refurbished amf with 4cylinder jlo proves a winner
Amsnow
YOU MAY remember Bob Weaver from our January issue, he was the “senior” checking an item off his Bucket List by running, and winning a race at the Eagle River Derby Track.
Well, Bob’s back this month with a short tale of his fully restored 1971 AMF. Take it away Bob!
“This project started a few years ago when I acquired the 650 XX with a 4-cylinder JLO motor. The sled had been sent out to Loren Machrant to have new pipes made for it and what a job Loren did. Absolutely Awesome!
“With the help of Jeff Brauer, we disassembled the entire sled. AMF used special stamped nuts, so I sent all the nuts and bolts out to be replated. More than 95% of the fasteners on this sled are original.
“I then blasted the sled and had all the painted parts primed and repainted. I was lucky enough to have a friend, Mark Elwell, provide me a lot of N.O.S. parts, which included a seat cover, gas tank, complete secondary clutch assembly with caliper, windshield, decals, grips, cables and more, all N.O.S.!
“I had to put the restoration into high gear last winter when I found out that the marquee sled for the Great Eastern Whiteout was AMF. The restoration went very well with everything being restored, including the clutch, which is the same one on the King Kat, the carbs, motor and external coils were all restored and replated.
“The research I did came up with a lot of different stories about the mysterious 4-cylinder JLO. The most common was that JLO gave a few manufacturers prototype engines to experiment with. I can only assume this sled was one of them.
“The Great Eastern Whiteout is the largest antique and vintage snowmobile show in the East. As usual the turnout was tremendous, with a lot of sleds and plenty of vintage racing.
“I was well rewarded for all my hard work. My AMF won several awards including the People’s Choice, Show Favorite, Best Restored Race Sled and Best Restored Featured Sled. It was truly a great day with great friends and a great show.”