Liquifire Paint

[80spitfire]

I was also wondering, did I end up with a pretty rare sled or something? It just seems like it because there's so little information out there compared to the Kawi powered Liquifires.

[Matt]

There were plenty of '76-'77 Liquifires produced. You should be able to find everything you need. You could say they're not as popular as the 80+, but the people who own them, love them.

[lwb140]

awesome sleds i worked on a 77 440 all day today enjoyed every minute !! will post pics when it makes smoke !! i want to find a nice 76 340 , i have 4 of them that are abolutely beat ,parts sleds would like to find a nice trail sled sometime wade

[80spitfire]

I figured it out!! I washed up the Liquifire today and I finally figured out the paint question, it turns out that my sled did indeed leave Horicon wearing Moonlight Mist. The guy that attempted to restore it before, painted the hood a metallic black with a bit more silver in it then the more goldish original paint. He painted the tunnel satin black, what I thought was blitz black, that's were the confusion started lol He also painted the running boards that color, the bottom but not all of the top, this is how I figured it out. I got my buffer out and went to work on the tunnel and low and behold, there it was metallic black!! I can't believe it was there the whole time hiding under that satin black. I'll post some pics when I get it on the snow again.
Thanks for all the replies guys

[moontree]

i am not an expert, but i was at my local JD dealer and they actually still had (until i bought em out) 4 cans of the metallic paint. according to them the 77 liquifire (MFG date of xx/76 should be all midnight mist front to back all body parts. i believe only thing excluded would be the handle bars, engine mount, and suspension which are blitz black. as far as how to tell a 76 from a 77 yes, with both cyclone and liquifire the 76 has the bumps in the side pan by skis. the 77 is a smooth side. then for 78 model year they dropped the liquifire and painted the cyclones the lighter shade of green.

[80spitfire]

This where this story gets even more confusing, Rich emailed me today a Deere service bulletin that says the paint colors for all the Liquifires and it states that the 76s were midnight mist, but after 76, 77 obviously included, it says that they were all gloss black. WTF? This so confusing.I never thought in a million years that it would be this hard to figure out the paint color lol. So I don't know, I'm thinking if Rich says it and especially if there's concrete proof on paper I think maybe they really were all Gloss Black. I don't know though, it's just so confusing. I really wish some more people with 77s would chime in and tell us what they find with there's.

[JD_Sledder68]

Hmmmm....I have access to an unrestored 77 Liquifire 340.....I will have to look at the black closer. I don't remember noticing any metallic in it, but then again, I wasn't looking for it.

[80spitfire]

That'd be sweet man, I'd really appreciate it.

[Invader440]

Just a thought but is it possible that some of the earlier ones came out with the mist color and later ones were painted gloss black?

[80spitfire]

That's kinda what I'm leaning towards right now.

[moontree]

you have to keep in mind the difference between model year and production year. i am not doubting rich's knowledge (which i have used much of) people often confuse model year and manufacture year. you see quite often a sled is advertised as a "77" cyclone and it is the light Green which came out in the 78 model year ( ie. 10/77 mfg date) comment to earlier. you don't see many pre 78 liquifires. i have one and love it. arguably i think it is the best styling to leave horicon. why did deere do away with the handle bar pad after 78?? i think it gives the handle bars a nicer look.

[80spitfire]

Yeah that is true and that's why I've always asked people the manufacture year before I even ask about the paint. The service bulletin does state though that they were gloss black and it says the year and the serial numbers. So I really don't know lol I agree with you the 76s and 77s really have character. They're the best looking Liquifire if you ask me. However my favorite sled to leave Horicon has to be the Dator. I don't think that sled can be beat in the styling department. I'm so syked I found one tuesday!

[JDMIKE8100]

The 340 Liquifire in the above photo I restored about 5 yrs ago.
That photo was taken at Lake Belwood Vintage Show ,Ont.,Canada just after the restoraton was completed.
This photo may be a bit confusing,I used gloss black on the belly pan and tunnel,satin black on the skis.
We did use the original midnight mist metalic on the hood with all new decals.
I now have an original 1976 440 Liquifre ,all the black on the sled including the tunnel is midnight metalic mist.
Hope this clears up any confusion.To the best of my knowledge 76 and 77 are the same.