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It doesn't matter if you're into restoring or racing, the vintage racing world is growing faster than a snow squall blows in off Lake Superior.
Entries at the Eagle River World Championship Vintage weekend are now greater than those for the actual Championship race the following weekend. There are many reasons for the revival, but the main one is the prospect of traveling back in time to the "golden age" of snowmobile racing - the 1970s.
Many snowmobilers have great memories from that era, yours truly included, and seeing classic vintage sleds racing again is really a joy. If you're watching the racing and enjoying the restored machines, like '07 World Champion Mark Anderson's triple Polaris, or Bill "Elvis" Stulls immaculate Third Dimension Rupp, you may catch the bug.
But you don't necessarily have to race.
Restoration its own rewardRestoring and entering judged shows is a big activity. The pleasure of restoring a famous race machine or a favorite trail sled becomes a combination of craftsmanship, detective work, hustle and trading skill. After years of getting everything in place, you may not want to trash it on a racetrack.
Restoring a sled can be a time consuming project. Started with good intentions, it can easily become overwhelming. Many projects get abandoned along the way or passed on to another collector. I'm a good example of that. Once, I bought three Wankel-powered Evinrude snowmobiles in hopes of making one good sled. The more I looked at the project, the more discouraged I got. I figured it would take me 3 years and at least $5,000 to do the project.
When a friend told me there was a mint Evinrude Wankel at Hay Days with only 9 miles on it, I snapped it up for a lot less than it would have cost to restore the old wrecks. I then picked the good parts - engines, hoods, chaincases, etc. off the other three sleds and threw away the rusted chassis. Truth was, the steel chassis were so rusted, I doubt they could even have been restored. Looking for some OMC Wankel parts? Give me a call.
Finders, keepersThe lesson learned is that sometimes you're better off finding a sled in good shape with all the parts in place and pay a little extra than spending countless hours and dollars bringing a wreck back to life.
There are exceptions, such as restoring a famous Championship winning one-off factory race sled.
John Jantsch of Rhinelander, Wis., is a good example. He spent years tracking down Mike Trapp's 1971 Eagle River World Championship winning Yamaha and restored it to its original glory, down to the stickers. Mike's Yamaha now sits in the Snowmobile Hall of Fame in St. Germain, Wis., and you can watch a tape of the Championship race playing on a TV monitor next to it.
Like we discussed earlier in the issue, judged shows are flourishing around the U.S. and Canada, from Waconia, Minn., in late January, to the "Hall of Fame" event in St. Germain, Wis., on Memorial Day and the VSCA National Championship at the New England Snowmobile Expo in October.
If you have a vintage sled and just want to ride it, there also are many vintage rides, usually tied to antique or vintage events. The Waconia event has a ride around the lake along with a judged show, a swap meet, a drag race, a featured sled show, a raffle, an auction and a loudest sled contest. Fun stuff!
There's also the Hall of Fame vintage ride on the induction weekend in February. The ride starts at the museum and goes 17 miles to Sayner where Carl Eliason invented the first snowmobiles in the 1920s. There's lunch at the Sayner pub, and a visit to the Eliason Museum across the road, at the lumberyard where the snowmobiles were built. If you're lucky, Eliason's son may be there to entertain you with some stories about his father's development of those first sleds.
Vintage racingIf you want to go vintage racing, you're in a totally different ballgame. Racing is as competitive as ever, and there are a lot of separate groups with their own racing rules.
The main division is probably the cleated track vs. rubber track debate. Larger tracks such as Eagle River and Ironwood (Mich.), which are part of the USSA and the Pro Vintage series, run by International Snowmobile Rules. ISR banned cleated tracks years ago for safety, and only rubber tracks are allowed. Mounting a rubber track is not just straightforward. Rubber racing tracks are longer and have a wider spacing of the slide rails. This means modifying the suspension, or buying a new one, and in some cases lengthening the tunnel.
A new track, suspension and studs may set you back $2,500. If you want to race more than one sled, it starts to add up. This is, of course, not any more than regular racers pay to set up their sleds, but it takes the "inexpensive" out of vintage racing.
Some groups don't follow ISR, and allow cleated tracks because it's cheaper and also true to the original sled. Cleated tracks can be safe when they are new, but require constant maintenance. The problem usually occurs when they are used too long, or the experienced driver sells it to a less experienced rider to make a few bucks instead of throwing the old track away. The matter actually becomes a case of good safety inspection by the racing group.
In most cases with vintage and antique sleds, you'll also need to reinforce the chassis and tunnel.
Breaking spindles was a big problem in the old days, and most experienced racers now use newer, stronger spindles. This means you may have to weld new and larger spindle housings to the cross member. While you're welding new housings on, you may also add to the cross member to widen the ski stance, and maybe change the steering and camber angles.
Skis are a development area all their own.
You have to run a leaf spring, but there are a lot of mods to make them shorter and less prone to twist. Adding more shock travel with leverage arms is the last trick, as seen on Mark Anderson's championship sled. As a result of his success, Mark has been busy selling his skis to other racers.
More modsEngine mods are a must in the modified classes, naturally. Carbs, cylinder porting and pipes have advanced considerably since the '70s and a good race engine now puts out up to 25% more than the best era factory engines. In the mid-'70s, a good 440 engine would produce 80 horses. Today's 440 vintage engines often produce 95 to 100 hp.
Ignition systems were marginal back in the day, so you can make improvements by using newer systems, or fitting aftermarket ignition boxes like a Hewtech. Newer carbs such as the Flatslide TMX are popular, but many racers make the mistake of mounting them on short, stiff flanges. The early twins were infamous for high-frequency vibration that would foam the carbs and seize the engine, and also shake clutch components apart.
As a result, factories eventually went to softer flanges, so these original flanges are hard to find. A good alternative? Soft flanges that still are available from the last several years of Polaris' Indy 500 twins, which featured a set of rack carbs. To prevent the high-frequency torsional vibrations from wrecking cranks and clutches, many factories mounted heavier flywheels to move the torsional frequency below operating rpm.
This is worth investigating. If the factory solved the problem at a later date, it's important to update your racer to prevent the crank and clutch problems. Although many vintage racers love the sound of straight stingers, racetrack neighbors may not be so inclined. Many race groups now require silencers on the stinger pipes. It may not sound like a pure vintage sled anymore, but if the noise costs you a track to race on, well, you're just wasting your time.
Simple funIf you love old sleds and the "golden years" of racing, there are a lot of ways to get involved, from restoring to showing to racing.
If you opt for racing, be sure to check the rules as they can differ quite a bit between groups. Certainly, vintage racing has some initial expenses, but vintage racers have one big advantage: once you build your snowmobile, you can race it for years. Meanwhile, modern pro racers need to spend $10,000 on a new sled every year to stay competitive.