1978 Liquifire

Post by **guitardude081** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 6:51 pm

I went to west side motorsports today to see if I could get a coolant hose for my 80 LF, and I saw the most beautiful sight ever. An unmolested 1978 Liq for $350. It needs a seat recover and a windshield to be mint. Even the motor is spotless. They got it on trade in from the original owner. You're damn right I'm not passing this up. I was wondering how much I should expect to pay for the cross country suspension if I were to go that route. Also What can I do as far as clutch tuning to eek some more out of it? It needs a clutch rebuild, and new ramps for the secondary, so I figured I may as well tweek it. Do they make pipes for the 78's? The sled will be a 440 when I'm done with it, so I'm gonna need to change a lot of stuff I have a feeling. I did ask some of these questions reguarding my '76. I'm just looking for all of the info I can get. I've never had any JD older than a '79 til now.
~Jack

harleysportster · Post by **harleysportster** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 9:11 pm

It sounds like a great find for $350. How do you want to set up the sled. The clutches are repairable, but the type of riding will determine the tuning. It sounds like you found a 340 liquifire. If you are trial riding the sled, leave the 340 gears in it. If you are going to run it flat out, you are going to have to change the gears to 440 gearing to achive the max mph.
The difference between the 340 and 440 models are:
engine size
carb jetting
chaincase gearing
clutch tuning

Post by **guitardude081** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 5:40 pm

I'm gonna put a 440 in it, and trail ride it most likely. My 1980 has a lot of snap on the trail, I geared it and put and set the spring to hole 3.....don't ask why, it just seems to take off better this way. The 1980 is extremely stable, and really doesn't feel much different on the trail than my 98 indy felt, besides the ride height and the track breaking loose on every corner. I honestly feel more in control on the Liq because I can anticipate what the sleds gonna do. I want to get that feeling out of a 78. I basically want to know what I'd have to do for a 440 conversion, and possibly cross country suspension and track. It doesn't even need any TLC, just a decent seat cover.
~Jack

harleysportster · Post by **harleysportster** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 9:39 pm

I would stick with the original suspension. The cross-country suspension will be hard to find. To convert the 340 to a 440, you only need the top-end of a 440, which includes the mono jug, pistons and head. The 340 head will not work. The jets and slide in the carbs will need changed also.