Ordered new wheel bearings and seals tonight. Was going to see if I could find them at tractor supply but Tom from KidNme is only about 20 mins from me so I'll have them Tuesday. Also ordered pillow block bearings from Grainger.
I got a little bit done this evening. Tomorrow I am pulling the motor back off and finish welding the bearing support (actually I need to grind a little weld down on one spot and do a better job as my old eyes led me astray). I also ordered a bunch of square plastic plugs made for 1 1/4" tubing from Fastenall. Any open ends will get a plug. Should help give it a more "finished" look.
I usually don't get home from work until about 7 so it makes it tough to get a lot done during the week. My daughter goes to bed around 9 so if I hurry I can get about an hour and a half work done on the buggy before I come back in to spend some time with her before bed.
Pulled the motor back off this evening and finished welding the bearing support. My new axle bearings and seals came in today so I pressed them into the housings. Tomorrow I need to remount the axle so I can begin to fab the FNR mount. I need the axle in place so I can align the sprockets on the FNR box with the axle sprocket.
I mounted the axel this even and discovered the box tubing was too close to the chain. I only had about 1/16 clearance and could see that creating a big headache. It wasn't too bad as that part of the assembly is bolted vs welded. I pulled the frame and slotted the holes. I now have plenty of clearance (hard to see in the pic but about 3/4 of an inch)
I mounted one wheel to check the clearance between the tire and the primary clutch. It's closer than I would like but still (IMHO) plenty of clearance.
I figured out how I am going to mount the FNR box. I cut part of the original mount off. I will build an angle iron square. The spot where I cut the original mount will be welded to the angle. I will drill though the angle and the three mounting bolts will secure the FNR box to the original mount and the angle. I will then cut two pieces of box tubing on an angle and weld them from the lower part of the bearing support to the top part of the angle supporting the FNR box. The combination of completely surrounding the box with angle and using box tubing for gussets should make it very solid and keep it from torquing.
When all that is done I'll take a final shaft measurement and take the shaft to my local machine shop. I will have them cut the shaft and cut the splines needed to use the original coupler.
Spent a full day in the shop today. Built FNR box mount and welded in place.
Made sure the jack-shaft was aligned with the FNR shaft
Reinstalled the engine and placed the secondary clutch on the jack shaft with the correct off-set from the primary.
Since the shaft was going to be short and it will be coupled to the FNR box I was planning on only using one bearing. After assembling everything I now believe I will add a second bearing between the the existing one and the secondary clutch. There is enough room and I bought two bearings anyway. Besides adding the second bearing tomorrow I will cut the jack-shaft to the correct length.
After much pondering and several Yuenglings I decided to use a jaw coupling to connect the jack-shaft to the FNR box. I cut off that large end of the original coupling and welded half of the jaw coupling to it.
I put in a second bearing and test fit the coupling
I have the locking collars on the bearings facing opposite each-other. With the secondary on and pressed up against the bearing locking collar the offset from the primary is perfect.
I mounted the tires and bounced on the back end to be sure the tire would not rub on the primary.
Next I need to take the shaft to a local machine shop to have it cut down and have a key-way milled in it for the other half of the jaw coupling. After that it is exhaust and wiring.
I realized something that may cause a problem. With the FNR box in neutral the secondary clutch may still spin at idle (with no resistance the belt could grab just enough to spin it). If that shaft is spinning and I go to put in in gear it could really "bang" the FNR gears. I didn't leave myself enough room to mount a rotor and brake on the jack-shaft. I thought about hooking up a bicycle brake that would grab the outer edge of the secondary clutch. I could put a squeeze lever on the shifter so you could squeeze the brake before shifting.
Got a little done this evening. The pipe under the swingarm (the one that holds the chain and rotor guards) was bent pretty bad from my daughter getting some air and coming down on a rock. I cut it off and welded in a piece of 3/4" pipe. I'll attach some small angle to bolt the guards to. I also welded in the support for the muffler. The one from the snowmobile will work great. The muffler is held to the support with two heavy springs.
IT'S ALIVE!
Put the engine back on the frame this morning and mounted the exhaust. Hooked up enough wiring to start it. She started right up an ran great. I will spend the rest of today extending and routing the wiring. My new chain should be here today. With any luck I'll be able to take it for a test ride tomorrow.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Bc0V...KgX0Pe19bKAq7A
Hooked up the chain and figured out where I am going to mount the battery and electrical box. I also picked up a fuse block. I will mount the fuse block in the grey box and route everything from there. The snowmobile had hand warmers so I figured I'd use that circuit for the cigarette lighter. Looking like a test ride is in the works for tomorrow!
Well, that took longer than I thought it would
Welded the pieces needed to mount the battery and electrical box. The solenoid was pretty rusty but I thought I would try and salvage it.
That didn't work - one of the studs snapped off. Picked up a Briggs&Stratton solenoid and went back to work.
All the snowmobile wires on the harness were too short so each one had to be cut and lengthened.
Got everything connected and in the box (the wire on the rack is for the brake light)
