1980 Exciter snowmobile club charity build

[sdsnocop]

Just picked up the next sled project. 1980 Yamaha Exciter 440. Looks to be clean and is in running condition. Plans are to clean, detail, repair minor flaws, and make it mechanically sound. Looking at making it a real nice looking rider. Snowmobile club will raffle it off with portion of the proceeds going to charity. Have not had the time yet to determine what all needs to be done. Picked it up in Casper Wyoming. Still saw some snow on the mountains South of Casper.

[Vintagesleds.com]

[Vics stuff]

 That is a real clean sled.
 Vic

[sdsnocop]

Got a chance to take a closer look at the Exciter. Everything looks like it is there. Previous owner must have been in a hurry to put the sled back together. Some of the wiring is not connected. Airbox and tool box and rear hood vents not installed but included. Needs new hyfax and wear rods which was included. Wiring is a mess and needs to be gone through. No spider cracking on the hood but some fiberglass damage around the hood hinges. Some cracks on the instrument gauge pod. The seat has been recovered and needs some attention. The tank cover has been repainted and needs to be redone. Needs kill and dimmer switch covers which I found on ebay. Needs airbox boot which I have found and ordered. The lower windshield trim is not correct. I will need the instrument cluster, ignition switch/choke panel and tank cover decals. Would be nice to find a straight front bumper. We have a club member who does auto body work that can fix and touch up the hood and we found someone to powder coat the skis free in exchange for advertisement for the raffle.   

[sdsnocop]

Sanded and repainted the tank cover. I have found and ordered the decals I needed for the tank cover, warning decal for the hood and decals around the dash and instrument cluster. Tore the seat apart. The foam and redone cover is good but the seat bottom and the rear metal pan are rotted. The front metal pan has some rot but is salvageable. The tail light base needs replacement and has the wrong bulb socket poorly installed. Skis were removed. They were perfectly straight and the shocks are still good. I will need the tail light base, hood straps, hood cables, and possibly a wiring harness if anyone out there has any laying around. 

[opsled]

 Get a hold of Mike Vollmer. I sold/gave him most of my Exciter stuff. Had almost 20 of them. He would probably have all of the parts you may need.

 One thing for sure is crank seals. If they haven't been replaced they will probably be bad from age and drying out. I would do fuel and oil lines too with OEM line. There is a guy on Facebook making new stainless steel bumpers for them that are excellent.  Another is making new seat pans out of fiberglass.

 There is a facebook page just for Exciters. If you go there you will find all these guys.

opsled

PS, bought an 80 new back in the day. Great sled.

[sdsnocop]

Thanks, I found the facebook page. The prior owner replaced the crank seals and replaced the fuel and oil lines but not with OEM.

[sdsnocop]

Have made some progress even though I have not had any time off since I picked up the sled due to all the covid refugees overrunning our State Parks. Finished the tank cover. Fixed the instrument pod and added the decals. Fixed some minor dents and polished out the belly pan. The skis are at the powder coater.

[opsled]

Lookin good.

PS, That blue line won't last long.

opsled

[sdsnocop]

Lookin good.

PS, That blue line won't last long.

opsled

That is on the to do list

[opsled]

These two part numbers from Yamaha will do all the fuel line. Less than $25 for both.

opsled

 PS, First # is big line from tank to pump. Second is small from pump to carb, tank vent and fuel level.

[sdsnocop]

Seat is close to done. New base board and built the rear taillight mount out of plywood. I looked into the repop fiberglass seat pans but decided to do the repairs on the front pan and rebuild the rear from scratch to save some money on the build. The seat does seem too short but should work. I have a rear taillight assembly coming complete with wiring harness. 

[sdsnocop]

I would have to assume this hole in the chaincase is for a missing vent.

[jschaffer]

Yes, nothing goes in that hole in the chaincase.

[sdsnocop]

I have not had the cover off the chaincase yet. How does the oil not fling out of the hole?

[opsled]

I have not had the cover off the chaincase yet. How does the oil not fling out of the hole?

 Internally baffled. Take the cover off and you will see.

opsled