M7 Project Sled....More pics to come

[Phizzer]

Bam. Got my a arms in. These things not only look great, but overall just a very nice product. Came with all the bushings, tie rods, and arms. Now I am debating on whether I should bring these to the powder coated and have them done up black like my original plan. Or do I keep them red? I have a set of C&A SKI's on their way and they are white. I could do the spindles in a black and keep the arms red? Or go all black?

 

[Qreiff]

BLACK.......ALL BLACK. Heard the saying: "I'm wearing black until the make something darker"

Same goes for sled.

 

[Phizzer]

BLACK.......ALL BLACK. Heard the saying: "I'm wearing black until the make something darker"

Same goes for sled.

Yeah, that was my original plan. I called the powder coater this afternoon and arranged to have the parts dropped off tomorrow. I was going to have the front shock springs done up too but I've been looking at the Raptor Triple Rate Springs. I talked to one guy who was riding with them and he liked em. Would you notice a improvement in a stock shock without revalving?

 

[fordpickupman]

Black.


FORDpickupman

 

[Phizzer]

Waiting on my parts from the powder coater. Got bored in the garage this weekend so I finished up some other projects I have been wanting to do. Built a new work bench with plenty of room for me to assemble and disassemble pieces without having to stack parts on top of each other.

Also on a good note....I got my C&A Pro XTX Ski' I won from the 12 Days of Snowest! I know some people have said some negative about these ski's but they look like they will perform well. 7.125" wide should offer plenty of floatation and not to heavy at all.

The more I read about the shock package on the M's, the more I am leaning toward re-valving my zero pro's. I have seen a few different companies offering this service. What I am wanting to know, is what kind of benefits I would see from this upgrade? Is it worth spending the money to do? What are the procedures of doing a re-valve? I just don't know which direction to go. Re-valve the zero pro's I have now, try and get a set of floats mainly for weight loss, or ride the stockers and maybe try and purchase a full set of shocks next year? Any input would be great!

 

[ND]

I had Andy at GSR revalve the zero pros on my M7. Whole new sled. Transfer is controlled nicely, skis will absorb tracks in a side hill without bucking you down, and you can take the trail at speed. For the price I would highly recommend doing that first before spending a ton on aftermarket shocks.

 

[Phizzer]

I had Andy at GSR revalve the zero pros on my M7. Whole new sled. Transfer is controlled nicely, skis will absorb tracks in a side hill without bucking you down, and you can take the trail at speed. For the price I would highly recommend doing that first before spending a ton on aftermarket shocks.

Well I just got off the phone with Andy from Gas Shock Repair. Tons of information for me, prices were more than reasonable! I am thinking I will package these shocks up and send them his way. I just can't justify spending 1400 on a set of aftermarket shocks right now. Although, I have yet to ride an M series with a set of Raptors on them...perhaps after that I wouldn't need much justification!

 

[Phizzer]

And I wanted to confirm this with everybody before I sent these out. I got a set of Holz 41" A Arms, and from everything I've read, I can run the stock shocks without any modifications to length correct?

 

[Phizzer]

So I have had my a arms and some other parts at the powder coater for nearly 4 weeks now....still haven't got the call to tell me they are done. Not to happy about it at this point. I've called them twice and they told me they have been swamped with work, which I understand, but at the same time I want my $#%@#$ parts back.

I'm head back up North in a couple months from now and would like to have this thing put together and sitting on the ground before I go. So hopefully all goes according to plan.

Before I began this project, I wanted to make sure the sled even ran before I got it, which it did. So in between waiting for parts I went ahead and pulled the y pipe take a look at the piston skirts and wasn't too happy with what I saw on the mag side. Off came the head and the jugs and I ended up finding this. Some of the nikasil had began flaking off. Motor had good compression, which was surprising to me with the amount of flaking I had in this cylinder. What causes this stuff to do this?

I am now looking at a 900 BB kit to bolt on top. From my understanding, the BB produces a crazy amount of torque am I right? Much different then a turbo sled, which provides a solid, steady amount of power?? I'm wondering who has run one of these kits before in their M7, their setup, and if they were impressed with the performance. The kit I am looking at is the UB 900 kit.

 

[Empire087]

Is that flaking or piston/wall scoring? That piston looks terrible.

 

[Phizzer]

Flaking mostly, some scaring on the piston. If I end up using the stock 700 top end, I will be getting a new set of pistons as well as a fresh jug for that side. Rings were perfect.

 

[Phizzer]

Made some progress today! Got all my parts back from the powder coater. They turned out great. This is the first time it's sat on the floor since I began the project back in November! Everything went together with fresh grease, loctite, and torqued to the correct specs. It's coming along great so far. The C&A Pro Ski's I won during the 12 Days of Snowest and along with the fresh powder coating and new bulkhead, the sled looks practically new. I still have to do some adjustments up front, but I will do this once I get a track. I set the front end up to the narrowest position. The Holz front end is a 41" front end so I am thinking this will bring be back to the 40" the way its setup. I am currently looking for a track to put under it. I have the Attack 20 that came with the sled but am looking for something newer. Possibly a Camo Extreme 2.5 if I can get my hands on one. Here are some updated pictures. Let me know what you guys think!

 

[ippielb]

Looks good. I would suggest taking a peek into the D&D bb800's, theres lots floating around and are cheap which gives you a good increase in power. I have one on my F7. Uses the stock M8 pistons, which you can replace with SPI if you wish to do so.

Run a spacer in your powervalves to fit the 800 bore, run a boondocker and turn the fuel up a little bit and you're good to go. They have all your numbers you would need for fuel.

 

[Phizzer]

Just for fun, here is what I started with....

 

[Phizzer]

Looks good. I would suggest taking a peek into the D&D bb800's, theres lots floating around and are cheap which gives you a good increase in power. I have one on my F7. Uses the stock M8 pistons, which you can replace with SPI if you wish to do so.

Run a spacer in your powervalves to fit the 800 bore, run a boondocker and turn the fuel up a little bit and you're good to go. They have all your numbers you would need for fuel.

I have been looking into BB kits. I'm not positive yet if I am going to go that route, but I am very tempted. By the time I am done with this, it should be a pretty light and nimble sled, and I would really like to have the power to go along with that. Hard to beat a BB kit that uses the stock M8 pistons. Don't really want to turbo, going to try and make the most out of the naturally aspirated motor. I was unaware you had to run a spacer in the powervalves. Why is that? Is there a clearance issue when running the BB kit?

 

[ippielb]

I have been looking into BB kits. I'm not positive yet if I am going to go that route, but I am very tempted. By the time I am done with this, it should be a pretty light and nimble sled, and I would really like to have the power to go along with that. Hard to beat a BB kit that uses the stock M8 pistons. Don't really want to turbo, going to try and make the most out of the naturally aspirated motor. I was unaware you had to run a spacer in the powervalves. Why is that? Is there a clearance issue when running the BB kit?

Yes that is correct, the valves are machined to run around the piston with minimum clearance so it has backpressure. When the cylinders bored out, the piston will hit the corners of the powervalves unless they are machined down, or spaced. I have an F7, went to a big bore, loved the torque. And i just wanted more, so i put on a small 53 series aerocharger turbo to try and sustain as much bottom end as i could. I got a built crank though. I bought my D&D big bore 800 with boondocker, pistons and head for $1400 2 years ago almost. I'm sure now that it's off season you can pick one up for under $1000 if you have your own boondocker or can find one cheap.

I am also after a light weight unit. thats why i decided to use the firecat chassis. losing 1.5" of width, on everything is quite a bit of weight. We'll see how it does with the smaller footprint. Mine has titanium a-arms, titanium shock springs, headlight delete, oil injection delete, titanium clutch springs, and looking to get an aftermarket rear suspension and maybe make a belt drive to replace the heavy chaincase.

 

[Phizzer]

Got some parts in from Oregon Trail Sports, 2 wheel kits, random nuts and bolts, and my bar setup. I decided to go with the newer 12+ style PC bars. I rode on in 2012 and really liked the handlebar setup so I will be using that bar with a few different options. Once my risers get in, I will be able to bolt it all together and see how it feels.

Question on risers? What is the appropriate height that everybody setups sleds at? I have always tried to aim for my arms relaxed and knees slightly buckled to give me the right height. I have seen SO MANY different setups that simply seem functional to me that I want to spend the time to make it right.

Also, decided to go with a completely stock motor for now. I have all new SPI pistons, rings, bearings, etc. One side is ready for assembly, the other I will hopefully be able to get by this week.

After the suspensions was full assembled with track and all, I jumped up and down and worked the suspension a bit and started thinking about attack angles and how you can adjust the front to make the back of the sled do something you want. I still have a lot to figure out on the proper setup of a suspension but its only going to happen once I get it on the snow....which should hopefully be soon.

 

[Phizzer]

Well I just installed the BDX oil delete tonight. I've read a lot about other people's installs and how they did it. I opted to go with a "grease line" where the old banjo fitting for the oil pump is. I know a lot of people say it's not necessary, it's more for piece of mind. I did lube the water pump shaft and oil delete with a combination of 2 stroke oil and grease. Pretty easy install when the motor is laying on the bench.

 

[ippielb]

Looks like it's coming together, got any updates? I also did the BDX oil delete on my 700, but i did the drilling method. ran a line from the bottom of the case to the old fitting hole. I didn't want grease in everything.

 

[Phizzer]

I've managed to get some work done the last few days..My mag side cylinder was originally damaged, sent it out to Racin Station and got a new one. I choose to go with SPI pistons. I know of a lot of guys who have ran them in their sleds with no problems so I figured I would try them. Top end install was pretty straight forward if you have rebuilt a 2 stroke. Their were a few things I made sure to be extra careful on. One being the piston to cylinder wall clearance and the ring gap. Both cylinders were spot on with each other with each piston riding in the appropriate cylinder. My ring gap I managed to set at .017" on both sides. I know a lot of guys really stress about getting this right. I think I read somewhere with the stock OEM pistons you want a min. of 012" and even more with aftermarket.

I made sure to clean my power valves good. I know they aren't shiny, but I removed all of the carbon build up, installed new seals, and cable O-Rings which were surprisingly worn and begin to degrade so I am glad I replaced them.

When I installed my BDX oil delete, I decided to go with the grease line instead. I already had my case together and didn't want to split it, and I feel this is an adequate way to lube the water pump shaft. Once I install the throttle bodies I am going to fasten a mount somewhere to the rail, similar to what BCL did on the ProClimb BDX install.

It does feel good having the motor sitting in the chassis finally. I found a bad mount which needs to be replaced on the mag side. I will hopefully get the throttle bodies and wiring harness installed tomorrow.

I have had like 3 different handlebar setups so far. I finally got an adjustable post off of here and am modifying it to fit in the M7. I am going to stick with the ProClimb bars and SnoPro throttle block as a bar setup.

Im still somewhat hesitant about running another exhaust because I have heard of so many "bog" issues or tuning issues people have had with them. I may just stick with the stock pipe and suitcase to start with a baseline.