Polaris Mutt Mod
- Thread starter skiroule
- Start date
I agree on coolest looking engines, had a TX500 (or atleast I believe it was a TX) 3 cylinder free air, heads sat out of the hood, from recoil to clutch was as wide as the chassis was which made it very tippy, and I would keep blowing the exhaust joint apart. I don't remember the year of it either, was one of my first sleds when I was young.
skiroule
Well-known member
It's just a guess, but I'm thinking there's a good chance it was a 72 ATX, last year of the open hood motors. That's a lot of motor for such a tiny sled, had to be blast to ride. Looking at what the triple cylinder version is going for now, you probably wish you still had it.
The small displacement free air motors are definitely over-achievers. I have ridden with a friend that has a late 70's El Tigre', that thing is just stupid fast. Of course it helps that those sleds weighed maybe a little over half of what the current sleds weigh.
The small displacement free air motors are definitely over-achievers. I have ridden with a friend that has a late 70's El Tigre', that thing is just stupid fast. Of course it helps that those sleds weighed maybe a little over half of what the current sleds weigh.
skiroule
Well-known member
Scored this 75 Colt parts machine from my cousin today. Some might consider it junk: pan is rusted out, motor is stuck, rewind is shot, track is locked up, tank is cracked, and seat is rotten. But why quibble over a few minor imperfections when it’s free and it still has several usable parts.
skiroule
Well-known member
I probably should consider it. After all, I guess it’s technically one of those hard to find three cylinder vintage sleds.
Rupp Collector
Active member
Yup, Colts were singles or twins, TX's & Starfires were free air triples.
skiroule
Well-known member
Sorry guys, it’s just my sick vintage humor at work here. It really is only a two cylinder motor, although there is a third cylinder laying on the tunnel so it could be considered a three cylinder sled. Wish it were at real triple though.
When I lived in the Twin Cities I was spoiled in that I could go over and pick up stuff at Discount Steel (now Coremark Metals) over my lunch break. Fortunately they have excellent on-line service so I had them cut and ship me a piece of 6061 aluminum plate that I plan to use to make a motor mounting plate. They “only” claim an accuracy of + .063” on a shear cut but that’s way more accuracy than I need. I will need to order other pieces of various sizes/thicknesses as the project progresses.
It will look quite a bit different than this once it’s done.
When I lived in the Twin Cities I was spoiled in that I could go over and pick up stuff at Discount Steel (now Coremark Metals) over my lunch break. Fortunately they have excellent on-line service so I had them cut and ship me a piece of 6061 aluminum plate that I plan to use to make a motor mounting plate. They “only” claim an accuracy of + .063” on a shear cut but that’s way more accuracy than I need. I will need to order other pieces of various sizes/thicknesses as the project progresses.
It will look quite a bit different than this once it’s done.
skiroule
Well-known member
Happy Halloween! Seemed like the perfect occasion to grab a power tool so I spent a few hours today grinding, and drilling rivets to remove the 20 broken track cleats. Now I just need to remove 20 good cleats from a donor track, get them cleaned/painted and installed. Sounds easy but it’s a pretty big job. Will post an update on the track once it's finished.
My first sled was a 72' bolens sprint which had an all-rubber track and a morphadyted slide rail suspension that ran in a track meant for boogie wheels, used to carry a bottle of dish soap for lubricant LOL, anyways... my second sled was a Polaris Elektra cleated track and I remember quite fondly the days of grinding cleat rivets, was always a joy LOL. Was a good sled, trunk under seat gave me years of enjoyment as a young kid, those were the days I could ride right out of my parents back yard and most of my friends in the neighborhood had sleds also. ahhhhh those were the good ole days, then it really didn't matter what you had for a sled, as long as you had one.
skiroule
Well-known member
Good times for sure!
I’ve pulled 5 cleats off the donor track so I’m down to only 90 rivets left to remove. Of course, I’ll eventually have another 120 to install, plus a few more to replace questionable rivets on the cleats I kept
The track belts are in pretty good shape for a 50-year-old track. They have some weather checking in the rubber but it’s minor and the fabric that really provides the strength is solid. I prefer to keep this track because the belts are a little thinner than some of the Polaris cleated tracks so it’s lighter and has the little molded-in rubber X’s, which make a huge difference in how the sled handles.
Back in the day, the local guys would get together at one of the farms for “cleat night” and would spend several hours replacing broken cleats. Sometimes a track would run a long time with broken cleats but if any failed completely at speed you most likely ended up with a nice hole in the tunnel or bulkhead or at least a big dent.
I’m pretty sure if there had been anything that resumed a groomed trail there would have been a lot less broken cleats.
I’ve pulled 5 cleats off the donor track so I’m down to only 90 rivets left to remove. Of course, I’ll eventually have another 120 to install, plus a few more to replace questionable rivets on the cleats I kept
The track belts are in pretty good shape for a 50-year-old track. They have some weather checking in the rubber but it’s minor and the fabric that really provides the strength is solid. I prefer to keep this track because the belts are a little thinner than some of the Polaris cleated tracks so it’s lighter and has the little molded-in rubber X’s, which make a huge difference in how the sled handles.
Back in the day, the local guys would get together at one of the farms for “cleat night” and would spend several hours replacing broken cleats. Sometimes a track would run a long time with broken cleats but if any failed completely at speed you most likely ended up with a nice hole in the tunnel or bulkhead or at least a big dent.
I’m pretty sure if there had been anything that resumed a groomed trail there would have been a lot less broken cleats.
skiroule
Well-known member
This shop space hog is finally back together so out it goes and I can set things up to get some real work done.
On the actual project front, I’ve been spending most of my time in Cleat-Land. Turns out I really needed 21 replacement cleats but I ended up pulling 25 off the donor tracks because 4 of them had hairline cracks that didn’t show up until they were cleaned up.
The replacement cleats are not very pretty to start with and take a fair amount of work to refurbish but my time is cheap.
Happy to see all of these ready to install so I can get the track finished up.
Been having light snow for about 12 hours straight today. Not accumulating much but it sure is white out there.
On the actual project front, I’ve been spending most of my time in Cleat-Land. Turns out I really needed 21 replacement cleats but I ended up pulling 25 off the donor tracks because 4 of them had hairline cracks that didn’t show up until they were cleaned up.
The replacement cleats are not very pretty to start with and take a fair amount of work to refurbish but my time is cheap.
Happy to see all of these ready to install so I can get the track finished up.
Been having light snow for about 12 hours straight today. Not accumulating much but it sure is white out there.
skiroule
Well-known member
Thanks Mark 
. The goal was to retain a little Polaris identity, rather than just a generic wrap. My wife is not a fan of it but then, her taste in everything, including men, has always been a little suspect.
I have something I thought I’d run past you people. If this were a pure restoration, I’d paint the suspension black and try to find some hyfax that were close to the original blue color. But it’s not and even if you can find the blue hyfax to fit a 73 it’s pretty spendy.
So I got to thinking the other night, black hyfax is readily available so how about if I paint the rails and some of the suspension components red. I’m thinking it might be pretty sharp with the black hyfax. I worry a little about it looking cheap like the fluorescent orange wheel wheels on my Chevy when I was in high school (that I also thought looked pretty sharp at the time).
I have a red that is pretty much a dead ringer for the Polaris red that they used to paint A-arms and other chassis and suspension components on various models so I painted one rail just as a test. What do you guys think? Yay or nay?
. The goal was to retain a little Polaris identity, rather than just a generic wrap. My wife is not a fan of it but then, her taste in everything, including men, has always been a little suspect.I have something I thought I’d run past you people. If this were a pure restoration, I’d paint the suspension black and try to find some hyfax that were close to the original blue color. But it’s not and even if you can find the blue hyfax to fit a 73 it’s pretty spendy.
So I got to thinking the other night, black hyfax is readily available so how about if I paint the rails and some of the suspension components red. I’m thinking it might be pretty sharp with the black hyfax. I worry a little about it looking cheap like the fluorescent orange wheel wheels on my Chevy when I was in high school (that I also thought looked pretty sharp at the time).
I have a red that is pretty much a dead ringer for the Polaris red that they used to paint A-arms and other chassis and suspension components on various models so I painted one rail just as a test. What do you guys think? Yay or nay?