This topic refers to the feature article located here! (http://www.snowmobileworld.com/feature_story/project136/index.php)

The new skid before it went in. Basically what I did was take a complete 136" skid from a Pantera, remove nearly all the parts, replaced with new rear arms from Cat's coupling kit, and the front arms and all shocks from the 121" skid. The arms were black, I gave them a couple fresh coats of Cat green paint.

I really like how the C&A skis brightened up the front of the sled. Hope I also like how they perform. If I would have kept the black skis, I was going to paint the A-arms green to add a little color to this area, but I think the skis are just right.

Also added an external antenna for the GPS. It's sitting on top of the gauges near the windshield. I'm just going to put it there with velcro. Boy.....does this thing make a world of difference. It receives signals from about 4 different sattelites even sitting in a closed garage. With the original antenna, it wouldn't receive a signal at all in the garage. Hmmmm, maybe I'm sitting on my sled in the garage too much.....NO WAY!!!!!!!!! :D

I'll post a few more pics and details tomorrow. I'm glad THIS is behind me, what was I thinkin'.....

Nice job Jim, looks like alot of work. (but worth it) My riding partner has the green t-cat and put on a chrome green windshield. I think that would be the finishing touch on your sled. That would brighten it up some more.
w00t
I should recognize that sled if I see it this year.

you did a heck of a job Jim,,,, I want to totally redo my zrt next summer,,,,I am thinking about various paint schemes I can go with,,,I know I think I wanna keep my suspension, but I wanns pull it and put it back in like its brand new,,,,,

Sweet looking sled JIM. It deffintly looks better then when you started and the rear skid looks good. :thumbsup:

Wow!! well done Jim,,, makes me wanna do some major detail work on my zrt... :sleeping: I particularly like your GPS arrangement :cool:

Nice work Jim I like the green C&A skis. They are the ones that I want, maybe next year!!!!!

Looks like a big job, but it looks great! What did you do with the old parts?

Originally posted by zr580cat@Dec 10 2003, 09:59 AM
Looks like a big job, but it looks great! What did you do with the old parts?
They will be for sale. Basically, I have a complete 121" skid, extra set of rear arms, rear bumper, and the original 121" tunnel ext piece for sale. Was going to sell the stock skis, but I should prob hang on to them for spares.

I have two different oil caddys, and I couldn't make either one fit. So I came up with this idea. Since I switched over to AMSOIL, I don't want to rely on finding it in the gas stations up north.

Looks good Jim!! The only problem is, at the end of the day and after all that work your still riding a Cat! :D

What brand of GPS do you have?

Sled looks great Jim. It's always worth the hard work when you do it yourself!

Nice looking sled before... even better now!! Good job Jim.
Love the GPS setup!

looking good jim.........but whats that green thing under that good looking GPS unit............ w00t w00t w00t

wow, jim you did a great job. Nice looking ride for sure...hope you got some snow to take her out for a rip. :D

Nice looking sled!!!!

Looks great buddy.

nice work.

FishHog

I agree with the rest. Great job. Those "what was I thinking" jobs are always the most rewarding.

Dawg - Yours is looking pretty good also.

now all you need is a 2up seat and it'll be perfect..................... :dazed:

Dawg, your pic is the best....IT HAS SNOW IN IT!!!!!!!! :p

[SIZE=7]WOW
thats all i can say
u did an amazing job.
wish you could fix mine up with the GPS :D
:thumbsup:

Great work Jim. Last night, I had both my Viper ER's out, and mine with the 136" stretch just looks so much better than the 121" sled. Sherry wants a 136" now too.

Now all we need is snow down here... Oh, that external antenna would be good in thick woods. I'm not sure if mine lost signal before, but I'm sure that external really kicks butt.

Now we need to add the LED strip to yours and Deb's. I got Sherry's done last night, and both sleds really look sharp with the additional brake light.

Nice job...

Jim, glad to hear you finally got it all done. I ran mine in the Grass / Snow we had Thanksgiving Weekend. I was really amazed at how the 136" compared to the 121". The 136" keeps the Skii's closer to the ground than the 121". Everyone knows how the Cats like their Skii's in the Air.....LOL The 136" keeps them on the ground!

sled looks awesome, like the green skis

My ZR is a 2001 and judging buy your decals yours is too. I went with the orange skis, they matched the orange hood screens I had. I agree with gettign a crome windsheild always have liked them. I cant say anythingf bad about that sled though, the finished product worked out and looks great.

Originally posted by catrules2000@Dec 10 2003, 03:29 PM
Jim, glad to hear you finally got it all done. I ran mine in the Grass / Snow we had Thanksgiving Weekend. I was really amazed at how the 136" compared to the 121". The 136" keeps the Skii's closer to the ground than the 121". Everyone knows how the Cats like their Skii's in the Air.....LOL The 136" keeps them on the ground!
Yeah, I think I gotta get the 136 kit. I think my skiis are alergic to snow, they always come off the ground. :crazy:

:withstupid: :D :tongue: :tongue: I know what you mean although I never thought of it as them being sick. Maybe I will try some Tylenol Extra Strength on them...LOL

Can you let the Cat out of the bag, how much do you have invested in the rear end? Just incase I would feel the need to do mine next year.

Great job Jim! Lot of hard work and fabing but well worth it.
Your right, a 121 next to the 136 just doesn't look right. You will love the added traction and better ride, I bet you could loose a couple of those wheels inside the rails. I took all my inside wheels out, guess with the added weight being spread out makes it easier on the rails and have had 0 wear since.

How did the Tempaflow turn out?

Originally posted by Mikadoo@Dec 10 2003, 04:11 PM
Great job Jim! Lot of hard work and fabing but well worth it.
Your right, a 121 next to the 136 just doesn't look right. You will love the added traction and better ride, I bet you could loose a couple of those wheels inside the rails. I took all my inside wheels out, guess with the added weight being spread out makes it easier on the rails and have had 0 wear since.

How did the Tempaflow turn out?
Mik, I was wondering about the number of wheels actually needed now. I think I actually have one less set than what was in the original 136" skid when I got it. I may remove the inner ones like you said. The only thing is, back home here some times we have to run on less than desireable county roads, and I think the wheels help in that situation. I'll have to think about it.

I put the T-flo on my sled last year, and really like it. I have one for the wife's sled and still have to get it on before the snow flies. I think Sunday will be the day to do that, then her sled is ready too.

Jason, I searched all summer for bargains, and ended up getting the best deal from my dealer. I probably have less than $500 invested in everything, except the track. The only things I don't have that come with the kit from Cat is the longer heat exchangers. Based on comments from some others, I figured I don't need them.

Thanks for all the compliments guys! The comments and seeing the pictures make all those hours spent in the garage seem well worth it. Would I do it again under the same circumstances, heck yeah! But if cat made a 136" ZR900, I would be all over it and figure the time saved would be worth the cost to upgrade to a new sled. But my sled just turned 1500 miles, so I'll be riding this thing for quite a few years to come, which is just fine by me. I have it set up just the way I want it and would hate the thought of starting all over again with a new one. Besides, it would obviously cost me more than $500 to upgrade to any new Cat, and it still wouldn't be similar to what I have since Cat doesn't make a sled like this.

Nice work Jim. Glad to see you had a productive summer....... :D Look's real good.

Nice job! I'm sure the work you've done is well worth it! Happy sledding!!!

You did wonders to the ditch pickle! Excellent job, sled looks extremely sharp! :thumbsup:

NICE WORK JIM, I NOTICED YOU HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM WITH THOSE COUPLING BLOCKS THAT OTHERS ARE HAVING. SEEMS TO ME THAT THE TEMPLATE IS WRONG. IM FAIRLY SURE THOSE BLOCKS NEED TO BE BACK AWAY FROM THE LOWER LINK TO ALOW THE LINK TO MOVE . IM NOT SURE ABOUT THE MEASUREMENT-1",1.5"- SOMETHING.

WELL NICE SLED. JAMIE :thumbsup:

Jim, I just checked out your article. About the coupling block socket head cap screw. Low head socket head cap screws are available. Go to a good fastener supply business. They should be able to fix you up.

Originally posted by JBK@Dec 15 2003, 08:44 PM
NICE WORK JIM, I NOTICED YOU HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM WITH THOSE COUPLING BLOCKS THAT OTHERS ARE HAVING. SEEMS TO ME THAT THE TEMPLATE IS WRONG. IM FAIRLY SURE THOSE BLOCKS NEED TO BE BACK AWAY FROM THE LOWER LINK TO ALOW THE LINK TO MOVE . IM NOT SURE ABOUT THE MEASUREMENT-1",1.5"- SOMETHING.

WELL NICE SLED. JAMIE :thumbsup:
From what I can tell in the pics jim the coupler blocks need to be back about 1.5 inches or so from the lower link. I can measure mine to be sure but other than that you did a superb job cudo's.. :D

Thanks again guys for the help on the blocks. Another oversight on my part....the 136" rails DO NOT have the same holes drilled in the rear of the rails, so I had the template too far forward by one hole. Once I corrected that, the locknut interfered with the bolthead. :hallo1: Sooooo, I went to the hardware store and purchased a couple bolts with standard heads that are rated for high-stress applications. Will put those on Friday and all should be well, hopefully. Will let you guys know.

Solid. Let us know.
Jamie.

Well, FYI. I put the bolts from the hdwr store in, with thinner heads, but the heads are a little larger in diameter. So large, that I can't get a socket around them becasue they hang low, down by the tension bolt. So it looks like the solution will be to use the original bolts, and just take a grinder to the heads, thinning them down to where they will still hold the hex driver when tightening them. Hopefully I will get this done this weekend, once Santa Clause has left town. LOL

You are going to love it, I did it to my ZRT, but maintained the stock 121 rear arm to tunnel mounting point, your way is better.

jim
i just finished my 02 zr800 efi cc 136 project i'll post some photos soon. i went a little different route. i built a custom tunnel extension thats only 5 inches longer than stock and uses the stock rear bumper and extended the extruded edge gripers on the footbards. i just added tracks USA rails extensions 8 inch wheels and went with a 136x1.5x15 9800 camoplast it only weighs 3 lbs more than the stock 1.25. Jim were do you ride inthe UP i live in iron mountain and ride with a bunch of powder hounds with mountain cats ( iwas going to buy one but i hate to trail ride them thus the zr 136 project) just wondering if you get up in this neck of the woods we are always running the woods piplines and powerlines if you ever need someone to hook up with.

my ZR800EFI CC 136 the way a cross country should have been built.

The sled looks great Phil!! Looks like you didn't need much of a tunnel extension at all. I went with the std extension because I do plan on installing a little rack back there soon. Whether it's us or someone else on the side of the trail, seems at least once a season we're chasing down some gas for someone.

Anyone know where I would be able to get the rear bracket? I'm doing a sc10-II upgrade in my FZ670 with the ARC, and I need the rear bracket on the tunnel.