LOOK OUT! She's coming along
Well as for all of you who have been following this restoration project, you can see we have come along way. Man oh man along way. Well she's going to be worth all the effort and trouble when she's done. Well to start, we just took this picture to get a jist of what the good ole' girl will look like when she's completely assembled. Well most of it. If you look closer you'll notice that the bumper and handlebars are missing. Not to worry, they are off at the local chroming company in town here getting rechromed to there original luster. You can also see that the track is hanging freely. We are awaiting a large shippment of parts to come. Including shocks for the suspension, windsheild, shocks for the ski's and numerous other small items. We are also looking for the "Puma" script plates, the "440" decals and the Arctic Cat cursive decal for the front of the hood. Then once we get those, the hood will be repainted. Drop us an email if you have any of those items forsale! (Editors note: Decals must be NOS)
Well up front here she's changed for the better. She looks supple to new. Well for starters we shinned up the alumminum, because it was covered in years of gunk and oil. Then Jeff totally repainted the bulkhead and chaincase. It looks great. Then the brakes were disassembled and glass-beaded to clean all the rust and corrosion off of them. Two new brake pucks, some paint, and there good as new. We also have got the wiring situated back into position. We were told that this sled had electric start when we bought it from the previous owner. But like many other things including the motor, and suspension, it was not in working order. Go figure, just another rookie. He didn't know much of anything about it except that he claimed it was a piece of junk with absoulutley no hope. Well then we'll see about that. Just further motivation for us to make her shine like gold in the sunlight on a mid summers day. (Editor's note: If anyone viewing this caption has a original or can copy and original electric start diagram for a 1973 440 Puma, PLEASE email us! Thanks)
A familar view for the everyday rider
Last for this update, but for sure not the last of the restoration, is the dash and gas tank picture. You'll notice that the tank has been repainted due to surface rust and paint chipping. We also have worked hard on restoring the original shine to the plastic dash. It was not very hard but it was time consuming. We are currently scouring the internet for a 1973 Speedometer for her. We have the drive and cable, but are still insearch of the speedometer. I know someone's got a used one! Send us an email if its forsale. We also need a new (NOS) or gently used seat cover or hole seat for the 73' Puma also.
