PICS! 1972 JD 400 Restoration, PART 2

[jeffreyrempel]

Are the rear idler parts supposed to be green on '72s or is that your own touch?

They are supposed to be blitze black. I decided to go green.

Actually, the only parts that were painted, were the spacers on the idler shaft, but even though the pivot arms etc. are NOS, the original finish was starting to look tarnished, so I decided to paint the parts.

[427cobra]

Nice! Looking forward to seeing the complete sled!

[jeffreyrempel]

More pics....
NOS: Snow Flap, Break light, Rear Grab Handle,Fuel Gauge, Motor mount rubbers (actually.... rear grab handle was used for one year from 1972 to 1973. I will tell you the story in a minute),
I am going to throw the drive sheeve on the engine now, and then put the engine on the sled.

[400brian]

Are the rear idler parts supposed to be green on '72s or is that your own touch?

They are supposed to be blitze black. I decided to go green.

The spacers on the shaft were black, but every pivot arm I've seen is cad plated like the adjustment bracket.

But, I know what you mean, I have a couple sets of NOS arms, and while they are not rusty, the cad plating looks far from new ( shelf wear ).

Where on earth did you find 15 NOS steel bogie wheels?

Too nice to ride.

[Cabindweller]

Love the pictures Keep them coming! Very Very nice work.

[jeffreyrempel]

OK, about the rear grab handle.
I had just got home after finding my first 1972 400 parts sled and I was starting to disassemble it in the yard. A man on a Harley Davidson stopped in front of my yard and started to walk over to where I was working. He introduced himself to me and said, "so I seen you have a John Deere Snowmobile there?"
We talked for a while about my restoration etc. and I found out that he worked for John Deere back in the day as a snowmobile mechanic.
Anyway.... to make a long story shorter, he went on his way and returned a week later and knocked on my door holding the chrome rear grab handle. He remembered having the 1972 500 and when they came out with the 73 models, he dicided to swap the one piece handle with the two piece. He explained that many people did this because the one piece was a "back breaker". He said that people would even cut the middle out on the one piece to make it into two piece. The cool thing is that he kept the damn thing for almost 40 years in his garage, so its funny how things work out. He just happens to keep a new chrome rear grab handle for years, he just happens to pass by my place while i'm working on the sled, and he just happens to just give it to me for no charge.

[joshua16]

nice restoration i like what you did with the engine and the sled looks grate.

[jeffreyrempel]

Pics.... Getting closer

[kwc]

Wow, beautiful work.

[jeffreyrempel]

Instrument Panel with Matching NOS Tachometer and NOS Speedometer

[jeffreyrempel]

Carb instaled on engine and fuel lines all done.

[jeffreyrempel]

Hood, access grill and NOS headlight.

[jeffreyrempel]

Hood, access grill and NOS headlight.

[80spitfire]

That's quite the restoration you have there. Very nice work Where did you get all your NOS parts from?

[jeffreyrempel]

That's quite the restoration you have there. Very nice work Where did you get all your NOS parts from?

Two years of searching, searching, and searching. I was able to find NOS parts from a few guys who have JD snowmobile yards in Saskatchewan and Alberta. I also found quite a bit on ebay, and I had help from a couple guys on here- JDSleds. I have also had an add on Kijiji for two years which helped.