KawasakiTrax Community
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: mswyka on May 28, 2019, 07:32:46 PM
-
I think that by now I have comments and questions about this sled in a couple of threads. But, since it is now in the garage for a summer rebuild I am thinking that it deserves its own dedicated thread, so here goes.
This 81 Invader came to our home late last year. Although the former owner said that they "rode it last year and it just needs a carburetor adjustment", it was not difficult to tell that this sled had been unloved for several years.
4,100 +/- miles on the odometer tells me that this sled has been run, and likely run pretty hard. Mis-matched bolts and missing parts tell me that the sled has been apart and put back together at least once.
Attached are photos of A: How she looked when she first came home - well, maybe how she looked after being powerwashed.
B: The suspension after rebuilding, C: The track that I hope to install when all is said and done, and D: Its current state in the garage. Well, actually the belly pan and instrument panel are now removed.
Interesting development this evening. When the engine came out I couldn't get the temp probe out of the thermostat housing. So I just took the thermostat housing off. Tonight I put some heat to the thermostat housing and was surprised to see the temp gauge respond. This is going to be interesting if that gauge can be saved.
-
This will be fun!
-
Here are a couple more photos of the chassis up on saw horses, evidence of needed repair to the front support arm, and the dash panel with the thermostat housing attached.
I am open to clever ideas to remove the temperature probe from the thermostat housing without breaking probe.
-
That rear skid looks awesome. Nice work. 8)
-
I'm amazed how much longer the heat exchanger is on the '81 compared to my '79's.
-
I'm amazed how much longer the heat exchanger is on the '81 compared to my '79's.
I know our 340s have short heat exchangers, but I had thought all of the 440s were the longer version. I will have to pay more attention to the chassis that we have in the machine shed.
-
Looks like a great project! Nice work on that skid, they can be the most challenging part of a restore.
I would suggest using a cutoff wheel to CAREFULLY slice the housing perpendicular to the threads on either side to loosen the nut. A working OEM temp gauge is hard to come by, but the housings are a dime-a-dozen...
Also, if you are in the market for a good one-piece dash panel let me know, I believe I still have one or two real nice ones for sale.
-
Looks like a great project! Nice work on that skid, they can be the most challenging part of a restore.
I would suggest using a cutoff wheel to CAREFULLY slice the housing perpendicular to the threads on either side to loosen the nut. A working OEM temp gauge is hard to come by, but the housings are a dime-a-dozen...
Also, if you are in the market for a good one-piece dash panel let me know, I believe I still have one or two real nice ones for sale.
Great minds think alike. I too was thinking of cutting off the housing.
I will think about the dash panel. Partly I am thinking of conscripting my kids to 3D print me some new ones.
-
Success.
-
Looking forward to following and learning from this thread. That is a sharp looking sled. May have to find one myself after I finish my current projects.
-
Glad you got it apart! Let me know if you need a new housing, I have a box full of them.
We have a couple 3d printers at work, but unfortunately they are no where near big enough to print a dash panel. I do still have my template for making aluminum dash panels...
-
Glad you got it apart!
I am very grateful that it came apart. It was a bit more brittle than I expected. Fortunately we too have a crate of engine parts. The effect of way too many bad cranks.
Working on these sleds has given me a firm appreciation for anti-seize.
-
In a separate thread we discussed the track and the studs. I have pulled the photos into this post along with a comparison between the studs that I have been running and the studs in the new track. The studs that I have been running measure 1.17 overall and are sold as 7/8" studs. The studs on the new track are 1.42 overall. In the bulkhead I have measured 2" of clearance between the bulkhead and the drive sprockets. I still need to get a set of tunnel protectors and check my clearance against them.
-
A little clean up of the belly pan. The pressure washer was on loan. It came back late Sunday and gave us an opportunity to do a little cleaning. There are about a dozen blemishes that need to be cleaned up before paint.
-
It is a little better than the one on my 81. I did manage to squirrel away a couple NOS pans for some day down the road.
-
Adding a few close up photos.
It looks like when the front support broke the pan was able to hit the skis and scarred both sides around the steering spindle.
The worst is the split in the "v" in the center. I have not done a repair in that area before. This will be interesting.
-
Do you have any interceptor ones???
-
Do you have any interceptor ones???
I am sorry, no Interceptor parts here. I had an Interceptor a few years back, but no spare parts or parts sleds.
-
Life has been busy of late and the Invader project has been pushed to the back burner. Having a few days off from my day job has given me a chance to get into the garage and continue repair work. First item of business was to put an air conditioner in the shop. I should have done that years ago. With the AC in, today I started to patch the belly pan.
I will add that while I was in the machine shed getting a donor belly pan, I couldn't resist the temptation to start a few sleds. And, I am happy to report that the 78 Intruder and the 79 Invader 340 were easily coaxed to life. One of the 79 Intruders that I tried had a very sticky primer and didn't respond as well.
-
Impressive set of clamps you have there!
-
I am grateful for the clamps. Here is some more progress. This pan was worse than I realized. But then, all of our spares are pretty beat up also.
-
Do you have any interceptor ones???
I am sorry, no Interceptor parts here. I had an Interceptor a few years back, but no spare parts or parts sleds.
Had, Had how could you have let it escape your grasp? :o
-
Do you have any interceptor ones???
I am sorry, no Interceptor parts here. I had an Interceptor a few years back, but no spare parts or parts sleds.
Had, Had how could you have let it escape your grasp? :o
Someone else needed it more than we did. Now we have some photos and some good memories.
-
Thumbs up! :)
-
August 1, 2019 Update. Project has been stalled since completing the belly pan repairs. Still looking for a pair of tunnel protectors.
We have another project in the shop wrapping up today. This should free some time and space to get back to work on the Invader.
-
Finally caught some time when not travelling or working on some other summer type project and started looking at the sled again. I think that we have our first roadblock. Started measuring the track, the skid and the drives and found that the outside row of nubs is not compatible with the outside wheels on the skid and on the driveshaft.
It looks like the drive, the inside wheels and the slides will track OK.
To use this track I would need to reconfigure the mounting of the outside wheels.
While I did want the paddle track, I have a NOS track that might be the better choice.
-
How far would the wheels need to be moved out?
-
I didn't do that calculation. By memory I am thinking about 1/2 to 3/4 inch on each side. I will double check.
-
Would the cross bars being a little longer fix that or is it more complicated?
-
Now that I am back in the shop with a tape measure, I am discovering that my dimension memory is not so good. It looks like it might be off just shy of a 1/4 inch. So now I am thinking I can make up the difference with a few more of the stock washers. So we are back on track. Pardon the pun. Still need the tunnel protectors though.
Double checking, it turns out I was not entirely crazy. The big change is with the drive. The outbound wheels will need to move out at least a half inch. I will need to do a mock-up to confirm that the drive can be installed with these wheels moved out.
-
I set up the drive shaft with the outside wheels set to fit outside the nubs and found that I could not insert that shaft into the sled. Possibly if we remove the chain case and install the shaft with the splined end first it could work.
Then I looked at the manuals and see some of the sleds have the outside wheels and some don't. Most notable among those that don't is the 81 LTD.
So I can:
1. Go with no outside wheels.
2. Assemble chaincase last, or
3. Stick with NOS track and original drive set-up
Quite the conundrum.
-
I have a newer style track on the Intimidator and my 81' Invader. I removed the locators on the drive shaft and installed it allowing the wheels to move freely from side to side (making sure the wheels were outside the nubs when installing). Once the track is installed, I used simple hose clamps to locate the wheels. It doesn't take much to hold them in place and they don't spin on the shaft so there we don't need to worry about them wearing.
It's been several years since I have done the 81' but I do recall that the rear drive shaft needs to be lengthened. I think the first time I had a custom one made, and the last time I cut down an extra mounting shaft and re-taped the end. There are also wheels outside the rails towards the front of the suspension that need to be widened. I don't recall how I accomplished this, but I don't think it was too difficult. I can take a look later and get some pictures if you need it.
-
Sounds like a practical approach with the clamps. Since the 81 LTD did not have the extra rollers I was considering leaving them off. The 81 also had uprights on the outside of the track clips. This may be why they didn't use them. I don't have manuals for anything newer, so I am not sure what the 82's used.
I will need to double check the length of the rear shaft. For the outbound wheels on the front of the skid there is enough bolt to shim them out. The question is whether or not the wheel bushings will still be supported.
-
I will take a look at what I did on the outer front wheels. I have put over 1000 miles on it and they have held up nicely.
-
Thank you.
Tonight was drilling out rivets. There are a lot of rivets in a bulkhead.
-
Looks like I doubled up the spacers. I seem to recall installing a spacer to the shafts as well...
-
Thank you. That looks interesting.
-
Thank you. That looks interesting.
If you look close you can see the seam in the spacers between the suspension bracket and the wheel...
-
Thank you.
Tonight was drilling out rivets. There are a lot of rivets in a bulkhead.
Finally finished. If I counted right it was 80 rivets.
-
Did a little work on the dash panel. The panel that came with the sled was very bad. Was able to use it as a parts donor. Since I was patching one panel I decided to do a Intruder panel at the same time.
-
last two photos
-
Back to the suspension question. I added some shims to the rear axle and to the side wheels. The wheels now clear the outside nubs.
My question is whether or not there is specific guidance for how much clearance there should be between a nub and a wheel?
-
Looking at air boxes tonight and coming to the conclusion that we have a miserable collection of battered and beaten air boxes. Hoping to make one good one out of two or three. This may be yet one more miracle for this sled.
-
Before and After - Airbox screen.
-
It is coming along real nice. If there is a "nub clearance spec" I am unaware of it.
-
Looks great! I centered the wheel between the outside of the track and the nubs, I'm not sure that is "right", but it worked.
-
Looks great! I centered the wheel between the outside of the track and the nubs, I'm not sure that is "right", but it worked.
Thank you.
-
Dashes are done and painted. Not perfect, but much better than they started out.
-
Air Box is assembled.
Now I am trying to decide whether to remove the safety/instruction sticker or to have it replicated.
The plastic is pretty beat up. This ended up being a mash-up from an Intruder bottom and an Invader top.
-
I think that this sled has now been taken apart as far as it can be. Time to start getting things cleaned up so that they can go back together. Like these carbs.
-
Carburetors are ready. Brass was a little dull, but a bath in brasso and a ride on the buffing wheel brought out a nice shine.
-
Mark,
Are you going to get to complete and running before this seasons kick off?
Polishing brass inside the carburetors? No body is going to get to see your shiny job in there.
-
Time to get this project back into the shop and get some work done.