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Yeah, Chaparral was in the non-metal pan game very early. I personally have never seen one that didn’t have a fiberglass pan. These pans are surprisingly durable. I dug up this photo from the 72 650SS project. The maroon pan is off the 650 and the red pan is off a 72 400. It's obvious from the...

Indeed! Kind of a long post here but I can’t remember ever walking through the fiberglass hood/pan crack repair process, so bear with me. There are variations for severe damage but neither sled this year required special treatment. I don’t get too carried away on the inside, which is less...

Well, it’s a quiet Sunday night up here on the border. After a late dinner of Walleye filets coated with Andy’s batter and washed down with a Hamm’s or two, it seemed like the perfect time to throw out a project update. I’ve been trying to multi-task somewhat on the Chaparral and the first task...

Thanks guys. It is a cool color. Deere used it on the 76 and 77 Cyclones and at a glance, it's really hard to tell the two years apart. They went with a different green in 78, the last year of the Cyclone's short run.

I admire your confidence Mezz but I think that’s probably a long shot. I try not to think about all the work that is left to do. I have been working at picking up the pace on the painting end. Paint-friendly days will become increasingly scarce as we move into September, Got the Cyclone paint...

Guess I better provide some evidence that I’m not spending all my time on the keyboard. I had originally intended to use the hood that came on the parts sled but it had hinge issues so I took a closer look at the 440 hood. Except for some small stress cracks and light damage to the base of the...

Would be a fun sled to have but they sure don’t come cheap. Seems like the price of the vintage muscle sleds has really jumped over the last few years. It was pretty cool that Yamaha made the black/gold SRX color scheme available on the Sidewinder, Loved that combination. I shouldn’t laugh at...

Great story Heck, I can visualize the whole thing, right up until the culvert. So, do either of you guys know when the free-air GPX came out? maybe later, around 76? I assume it was an amped up version of the GP. I think Lenny, who used to hang around on the site quite a bit, had what was...

Well now we’re talking! If you ever decide to follow up on this thought, I’d recommend holding out for that very sled model for a couple of reasons. First, it has a special significance in your snowmobiling history and second, you know the sled and that would make working on it that much easier...

OK, how many guys have started at least one of your sleds already? A friend of mine started all four of his last week just to fill his garage with Klotz aroma. Geese and ducks are flocking up so that must mean something.

Always thought the 72 Yamahas were cool sleds and my memory might be failing me here but I thought they were already using oil injection. As far as hitting stuff, lots to hit back when almost every ride was "off-trail" or as in your case, a trail that was "kind of" a trail.

Believe me Gary, most of that happens at some point. Maybe not the cat print part but I’ve had my battles with flies landing in wet paint. It’s not always easy for me but I do try to plan ahead sometimes. Take the case of fuel pump location. In 76, Deere mounted the fuel pump on the motor...

Thanks Guys! I always feel like I’ve made some progress when I’ve put on the first full coat of primer. It’s mostly to fill sand scratches and expose any work I’ve forgotten. A lot of it gets sanded off and re-primed but it’s at least all one color. The paint guy recommends that the stock...

One curiosity of the Cyclones is that many of them came out of the factory with no dedicated means of lifting the back of sled. Whether it was the intent or not, people resorted to using the rear passenger grab handles to lift the sled. These sleds are heavy and most of the plastic handles...

Well Gary, since I was born and raised in Minnesota, it’s possible that I stayed here because I didn’t know any better. I’m thinking there are some people on here that have had an experience similar to mine: Grew up in a small town, moved to a big city for several decades, then retired and...

While the 76 chassis was decent, it still required some hammering/filling. I also filled in the passenger grab handle holes in the tunnel. Somehow the handles just don’t seem to look right on this sled. Some guys can hammer sheet metal to near-perfection. I’m not one of them. This is where...

I decided to switch horses (sort of) on the John Deere. The 440 chassis was rough but had I no other options I would have tried to work with it. As luck would have it, I had a decent 76 340 chassis off the parts sled that I bought last year that had much less damage. While the damage on the 76...

For some time, I’ve been thinking that the shop is missing something. I’m a bit of a slow learner so it took awhile but Gary’s post finally lit the lamp. It needs a Hamm’s banner. I’ll be working on it. I agree with your preference. I can’t even be an influencer at home, much less out in the...

It’s August. The dog days of summer are here, the Outlaw Grass Drags are coming up fast, and Hay Days is only a few weeks away, so it only seems appropriate to fire off an initial project post. The first step in the master plan was the Cyclone teardown. Having done a couple speeds the process...

I’m planning on that being a part of posts on this thread, at least to the extent that it adds some value. I used to claim that all one needed for one of these projects was an impact wrench and a can of WD-40. Obviously, there’s more to it than that but they are essential. I think I’ve talked...