1970 arctic cat puma 340 my story....can anyone tell me more???

[unobtanium]

It's been a long time.....started racing 1 Lunger 100's in about 2002....started with one 1971 lynx 292 kawi hr class.....then added a second 1971 lynx 340 hirth hd class.....raced em for about 10 years....wrecked alot of "poop" over the 10 years trying to go fast for 100 miles on "old school" technology....I called it revolutionary harrow spring suspension that I used 1\2 of just when I sat on the sled.....went through a 3rd 1971 lynx chassis used parts from 3 other 1972 lynx sleds we picked up along the way....& I lost count how many motors we went thru....all good FUN.....in about 2007 we found a 1970 puma it was a basket case all in pieces thought we could use some parts....it came with a hirth 194r 340 engine mainly why we bought it.....the rest of the sled went up on a shelf.....

[Vintagesleds.com]

[unobtanium]

So up on that shelf it was until about 2012......my racing partner "Kwirk" had passed away to cancer when he was 50 by then so I thought I'm gona put this puma back together in his memory...the tag under the chaincase said 340SSP....the guy we bought the sled from wanted alot of $$$$$ claiming this was some Rare sled.....at the time we looked at the tag did some research & came to the conclusion that the tag didn't match the engine hirth 340 194r that came with the sled so we were able to buy the sled for alot less $$...at the time we had no idea what the tag meant but knew it didn't match the engine....so stared digging all the parts off the shelf....

[unobtanium]

Thanks to members on this site I was able to decode the tag the "0" starting the serial# means it is a 1970 and the 340SSP means 340 Sachs SS Puma......nice....one of 28 that were made.....problem was my sled came with a 340 hirth 194r so started looking for correct engine....thats when i found the 1970 panther with a 340 Sachs SS from factory.....problem solved....out of the panther came the engine & it now sits in the shop waiting to go into the puma.....the motor plate also works in the puma.....I was able to find another 340 sachs ss with a few mods done to it & had a motor plate made to use in the panther so I have that sled going again...

[unobtanium]

The 340 Hirth 194r engine was vvvvery interesting  we had used up a few 194r engines racing the lynx in one lunger 100's.....the crankshaft was the weak link & they would bend....even had one break the pto side totally off.....comet duster flying around under the hood messy.....anyway we got looking closely at this puma 194r & it had a full circle crank in it ?never seen that before? but looking further it had been thru an explosion.....both engine cases were broken ...someone tried to do a mickey mouse repair.....and the end of the crank was all beat up....tried to get that engine apart  when we finally did found nothing salvageable....sucked would have liked to use that full circle crank....by this time I had sold my 2-1971 lynx but kept the hirth 194r out of one.....I planned to ride & drag race this puma so decided to put the Hirth into it....the motor plate & engine strap fit like a glove into the puma bulkhead....speaking of bulkhead when I got the tunnel/bulkhead onto the lift I noticed where some of the black paint was missing that the bulkhead was Aluminum.....wow ....we had no idea.....so the bulkhead came off the tunnel & we stripped all the black paint off.....

[unobtanium]

Rebuilt the skid which was in surprisingly good shape......it came with 2 different idler wheels on it not sure which would be stock if any? I have a few extras.....After the skid rebuild the stock skid went back up on the shelf so I don't mess it up riding/racing it.....the front arm in the skid is a weak link they tend to break we found as the 1971 lynx skid is identical just no shock in the lynx....so I had a spare 1971 lynx skid from our one lunger 100 days when we eventually started using 1972 lynx skid with a shock added....the 1972 skids didn't have as much "rocker" on the rails so better ski pressure.....so I put a 1971 skid into the puma with a shock added & a 1972 front arm which were much more solid....

[zoom]

Cats and Beer , its all good !

[unobtanium]

It takes alot of "Pillypops" to resurrect vintage sleds .....on the lift starting to come together.....

[unobtanium]

More parts coming down off the shelf......the original seat foam came with the sled.....the chrome backrest came with the sled but no foam for backrest....luckily i had a backrest from a 1971 lynx with good foam/wood to copy but while I'm riding the sled I will use the lynx backrest original puma backrest back up on shelf....I ordered a new seat cover & 2 backrest covers as well as cat snaps from Atwood nice quality product reasonable price.....I used the stirrups off of a 1972 lynx to add strength & better tank mounting......original stirrups & tank mounts back up on shelf....

[dirtman]

Coming along nicely!  Got a soft spot for the 70 Puma.  Brings back memories when I was a kid.

dirtman

[wankel303]

Lookin' awesome! 

[unobtanium]

The fiberglass original dash needs attention which I will get to sometime later......I had a plastic dash from a 1972 lynx....same set up as the fibergass original so installed that for dragrace/trail rides......the drivers & track that came with the sled were in great shape so reused them.....installed new bearings on the shaft new o-rings & seals in the chaincase.....the hood appears to be original & in decent condition even the decals still look o k so did nothing but clean/shine it up.....got a new windshield/windshield strips from arctic restoration....original windshield mounting hardware from arctic cat....

[unobtanium]

The ski shocks came with the sled & I believe them to be original.... I was able to get new shock spacers for the skis from arctic cat.....I purchased the skis that are on it from arctic cat I think they are for a 77 tigre but I also attained a new pair of original skis from arctic cat & put those on the shelf for when I want to put the sled back to original.....I put the hirth 194r from my 1971 lynx one lunger racer into the puma......used the comet duster that was on the motor & used the same recipe in the puma as was in the lynx as far as primary clutch weight/spring as well as gearing.....set the engine in so the offset & center/center is same as the lynx & used the same belt #.....original motor mounts continually tore in 1/2 when racing one lunger so went to yamaha 700sx mounts up front & et340 mounts in rear....

[dirtman]

Pretty cool buggy! 

dirtman

[unobtanium]

Added a Cat tachometer so I know where I'm at tuning......like to clutch it so it wraps out to 7000 rpm on take off then drops back to 6500 rpm when clutched up..... also using the secondary cap with holes drilled in it so I have some adjustment of secondary spring tension....

[unobtanium]

didn't have the snaps installed yet on the new seat so threw on an older seat (that the shop cat likes) & took the sled out for a Braaaapppp!!!!