KawasakiTrax Community
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: mswyka on June 28, 2021, 07:20:46 AM
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Over the weekend we were able to pull another sled into the shop for rehab. This one has been in process for 5 or 6 years - maybe longer. It came to us pretty much in tact, but like all the others, worn out and neglected. The last registration sticker is dated 1997 and there are 1,947 miles on the clock.
The engine has been rebuilt and sitting under the workbench in the shop for the past 3 or 4 years. We have finally gotten to the point of clearing out enough other projects to make space for this in the shop. Being an optimist, I am hoping that with the engine and carbs already rebuilt, that this will be a pretty quick build. Although yesterday i discovered that all of the steering joints and spindles, if not completely frozen, were pretty stiff. With the help of a 3' pipe wrench we got the spindles loose and with a little polish and grease, they have both limited slop and still turn freely. Still working on the rest of the joints.
The photos show the sled on second tier storage in the machine shed (getting that down was a story in itself), the chassis right after a good pressure washing, the rebuilt engine, and the hood after a good cleaning.
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Day 1: After freeing frozen steering spindles, discovered frozen steering shaft bearings and connecting rod ends. Bearings cleaned, lubricated, and/or replaced and the steering is back in business.
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Off to a good start, interesting rack the sled sat on. I have a need for some "vertical integration" in an attempt to free up some floor space.
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I will admit that we have had too many sleds. In an effort to add some order to the machine shed we built a few stands that allowed us to store sleds on top of one another with future projects getting dibs on the top bunk. These are made from 1x3 and were built to be wider than they need to be for the sled on the top bunk so that the feet are far enough apart to straddle the sled in the bottom bunk.
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Day 2: Pulled engine out and got it dusted off. Still some work to do. Made up shopping list for parts needed from Machine Shed.
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When starting a resurrection a short list is a good thing.
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Day 3: Went shopping. Found everything except for the airbox. I was sure that I had a complete 340 airbox, but only found a questionable 340 airbox bottom. Have an excellent 440 airbox for the 81 that is in the queue, but if the 340 box was there it successfully evaded me.
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Day 4: First time for everything. Injector broke on installation - just turning with fingers.
Tested a few spark coils on the test engine. All tested good, but found that I need to find some plug boots. Anyone know a good source for plug boots?
Started hunting for the parts needed for the airbox rebuild.
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I have never seen an injector fail like that.
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I have never seen an injector fail like that.
I could see it happening if it were over torqued, but this was just finger tight. Clearly this one had seen some earlier trauma.
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Day 8:
1. Located and tested several spark coils. All tested good. Still missing spark plug boots.
2. Located air-box. It was not complete. Located spare parts. Sand blasted and painted screen. Rebuilt air-box. While I was at it I put together an Intruder air-box. So now there are 3 air=boxes ready to go - One Invader 440, one Intruder 440 and one Invader 340. Maybe enough parts for one more air-box, but if it comes to that it will have some issues that will need to be overlooked. Only have one pair of inlet grometts for a 340.
3. Decided to build another skid and began pulling apart one of the better looking donor skids.
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Day 18: Nothing to report. Shifted operations to windscreens and finding parts for others. Hope to have more to report in a few weeks.
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You have been doing really good at working on sleds, I've been too busy with work to do any playing.
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Day 31
Back from a working vacation trip.
Suspension is in place.
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Day 32:
Engine fits :-)
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Day 34
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At this rate you will have time to polish it up before the snow gets here.
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At this rate you will have time to polish it up before the snow gets here.
We live in hope. Today's photo
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Handy alignment tool
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I just realized I don't have a key for this one. I have switch nos. 20, 21, 23, 28, and 54, but no keys.
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Day 45:
Finished plumbing oil injection and fuel. These systems are ready for fuel and oil.
Found ignition switch that works with every key and installed.
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A switch that works with every key? Is there a story with that one?
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A switch that works with every key? Is there a story with that one?
Like all of these sleds I am sure that there is a story. In this case I don't know the history. Somehow this lock has been abused and whatever key, or even screwdriver, is used, the lock will turn. So for this sled I am just going to set it to "on" and use the switch on the throttle side when it needs to be turned off.
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Day 54: First Fire
https://youtu.be/6Co74BTNarU
There is quite a bit of uncertainty when putting together a sled from spare parts. They can all look decent, but we never know for sure until that special moment of truth of the first fire. Today's progress was very encouraging.
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... Although there appears to be some coolant leaking out of the bottom of the belly pan. More research to be done...
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It's alive!
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Sounds good, did it not want to idle? Anywhoo, always relieving when it actually runs after all that work. 👍
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Sounds good, did it not want to idle? Anywhoo, always relieving when it actually runs after all that work. 👍
The video show the actual initial start and we found that the idle was set too low. After turning in the idle stops it idled quite nicely. Now to put the rest of the cosmetic parts in place and she should be ready to go.
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... Although there appears to be some coolant leaking out of the bottom of the belly pan. More research to be done...
Finally got some time to follow up on the coolant issues. Had one spring clamp that was not tight and was leaking. After sitting overnight leakage is less, but coolant continues to be leaking from somewhere.
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I find the old, weakened with age, spring clamps do not work well with the old, hardened with age, rubber hoses. I swap them out with a good ol hose clamp.
Hoping it's not a leaky water pump! Those are a bear to change once the motor is installed...
Good Luck!
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Well, engine is coming back out. No obvious leak location at this point.
At the same time I was looking at temperature gauges. I have two that work - one has the packing nut locked to the temp probe and the other has the initial needle position pointing to 220. Does anyone know how to re-set the needle position?
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Unbelievable. Turns out the drain plug on the pump was loose.
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That was lucky! :)
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Day 80:
All done ... Except for the seat. Now on to the next project while we wait for the seat to come from the upholster.
Lets see if the next project can beat 80 days.....
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I need to do the seat on my 81 Invader. I know of the one guy on Ebay that sells seat covers but his have LTD on the sides and my 81 does not. Who else sells Kawasaki sled seat covers??
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I need to do the seat on my 81 Invader. I know of the one guy on Ebay that sells seat covers but his have LTD on the sides and my 81 does not. Who else sells Kawasaki sled seat covers??
I picked up a good one from Image a few years back. But most of our other covers have been custom. John's Upholstery in MN has done a few for us. The early seats I did myself - don't look too close at those.