Vintage rides

I had all morning for myself, so I decided to clean some room in the garage: get the Elan apart.
All the fasteners were rusted, so good spray of WD-40 on every bolt and nut was my first step. Handlebar and steering assembly rushed to their temporary destination in the plastic bin first. Engine assembly, gear case, secondary clutch, boggies and other bits followed...
Couldn't dissasemble the tensioners for the track, so had to cut one of them.
It took two and half hours to tear it down...

So, here is the Elan


Power plant is waiting...


Chassis is badly corroded


I got two different types of skis. Which one is correct to the year? Need to figure it out


I have a choise now: I can repair the chassis and weld some patches (lots of pathces), or I can buy another one for $40... Leaning toward buying...


Here is the tensioner I had to cut


Previous owner fixed dents on the chassis with autobody filler... Tons of it!!!



Now I need to figure out when I can get the "new" chassis and maybe another pair of skis... Sometime next week... Lots of work ahead!
Read more...

This Elan was manufactured in September 1971, so it's 1972 model year. Double checked with Ski Doo serial numbers: everething matched. So, it is 1972 Elan 250!Perfect:)
Read more...

I got this sled for free from my former colleague. I had only a couple pictures he made in the beginning of the spring and I had no idea, what year it is. Turned out that it is 1971! Almost 40 years old! 6 years older then me:)
Anyway, here are some pictures:

Rusty, grimy, greasy, but all there! Engine turns over!


Looks rough, but still free:)


Another side view


Boggies!!! Track is not bad at all!


Hood is going to the recycle bin. I just need to take the headlight off



Summer project:)
Read more...

Got my Ski Doo Elan yesterday!!! It's 1971 250 single. Now need to make some pictures!
Read more...

This week is almost gone... Not too much progress on my projects, was busy with other things. For example, I helped my friend with her garden house: it needed a new roof. The roof is small, but the plywood around the edges was gone, and ants had several nests around, so this work took more time then expected. Here are a couple pictures (not the best quality pics, but it gives you an idea): On April 14th I started my first home brew using Coopers Stout Beer Kit. I let it to ferment for two weeks in the main fermentor. Couldn't wait any longer: bottled the beer yesterday. Got 18L for $28. Kit is $20 and dry malt extract + corn sugar are another $8. Next time I will try to find cheaper place to buy extract... Maybe in bulk... Here is the video of the beginning of the fermentation. Active... And sorry, it's in Russian... You don't need to speak Russian to understand:)

As for bottling, I had 14 Grolsch 500ml bottles and some plastic ones as well. In addition, I ordered some swing style bottle stoppers from England to use them on wine bottles. Worked perfectly... I wish I could find them cheaper somewhere around here. As the part of the plan, I asked my friends to buy some Grolsch beer and give me the bottles. Going to pay back with the homemade beer:)
Here are some pictures of the final product. It's going to sit in basement for another two-three weeks for carbonating and conditioning




Now it's time to start another brew!!! Need to get some supplies... Will update soon...
Read more...