Late 70's Haulin'

I should note that the hyped up snowfall was a bit of a lie; the projected 30 cm of monstrous dumpage turned out to be a regular overnight flurry. Still, the 10 cm we got (at least where I live) allowed me to give the old fire-breather a good workout on the streets.

There is no getting around it; moving at these kinds of speeds (both off the line and full-out) on snow is an intoxicating experience. From the moment you punch the throttle to the moment you have to go back to pick up your spleen it's a thrill, and one of the only machine related thrills you can get in winter.

It's Alive!!

   February 1st, 2011. A massive winter storm has been brewing in the south and is about to sweep through southern Ontario with serious power (so they say). With this in mind, the pressure to get the Citation breathing was immense. I cobbled together my warmest work gear and set off into the garage, which was actually far warmer than I would have imagined. I set up the ToughBook to allow me to make relatively real-time updates online of my progress.

   First off; My brother in law and I had determined the engine was holding equal compression of 150 psi per cylinder, and each of the new bosch plugs were firing well. The fuel was the only real problem to tend to, noting that it wasn't drawing from the tank. Initially I attempted the trick of sucking some fuel through the lines, but I got a mouthful more than I bargained for. After spitting and coughing and staggering around the garage for a while, I went in search of my bulb pump, which allowed me to pump fuel from the tank through a tube directly into the mouth of the carb, leaving all the main lines intact. This squirt allowed the engine to run long enough to pull gas on it's own, and with a grateful bout of wheezing it caught rhythm and purred for likely the first time in a number of years. 

   Turning my attention from the engine to the drivetrain, I deduced that my "clutch" (for lack of a better word) was loose on the spindle and the mount had gotten a bit worn. Popping a plug allowed me to jam rope into a cylinder and lock the engine. This meant I was now able to remove the clutch mounting bolt, clean it, and prep it with some spacing washers to tighten it up once more.

   Once back together, I felt inclined to give the machine one more run. This allowed me to check the clutch movement and note the lack of rattling. If all goes according to plan tomorrow and the snow dump hits, I should be able to move with a swiftness in snow that I have never known before!


 

Free Delivery

There is nothing quite like getting something for free. It doesn't really matter what it is, things suddenly become far more attractive when they are gifts. Yesterday (Jan 29, 2011) saw a 32 year old Ski-Doo arrive at my house, without my knowing about it. 

My brother-in-law picked up a free sled from a relative and went to great extents to deliver it to me, as a project for the 2 of us to work on before the winter is out. I know relatively little about snowmobiles, except that I've always liked the concept of being able to traverse snow in your own mono-tracked machine.

In brief, I plan to actually account my project in "real time" this time, instead of recounting what I worked on years ago through pictures. Step 1 is to give it some top level tlc to coax some life out of the 300cc engine that lives under the bespoke 70's hood; complete with single offset headlight and smoked plastic windscreen.

Since I know so little about this machine, I can put it all here without this being too long a post. It's a 1979 Ski-Doo Citation, one of the earlier sleds to use slides instead of bogies, and a more forward mounted engine than its predecessors. This particular unit was known as the "step up" model, which more serious users would buy after their first beginner sled. As a lightweight sled with lots of power, it was quick and agile in deep snow and twisty trails, making it the sled of choice for ski patrol workers.

SitRep: it's had some bumps it must be said, but overal it looks like a pretty sound craft. Both cylinders push in excess of 150 psi of compression, and there is spark, and fuel (the 3 most important factors of an engine; compression, spark, and fuel).

For the time being, I think that should be enough of an intro. Having spent only a short time looking over some of its features and foibles, I don't have a whole lot to write. Note that better Graphic Layout and images will come soon.