95 Indy Trail Restoration - Bringing back from the dead!

[jayR]

cubix
great build. thanks for bringing us along and for all the pictures. so many of these oldies get chopped up by the ebay pirates. glad to see this one saved... btw I have a 96 indy trail touring.

[cubix rube]

Thanks JR. Good to hear. some encouragement.

BTW, My wife and I went on a tear yesterday. the sled runs very well. I'm not babying in but I remain cognisant of the break in period following the rebuild. That said, I feel that if i pinned it the sled would rev well over 7000 rpm, which is quite high for a 488 fanner. If you guys have any thought on what the culprit may be, (i'm thinking secondary?) I am all ears.


Here is a picture of our two sleds from last night:


for some reason the forum upload them upside down :s

[cubix rube]

Update. went out for a two hour rip today with the mrs. The sled ran fine, but it has no pull in the bottom end, and seem like it hits the power band at like 6000 rpms, which seems a little high for an Indy trail, th primary works fine, it closes and opens all the way. I'm gonna see what helix is in the secondary, maybe swap it with the secondary from the donor sled. I hope all goes well.

[cubix rube]

Ok I swapped the secondary I am now running a Gold spring in the primary and a red in the secondary. getting crisp engagement at 4000 rpm, and i have power through to 6000rpm. Totally different experience now. Additionally I lowered the rear of the skid one bolt hole, so that should hook up better now that it sits flatter. I think I am done other than auxiliary "nice to have" stuff.

[cubix rube]

Today I recovered the seat. It was easy enough, but simultaneously a huge PITA. I bought 1 1 1/2 yards of heavy vinyl and thread specific for snowmobile use for about 65 CAD ($45 USD).

I ripped of the old seat (disgusting) and removed all of the old staples.


Staples came out easy with a flat tipped screw driver.


Here is a heavy piece of foam. Put in in front of my diesel heater to dry out a bit.


Here is the seat off, It was in terrible shape.


And here is my work station. Unseen in this photo is me trying to convince my wife that i would not make a mess. She acquiesced.


Now let it be known that this is frustrating work. I'm not a seamstress, nor am I an upholsterer.

I used a seam ripper to cut all the seams. once cut, I put the pieces in hot water so they would lose some of their memory and flatten out better. I laid the pieces onto the vinyl and traced around them with a metallic ink pen, (chalk would have been preferable), and then gave myself 1" on all sides for the the seam / fudge factor. Following that I just went ahead and sewed the pieces together, there was no science to it. I fought the sewing machine a bit, but managed to triple/quadruple stitch all of the seams.

Once the pieces were sewn together, I brought the cover out to the garage and stretched it over the seat, and used a ton of staples to fasten it to the bottom of the seat plastic. I had to be careful that I didn't put a staple through the brake light wire.

It was simple to do but i don;t like fighting the sewing machine. That said, I am very happy with how it turned out.
It is certainly not professional, but I am still impressed.






The sled is essentially done. I need to swap bogeys around, (change the red one with black ones) but that is pretty much it. here is the final total.

Grand total:
Sled $300
Gas $25
pipe clamps $5
brake cleaner $6
Carbs $100
Gas $10
Parts Sled $200
Gas $30
Windshield $100
Skis $300
pistons and gasket set $200
bearings $55
honing attachment $30
dremel $60
vinyl $65
Sliders $40
Fox Shocks:100

total $1525 CAD

So there you have it. 1500 and change for a nice trail sled. I could have done it cheaper, I could have bought steel skis, didn;t need fox shocks, could have borrowed tools, and that would have knocked off about $400. But i like having tools, and I like a good suspension.

This was a fun project, it is nice to see what it looks like now compared to it's previous state of decrepitude.

Then:








Now:







That's all folks. I put up a link to a go pro vid once the snow decides it wants to start falling again. I hope this was informative to many of you. I certainly had fun doing this, and I like like how I kept track of the money so I could see my initial estimate balloon out of control.

Cheers all.

[whitexc]

Great job....the work you did to this machine isn't for everyone so I give you props. Beyond the money and parts, you got very acquainted with the sled which is great not only for this machine but many others. You know the inner workings and will have much better luck repairing something now that you have some background. Nice work and thanks for sharing.

By the way, great job with the seat!

[di_99_2.7]

That's a awesome rebuild write up.... my first sled was a 96 indy trail. Blew it up first time riding it. Mouse nest in the cooling fins from the previous owner... I honestly miss it was the most reliable sled I ever had and that's what kept me with polaris. hope you enjoy your a as much as I did mine buddy

[cubix rube]

Don't know if it is a faux pas to repost on such an old thread, but a quick update.

This sled has been nothing but a joy to maintain and ride. Here is a little montage I made the other day. The other snowmobile in the video is an 87 Indy Trail with a transplanted 1984 440 SS engine. They are both awesome little whips.



Cheers.