself and if this project is going to work, it's going to take all of us to get it done over the Summer. (at least the same guys who post here on this board regularly at the very least..) I don't want to get started on this and then everyone fizzle out on me, leaving me unfairly stuck holding the bag....

If everyone wants to do this, than please speak up to say so and I'll move the project along on behalf of Matt & jdsleds.com. However, if the response is going to be as soggy (or worse) as it has been so far, than tell me that to and I'll just forget the whole thing. A decison needs to be made by the end of the week I think though, otherwise, it will drag on forever with nothing ever getting done.

The ball is in you guys' court now....

pj

JDFanPa · Post by **JDFanPa** » Mon Apr 06, 2009 10:17 pm

I have some steering parts.exhaust pipe,chaincase,secondary,jackshaft aswell as driveaxle parts from an 80 sporty if you need any of these items they are yours.

buck43 · Post by **buck43** » Mon Apr 06, 2009 11:32 pm

Like some of the others im to far away to help in the work part but would like to donate some money. How about the price for a decal set? Send me addres so I can send money or the decal set to you. Shannon

Post by **Matt** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 7:49 am

I had another thought: JRC's daughter Jordan had participated in benefit walks for breast cancer. She did 12 60-mile 3-day walks, for a total of 720 miles in 2007. Maybe we can tie this into a charity that the Carlson's wish to support.

pj sportfire · Post by **pj sportfire** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 7:58 am

Matt,
Anything you think would work for the charity give-a-way is good for me, if it's good for the other guy's too. If it will work for you, once the sled is completed, we'll turn it over to you so you can organize how the sled will be donated. Okey-Dokey?

Also, if you would Matt, please let everyone know about the Paypal acct. you have set up through the website to collect donations and if you could head-up the donation collection stuff, (Paypal, check, cash or whatever) that would help out a lot, so I wouldn't have to worry about that stuff as we move along.

Let me/us know and thanks for helping.

PJ

pj sportfire · Post by **pj sportfire** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 7:59 am

I'll get the sled pulled out of storage sometime today to take the initial pictures for ya'll.

pj