Chaparral vs John Deere: A Build-Off Challenge
- Thread starter skiroule
- Start date
skiroule
Well-known member
The ride Dan is referring to is the Semi-Retired Iron vintage event hosted by the Boondock Inn. This is an awesome event and yes, the plan from the get-go has been for this sled to make the trip. If you're in the neighborhood in late February, by all means, stop in.
Last year, with several John Deere enthusiasts as witnesses, I solemnly swore on a 6-pack of Hamm’s that I would have a 440 Cyclone at the 2026 event. Or maybe it was after a 6-pack of Hamm’s. In any case, barring some unforeseen circumstance, there will be one more green sled present.
I guess that’s a big part of what makes it interesting. In a way, it’s like getting a brand-new sled.
It was a nice sunny day today and with the lower sun angle, I got a close-up look at the color on the tunnel in the bright sunlight coming though the shop windows. The metallic in this paint is crazy. The paint guy did an amazing job of recreating the mean green.
Funny.....I think that has happened in the past. The trick is to not scratch it up too bad before it even gets out of the shop. A set of pink bunny slippers should keep it scratch-free on the trail.
heckler56
Well-known member
Kelly, they are talking to me but my pole barn is already full.. https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/24972384399064106/?
skiroule
Well-known member
Oh, there’s always room for one or two more.
This seems like a decent deal. Like the ad says, maybe make one good sled and have a parts sled. This guy buys and sells a lot of vintage sleds and most think he is a stand-up guy.
Maybe time for a road trip to answer the call.
skiroule
Well-known member
I’ve been pretty much hitting my milestones on the Cyclone chassis as planned and I’m waiting for another delivery on Friday, so I put the Chaparral on the lift yesterday in anticipation of it joining the Deere in the shop in the near future.
Before I get into Chap chassis work though, I thought I’d put the hood stuff together and apply the decals, just for fun.
Have to love the chicken.
Before I get into Chap chassis work though, I thought I’d put the hood stuff together and apply the decals, just for fun.
Have to love the chicken.
Holy poop! looks nice! cant wait to see more into chassis, pretty interesting considering where rest of industry was at the time.
I have a question for you Kelly and I apologize if you have covered this before, actually a couple questions..... How many sleds have you restored? what was your toughest restoration? have you ever sold any of your work? if not, would you ever consider it?
I have a question for you Kelly and I apologize if you have covered this before, actually a couple questions..... How many sleds have you restored? what was your toughest restoration? have you ever sold any of your work? if not, would you ever consider it?
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skiroule
Well-known member
It’s funny Brian, some of your questions are questions I ask myself from time to time.
As far as full restorations, I’m taking credit for eight and if I finish these two, it will be ten. It seems like there should be more but almost all of these projects have all taken me a year to two years to finish so it’s still a fair investment in time. I wish I were faster but I guess I only have one speed.
Regarding the selling of the fully restored sleds, they will all have to be sold eventually. After all, I’m not exactly a spring chicken
. I do plan to hang onto them for a while longer though because I’m still getting a lot of enjoyment out of each one.Each sled has had aspects that make them tough at times but I’d have to say the toughest one overall was the 73 TX 340 (aka “The Mutt”). There were so many modifications and so much fabrication on this sled that everywhere I look I see something that is not stock.
skiroule
Well-known member
Heckler, this should make you feel pretty good about the condition of some of the stuff you’ve been checking out.
It was free and I had entertained the idea of swapping the tunnel/frame with the one on my Kawasaki but I’ve decided that it has just sat outside too long to be of much use other than a few small parts. What really caught my eye though was the headlight assembly, which was much nicer than anything I had.
It turns out that the 80 - 82 Intruders and the 76-78 Cyclones use the exact same headlight assembly. Most likely there are others as I think this was a popular unit among the manufacturers.
John Deere put a piece of chrome trim around it but the assembly itself bolts right onto the Cyclone hood. Check the headlight off the list.
It was free and I had entertained the idea of swapping the tunnel/frame with the one on my Kawasaki but I’ve decided that it has just sat outside too long to be of much use other than a few small parts. What really caught my eye though was the headlight assembly, which was much nicer than anything I had.
It turns out that the 80 - 82 Intruders and the 76-78 Cyclones use the exact same headlight assembly. Most likely there are others as I think this was a popular unit among the manufacturers.
John Deere put a piece of chrome trim around it but the assembly itself bolts right onto the Cyclone hood. Check the headlight off the list.
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heckler56
Well-known member
Unfortunately I was met with a sharp rebuke from the Mrs… I figure I’ll save the pleading for that unicorn, EW433C
skiroule
Well-known member
A rebuke is one thing but a sharp rebuke is a whole different level.Unfortunately I was met with a sharp rebuke from the Mrs… I figure I’ll save the pleading for that unicorn, EW433C
Cyclone decals showed up today. Guess I know what I'll be doing tomorrow.
skiroule
Well-known member
A few things have gotten done on the Cyclone since my last real update,
The new seat cover installed and seat mounted, chaincase buttoned up and filled, wiring harness in and connected, handlebar controls on, dash stuff in, and decals applied. Looking at what is left on the Cyclone, detailing the motor is the biggest thing, with a few odds and ends to wrap up. While I could press on and finish the Cyclone, I’m going to switch horses and get the Chaparral caught up and hopefully finish both about the same time.
I bought the decal kit from a private party that had one because Sled Printer no longer listed the kit in their catalog. The decals were fine but the kit did not include the tunnel stripes, It turns out Sled Printer does still offer the decals but just doesn’t list them. Have no idea why but this means I should be able get the stripes from them.
A lot more yellow and black in the shop now.
I like how this color seems to change with light intensity and angle.
The new seat cover installed and seat mounted, chaincase buttoned up and filled, wiring harness in and connected, handlebar controls on, dash stuff in, and decals applied. Looking at what is left on the Cyclone, detailing the motor is the biggest thing, with a few odds and ends to wrap up. While I could press on and finish the Cyclone, I’m going to switch horses and get the Chaparral caught up and hopefully finish both about the same time.
I bought the decal kit from a private party that had one because Sled Printer no longer listed the kit in their catalog. The decals were fine but the kit did not include the tunnel stripes, It turns out Sled Printer does still offer the decals but just doesn’t list them. Have no idea why but this means I should be able get the stripes from them.
A lot more yellow and black in the shop now.
I like how this color seems to change with light intensity and angle.
heckler56
Well-known member
It is going to look even better against snow! And not just because snow is great, but, a white backdrop will really accent the black and green.
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skiroule
Well-known member
Thanks guys! When you get to a certain point in a project, the work becomes much cleaner. Most of the parts have been cleaned up and if necessary repainted. It’s almost like working on a new sled.
I’ll confess that it’s a little hard to leave that point on the Cyclone and dive back into the dirt and grime on the SSX. But dive in we must.
I pulled the clutch guard, steering post, and dash frame today to get them sand blasted, sanded, and painted.
Also removed a bunch of parts from the Kawasaki parts sled and swapped out the battery on the RMK. One would think that all I do is mess with sleds.
I’ll confess that it’s a little hard to leave that point on the Cyclone and dive back into the dirt and grime on the SSX. But dive in we must.
I pulled the clutch guard, steering post, and dash frame today to get them sand blasted, sanded, and painted.
Also removed a bunch of parts from the Kawasaki parts sled and swapped out the battery on the RMK. One would think that all I do is mess with sleds.
skiroule
Well-known member
I'm still too full to move out of the recliner so an update of sorts is about all I’ll accomplish tonight.
The SSX is torn down about as far as it will get and some cleanup has gotten done. There’s no reason to suspect any issues with the motor or drive train so neither of those will be pulled, which will speed things up a lot.
Because it’s more visible at this point, I thought I’d post a shot of the tank configuration. Chaparral mounted the main fuel tank between the frame horns, which is an interesting concept. I suppose it saved space and lowered the center of gravity somewhat.
The other thing that is somewhat unusual is that the main tank is filled through the reserve tank and is designed such that the reserve tank is always partially refilled whenever fuel is added. Also, if the reserve tank is fully filled, fuel will automatically transfer to the main tank until the fuel is below the fill tube level. If need be, the tanks were switchable via a selector knob on mounted on the dash frame. The selector is long gone so I’m going to just use dual shutoffs.
The SSX is torn down about as far as it will get and some cleanup has gotten done. There’s no reason to suspect any issues with the motor or drive train so neither of those will be pulled, which will speed things up a lot.
Because it’s more visible at this point, I thought I’d post a shot of the tank configuration. Chaparral mounted the main fuel tank between the frame horns, which is an interesting concept. I suppose it saved space and lowered the center of gravity somewhat.
The other thing that is somewhat unusual is that the main tank is filled through the reserve tank and is designed such that the reserve tank is always partially refilled whenever fuel is added. Also, if the reserve tank is fully filled, fuel will automatically transfer to the main tank until the fuel is below the fill tube level. If need be, the tanks were switchable via a selector knob on mounted on the dash frame. The selector is long gone so I’m going to just use dual shutoffs.
skiroule
Well-known member
I will be pulling a couple of shifts at the hardware store this weekend so nothing will happen in the shop until sometime next week. Given that, I put in a little shop OT today.
Re-installed most of the stuff I had removed and it all went back together as expected. Always good.
The motor had been converted to round-slide Mikuni’s, which also required the addition of a fuel pump. While I commend whoever did the carb conversion, I’m not giving them any style points for the fuel pump install, which consisted of zip-tying it to the coolant hose.
I decided the cleanest approach for the fuel pump was to bolt a piece of aluminum flat bar between the motor mount bolts and mount the pump to the bar. Not rocket science but it beats a zip tie.]
I suppose it’s easy to consider Chaparral’s use of tunnel cooling as an obvious thing, but this sled rolled off the assembly line 52 years ago, before most manufacturers pushed out a production liquid cooled sled and long before it became a popular method for cooling mountain sleds. This was new territory for sled design.
Chaparral’s approach on the SSX was to fasten the cooling tubes to the top of the tunnel but cut out sections of tunnel which allowed the heat dissipating fins on the bottom of the tubes to extend into the tunnel and be exposed to the snow.
Re-installed most of the stuff I had removed and it all went back together as expected. Always good.
The motor had been converted to round-slide Mikuni’s, which also required the addition of a fuel pump. While I commend whoever did the carb conversion, I’m not giving them any style points for the fuel pump install, which consisted of zip-tying it to the coolant hose.
I decided the cleanest approach for the fuel pump was to bolt a piece of aluminum flat bar between the motor mount bolts and mount the pump to the bar. Not rocket science but it beats a zip tie.]
I suppose it’s easy to consider Chaparral’s use of tunnel cooling as an obvious thing, but this sled rolled off the assembly line 52 years ago, before most manufacturers pushed out a production liquid cooled sled and long before it became a popular method for cooling mountain sleds. This was new territory for sled design.
Chaparral’s approach on the SSX was to fasten the cooling tubes to the top of the tunnel but cut out sections of tunnel which allowed the heat dissipating fins on the bottom of the tubes to extend into the tunnel and be exposed to the snow.