Texas Cyclone Reserection

[JoeRainville]

Hi Guys,

I posted here last fall on how a gentleman from Houston, TX gave me two 1976 Cyclone 440's last fall. They are only one serial number apart, 55,270 and 272, but had been left outside during the huricane's. Here is a pic as I found them in Houston in the Fall of 2010:



Here is a pic just after loading them up onto my vintage Deere snowmobile trailer:



They have been in my garage in Fort Worth since then, while I contemplated what to do with the pair. Problem is that about the same amount of time and energy that it would take to restore a Cyclone could be used on a Liquidator, CC Liquifire, or a custom sled. So they sat while I decided to work on them or run them up to NY one weekend.

[JoeRainville]

I finally took some time to look them over, and found a few interesting things. First is that the Cyclone with the track and suspenion out of it it really straight. Hardly a dent anywhere on it. And it only shows 520 miles. Secondly, they are both complete, with spare parts, and a few new parts like windshields and such. The rougher of the two only has 720 miles on it. The paint is too far gone to really bring back, but it cleaned up OK with a little spot buffing out.



The surprising part: spark baby, SPARK!



So I guess I will be doing a mechanical rebuilt of the Cyclone that had the track off of it. I am going to have to send the crank to Jerome for new seals and bearings if needed, but she pulls over very smooth and seems to have lots of compression. Aside from a track, drive axle and jackshaft bearings, and rebuilding the rear idlers, this sled does not look to need a lot of work. And it even had electric start.



So now, when I do bring it back it NY, it should actually be running. I hope the other sleds don't get mad about that:>)

-Rainville

[JoeRainville]

These Cyclones have been a fun sanity saver while away from home.

I spent some more time tearing into the Cyclone this weekend, and made some solid progress. Once the motor and ski's were pulled, the chassis was moved to a set of saw horses to make it easier to work around it:



This allowed better access to all the bolts that are located inside the tunnel and made stripping it down go smoothly:

[JoeRainville]

During the tear down, I took some time to inspect the parts coming off to verify if they were usable or not. Found a few suprises too. For example, the chaincase showed signs of grinding and welding on it. She must of thrown a chain at some point in her 520 miles. Although most of bolts came out pretty easy, the ones holding the ski saddle to the spindles would not give up. For now, I just pulled the spindle as an assembly and will deal with it later.

The plastic cooling fan housing also shows signs of melting. Must of sat idling for a while and heat soaked from the muffer.

I started tearing into the motor, as the crank is going to be sent out for new seals and bearings:



So far she looks to be in good shape, we shall see what the rest of the teardown shows us. Now comes the fun part of getting all crud cleaned out of the frame and then getting the steel chassis parts blasted and repainted 'blitz black'. Still not planning to repain the 'mean green' paint, as this will be a low buck rebuild. Even with that, she will get a full mechanical refreashing, and should be very trail worthy as a rider this winter.

-Joe Rainville

[JoeRainville]

A degreasing trip to the local car wash near Fort Worth:



Buffing out what is left of the old paint:

[JoeRainville]

After being in NY for 3 weeks for a little shoulder surgery in August, and working in California for a week, I was finally back in Fort Worth.

As mentioned earlier, the sled only had 520 miles on it. While the crank looked great, the seals were in need of replacement. Since it has rubber inner seals, I sent her out to Jerome Krentzman's Crankshaft Services for a total check out. It came back looking just like new:



Also spent some time cleaning up motor parts before re-assembly started:

[JoeRainville]

Since I was in NY for a few weeks, I sent home a box of steel parts to bead blast and paint. Cari sent them back to me while I was in Cali. I had already sent down NOS and new parts to keep progress moving. New parts available from Deere included a new tail light, jackshaft and drive axle bearings, and chain case O-rings. Dealer at home gets a chuckle out me buying new parts for my sleds there.



I've been putting the sled back together with new hardware, with a new pinstripe on the tunnel:

[JoeRainville]

Spent a few more hours getting some QGT this week. I found that I need to send down some more parts while I am home in NY this weekend. As I mentioned above, she must of trashed a chain at some point in her life, as both the case and cover were busted up. No big deal, as I have several parts sleds to pull one from.



I was able to bolt up more brackets underhood, and install the Parts Unlimited replacement rear passenger handles too. She is coming along nicely...

[JoeRainville]

I has some time this weekend to push the project ahead. During the tear down I discovered that she ate a piston at some point too, as one was replaced and they used lots of RTV on the base gasket. But the jugs and pistons looked great, so they were re-used as is. Putting the pistons on the bottom end:



And put the top end on with NOS gaskets:



Rebuilt the cooling fan with new bearings. Need to install the ignition, but dispite the fact that the old Presto-lite still works, I am thinking a Hewtech Fireplug is a MUCH better choice with a rewound stator.

[JoeRainville]

Painted the bumper, and striped it. Painted the dash and intalled the speedo. Cleaned up and partly installed the stearing linkage.



-Rainville

[JoeRainville]

Spent a few quality hours in the garage finishing the motor assembly. Installed the original, but still functional Pretolite CDI and flywheel. Bolted up the fan housing, tin, CDI box/coil bracket, etc.

She is just about ready to fire aside from a carb rebuild. Still haven't send down a track and chain case from NY yet, but it's on the list.

[skoalmint]

Lookin good Joe,And here i just thought you were the guy with all the parts ,and no mechanical skills.LOL!!!!!!!!Lookin good Brock!

[JoeRainville]

Since I was in Fort Worth for the weekend, I was able to spend some time on the Cyclone after assembling a spare LF Kawi 440 to ship back to NY.

I installed the new belt for the axial fan, and re-installed the recoil and such. Mounted the motor to the plate, bolted up an NOS fuel pump and started to install the CDI wiring into the correct plugs. She is ready to drop into the chassis once I get the drive train installed.



On the chassis, I finished bolting up the stearing components and started on the wiring, cables and controls:



Thanks,
-Joe Rainville
22-Jan-12

[JoeRainville]

While back in NY last weekend, we were able to get a junker Cyclone stripped down, and a box of needed parts sent to Fort Worth:



Even brought down some wrenching help from NY this weekend, but not much time for QGT with moving apartments and house hunting:



-Joe

[skoalmint]

Tell Cari I said hello.Good luck with the house huntin! Brock