over the summer I couldn't forget about the shaky little cat. a close friend of ours offered up a 1600 single port he had in his shed for a few years. story was he rebuilt it back in high school, drove the bug for a few years then took the whole car apart. the motor went in the shed around 2004ish and didn't come out till I showed up.
before i knew it the snowcat jamboree was coming up and it was time to get to work.
i added a 1.5qt oil sump, got a new clutch and cleaned up the donor motor then fired it up on a test stand. she sounded healthy in the garage with the slightly modified kristi exhaust
you can see how much wider the engine is compared to the 36hp exhaust. i ended up chopping out one joint each side and welded in a longer piece of tube.
There's a cluster of cats on D road - one for sale and two next door on trailers. I've never been able to get a good enough look. Any of them the Kristi?
trying to install it into the cat turned into a marathon of work. first issue, the sump hits the differential.
next problem, the 12v flywheel doesn't fit inside the stock kristi bell housing because 6v. did i mention the jamboree was only a week away at this point? after some as carefull as you can be with an angle grinder clearance work, motor is finally in.
last issue was another self inflicted injury. i bought a brand new solex 30/31 pict because the old 28 had shaft seal leaks and was probably a bit small now. new carb required a few changes to the throttle linkage. sounds minor but was a little time consuming. the last five days have been a grind but we made it. even managed to mount a pair of snowboard clamps to the roof rack. something i have wanted since i took ownership of this machine so many years ago.
i went to hell and back the past week on this cat. but we made it. looking forward to meeting up with the others tomorrow at camp hale.
Keith Tanner said:
There's a cluster of cats on D road - one for sale and two next door on trailers. I've never been able to get a good enough look. Any of them the Kristi?
last i knew the only two guys i know who actually operate their own kristis live around 30 and D. i have met them. good guys for sure. need to stop by again soon. my father inlaw sent me a picture of the cat for sale. looks like an old thiokol but i didnt have time to stop by. i bet the other ones are the two kristi's.
Trying to get swmbo moving so we can head that way. Hoping to catch some of the cats before you guys head up into the mountains.
carb is way too rich up high. broke the exhaust off again. other cats had bigger problems so i shouldn't complain. gonna head back up in the morning, see what else will fall off.
We got there in time to see the green Thiokol Sprite unload and head up the mountain. Spent the rest of the morning exploring the rest of hwy 24.
Headed back to Leadville and experienced Joring for the first time. All kinds of crazy.
at the end of day one i met a welder named david who was fixing a bent link on a tucker. convinced him to tac my exhaust back together in the vail pass summit parking lot. it held for a little while, broke it again on the way up day 2. tried to swap out my main jet but the only one i had was bigger. even though it wasn't running great i can tell it has more torque. climbs a little easier than the old 36hp setup. need a little more time to sort the exhaust out and get it tuned up. most of our pics are on the big camera. ill post more later
2K4Kcsq said:
Keith Tanner said:
There's a cluster of cats on D road - one for sale and two next door on trailers. I've never been able to get a good enough look. Any of them the Kristi?
last i knew the only two guys i know who actually operate their own kristis live around 30 and D. i have met them. good guys for sure. need to stop by again soon. my father inlaw sent me a picture of the cat for sale. looks like an old thiokol but i didnt have time to stop by. i bet the other ones are the two kristi's.
Got a better look this morning - definitely two Kristis. They're a lot more wieldy looking than the big Thiokol.
Looks like fun!
Keith Tanner said:
Got a better look this morning - definitely two Kristis. They're a lot more wieldy looking than the big Thiokol.
Looks like fun!
the lotus of snowcatting has to be the kristi. add lightness!
more cats than you could fit in three frames!
de80q
Reader
3/13/20 10:04 a.m.
Looks like you have put quite a bit of work into this over the past couple of months! Great work getting it going again!
Haven't seen anything on the 4k in a long time. How is that going? Assuming you still have it, that is.
de80q said:
Looks like you have put quite a bit of work into this over the past couple of months! Great work getting it going again!
Haven't seen anything on the 4k in a long time. How is that going? Assuming you still have it, that is.
still driving the quattro daily. Lost the original 016 gearbox this summer so i swapped in my spare. just had to replace my TPS the other day but its still running strong on 15lbs and pump gas. just about to roll over 300,000 miles on that car. still puts a smile on my face. you still got your 90?
de80q
Reader
3/13/20 9:22 p.m.
Yep, still have my 80q. Picked up a CQ last may, and have been slowly putting it back together. I've been running 22psi on my 80 for quite a while now. It's a lot of fun, but I think I'm ready for more... I have a t04b or E I'm not sure which ready to go on...
a young photographer named harrison took this on day two. i really like this photo. funny how one picture someone else took made the whole marathon of misery seem so much more worth while in the end.
Apexcarver said:
Saw this, thought of this thread
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ObscureCarsOC/permalink/3315769018485646/?sale_post_id=3315769018485646
That's my post!! Yep, I've ot 4 project ones listed for sale and extra parts, etc.
this fall i hauled the cat up to the mountain shop so i can work on it at night during the work week. progress has been slowly crawling along. lots of track maintenance along with more exhaust fixes and i finally re-jetted the new carb. more power than i have ever had from this kristi.
after the christmas tree hunt i took it back apart for the big oil system upgrade. picked up a dry sump oil pump that will actually fit inside a KT3 body along with an external oil cooler with fans, a one gallon tank and an external filter.
currently mounting the oil cooler behind the front body vent on a shroud with dual 4" fans
years ago some grmdork (believe it was java) recommended i go thru motion windows for this project. this year i finally bit that bullet. expensive part of the build but well worth it. the new windows are beautiful compared to the 1960's modular units it had stock.
the oil cooler bracket/fan shroud is taking longer than I thought. lots going on in a small package.
Glad to see this back!!! Nice windows ;)
everything has a welded nut for easy install and it all mounts to the 6 bolts that hold the outside air vent to the body. no change to the outside of the cat.
de80q
Reader
1/8/21 2:33 a.m.
Nicely done! Glad to see your finding ways to make things better, without changing the outward appearance!
a few small tweaks and its headed to the blast cabinet.
