Number 30 accounted for

[thomy]

My birthday came early. I just acquired Interceptor #30. It has a very long way to go before it hits the trail again. I wonder how many there are in Alaska. I also got another 1980 Invader LTD 4/6.

[Tory944]

Nice find!  Hope you have better luck than I did finding parts...  at least engine parts!  It's good to hear another Interceptor may be brought back and not parted.  Number 30 - low #!!

                                                                     Good luck!                    Tory

[thomy]

Number 30 is pretty ROUGH! It was in a head-on with another snowmobile over 20 years ago. It's been sitting under visqueen since 1990. Guess what happens when you store stuff outside in plastic. Yep, rust & corrosion. I tried to get the primary clutch off last night but no love. Snowmobile vintage racing club meeting tonight so will have to wait until tomorrow night to hydraulic it off.

It is always amazing to me how every Kawasaki snowmobile I have acquired since March has not only turned over, they have had at least 145 to 160 psi compression and sparked. Yes, my gauge is accurate. I've collected 4 LTDs, 4 Invader 440s, and the Interceptor so far but gave a nice Invader 440 to another racer. There are lots of Kawasaki snowmobiles in back yards around here.

I didn't realize the Interceptor came with a green and black hood. Was there a choice of colors?

[gixxer6]

Nice find!  What are your plans for the sled?  We LOVE pictures on this forum  .   

Interceptors came in only one color combo, black with red and silver decals. 

[thomy]

Pictures will have to wait until I get the camera back. My wife took it to California for a couple of weeks. This one must have been painted green. It has the same kind of metallic characteristics as the black paint I see on the LTDs. Too bad the hood is damaged and the front bumper and belly pan are totally mangled. The hood looks nice with the black and green, at least what is there.

I don't know what I'm going to do yet. It will probably take some time to find another one or the body parts to restore this one. Meanwhile I'll go through the engine and reseal it. I have those parts already. I'll strip the rest of the machine down to the bulkhead and repair/replace what needs it so that when I get the rest of the parts at least it will be ready for them.

Is there a parts manual and service manual for the Interceptor in the member section?

[gixxer6]

Yes, there is parts manuals and service manuals in the members area. 

New fiberglass belly pans can be purchased here:  http://www.arcticrestoration.com/products.php?product=Pan%2C1982-Kawasaki-Interceptor-

The front bumper from an Invader will bolt right on, you can paint it black to keep the original look. 

[thomy]

I don't want to know what that belly pan would cost to ship to Alaska. Is there any difference between the Interceptor belly pan and the LTD pan other than exhaust outlet location? It would be nice to not have any holes in the belly pan since I 'll use Aaen pipes anyway. I didn't get pipes with the #30 machine. They were probably mangled in the wreak and tossed many years ago.

I plan on making a couple of fiberglass molds of this summer so I can shave lots of weight off of my racers. One for an LTD hood and one for a belly pan. Stuff happens on the race track so it will be nice to have an extra hood and belly pan sitting around. I have a barrel of resin and a couple of rolls of fiberglass matt along with some roving.

[Interceptor398]

The Interceptor pan is a little wider by the spindles.  Nice find.

[gixxer6]

The plastic belly pans are very light, I have three varieties of fiberglass pans and they are all a little heavier than the stock plastic. 

[thomy]

Hydraulicing clutches off works great! Just add water and lots of teflon tape.

Last night I measured the width across the side belly pan support brackets that extend up and outward above the spindles. Then I measured a 1980 LTD 4/6. The Interceptor was 1/2" shorter. I thought that was odd so I put a straight edge across the front of the front tube of the bulkhead. Both ends of the tube are bent back and upward a little. Hmmm. I did measure the ski centers and it was 34". Does anybody have measurements for the width of the side brackets at top center outside to outside?

At least the temperature sender wasn't seized into the head. I am seeing more bent parts as I take this thing apart.

[thomy]

What a mess!! I got it stripped down to the tunnel yesterday. The only parts, almost, that are in good shape are the top end of the engine. Talk about rode hard and hung up wet. I've seen worse but this Interceptor could be among the contenders for most abused snowmobile. Will have to step back and reassess what to do with it.

[gixxer6]

#553 was in terrible shape when I got it.  Tunnel damage, bulkhead damage, missing hood, broken belly pan, wrong seat, the list goes on.  Now I have an Interceptor that isn't worth what I have invested into it, unless I part it out.  I will not build another sled unless it has a nice straight frame, free from damage. 

BTW, there is a NOS Interceptor tunnel and Bulkhead for sale on vintagesleds.com...

[thomy]

It is difficult to justify, as much as I like these old classic Kawasakis, spending more than I could buy a nice Interceptor for to buy and ship to Alaska all the parts I would need to restore this Interceptor. Have to stew on this one. It is funny how often things I'm looking show up out of the blue. I've been involved with snowmobiles for thirty years and word gets around when someone is looking for something.

By the way, the Interceptor tunnel fits nicely into a 1980 LTD 4/6 bulkhead. I was curious so I mocked up the 550 crankcase into the 80 LTD bulkhead to see what the differences were. This crankcase had an LTD crankshaft in it. The crankcase was cracked and bulged out where the oil pump case bolts to it. Looks like a piston had broken and a piece got wedged between the case and crank. Something had to give.