Restoration Tips

[liquijer]

I agree.

Six months before I started to restore my camaro, I bought three can's of WD-40, and soaked every nut and bolt I good find.

When I went to take it apart six months later, it came apart great.

[Vintagesleds.com]

[cory464]

If you have a hard time finding replacements for original bolts and nuts as I have, I found a wire wheel on bench grinder does wonders to remove old paint  and rust from bolts, nuts, etc ...  - if not to be painted, a light coat of oil or silicone to preserve, and it's still all original.

Enjoy the passion

wire wheel is good. eastwood sells a vibrator bowl which has some kind of grit that tumbles bolts through.it is spendy, but if you want detail perfection... me personally, it is the wire wheel.

[2stroker]

wigman1 wrote

Having the sled up on the horses puts it at the perfect level to work on without killing your back, and the plywood holds plenty of parts/tools/etc!!  Wig

this is one of the most imortant things..make sure you yourself are as comy as you are settling in to watch tv..keep evrything clean and organized when you are working and have plenty of room and a good light.

[EricR]

Wouldn't it be hard to mix and apply the glue with wings and all? grin'

[yamaha nutz]

Like what was said pictures bins or bags............  pay close attention to detail  before you rip your sled apart do some backround checking on it. factory service and assembly manuals are a plus make sure it is all matching like it was form the factory(not all preproduction photo's are correct or sales flyers) from photo archives etc    check the web for TSB's on that sled and make sure you do the updates while it is apart if they have not been done aready  expecially if you plan on riding the sled     

but most of all take your time and have fun doing it no matter how bad or good it turns out this for most of us (not me) is a hobby  and not a way of life  i have done many resto's but i have always had fun doing it and in my eyes all the sleds have turned out great   but don't forget friends and lots  :beer :beer :beer :beer always make it even more fun during the problem times of the resto

Nutz

[beverlynsteve]

Visit Vintagesleds.com often for advise and tech help!!!!!!!

[kwright]

Use anti-seize (thread lubricant) liberally during reassembly, especially if using stainless steel fasteners with aluminum components, though I commonly use it with steel-on-steel too.  I use anti-size (almost) without exception during assembly and when working on my motorcycle restoration projects.

[stinger440]

I would just like to add. When parting out a sled keep everything. All the nuts/bolts, washers, clips etc. I don't know how many times I have been able to go back and use some of that stuff on other projects. Even cutting the brackets off rusted out skis before you scrap them.

Oh and I tend to organize my parts by usiing those reuseable lunchmeat containers. I think they are gladware or something like that.

[redzsledz]

  All good ideas , mine a lined ring binder togowith pictures list part checklisrt columes- restore--replace--repair--rechrome--- additional large space for comments like rusty needs to be sandblasted . etc. Use lots of bags or plastic fishing boxes[the large one's with many compartments] a note for each one [how many bolts what they belong to and where they go on the machine. A piece of cardboard with screws or bolts pushed through and labled works to, just don,t dump everything in a coffee can or you'll be wondering what goes where and why I have parts leftover when I supposed to be done'. Small bolts can be sandblasted in a coffee or peanut can with lid by drilling holes in bottom of can to let sand out and a small hole in lid to get tip [blaster] in. Ad bolts to can; insert blaster tip; blast parts; shake can while blasting works great. As far as the Eastwood vibarator we have one and spend more time waitin' slow for parts- then you get to dig though the tumble media[rocks] looking for the screws-bolts. If someone gave me one I probbably wouldn't use it, Oh thats right they did. The actual rock tumblers[for pollishing rocks] werk OK pick one up alot cheaper too. That wire wheel's still the quickist and does the best job; more exciting too.[that wake ya up when one gets away from ya. hammer RED

[CDN TX340]

How do you guys make an old cleated track look new.  The track is not in bad shape but the rubber is gray and some cleats have rust on them.  What if a guy used armorall and sprayed it on both sides of the track.  I could probably wire brush the cleats and paint them.  Any other tricks of the trade....

[wigman1]

Ride the sled - nice powdery snow buffs everything up like new!!

 'sleddin 'sleddin 'sleddin   Wig

[throttlemasher408]

nice tip wig Thumbs/   also functionality before appearance... if you run out of time or money at least you will have a runing sled, it may not be pretty but with a restored engine it should run like a champ

[mtstarfires]

 2 things that work very well for me are to take one part at a time and finish it. the hood is a great place to start. seat is another. put both of them on your sled and you get a great idea of what it will look like when finished. also don't get in a hurry. sometimes i will walk away from a project for a couple of weeks just to get in the right frame of mind to do it right. break it down into small pieces.

[zuknomad]

Great tips in this imbedded thread and would like to add some things that have worked for me on Suzuki's. The first is the 'shrink-down' method of helping to get press-fit parts together. I do not own a press, so I get the male end of the part cold and warm the female part. In this case, the axle stub ends were frozen (some use dry ice for this) the inner bearing race warmed (not hot) and then driven on carefully and keeping things square, hammering a little at a time on an old socket centered on the outside part of the inner race. I use a little anti-sieze on the stubs and blocks of wood or thick rubber in the vice jaws keep my new paint nice.



This is how I get the springs back onto the skis without much damage to fresh paint on either. Pins slide in easily after sufficient pressure creates the spring pre-load. Any scuffs are covered by where the spindle foot fits in the saddle on top and ski runner on the bottom (who cares?..., you'll never see the bottom, hopefully!) Wood or a thick rubber piece could cushion here if your C-clamp has bigger jaws than mine.



zuk

[zuknomad]

Have a new seat cover to install yourself? You can 'tune-up' that old base if it's not too far gone. The wood on the bottom of this seat wasn't rotten, just cracked in a couple spots where the seat brackets attached to the frame. Brass braces reinforced these two spots. Also, never hurts to carpenter wood glue this and any support pieces that attach to the plywood base. Add screws to strengthen where needed.



Seat foam can crush down and split over the years. I used a man-made (not synthetic) thin carpet pad to build the seat top back up and cover foam defects. Use 3-M 777 adhesive to adhere the pad pieces so it won't shift out of place when installing the cover.



Work slowly from one end of seat to the other when stapling cover edges to the bottom, a little at a time to keep things taut and square. An electric stapler should work just fine, unless you have access to an air model. Be patient, and have a tack hammmer handy to drive any errant staples flush. Rivet and/or glue the vinyl to metal covers.

Cover before:                                                            Galvanized mount brackets after; before using a wire wheel:



Covers after; backrest cover not installed by me, all else was:



A couple of other tips added just before this post are on the bottom of page 3.

zuk