1974 Ski-doo TNT 340
- Thread starter rozzy43
- Start date
skiroule
Well-known member
It's a good day when a vintage sled shows up on your doorstep.
Is your TNT a fan or free air?
Adam (snoluver1) is somewhat of an expert on this vintage of TNTs. Not only did he own one but he restored one as a raffle sled for the John Dee Ride-In a couple of years back. I helped a little with the parts chasing and we had pretty good luck at finding a lot of used parts. The two things that were the toughest were a decent hood and track. We finally found a hood that wasn't completely destroyed (they tend to have cracking problems) and another JD member (phazerpilot) did an incredible job of restoring it. We finally had to go with a new track, as most of the used tracks were just too rough.
More and more reproduction stuff is starting to show up for these models. In fact, I saw a hood for the 74 - 76 fan models at Princeton last weekend that had to be a reproduction.
Good luck and show us some pics.
Is your TNT a fan or free air?
Adam (snoluver1) is somewhat of an expert on this vintage of TNTs. Not only did he own one but he restored one as a raffle sled for the John Dee Ride-In a couple of years back. I helped a little with the parts chasing and we had pretty good luck at finding a lot of used parts. The two things that were the toughest were a decent hood and track. We finally found a hood that wasn't completely destroyed (they tend to have cracking problems) and another JD member (phazerpilot) did an incredible job of restoring it. We finally had to go with a new track, as most of the used tracks were just too rough.
More and more reproduction stuff is starting to show up for these models. In fact, I saw a hood for the 74 - 76 fan models at Princeton last weekend that had to be a reproduction.
Good luck and show us some pics.
Well I wouldn't exactly call myself a T'NT "expert", but I have been around the block with one. Yes you can find parts for them but it will take some leg work without a doubt. As Skiroule said, finding a decent hood was probably the biggest issue. One thing we discovered in our searching was that Doo was experimenting with different materials around that time and switched back and forth between fiberglass and poly hoods. 74 was a poly hood, but you can interchange it with a fiberglass one from different years with only slight variations.(I forget which years exacltly). The general consensus is that the fiberglass ones are a bit easier to repair than the poly ones, from a bodywork point of veiw. A restoration is definitely doable if you want to put the time and money into it. With enough blood sweat and tears, you can turn it into this....
sweeperguy
Active member
This may help you uploading pics, I'd like to see also. http://www.johndee.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?48547-Can-t-load-pics-anymore
Or if you have photobucket sharing from there works for me, then they're big pics instead of thumbnail
Or if you have photobucket sharing from there works for me, then they're big pics instead of thumbnail
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skiroule
Well-known member
Oh yeah, I remember. I had almost gotten over the sting of failure. That skid did look nice. Just too bad it didn't fit the sled. Still like seeing photos of that sled though. As first go-arounds usually are, this one was pretty special.
Sounds like it's a pretty typical vintage sled situation. I've seen a couple of free air hoods in boneyards but they were pretty rough. Save-able, but very rough. Cool hood but completely different hood than the fan cooled version, Thinking the hood is probably fiberglass yet in 74. If so, it maybe can be saved. Might have to go with an aftermarket track to get a decent one. Take a look at mfgsupply.com and see if they have one.
Most likely the rings are stuck. Try some Mavel Mystery oil in the cylinders and work the clutch with a wrench now and then. You never know, I broke a Polaris Colt engine loose a few years back and rode it for two years after that.
May want to take snoluver1 up on his offer. As I recall, the rail mounting holes were in great shape, as opposed to many that are very egged out.
Cool sled though - I think it's worth saving.
That looks like a pretty complete project. I would guess that the track would fit a few different years, and the ski shouldn't be much trouble. A good welder may even be able
to repair the ski if it isn't worn out.
The seat cover should be a simple job for anybody. Once you locate the material, replace the wood if its bad and use stainless steel staples. I did my first one this winter
and it wasnt a problem at all.
One piece if advice, take lots of pictures before you tear it down, and you can reference them if your memory fades you when its time to put it back together........
Good luck,
Kirk
to repair the ski if it isn't worn out.
The seat cover should be a simple job for anybody. Once you locate the material, replace the wood if its bad and use stainless steel staples. I did my first one this winter
and it wasnt a problem at all.
One piece if advice, take lots of pictures before you tear it down, and you can reference them if your memory fades you when its time to put it back together........
Good luck,
Kirk
rozzy
Just to let you know that sled is a 75 TNT F/A, not a 74. It should have a type 346 motor (340) which is the same as a 74. Parts can interchange on this sled from any 74 or 75 TNT F/A. Most the parts like hood, fuel tank, and dash would to come from one of those sleds.75. Tracks, skis, rear suspension can come from any 74/75 sled except the everest as it was a long track sled.
Just to let you know that sled is a 75 TNT F/A, not a 74. It should have a type 346 motor (340) which is the same as a 74. Parts can interchange on this sled from any 74 or 75 TNT F/A. Most the parts like hood, fuel tank, and dash would to come from one of those sleds.75. Tracks, skis, rear suspension can come from any 74/75 sled except the everest as it was a long track sled.