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Thread: Cammex Team ATC 250r - Resto-Mod Build

  1. #1
    xrider is offline Got The Holeshot Arm chair racerJust too addicted
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    Cammex Team ATC 250r - Resto-Mod Build

    I wanted to share with everyone a project that I have been working on this last year. This thread will outline my resto-mod build of one of the Cammex team’s original ATC 250r racers from 1982. I acquired this project in April of 2016 from Keith Salyer at one of our races in Illinois. Keith had posted pictures of the chassis on Facebook and we were able to strike up a deal. Now for those not familiar, Cammex was founded by Calvin Pollet and the name is derived from the acronym Central American Micro Midget Engines and Xtras. After starting out in Midgets, Calvin started building aftermarket cylinders/heads for the 1981/82 first gen trikes. This soon turned into full performance packages for the air foolers and a Cammex racing team as well. I’ll let Keith elaborate more on the history as he was one of the Cammex team’s racers.

    A little history on the chassis. This particular trike was piloted by John Day and gave the Cammex team their first big win at the OKC fairgrounds in 1982. When building the trike, Calvin was looking to replace the drum brakes on the 1981 ATC 250r for a disk brake setup. Naturally he turned to midget (kart) components to get the job done. The result was a custom built swingarm utilizing externally mounted bearings, a floating carrier, and a 1.25” keyed kart axle. The floating carrier (brake/sprocket hub) and the rear wheel hubs were custom made one-off sand castings by Calvin. This enabled the use of a standard midget axle.

    Now flashing back to present day. When I received the project it was in very rough shape. It was evident that the chassis had sat outside for a number years. If I remember right, Keith had mentioned that it was already sitting outside the shop at Cammex by the time he joined the race team in the mid-80s. When I picked it up, the original motor was long gone, but the chassis and all the original custom Cammex pieces were all there. Luckily Keith had me covered on the power plant as well. I was able to work a deal him for a complete Stage 5 Cammex motor package out of another Cammex trike he had parted out. The package includes the Cammex top end which utilizes a YZ piston and rod, a full sectional exhaust, Mikuni power jet carb, and a motoplat ignition setup. Attached are some pictures from pictures from before I started disassembly.

    The reason I waited so long before starting a build thread was due to how difficult it was to disassemble this trike. The years of corrosion made it extremely difficult. It took 4 months of consistent work to get the trike fully disassembled without damaging any of the custom components that are not replaceable. Once apart, the swingarm needed a lot of attention to get it up to standard. The original setup used a flat plate to hold the bearings. The bearings were then centered by the bolts that secured the plate to the swingarm. Not an ideal setup for longevity, but good for the year of racing this trike seen. There were multiple bolt patterns on the swingarm where the bearing had been mounted. It appears Calvin had played with a few different options when building the setup. Luckily one of the bolt patterns matched the modern large bearing cassettes used in kart racing today which are a much more robust mounting solution for the bearings. From there the clean-up began and parts went out to plating, powder coating, and chrome.

    That brings me up to present day. The powder coat, plating, polishing, and chromed parts are back in the shop. Below are a few pictures of current state. The frame is a Metallic Blue powder coat, I had the original Cammex color blue matched in a Metallic version. The swingarm, front engine mounts, and triple trees have all been triple chromed. There is still is a ton of work ahead and more parts yet to re-finish, but for now it will get a home on the work bench next to the Cagiva. More updates to follow soon and hope you enjoy the build.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Start 5.jpg   Start 4.jpg   Start 3.jpg   Start 2.jpg   Before 2.jpg   Before 1.jpg  

    Last edited by xrider; 07-03-2017 at 09:54 AM.

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ID:	242307A couple of before shots of the motor before I dismantled the 82 as it was when I recieved it. I am so glad Matt decited to take on this project because it rates way up there on the cool history scale but also showcases some of the trickness that was available in 1981. Everyone will see when this trike is done that it is one fast machine and will be able to run heads up with the #331 Kawasaki, you mark my word. Matt is spot on with the history lesson on this build so far. Tomorrow I will post a pic of this trike getting the hole shot at a big race in Oklahoma in early 1983.

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    Putting the popcorn in the microwave!

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    kiser's Avatar
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    Very cool!

    Questions:

    Would that tail light have been on it when it was raced, or did someone use it off the track later in its life?

    You mention a YZ rod, was it the 250 or 490 length?
    Last edited by El Camexican; 04-24-2017 at 07:38 AM.

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    Very cool! Thank you for sharing !

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    Absolutely superb. Such an amazing piece of history there.
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    That swinger is awesome. And short!
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    I can only hope to one day find the persistence and patience you show in your builds. This thing is way cool!
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  10. #10
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    Cool project I like seeing the old race technology. With that said what's up with the yz rod and piston ? It suck s is gone there was a lot of info on that site.
    If its on the internet its got to be true they can't put any lie's on the internet

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    Quote Originally Posted by big specht View Post
    Cool project I like seeing the old race technology. With that said what's up with the yz rod and piston ? It suck s is gone there was a lot of info on that site.
    Yeah, regarding the s site, what happened? I was hoping that would come back but I haven't seen it in a while.

  12. #12
    efhondakid's Avatar
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    Man where do you dig up all these killer trikes from!?
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  13. #13
    xrider is offline Got The Holeshot Arm chair racerJust too addicted
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    Thanks for the good comments guys. I'm really pulling out the stops on this build. As far as the YZ components, the Piston is YZ-250. I assume the rod is as well, but would need to measure it to confirm. Who knows why the tail light is on there. It never saw a life after racing as it was parked outside the Cammex shop once the new models came out and was corroding since. Made a little more headway today on this project. Mounted up the Chromed triple trees and the Chromed front engine mounts. Also installed the swingarm pivot bearings.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Triples.jpg   20170506_164041.jpg  
    Last edited by xrider; 07-03-2017 at 09:57 AM.

  14. #14
    ctk is offline Just Too Addicted Arm chair racerJust too addicted
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    I really like your work station setup, cool build bench. How about some more shop pics
    Chris

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    Top notch work Matt just like all your other builds. I have a special liking for the Airfoolers and can't wait to see the final product. Keith spoke very highly of the performance of their air cooled kits they had back in the day, not only is it going to look great it's going to rip too ��

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