Kitty Cat Snowmobiles

Hi yall, I have been watching this forum for some time. There is a ton of knowledge that can be gained from others (and some advice that must be taken with a grain of salt). That being said, I would like to contribute some of my knowledge to the group. Im going to be refitting my daughters 1997 kitty and doing some repairs to the chassis. This is going to be an ongoing project over the next few months and i thought i would share it with you all. Ill have the project overview and pics in the next post.

This is the sled that needs the repair. There are some cracks in the hood which is my own fault, but nevertheless need to be fixed. There are some rust and rot spots on the tunnel. There are ways of doing this with sheet metal but i prefer to change the tunnel to aluminium. The skis need some tlc.
(photos are in the next few posts) thanks steve0

im not sure how to make the images come up in the post i just see the links to photobucket, if anyone has any ideas please inbox me

chris wrote:im not sure how to make the images come up in the post i just see the links to photobucket, if anyone has any ideas please inbox me

When you are on photobucket, look on the right side, under Image Links.

Click on the one that says IMG code. As soon you click on it it will say copied. Create a post on this site and paste the link into your post.

Like this:

thanks steve0, let me try this again and see if it works

here are 2 donor sleds that will give parts to the 97, i believe they are both 72s

teardown of donor 1, takes about an hour from complete chassis to bare tunnel

I have never seen a steel tunnel that rotted. That old sled is a 72, I look forward to the progress. I have one more rebuild left in me, so hope I can can get a couple new ideas from this.

just a quick update, the tunnel was stripped of all hardware and hit with an abrasive ball to remove all the corrosion and scale the have built up after the last 40 years. This is not a restoration so i didnt go nuts on the finish, no filling and sanding then polishing, Just a fine abrasive ball (eqivilent to scotch brite pads) in a drill.
The small hardware is in the rust remover solution and the larger parts like the bogey axles and such are in the electric rust remover (electrolysis), the spacers and bearings were frozen to the axles and a few bolts were broken while disassembling.

Just a quick update, things have been moving slow. The axles from the 72 were rusted beyond belief, they are still soaking in the vinegar and should be done today. The lift plates have been redone and now look brand new. bearings should be coming in the mail in the next couple of days. the bogey wheels will be swapped out from the stock 97 bushing type to the better rolling 72 bearing type. More pics will be coming soon. I have received a few pms in the past few days asking what is going on. Just bear with me. I have been a bit under the weather, the treatments i have been going through knock me down for a week at a time then it take some time to recover. Ill post as much progress as i can. Chris

Chris, Hope you're feeling better soon. I look forward to watching this resto happen, picture by picture. Neato!

Question: Do the '72 bogie wheels bolt right on? and are they still available?

thanks t-dub, chemo sucks to say the least. I dont know what is worse the cancer or the cure. I have some pics to post this weekend. The bogey wheels are still available. I will have to find some links for them and they run about $23 each and the spacers are different. I had 2 old donor sleds that i managed to get 6 good bogeys out of. The bearings were $35 for a pack of 10. Im just going to use the original drive axle and trailing axle because of the idler wheel they have in the middle (it is a better design than the old setup) pics should be up tonight or saturday

I lucked out with my chondrosarcoma (cancer of the cartilage). I had my surgeon hack out a chunk of rib and no chemo needed. Plenty of family and friends have been through it though, so I feel your pain.

I've lubed up my bogies well and often, and sometimes it seems like the entire track is just stuck. That usually happens when the snow is sloppy and the whole sled gets loaded down though. I've always wondered about the bearinged bogies. I wonder if I could just machine a bearing cavity in the style I've got....

Keep us posted on the progress!

If you can, please post a couple pictures of the different bogey/axle set ups you have to compare.

After taking the summer off and recovering from an illness, its time to get back to work. Ill have some pics to post in the next few days. The progress is slow but the tunnel is grafted on and the bogeys are installed, starting to look like a sled again. The skis are being worked on now, stripped hammered and ground, almost ready for paint. The hood will be replaced with an older model with no headlight and windshield, painted purple ( my daughter chose the color) to match the trim . More updates to come soon