Bolstering



December 6, 2011

Given that this machine has been around since the 70's; there have been a lot of farm boys that have stomped down on the runners to acheive a tight turn in deep snow, or possibly a heavy landing from a jump while standing. This prolonged and demanding abuse took its toll on the front body weld, where the running board bar meets the footrest pan. both sides were broken, albeit very cleanly, and had started to propegate into the runner pan. A quick wire brushing cleaned up the steel and I welded up the splits with as heavy a weld as I could. Since this likely wouldn't be enough over time, I fabbed some gussets out of scrap 1/8"x 1.5" flat stock, which I welded with a solid bead around the front and back.



Note in the following picture the location of the gusset, one on each side for even strength. These should give lots of strength for their weight, and shouldn't interrupt foot movement.

I finished cleaning the engine pan area, and set to work giving the entire interior a coating of Rust Check to protect it. It may look totally dissasembled, but will actually go back together quite quickly. 

Right side gusset welded in

With the dents pounded back out, I did a 90% straighten on the old bumper, bringing the machine closer to it's original shape. The hood should actually fit now, with the guides being lined up in relation to the hinge again.

Note the clean and fresh engine bay. Makes for brighter engine work in dim lighting.. much less oppressive.

For sake of a complete picture set, this is the 300cc Rotax Twin Engine, single slide carb, and quite smelly; but powerful.

There were 2 gaping holes at the rear of the tunnel from what I gather used to be a seat mount. However they were nasty and sharp and needed to be patched.

As a side note, I will be painting this machine next year, after figuring out all it's niggling issues. This will mean stripping it down again, so I will leave everything Lubed for easy removal. This year I just want to protect this bare steel from rusting further, so a good oiling will help to do this. Have yet to make new wear bars and temper them, redo the complete wiring harness, remount the engine, the gas tank, and the hood. Once these tasks are complete I should have a good machine for a winter's riding.