Heres my first Vintage Project........TXL 340

K

kirk600

Active member
Hey Kelly,
Thanks for sharing that link. That was a neat video. I dont think I will be jumping mine anytime soon, but its nice to know I can if I want to. I am sure the old 250 and Cyclone will be ready for first snow. What do they need done?
My TXL is going to hibernation with the rest of my sleds in a couple weeks, so I have been trying to get a few things done. It sure can get expensive with the blasting, powdercoating, hyfax, shocks, bearings, idler wheels(two were cracked) etc I now have close to $400.00 into the rear skid alone.

Hopefully I will have some updates to share next week.
l
 
skiroule

skiroule

Well-known member
kirk600 said:
I am sure the old 250 and Cyclone will be ready for first snow. What do they need done?
Click to expand...

First thing on the list is to pull the suspension on the 250 and go through it. At least one shaft is completely seized up. While I’m at it, I’ll replace the front shaft bearings. After that, replace the tank. That’s really all it needs to make it a rider. It would be nice to replace some things, like the hood, seat cover etc. but as you pointed these projects get pretty expensive. We’ll see.

The Cyclone doesn’t need a lot to keep it as a rider. Maybe clean up the skis and replace the front shaft bearings. The rewind really needs to be taken apart and cleaned up. I’m going to check with my main John Deere parts guy this spring to see if he has a decent chassis that I could work on without tearing the one I have down. I also have a good hood that I could start refurbishing.

All of this squeezed in between a couple of huge remodeling projects and fishing
 
K

kirk600

Active member
Kelly,
Those dont sound like too big of a job for you to handle. Although I can see the John Deere taking a bigger bite out of your fishing budget! I will keep looking for parts for mine to make it better, and replace what I can in the fall when I pull them out of storage.
 
K

kirk600

Active member
Hi again folks,
I just finished assembling the rear skid for the old TXL. I have been putting in a fair amount of elbow grease, along with some plating of hardware and powdercoating the hard parts. I dont know if yellow chromate is correct color for the hardware, but I wanted to try out the local metal refinishing business for a auto project down the road. below are a few pictures of the before and after of the bolts and such.





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and so now I got to start assembling everything. I polished the rails...........sort of



 
K

kirk600

Active member
some of the fasteners were pitted pretty bad, and they look bad after plating. I had to polish them with a wire wheel BEFORE they were plated, and also I had to make sure there wasnt any paint, loctite etc. left on anything. So any defect left on the parts will still be there.
We paid a flat fee of $50.00 for two boxes of parts, so I ended up splitting the cost with a friend. I think it turned out pretty good. Now I can install the skid and put the sleds to rest until fall.


 
K

kirk600

Active member
Thanks for the compliments guys. It looks alot better than when i started, and the shocks actually have oil in them now unlike the originals. The rails
Will probably be pretty dull after next season but i figured i would clean them up while i was waiting on a few parts.
The steps i used on the rails were..... Clean with SOS pads first, wet sand them with 600 grit, wet sand with 1000 grit, wet sand with 1500 grit then use a buffing wheel
With a medium cut polish.
You could also just use steel wool to clean the rails and leave them natural. You can get it in different grades for just the right look. That is all i used on the rear axle spacers you see in post 78
 
skiroule

skiroule

Well-known member
Hope I never get talked into doing a "build-off" with you. Talk about raising the bar! It is really nice to have the under-tunnel stuff all cleaned up and fully functioning again. With proper storage, I think you'll be surprised at how well it will hold up with just a little maintenance. I've have three winters on my re-done 340 suspension and it still looks pretty good.

I'm impressed at the complexity of the TXL suspension compared to my TX's. Front and rear shocks? The concept will never go anywhere.

Very, very nice work and keep the updates coming in the future!
 
K

kirk600

Active member
Kelly,
Your not going to have any "build off" competition from me. I may have a sharp eye for detail, but i am mostly from the "make it go fast" not the "make it look good" side of the tracks.
I will post more pictures as i can, might even have something up my sleeve this summer........
 
K

kirk600

Active member
Well i have to make a announcement, Kelly isn't the only one who's been shopping lately. Here is what followed me home a few weeks ago. Stay tuned for its own thread.......



 
skiroule

skiroule

Well-known member
Oh Yeah!!!

Lots of potential in that sled. This will be a good sled and you've already done the drill with your TXL. You needed a free air sled and this is one of the best. I don't have to tell you how well this chassis rides. From what I can see, it looks solid and a great start to a project.

I have to say that I'm extremely impressed that you're in the vintage sled hunt in the heat of a Michigan summer. Maybe that makes us some kind of blood brothers.

Now we need some details on the sled and how it came to be.

Congrats, Great Find!
 
K

kirk600

Active member
I found this gem (1979 TX 340) 20 miles from my house, believe it or not. below is the story.....

My local dragstrip is US 131 motorsports park. They have a country music festival and the weekend of the festival it rained and rained and rained. Lots of people had gotten stuck on the grounds, in the mud, and in the pit area. They made a huge mess of the whole facility, and some cars were still stuck a week later.
The access road didn't fare much better, with the flooding, a bunch of the shoulder eroded. It still hasnt been fixed completely.
So how I found this gem............I went up scouting the roadway to see if I dare trailer my old car up for a test-and-tune night since I have a open trailer., I drove up to check progress on the road and as I turned around in a driveway, I saw it......sitting in the grass. The owner was mowing his lawn so I stopped him. Asked about the sled and he said it quit running last year and he just left it there. I made the deal, and loaded it up.
It had a cracked fuel line........runs good now!
Kelly I lost a bunch of blood to those pesky mosquito's getting this sled out, thats for sure. They have been brutal around here this year. So we may be blood brothers after all.........



 
G

ggsled

New member
Great thread from start to finish!!!! You guys are giving me the ambition to get moving on my Apollo....
Thanks for sharing...
 
K

kirk600

Active member
ggsled said:
Great thread from start to finish!!!! You guys are giving me the ambition to get moving on my Apollo....
Thanks for sharing...
Click to expand...

Greg,
It isn't too hard to work on these old sleds. I say do it, start a thread, post pics, questions, progress reports and these fine folks here will coax you onto the snow.....

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Bradzoo said:
Nice find Kirk welcome to freeair!

Bradzoo
Click to expand...

Thanks Brad..... This one will be ready to ride after I replace everything!!!!!
 
C

confusion_900

Member
Thanks.. the TXL is looking real nice !! I'm also in the middle of fixing up my 79' TXL just put the motor all back together and all new bearings threw out . just making a very nice rider for this winter
 
K

kirk600

Active member
And as if one project isn't enough, I have been collecting a few parts for my TXL to hopefully
improve the power just a little bit. One mod that has intrigued me since I first heard about it,
is replacing the top end with cylinders and heads from a 500 Centurion. Well I finally found a
complete set of 3, so I will have a spare.........I hear the porting is a little more agressive on
these than the monoblock TXL cylinders, and I already have the twin pipes and 38mm carbs so
why not. Here are the cylinders mocked up on my spare shortblock. I will need to have the
water manifold cut and welded, and the cylinders honed, then I can start the transformation.
 
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