tools, techniques, shortcuts, bargains

Liquifire 4/6 · Post by **Liquifire 4/6** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 11:41 pm

Not sure if any of you do much aluminum cutting, but should you need to rip into a tunnel or some other sheet aluminum with a jig saw, here's a few tips I found that help an awful lot. 1) If your jigsaw has one of those little wheels that ride up against the backside of the blade, try ditching it while working with aluminum (or sheet steel) as it just seems to cause alot of vibration while cutting thin stuff and reduces blade life. 2) Use a scribe to mark your line, not a marker or pencil. 3) Spray the entire scribed line as well as the jigsaw blade with some WD40 or a silicone lubricant before you begin cutting ( the lube won't erase a scribed line, but it'll start disolving a line made with a marker before you finish your cut). The lubricant will greatly increase the life of your blade. 4) I find that a fairly coarse blade works best in aluminum (somewhere between 12-18 teeth per inch).

69camaro · Post by **69camaro** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 12:53 am

By the way, Paul mostly uses the hammer tool on his NON DEERE sleds

Duane

Miller Motorsports · Post by **Miller Motorsports** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 4:21 pm

I see lot of people using Wing Ding 40 and I tend to use 1 part automatic tranny fluid and three parts diesel fuel or methyl hydrate. I use the ATF/diesel for storage film in the carb and down the head. I also grab the cheap palmolive or other brand dishsoap and the methyl hydrate 50/50 for lube on the sliders if the trail is hard pack or the sliders might not be getting enough snow. I will have to get the name and post it here but I have been using this 2 cycle oil from the local massey fergussen dealer that is red and says something along the lines of "lieberstein" and comes in these 100ml bottles that twist off it works good and it is cheap. I also have to pass on this reccomendation of a product called "Fluidfilm" it comes in a golden brown coloured spray bomb with red lettering and the stuff is awesome. It will cover penetrate and stay placed very well on everything from electric panel to aluminum pans for rust proofer. I first came across it plowing in northern ontario the company used it for the control boxes and servos/ cellenoids for their 440 compuspread plow / sanders. The company was using that "magnesium chlorate" "prewet" road deicing chemical that pretty near eats steel and this fluidfilm covered it outright.

JDT · Post by **JDT** » Sun Dec 14, 2008 4:11 pm

McMaster-Carr is a great source of odd-ball hardware.

Just ordered a package of wingnuts for Deere beltgaurds. These have the nylock insert so they will not vibrate off.

Cost, this is the good part, 10 of them for $8.15!!!

Their search engine is so cool. Just type in what you are looking for in the box on the upper left hand corner and it will find it.

www.mcmaster.com They answer the phone 24-7 and shipping is cheap with no minimum order.

harleysportster · Post by **harleysportster** » Sun Dec 28, 2008 9:52 pm

Here is a picture of the correct clutch puller from Dennis Kirk

The thread size is 1/2 x 16 SAE

burt87 · Post by **burt87** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 3:04 am

Has anybody made an oil injection pump drive gear tool (part #jdm-112 per cd-rom manual). JDParts says it isn't available. Thanks for any info.

sapperzimm · Post by **sapperzimm** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 2:07 pm

Hey guys and gals,
I have recently given my 81 liqifire to my buddy's 18 year old. I bought it cheap and had never run it. They are new to Oregon and moved here on my recommendation, so I thought the sled would be a nice "keep em busy" project. We are having trouble with the bolts on the primary clutch coming out and we need to get the clutch off and can't. We've done tons of motor work but never on a sled. Can anyone give us the skinny. Please email me direct at sapperzimm07@yahoo.com. Thanks
Dave

harleysportster · Post by **harleysportster** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 2:22 pm

Dave,
Read this completely before wrenching on the sled to get a better understanding of procedures.
http://www.vintagesnow.com/John_Deere_files/Liquifire%20Manual.pdf

79spitfire#100340 · Post by **79spitfire#100340** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 10:59 pm

:idea: Spitfire cylinder head fasteners.The large cooling fins on these freeairs make tough to get the washer ,lock washer and nut on,I use a small screw driver ,then I slide them on it in reverse order,put my finger on them up by the handle.Then I put the tip of the screw driver on the head stud and let go of them.The washers fall on and the nut rests on top of the stud!

Hope this is a useful tip.
----MIKE

sparcat · Post by **sparcat** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 12:31 pm

Here is a trick fpr tose of you working on Salsbury clutches. I have lots of experience working on them, from the early 70's Cat's.

The springs can be a bear to install on the rollers. Get yourself a push rod from a small block chevy, drill a hole on one end of it big enough to fit the end of the spring. Insert the end of the spring into the hole and lift it into the slot, where the spring sits, and pull straight up. The spring will fit right in, and much eaiser, than screw drivers.

wycrumb · Post by **wycrumb** » Wed Feb 11, 2009 1:19 pm

I have done the same thing but I use a small nut driver, they already have a hole drilled in them for the extra threads of the bolt to go into when removing a nut, prob the only time a guy will get to use the smallest nutdriver.

tmartin · Post by **tmartin** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 4:28 pm

I recently upgraded the suspension on my 1980 trailfire by adding grease fittings. I drilled 1/4 inch holes in all the pivot points where they will be accesible from underneath. Then i welded 1/4-28 nuts on these holes to allow clearance for the fittings. I then put 1/4-20 grease fittings in these nuts. Its cheap, easy, and it looks good, like your ever going to see it any way. This should save some time in pre and post season prep. Hope this helps someone.

Travis

SpitfireKing · Post by **SpitfireKing** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 10:50 pm

Well this is my very first post and I am so happy that I found this site and a bunch of guys who are as addicted to JD sleds as I am. My first sled was a 77 Spitfire, and although it left me pulling my guts out many days in the winter withot the joy of riding, I still love those machines to this day and just got another one this past march.

My question is, has anyone found any way to make their own primary pullers? I am in the midst of starting a bit of a vintage sled repair and sales biz here in Manitoba and I'm not having a lot of luck finding pullers for all of these differnt sleds for a reasonable price. I have currently a 79 Spitfire, 2 340 kohlers engines from stripped sleds, a 77 Liquifire and a 73 300 that all need the clutches pulled and serviced, as well as many other vintage sleds and motors. Any info would be great!!

Hawkeye · Post by **Hawkeye** » Tue May 05, 2009 11:49 pm

So I tried the puller I have for my 06 Arctic Cat Crossfire 700 (Same as the Firecats) on my 79 Spitfire and it popped the ol comet duster clutch right off. Should be available on any arctic cat parts site. I have also heard some guys find some on Dennis Kirk, but no sure which one. Never could figure out how to get the duster apart to clean that thing all up, any thoughts?

For the fly wheel puller, my neighbor is a production manager at a custom food filler manufacturer so we made our own. But Ithink any harmonic wheel puller would also work. Hope this helps!

cowboy mark · Post by **cowboy mark** » Sat May 23, 2009 1:47 am

here's something i tried......maybe you've heard of it before. when putting the rear suspension back into my 76 cyclone i used a C clamp on top of the springs and the bottom of the body to pull the springs into place so i could get the bolts through. this worked fairly well.