I wrote one of these up a Kawasaki awhile back, and I'm almost done with my latest project and thought I'd share this one as well. I did post this on another Polaris forum, so some of yall may have seen this already.
I have been rebuilding a neglected sportsman over the last couple months and thought I'd share my experience with y'all. I picked this bike up in April and have slowly been rebuilding the bike. It needs alot of work, but so far has been a fun project. This bike had alot of rust on the frame and had been sitting outside for the last year. It was ugly. The previous owner told me that it wouldn't disengage from 4x4, so I knew i had a front diff issue. The rear prop also had ALOT of play, telling me the rear diff would need a complete rebuild. Bike also wouldn't start.
Here is a picture of what i started with. It doesn't look bad here, but it was terrible under the plastics. The relocated rad was a red flag of a used and abused wheeler, but i couldn't pass it up for what I payed.
This is photo of the rear end that shows how rust has started to take over.
I wanted to strip the rust and repaint the rear end while i was working on the differential. Came out good i think.
Okay so the rear differential kicked my rear. Should have been straight forward and taken maybe an hour to pull the diff out...NOPE. So I attempt to pull the axles and the splines were rusted in the slots. I fought them for 2 hours to no avail. So i finally decide to pull the differential with the axles attached...NOPE. The rear prop was rusted solid to the spline in the diff. I try for two days to break the diff free, and finally end up freeing the prop from the transmission and pulling out everything as one unit. Over course of the next day, i was able to finally free all the parts and crack the diff open for a look.
The inside was a mess, and all bearings where shot or close to it. I ended up completely rebuilding the unit.
All clean ready for new bearings and seals
All done and ready for re installation
The engine wouldn't start so i replaced plugs, rebuilt the carb, and replaced all the fuels line. The carb was a mess from gas that had sat for the last year. Surprisingly it started right up after taking care of these issues. Has never been this easy.
I painted the upper and lower arms and replaced all the rubber bushings. They had all dry rotted and couldn't be reused.
Started putting the rear end back together.
this is where the bike sat for while while i waited for parts to come in
Also stripped, repainted, and wrapped the exhaust
Couldn't find any red Polaris springs for a decent price, so I plasti-dipped them myself and they came out great. I've done this before, and it holds up great. I also wanted to redue the shocks. They were a gold, but i wanted them a flat black.
I also tore down the front end, so I could strip and repaint the front end like i did the rear.
I also completed the exhaust system. I used stripped it down to bare aluminum and painted it with a high heat header paint.
Got started on the process of the relocating the rad back to its original spot.
I also got my new rear wheel bearings in and threw them on pretty quick
I put most of the back end back together. Its starting to look like a quad again.
Got my front end bushings in and was able to re assemble the front end, and also completed the radiator relocation.
This machine had been really hard to shift since the day i got it. At first i thought it was a transmission issue and was worried that it was gonna be a very extensive repair. The four wheeler would still shift, but I would have to really hit the shifter to get it to shift. To someone unfamiliar with this machine, you would have not been able to get it into gear. I found some info on the Polaris site. I found that sometimes the shift housing can get cruded up with dirt. So I broke into the housing to take a look. In the first photo you can see what started to come out of the housing as i began to remove the cover.
It was a sand box in there.
I cleaned all the gears and greased it up generously.
I reassembled the unit and the machine now shifts smoother than i expected. Can easily be shifted with one finger. I am really happy with the results. I am learning alot about the inner workings of this machine and its great.
I started priming the body for paint today.
Got the body back on! Still has some painters tape to remove in these photos.
This is where this project sits as of 06/20/15. About 90% done. Still some parts needing to be replaced, but I can see the light!
Thanks for looking and hope yall enjoy!
I have been rebuilding a neglected sportsman over the last couple months and thought I'd share my experience with y'all. I picked this bike up in April and have slowly been rebuilding the bike. It needs alot of work, but so far has been a fun project. This bike had alot of rust on the frame and had been sitting outside for the last year. It was ugly. The previous owner told me that it wouldn't disengage from 4x4, so I knew i had a front diff issue. The rear prop also had ALOT of play, telling me the rear diff would need a complete rebuild. Bike also wouldn't start.
Here is a picture of what i started with. It doesn't look bad here, but it was terrible under the plastics. The relocated rad was a red flag of a used and abused wheeler, but i couldn't pass it up for what I payed.
This is photo of the rear end that shows how rust has started to take over.
I wanted to strip the rust and repaint the rear end while i was working on the differential. Came out good i think.
Okay so the rear differential kicked my rear. Should have been straight forward and taken maybe an hour to pull the diff out...NOPE. So I attempt to pull the axles and the splines were rusted in the slots. I fought them for 2 hours to no avail. So i finally decide to pull the differential with the axles attached...NOPE. The rear prop was rusted solid to the spline in the diff. I try for two days to break the diff free, and finally end up freeing the prop from the transmission and pulling out everything as one unit. Over course of the next day, i was able to finally free all the parts and crack the diff open for a look.
The inside was a mess, and all bearings where shot or close to it. I ended up completely rebuilding the unit.
All clean ready for new bearings and seals
All done and ready for re installation
The engine wouldn't start so i replaced plugs, rebuilt the carb, and replaced all the fuels line. The carb was a mess from gas that had sat for the last year. Surprisingly it started right up after taking care of these issues. Has never been this easy.
I painted the upper and lower arms and replaced all the rubber bushings. They had all dry rotted and couldn't be reused.
Started putting the rear end back together.
this is where the bike sat for while while i waited for parts to come in
Also stripped, repainted, and wrapped the exhaust
Couldn't find any red Polaris springs for a decent price, so I plasti-dipped them myself and they came out great. I've done this before, and it holds up great. I also wanted to redue the shocks. They were a gold, but i wanted them a flat black.
I also tore down the front end, so I could strip and repaint the front end like i did the rear.
I also completed the exhaust system. I used stripped it down to bare aluminum and painted it with a high heat header paint.
Got started on the process of the relocating the rad back to its original spot.
I also got my new rear wheel bearings in and threw them on pretty quick
I put most of the back end back together. Its starting to look like a quad again.
Got my front end bushings in and was able to re assemble the front end, and also completed the radiator relocation.
This machine had been really hard to shift since the day i got it. At first i thought it was a transmission issue and was worried that it was gonna be a very extensive repair. The four wheeler would still shift, but I would have to really hit the shifter to get it to shift. To someone unfamiliar with this machine, you would have not been able to get it into gear. I found some info on the Polaris site. I found that sometimes the shift housing can get cruded up with dirt. So I broke into the housing to take a look. In the first photo you can see what started to come out of the housing as i began to remove the cover.
It was a sand box in there.
I cleaned all the gears and greased it up generously.
I reassembled the unit and the machine now shifts smoother than i expected. Can easily be shifted with one finger. I am really happy with the results. I am learning alot about the inner workings of this machine and its great.
I started priming the body for paint today.
Got the body back on! Still has some painters tape to remove in these photos.
This is where this project sits as of 06/20/15. About 90% done. Still some parts needing to be replaced, but I can see the light!
Thanks for looking and hope yall enjoy!
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