Greetings from central Iowa. I'm new to this group, and new to any type of blog (or forum). I promise to be a quick learner. Thank you in advance for this resource.
I have a '78, '79, and '80 invader (seed stock for project). I will be attempting to make one very good runner (like new), and one good runner (like used). This will be my first project of this scale, but I have expereince tearing up and repairing several other sleds. I consider myself a moderatly experienced novice. I've read alot of the resources on this site, and I have a kawasaki "sled buddy" helping me with this project ('77 SnoJet/Kaw SST- near mint). I am registered here so I can learn from other's mistakes and avoid a few of my own.
I got an Invader to suit 3 criteria in my collection: 1- 1970s era, and 2- 80hp 440 (give or take a little), and 3- not so expensive as to break my kids' college dreams. To be quite honest, I've never owned nor ridden a Kawasaki sled until recently. I'm impressed. To my knowledge, as for 440cc size, the invader is about as good as it gets, yes? Maybe the SRX is stronger, but not much else, right? In fact, the LTD may be the overall strongest 440cc ever, yes? ...but I digress...(aka- I got distracted)
Question 1: For the SS440 (Invader) it appears most parts are interchangeable between '78 to '79 and '80 to '81- but not from '79 to '80. I found some parts in the manuals that are different. My question is- how much different are these, in other words, how important is it. Or, perhaps a better question, What difference does this make? Here is the parts I found different between '79 to '80 Invaders (SS440): Crankshaft- crank, piston, shim RH, washer, Pin, Bearing. Jugs- head cylinder, Gasket head, Holder, Gasket exhaust. CrankCase- crank set assembly. Oil Pump- pump assembly.
Question 2: I plan to tear each sled down and rebuild (put back together) the best parts into one sled. With regard for inter-mixing parts (especially motor and such) what is the best thing I should do (ex- save time, improve performance, or prevent trouble) and what is the worst thing I should avoid?
Question 3: Who knows an Invader motor rebuilder in the Iowa area? For now, I think I'm only going to rebuild one motor, the others seem fine.
That is all for now. Thank you for the consideration.
Mac