doing the doo

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Don't get Bob Gaudreau started! He'll gnaw your ear off about customizing, whether it's a car or a snowmobile. This guy knows his stuff about souping things up and decking them out so that they get as much attention as Eva Longoria in a bikini!

It has been a couple years since "Big Bob" performed his magic for us, previously on an Arctic Cat F8 and Yamaha RX-1. (Arctic Cat F8 and Yamaha RX-1)

This time he and his Connecticut posse got their hands on a Ski-Doo MXZ Renegade 1000 and doctored it up to the point where even the Valcourt faithful would hardly recognize it.

New paint, ski covers, new seat cover, pumped up engine, clutch kit, suspension tweaks and stylish but performance driven studding. Here's an outline of what Big Bob and his crew accomplished.

Starting on the outside!
Bob knows that any good custom sled better have a kick-butt look, so that's where he started, with a rock-em sock-em exterior design.

Along with his talented pal Bob Gorske of Roade Studios, Big Bob came up with a flashy color scheme using some variations on Ski-Doo's yellow and blue themes. But he also added a candy apple metallic red that pops from nose to tail.

Gorske used House of Kolor candy yellow over a pearl white base that gives the paint job depth and sparkle. In addition, the sled features two shades of solid yellow on top of the pearl areas to serve as racing stripes. To that, Gaudreau added a carbon fiber Ski-Doo logo trimmed in blue on the body panel sides. Accenting the sled's sides are red barbed wire graphics, which are reflected again on the ski covers created by Paul Gamache Custom Body in Massachusetts. Gamache also revamped the tail to flip the taillight upside down for a unique look.

Then there's the candy red hood, windshield, handguards from USI and trunk behind the special candy red seat created by Barrett Design that features a cross weave diamond and solid panel design. Barrett also made a custom red pad for the handlebars.

Many customizers would stop there and the sled would look darned nice, but Big Bob is the guy who put the stick in stickler. He's a detail guy, so he found some blue Ski-Doo skis and then had the suspension painted a candy blue to carry that sweet theme across the sled's lower portions, front and rear. That means the rear suspension repeats the blue look and then adds some billet aluminum wheels for some bling, along with a chrome rear bumper by Advance Plating.

Still not done, Gaudreau adds a yellow Ski-Doo flap in back, while up in the cockpit there are USI View Guards, which include a hand guard with mirror. Again these are painted candy red to match the sled's upper body. The dash gauge rings also are done up in the same red and some carbon fiber trim is added to the dash.

Ah, and then for the final touch underneath. Big Bob (with most of the grunt and sweat provided by his buddies, Bob, Phil and Dom, at Land N'Sea Marine in Waterbury) puts on a special Camoplast pre-holed 136-inch RipSaw track with 1.25-inch lugs.

But to boost the grip and cornering, the project sled's track is doctored up with 144 Woody's Mega-Bite studs, Yellow Square digger aluminum support plates and yellow Double Digger support plates. It looks so nice you hardly want to get it snowy! Awesome!

Under the hood!
But most of us want more than a sled that just looks great, although that's not a bad start. Big Bob made sure there were some goodies under the hood too. Crank Shop twin pipes are bolted onto the 1000 power plant along with a new lightweight muffler that requires a fuel enhancement box. All said, that adds nearly 14 horses to this already strong sled. Also helping out was Central Connecticut Coatings, which added aluminum ceramic thermal barrier to the pipes and muffler. That keeps the pipes at a constant temperature, while also preventing the pipes from rusting.

Clutching was improved with Straightline Performance's new Ski-Doo clutch kit along with a new lightweight Team Performance driven. It includes custom-cut internal Straightline tuning parts as well that improve clutching efficiency. To that he adds a new Carlisle XS high-performance drive belt. All this makes it a quick sled as well as a looker.

Don't even think about this thing NOT rocking on the trails. It'll blind you with speed and flash from its finish. Cost for all this bling and performance? Big Bob says the Ski-Doo is now worth between $17,000 and $18,000. But hey, it's the only one like it!

Land N'Sea Marine, Waterbury, Conn., was the official dealer for Bob Gaudreau's custom Renegade and did all the take-apart and rebuilding of the sled.

Contributors
Paint: Bob Gorske, Roade Studios, Plainville, Conn., 860-793-8383, House of Kolor paints.
Body: Paul Gamache Custom Body, East Freetown, Mass., 508-763-8926, ski covers, rear panel; Advance Plating, Memphis, Tenn., 615-227-6900, chrome rear bumper; Ski-Doo, Valcourt, Quebec, 514-532-2211, blue skis, body accent parts and yellow rear flap, USI (Ultimate Sports Inc.), Lafayette, Ind., 765-423-2984, view Guard hand guard and mirror.
Seat: Barrett Design, Durham, Conn. 860-873-3607, seat/bar pad.
Engine: Crank Shop, Essex Junction, Vt., 802-878-3615, twin pipes, lightweight muffler, fuel enhancement box; Central Connecticut Coatings, East Hartford, Conn., 860-528-8281, aluminum ceramic thermal barrier on pipes and muffler assembly.
Clutch: Straightline Performance, Forest Lake, Minn., 651-466-0212, clutch kit/tuning parts; TEAM Industries, Detroit Lakes, Minn., 866-766-9288, driven; Carlisle, Springfield, Mo., 866-773-2926, XS High-Performance drive belt.
Track: Camoplast, Plattsburgh, N.Y., 518-561-7528, pre-holed 136-inch RipSaw track with 1.25-inch lugs; Woody's, Hope, Mich., 989-689-4911, Mega-Bite studs, Yellow Square Digger aluminum support plates, Yellow Double Digger aluminum support plates.
Builder: Land N'Sea Marine in Waterbury, Conn.