1976 340 Cyclone Restoration

eppjd · Post by **eppjd** » Sun Jul 08, 2012 6:54 pm

Well this project has been 10 months in the making so far, since Scott and I started the initial teardown, I figured it was about time to start a thread on the restoration of my 76 340 Cyclone rider. I didn't realize until after we had tore down the machine I never got a complete "before" picture, so these will have to do for what we started with.

eppjd · Post by **eppjd** » Sun Jul 08, 2012 7:13 pm

Fuel tank before (well, actually the one I wrecked by using a putty knife to scrape away oxidization, notice the score marks

. I painted a different tank) and after painting, as well as the fan cover and dash.

eppjd · Post by **eppjd** » Sun Jul 08, 2012 7:18 pm

Work on the hood.

eppjd · Post by **eppjd** » Sun Jul 08, 2012 7:20 pm

more hood

eppjd · Post by **eppjd** » Sun Jul 08, 2012 10:50 pm

I got a welder to fill the holes that had been drilled for the licence plate, and a crack on the pan around one of the ribs - I think they were off when they punched that side of the pan and made some weak spots. My other Cyclone is also cracked in the same place, I didn`t want the paint to crack there so I thought the best option was to weld it.

The guy at the welding shop told me he had never had someone bring in a snowmobile strapped to the roof of a Jetta

eppjd · Post by **eppjd** » Sun Jul 08, 2012 11:05 pm

The stripped tunnel. We started using baking soda to blast the paint off but that turned out to be a very painstaking process, we tried brake cleaner to take the paint off with some success but in the end bought furniture stripper to get most of the paint, and soda blasted the rest of it after. We used this same process for the smaller aluminum bits as well.

The first coat of primer, a self etching primer to bond to the aluminum. I hope that the paint lasts longer than they did from the factory. We sprayed this with rattle cans but in the future I would buy a quart of the stuff.

The second coat of primer, a tinted shade recommended by the guy who mixed up my paint.

This was my first ever attempt at using a paint spray gun, the primer covered really well but I did get some orange peel - maybe due to how hot and humid it was and/or the paint not atomizing 100% out of the gun, hopefully we can wet sand it out with 800 grit sandpaper.

eppjd · Post by **eppjd** » Sun Jul 08, 2012 11:17 pm

Little bits, and the front bumper before and after self etching primer.

and thank you Joe for that tip about the bumper, although that black strip under the decal would have raised some questions, it will be much easier to make it look nice again with some bondo over the primer and painted black afterwards.

eppjd · Post by **eppjd** » Sun Jul 08, 2012 11:24 pm

We have been shrink wrapping everything after the primer has dried to help protect the primer from shelf wear until we paint them. At this point we also have the skis, jackshaft, driveshaft, and the skid disassembled in primer and packed away ready for painting. The tunnel is now resting nicely against the wall of my one bedroom apartment