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No shop time today. A friend and I busted out the vintage rides for a little spring exercise. Fantastic day for a ride – 40 degrees, sunny, and a lot of pool-table smooth trail. The igloo bar on Lake of the Woods (literally on the lake ice) was a mandatory stop. From there we did a nice little...

These things do not come off easy so I guess it was standard procedure. You have to wonder how long the sled was ridden after they quit registering it, if at all. Yeah, being this far out in the sticks has some disadvantages. You’re a unique breed if you enjoy working with fiberglass. You’d be...

I guess you have to start somewhere so I decided to start with light work on the hood, fixing some of the spider webbing that covers a good percentage of the hoof. Seems like some coarse sanding, followed by polyester filler and a couple of coats of high solids primer is doing the trick. I...

My memory is not too sharp but I swear there was a guy up in Alaska that had 5 or 10 of these for sale that had zero miles. Seems like the sleds had some kind of muffler problem so most of them didn’t have the mufflers installed. Guess they never had a chance to correct the issue before they...

Great photos! Pretty amazing snow conditions and weather you had out there.

Back in the sub-zero temperature world outside so it seemed like a good night to work in the shop. Got the rest of the chassis finished up and sprayed the first coat of primer, which is good, I'm ready to move on from this phase of the project. Next major task will be the hood and I’ve...

I really had to laugh at this. At my pre-retirement job we often used the expression: “Polishing the Cannonball”, which is something I have to constantly resist doing on a project. I’m a little prone to trying to make things better than they have to be. A trailer queen it won’t be though...

This is very cool! A guy that stored a snowmobile for me built and raced two trackers. Those things are insane. He fired one up for me that had a 600 liquid for power. What a beast, no way would I make a lap on one of those.

Thanks Guys! I had to buy a bigger hammer and dolly set for this job. Even then, the layout of the cross member required the use of a dent puller and when all else failed, the old crowbar and metal screws usually did the trick. After the metal bending is finished and the screw holes brazed...

Not a very exciting update but figured I better post some sign of activity so people won’t think I’m as much of a slacker as is already suspected around the home front. Put the first thin coat of what I call a “sanity check” primer on the bottom side of the chassis today. This should reveal any...

I’m betting that there are a fair number of people have photos and maybe even some video of their vintage riding days squirreled away in albums, boxes, or drawers but it’s just not as easy to share this stuff as it is with today’s digital media so it seems like a lot of it doesn't get posted...

Oh yes, I remember. But in general, is there anything better than bar pizza? I think not.

Of all the manufacturers that I wish could have stayed in the game, Chaparral would be #1. Their racing program was one of the best at the time and they were a remarkably innovative shop. The 73 SSIII’s had some issues (primarily suspension) but the liquid cooled 74 SSX was a killer sled. The 75...

Great Question. I don’t think there’s any question that, within a few years most manufacturers had adopted the Rev concept, which was initially mocked by those same manufacturers, but my vote goes way back to about 1965 when we went from riding this: To this: Maybe this was more like the...

Totally agree! Some amazing shots Gary, really makes me feel like I was along for the ride. Beautiful trails and scenery and I loved the Wall Drug sign.

Good to hear you’re getting some snow. Not sure if you are in the track of the latest stretch of cold weather. Looks like it might be cold enough here to maybe take care of some of the slush problem we’re having on the Rainy River. It is pretty cool to incorporate some interesting changes on...

Good ones, but I'll state the obviously correct wording order :)

So True! Been doing some riding, which felt good and motivated me to get back on the project. There’s a bunch of text and photos in this post that run the risk of getting too far down in the weeds and I apologize in advance but I think they help detail some of the things involved with this...

Sorry guys, I just couldn't resist this. I'm 73 and I have two 155's - RMK Assault and Indy Voyageur, both with stock exhaust (although I have to admit I'm mostly deaf anyway). As far as the male endowment, if I can find it to give you a measurement, I'll report back - it's cold up here in...

Pretty intense stuff! This sounds like an awesome event and it must be a blast to be in on the action. Those sleds seem to be tuned to the max and you have to have your stuff together to be competitive. The Scorpion mod is a real eye-catcher. Bet you don't see a lot of those on the circuit.