Craigslist special build

[kinger9]

Hey everyone just thought I would start a thread on a build I recently completed on my trail sled. Sorry its a flatlander but I do have the MTX parts to convert when I head west.

I bought this already supercharged as a craigslist special in 08. It was said to run perfect, lots of updates, yadda yadda yada I knew better
Here is the sled as I pulled it in my garage:

Cosmetically it was a mess the sled had 2500 miles on it but looked like 25,000

Here are some of the detail shots you can see how shotty this thing was:

If it was this bad on the outside I knew the inside might not be good. So off came the head and I added a shim to lower the CR to 10:1 for 10-11lbs of boost at sea level, actually it all looked real good!

After that it was clutched (old clutching was all messed up) and dynoed ~241 hp so I knew it was strong.

Once assembled on a "go or blow" durability session it 'blew' and lost all power 30 miles into the ride in a massive drift at WOT, off came the head and low and behold it dropped a valve! Yeah l had never heard of this before, upon closer inspection and investegation with the torn belt guard, poor clutching, and valve seat damage it was determined that the previous owner had the clutching all screwed up and it was getting the belts hot and when they blew at 11,000 rpm the rev limiter couldn't kick in fast enough and floated the valves in the head. The block, pistons, rings all were great. So I got a used head off a near new engine and swapped Ulmer for my old one to use as a race head and I took the new stocker.

Before hitting the trails I added the BPE gauge pod and essential gauges to keep track of everything:

I then took it on its maiden voyage to the UP for its first trip:

It worked great but the Mono suspension was horrible and it was going lean at extended high RPMS. Up next was the install of the ZX2 rear suspension that I had from my previous RX1 on nitrous. I friggen LOVE this suspension it makes the sled feel lighter and I just love hitting the big moguls on the trail with it! I got hard riders having a hard time keeping up with me on revs. Amazing (or I'm just more stupid for going that fast)

I went with a Walboro 255lph in tank pump and replaced the stocker, it was a little bit of a mod to get it in tank:

Voila worked great for the first season!

 

[kinger9]

Now that the sled was running perfect I decided to give it a little mini makeover on a budget and got a artic fx kit and new windy:

I thought it looked good and I put on 1800+ miles after the head and wow it was flawless, ran perfect all the time except for a idle problem it would wander other then that this was my first boosted sled and with a cobra track and studs it really has some pull on a nice hardpack trail.

I thought you mountain guys would get a kick out of this:

For this year the mod list expanded and expanded as I found more and more good deals on parts over the summer.

I changed my color sheme to this:

Then I bought a turbo hood and I needed to relocate the gauges to the bars and have it look good, so I made a waterjet cutout of a gauge panel then bent it to fit and ended up with this:

I think it turned out great. Next up was the drive shaft swap and when I opened the chain case I found this sludge, better change my fluid more often

While in there I was able to make a 25T gear I had laying around fit with my 42T lower (dont ask it came with the sled) so I can get some top end out of it. I hit 144 last year on the dream meter and it ran out of gear.

Next up the boards looked like absolute crap so I roughed them up and got some truckliner in a can:

Ended up with this finish:

Looks real good we'll see how it holds up, I know a few guys that have said its durable as heck.

Next up my seat wasn't going to match my new colors so I dyed with VHT vinyl dye, it worked amazing, never thought it would do this well. I pinched the seat afterwards and its embedded into the vinyl nothing to flake off or anything:

All done

Lastly I added some Ohlins shocks from a 08 apex man they look nice cant wait to ride them, never had ohlins up front before!

Then final assembly of the new water dipped panels, water jet cut out plate on tunnel, CR racing turbo hood and trail tech HID lights

My favorite pict - The predator (Raptor from jurassic park)

An outside shot:

Thats the skinny of it, lots of detail went into it but if anybody has any questions let me know.

Appreciate the feedback. I already have plans to make it a convertible and swap between a 121 and 162", I have never been in the mountains so when it comes time I will need some help.

Thanks guys keep up the builds!

 

[Jonce]

That's a cool build!

Once you ride the mountains, it's hard to go back to the trails or the UP for that matter. I think the UP is fun to ride if you hit the power lines and off trail riding. How does your sled work up there in the powder?

 

[kinger9]

I dont have any complaints off trail with the sled. I do have slydog powderhounds on it and it floats the sled surprisenly well. I have never got into anything terribly deep and if i had to stop and start it may be difficult but so far running power lines and in 3-4' of fresh snow it worked good.

 

[Snow Duck]

All you need is a 151 or a 156 on that baby....looks good i do like the colors....

 

[fordpickupman]

Water Dipped

that is a cool process, and the results are sharp....

 

[kinger9]

Thanks guys love the feedback. I do have 151 extensions for the Zx2 the wheels have been spinning, maybe next year...

 

[kinger9]

Finally going 151, will update progress as I make it!

 

[kinger9]

Got a chance to work on the sled again. Going to run a 151" but not as a mountain sled but as a trail/crossover. I'm inching my way slowly into mountain riding but still love trail riding in the midwest.

Started witha brand new unique track on ebay a predator 1.25" lug by 13.5" wide by 151" long. I have never seen this track and while I knew it would take some mods to with my plastic ZX2 suspension and I already had 151" ZXtend kit it was a perfect match. I had debated for a long time of trying to sell the 151" ZXtend and get 144" which has better track choices but the market isn't exactly hot for a $300 extension kit for the ZX2. So this should work out great being equivalent in sq-in surface area to a 136x15 track. Only down side was I had to cut the windows and clip it

Cutting with a sharp razor seemed to work well:

Model number of track for those interested:

Adding the clips:

151" tunnel extension all coated and ready for mock up:

Custom U cooler fits perfect into the extension:

Next up my plan to make the 13.5" wide track work on the ZX2 was to add a idler wheel in between the shocks to keep the track from getting 'sucked' in between the idlers and locking up the track. First I had to enlarge the bearing to fit on the shaft 0.100" with this tool:

Then I cut the width of the bearing (1/2") out of the bushing between the shocks:

Ending with this:

To finally end with this, fits PERFECT:

Next added the ZXtend warning dont do this in 95 degree heat like I did, the suspension swelled up and it made things HORRIBLE To fit. I got it but took about 2 hours and a lot of cussing:

Next clearanced the stock exhaust basket by removing 1" of material so that in extreme bottoming out the track will not make contact:

I had originally planned the u cooler would exit the same location as stock but as you can see the exhaust cradle in the rear interfears with that so I had to pull it back about 2" and drill new 1.5" holes in my tunnel extension then riveted the u cooler in place high and tight:

Mock up is almost done and should just be able to bolt most things down and figure out how to trim off the yoshi pipe to make it look as clean as the rest of the sled:

More to come...Adding a 5 gal rev race to to add more fuel capacity for the 300+ miles days on a trail.

 

[heinracing]

sleds looking really good

 

[kinger9]

The devil is in the details. Had to put some time into stuff no one will ever see but required for the sled to hold together. I'm supporting the Yoshi pipe off of the modified stock exhaust sheild and it was pulling through and cracking it so I had to add some aluminum to beef it back up.

Here is before:

I'm recycling the old stock snow flap aluminum since it was handy

After:

Next fabbed up some L brackets to keep everything held down and also make it easy to remove in the future.

You can see I added little "fingers" to catch the shield and bear all the load while the rivet just keeps things in place:

Next I drilled and tapped the strap I'm using to support the yoshi pipe I also added a nut to the bottom as it wont be very accessible once the shield is in place:

Lastly I thought I was all done with the shield and moving it around I heard this tiny rattling. I looked and couldn't find anything when out of the corner of my eye I noticed the mandrel inside the rivet was bouncing around on every rivet I used. These came in the hartman kit and since I was going to bolt the extension vs rivet I had these left over. Well glad I didn't use them the sled would have been a rattle trap back there! So out came the JB weld and I filled each rivet full to keep the mandrel from bouncing around. All sealed and quiet now

Almost ready to button her up. I'm happy with how it all came together and it should finish off real clean and look like everything was meant to be there. Thanks for the support!

 

[kinger9]

Here is the final look, of which I am not happy with. Its too choppy up close and the lines of the sled down flow like I wanted them to. Back to the think tank to come up with some new ideas that wont break the bank.

 

[tek9tim]

An outside shot:

Haha... If you have a $15,000 sled that you haul on a $100 trailer, you might be a yooper.

I like your attention to detail, nice build.

 

[kinger9]

Might have found a solution to trimming out the back end, the silver things are going to get white marble treatment and the black plastic will get a coat of some cool plastic paint so all the panels match.

Reverse marble flap will look good full of snow:

 

[kinger9]

151" is complete. Just some more finishing touches to be added to the rear but the hard work is done. Its off to Ulmer Racing for a dyno tune/checkup this week then when it gets back, I need to rehab the seat and stick more fuel capacity in there.

Quick vid of yoshi exhaust, so far its very quiet almost more then stock, wont know for sure till it gets on snow. If that is the case I will be happy, I didn't want a louder exhaust just a lighter one. This one is about 23lbs lighter then the stocker.

 

[kinger9]

Well I was all set to convert the SC apex into a mid mount turbo and actually started accumulating parts (still have some actually) when this gem came up for sale about 4 hours north from me here in Iowa. I couldn’t resist all the heavy lifting done and it was built by a very respected member here so I knew it was solid. Here it is in its MTX form with a stock body.

VERY Trick Boost-it system:

With stock comes heft LOL

That reads 710lbs with 11 gal of fuel.

So I started swapping over my suspension, reverse, and track.

My very own reverse mod where I use the E brake cable saves 2.2 lbs!

I got the weight down to 654 with 11 gals in it.

I have become slightly obsessed with with balance after seeing the skinz video where they 4 scaled a Pro. So I also bought 4 scales and been playing with weight balance as I work to reduce weight but also try to keep the same balance as stock. I have found a misconception that the Apex is front end heavy because of the large 4 stroke. What I have found is the sled actually carries 2/3 of its weight in the rear. Here is a comparison between a ‘stock’ body apex albeit it’s a impulse mid mount, my old SC Apex, and the new what I am calling crossover mid mount turbo

I took off so much weight in the rear it changed the balance over 6% to the front.

Now I’m in the process of removing another 50-60lbs from the front end. I hope this will restore the balance so it doesn’t ‘feel’ heavy.



More to come!


Sent from my iPhone X using Tapatalk

 

[kinger9]

Been working on the front of the sled, I removed the stock A arms and spindles and will be swapping a lightweight MPI 41” chromoly front end. Also swapping in billet 7075 spindles. Here is a weight comparison:
19.10lbs

Plus bolts (3.5lbs) :

Total of 22.60 lbs stock.

Mpi kit 14.3lbs with hardware:

Going to work on lightweight A arm bolts maybe Ti or 7075.

YTX-14 Battery lighter then my Odessy by over 1 lb.

Going to Shorie and UC capacitor 54F cap pack 3.4lbs (cap pack 1lb)

Love the impulse surge tank concept.

Stock headlight and gauge pod 6.9lbs

New LED headlights and cr racing bar 2.4lbs

Chromo bar and lightweight risor set up 3.4lbs will measure stock when it’s off the sled

Oil tank steering rod stock. Going to chromo one which should save a lb or so.

More to come...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[kinger9]

Got the new MPI A arms installed. They look so nice I hope they hold up.

While adjusting the inter cooler I noticed the charge pipe seemed very dense so I pulled it off to weigh it:

3lbs! It’s 14ga 2” steel pipe with a 12 degree bend in it. Hopefully I can find a aluminum substitute.

Got the weight of the Shorai and cap pack:

I’m a little stalled as I have the spindles being powder coated so I moved to the exhaust. It’s currently a 3” dump which is just to loud for any trail riding so I have a plan.
Just in case anyone ever wondered what the clearance of the track is to a tunnel dump here is a handy measurement:

Going to add a loud valves boost actuated exhaust valve it opens at 6 psi:

When it’s closed I will route the exhaust through another 3” pipe that is about 9” long and will also dump to the tunnel but have a baffled insert in it that necks down to a 1.3” opening. That will be plenty when in vacuum cruising on the trail and now the sound is only dependent on my thumb. .

More parts coming and then I need to button this baby up for 2018!



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[kinger9]

Got the batt and UC pack mounted fits stock tray and no mods needed to wiring!:

Aluminum charge pipes installed:

Easy way to wire bar heaters in parallel using a 06 harness. Hot hands again! Can’t live without them anymore:

Replaced this:

With this:

Now my CR hood pops off with 4 straps and is light as a feather.

Exhaust is done! I fired it up and quiet as stock! Maybe even quieter i metered it at 86db on a garage floor! When I started it was 96!! So pumped!

Weighs 6lbs but worth it:

Now just finish the wiring and ready to go!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Reeb]

Very cool. I'll be keeping an eye on this thread!