Polaris Mutt Mod
- Thread starter skiroule
- Start date
Well it IS a Mutt, right? I think that gives you the freedom to do as you see fit. One thought I had was that Painted Rails are a relatively recent styling point. Painting them red would be a nice nod to present day styling and still maintain the over all vintage appearance.
As to your wife's taste in men, it was probably the fluorescent orange on that old Chevy that caught her attention. In my case, I went with the fluorescent green for the bottom of the gas tank coupled with air shocks that gave it a ride resembling a Lumber Wagon on steroids.
As to your wife's taste in men, it was probably the fluorescent orange on that old Chevy that caught her attention. In my case, I went with the fluorescent green for the bottom of the gas tank coupled with air shocks that gave it a ride resembling a Lumber Wagon on steroids.
skiroule
Well-known member
Good to hear that you guys are on-board with the spirit of the project.
Exploring some other idler wheel options is an interesting thought. For such a small thing, they’re a big part of the look of the sled. Think that when it’s all back together it will tell me the best direction to go.
Exactly. If these sleds were being built today you might even have a choice of rail color.
Yeah Gary, I guess we were legends in our own minds back then. My Chev was a 57 and contrary to the low look that is popular now, I wanted to go with the gasser stance so I screwed about 4 or 5 spring spacers (remember those?) in each front coil. It worked but the alignment was crap.
Exploring some other idler wheel options is an interesting thought. For such a small thing, they’re a big part of the look of the sled. Think that when it’s all back together it will tell me the best direction to go.
Exactly. If these sleds were being built today you might even have a choice of rail color.
Yeah Gary, I guess we were legends in our own minds back then. My Chev was a 57 and contrary to the low look that is popular now, I wanted to go with the gasser stance so I screwed about 4 or 5 spring spacers (remember those?) in each front coil. It worked but the alignment was crap.
skiroule
Well-known member
Kirk, it’s funny you should mention red ski loops. I’ve painted the loops on my TX sleds red, just seems like they should have come painted that way.
As you know, the 73 TX models originally came with chrome skis, which deteriorated badly if they weren’t taken care of properly so mine will have to be painted. The chrome loops are in pretty good shape but I may still paint them for the reason you mentioned.
An extra set of decent shovel head skis came with the Colt parts sled but unfortunately, I didn’t get them blasted while I had good weather. Of course, at the rate I work I may have good weather again by the time I need them. If not, the skis could always be changed out next season
.
skiroule
Well-known member
I guess the good thing about the skis is I can paint them and leave the loops chrome to see how they look and then decide about painting them. I’m hoping to use some T-Bucket street rod chrome shocks on the skis, should really add some pop. I used them on the Chaparral and they worked out well.
I had abdominal wall repair (aka hernia) surgery yesterday so I’m on a lifting short leash for a while but I have a page of lightweight tasks that can be done in the meantime. I did sneak out to the shop today and made a first pass at stripping the bottom of the pan and running boards. It would fit right in at a scratch and dent store, it’s going to take a lot of Bondo.
Last weekend I set up my track riveting apparatus and installed a couple of the replacement cleats to make sure I had the right length rivets. I should be able to get the rest on sometime this week and I can actually say I have one thing finished.
I had abdominal wall repair (aka hernia) surgery yesterday so I’m on a lifting short leash for a while but I have a page of lightweight tasks that can be done in the meantime. I did sneak out to the shop today and made a first pass at stripping the bottom of the pan and running boards. It would fit right in at a scratch and dent store, it’s going to take a lot of Bondo
.
Last weekend I set up my track riveting apparatus and installed a couple of the replacement cleats to make sure I had the right length rivets. I should be able to get the rest on sometime this week and I can actually say I have one thing finished.
Two thoughts on the matter. What would these old sleds say if they could talk?
Or how about the people that built them? A young pup on the line back then would be pushing 70 years old now. Bet they'd be thrilled to see this!
Or how about the people that built them? A young pup on the line back then would be pushing 70 years old now. Bet they'd be thrilled to see this!
skiroule
Well-known member
I guess I’m guilty of posting little things about a project but sometimes it’s the little things that get in the way of progress and you have to re-think your approach. After a frustrating, unsuccessful search for a rear shock, I decided to take a second look at the original shock. I had written it off as too nasty to save but after looking at it again, I changed my mind. It seemed to have decent dampening action and no leaks.
The flared ends of the rubber bushings were toast but the internal rubber looked good so I just trimmed off the ends. I assume the flared ends were to keep the bushing in place but, believe me, after 50 years the rubber is fused to the metal. They aren’t going anywhere. Even so, I found some 1/8” thick nylon washers that fit perfectly so I’m using those to replace the original rubber ends. Once in the mounting bracket, there’s no way the bushings will move.
Of course, after all this, I did find a source for a shock so I might eventually pick one up. For now, the original will do.
I didn’t give it a big Woo-Hoo but I thought it was worth at least a little Woo-Hoo. The track is finished. It was delayed a bit because in a total brain freeze I thought I could get by with 200 rivets….wrong, not even close. The final count was 263. When you look at the track now, it’s pretty obvious which cleats were saved and which were replaced.
The flared ends of the rubber bushings were toast but the internal rubber looked good so I just trimmed off the ends. I assume the flared ends were to keep the bushing in place but, believe me, after 50 years the rubber is fused to the metal. They aren’t going anywhere. Even so, I found some 1/8” thick nylon washers that fit perfectly so I’m using those to replace the original rubber ends. Once in the mounting bracket, there’s no way the bushings will move.
Of course, after all this, I did find a source for a shock so I might eventually pick one up. For now, the original will do.
I didn’t give it a big Woo-Hoo but I thought it was worth at least a little Woo-Hoo. The track is finished. It was delayed a bit because in a total brain freeze I thought I could get by with 200 rivets….wrong, not even close. The final count was 263. When you look at the track now, it’s pretty obvious which cleats were saved and which were replaced.
skiroule
Well-known member
Thanks guys, it’s good to at least get on the assembly scoreboard.
Nasty weather out there tonight, good night to be in the shop with a warm fire and cold brewski. All the suspension pieces were ready to go, so it was time to get things put together.
Skid assembly took a little more effort than expected. The Hyfax was supposed to fit but I doubt a 5-ton press could have pushed those slides on the rails. The profile was correct but the channels were way too small to fit the rail. A couple of hours with the angle grinder solved the problem. Once that was done, things went together without major drama.
I spent a lot of time looking at rear idler options and nothing really seemed to grab me. Sly Dog makes some radical spoked idlers but I just don't think they would look right. The originals are in really good shape, so i just replaced the bearings and decided to stick with them, at least for now.
Whenever I think it takes a long time to get things done, I found it helps to remind myself of the starting point.
Nasty weather out there tonight, good night to be in the shop with a warm fire and cold brewski. All the suspension pieces were ready to go, so it was time to get things put together.
Skid assembly took a little more effort than expected. The Hyfax was supposed to fit but I doubt a 5-ton press could have pushed those slides on the rails. The profile was correct but the channels were way too small to fit the rail. A couple of hours with the angle grinder solved the problem. Once that was done, things went together without major drama.
I spent a lot of time looking at rear idler options and nothing really seemed to grab me. Sly Dog makes some radical spoked idlers but I just don't think they would look right. The originals are in really good shape, so i just replaced the bearings and decided to stick with them, at least for now.
Whenever I think it takes a long time to get things done, I found it helps to remind myself of the starting point.
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