New ATC 70 Project For Me

[jb2wheels]

I recently sold both of my 200Xs. After riding the 350X, the 200s were sitting neglected...

So I had some $ burning a hole in my pocket and this came up on CL for $150. I've been thinking about building a big block 70 to compliment the stock 83 I have. i figure the wheels and tires were worth more than the asking price so I picked it up:





The tank looks just like my '83 but the VIN decodes as an '85.

On the plus side:
- 3 new tires on fancy Douglas wheels
- new seat foam
- new seat cover
- new plastic seat pan
- serviceable plastics
- tank has been lined at some point
- frame is straight

On the minus side:
- all the bearings are crap. The steering head had no balls at all and a tapered bearing "installed" upside down on top of the stock race still in the frame. Interesting.
- tank has fork dents
- brake shoes were separated and keeping the wheels from rolling
- has some kind of thick undercoat/splatter paint all over the bottom of the fenders and frame
- missing a few nuts and bolts and such (seat mounting brackets, handlebar mounts, tank rubbers)
- missing "skid plate"

I tore it down to the frame on the Fourth. No major issues except this nasty coating. I have no idea why it had those muffler clamps on the frame.

Now to pick up a cast-off pitbike or ATV donor.

This is a sickness. I should be working on the 86 350X.

[Blown 331]

Wow, you stole that thing. I love all these 70 projects popping up.

[jb2wheels]

I thought so too - I was surprised it was still available and did not even quibble on the asking price.

[jb2wheels]

I bought a $150 TRX70 for parts. Mainly the pull start, footpegs and a few other pieces.

This is the CL pic:



The plastics and seat make it look nice, but it is BEAT.

The pull start rope broke and the seller lost a few parts (2 pawls, both springs, handle) when he took it apart then gave up when the recoil spring popped out.

It has an 82 ATC70 engine in it. The starter is for the ATC.

This poor thing needs:

Rear axle bearings - $20
Chain and sprockets - $70
King pin bushings - $50?
Both front wheel bearings - $30
All 4 tire rod ends - $100
Steering stem bushing - $30
Paint on everything - $25
Front brake cables (if I can't get these to free up) -$50
Air filter element
Gas tank - $100
Some parts for the pull starter (both springs and a pawl and the clip) - $30

Oh, and the frame is broken.













That's $500 and I'll still have a quad with mismatched plastics. I have this silly urge to restore it but I'll never get the $$ out of it. I need to give this some more thought.

I think I can get a few hundred for the plastics, seat, and engine and maybe some of the front end parts.
If I sink $500-$600 into it, I'm not sure I could sell it for enough to cover expenses.

On the plus side, the engine is a gem. I cleaned the carb, improvised a fuel supply, borrowed the pull starter from my running 70, and fired it up. I set the pilot 3.5 out since there's no filter on it. No smoke. No strange noises. I even rode it around the cul-de-sac a bit.

Some videos (the production and script suck but the engine is great)
http://youtu.be/RdBlYMk9bIk
http://youtu.be/Z0ADyTetKzk
http://youtu.be/hN5GV5d34Ok
http://youtu.be/3VetvQ1S5cs

The front brake shoes have a lot of material - probably because the cables have been frozen for years.

I have the key for the helmet/steering lock.

And with that extra wheel it takes up too much space in the garage

[Blown 331]

Another good buy. If you were closer I would be interested in parts.

[jb2wheels]

I washed it - which is like naming the stray dog - so this ATC 70 project thread is morphing into a 2 for 1 and I'll pretty up the T-REX too.

Anyway, I really, logically want to strip it down and sell the parts on eBay. But I just can't. I look at it and can see it with fresh paint on the wheels and frame and such. It just deserves more than being auctioned off in parts.

So here's where it sits. I pulled the plastics off and put them on a shelf because they're just going to be in the way for a while.

I pulled the chain off and put it in the trash. The tensioner sprocket is a mess so I need to explore cheap options there.

The exhaust came off and left the studs intact in the head. I soaked them with WD40 the last few days and hit them with the propane torch before hitting them with the impact wrench.

I'll strip it down this weekend if it's not raining and see about fixing the frame or having it fixed. I do booger welds with a crappy MIG flux welder and this stuff looks thin.

[jb2wheels]

The TRX is torn down and back on 4 wheels. A lot of work and a little $$ to get here.
New parts:
- bearings (all - rear axle, both front hubs, steering shaft lower bearing)
- steering shaft bushing from Spangler's
- king pin bushings (metric bronze bushings from McMaster-Carr, local machine shop opened up to fit)
- front tires (new Chen-Shins that came with my first ATC70)
- paint

Lots of wire brushing, glass blasting, and painting.

The front wheels were NASTY - I had to cut the tires off and the tubes were rusted to the rims. What a time sink. They finally got POR15 in and out with some silver top coat. No way an o-ring would work so I made some rubbert gaskets. No leaks so far. The rears hold air so I did not even take them apart - just blasted and masked.

Handlebars are temps - will probably use some tall BMX bars for knee clearance.

Nothing earth-shattering - just nice to have clean parts.

[jb2wheels]

It's basically back together - just ironing out some bugs:
- clutch slips so I replaced the plates today but have not run it yet
- need to figure out a workable fuel shutoff
- cam chain is noisy but it does not have the same adjustment on the side of the engine like a Honda 70. it does have the adjustment on the bottom- a work in progress
- it does not charge the battery - I don't know if it's the coil or the regulator

A quick summary of work done:
- swapped in Loncin 125cc from a junk donor quad (3 speed + reverse)
- lots of blasting, brushing and painting - most places with POR15 on the rims, pegs, skid plates, and seat bracket
- new bearings (front hubs, rear axle, lower steering stem + stem upper bushing)
- new front brake cables (still available from Honda)
- new chain and front sprocket
- modified chain adjuster - cut off stock sprocket and drilled and tapped for Moose wheel
- cut and turned the stock pegs (actually ATC pegs) for engine clearance and legroom
- battery and most electronics mounted to the skid plate
- added bar stock to front bumper for headlight
- added trailer marker for tail light
- added crappy LED "driving light" for reverse light
- made my own wiring harness
- used donor controls fro throttle and switches including handlebar mounted choke
- new tank - I had to make my own gasket for the fuel line fittings and open up the hole on the plastics
- BMX bike donor handlebars
- ebay pitbike exhaust bent in a few places to fit and wrapped to protect legs and plastics
- new Chen Shin front tires. I had to cut the old ones off. The front wheels were a mess and I spent a lot of time cleaning them up. The have a rubber gasket because there was no way an oo-ring would seal on the pitted mess.
- pounded dents out of the rear brake cover

Some lessons learned:
- TRX70 and ATC70 skid plates are not the same
- TRX70 and ATC70 rear brakes are not the same

Since this is a top mount e-start, the carb faces forward. TRX has enough room.

[Irideon3wheels]

hey if you would be willing to part with those front fenders on that trx 70 i may be all over that. I have one that i am doing a resto-mod on my grand father gave me with broken front fenders, a bad carb, and a rusty gas tank then the recoil spring broke on the pull start so im trying to find any way around buying brand new parts at full price because this is going to be a pit bike that my grandad will appreciate when i surprise him with it. i would also love possibly the tank and carb? but if you dont want to get rid of anything its fine i love how your project is going, and if that is black paint on the back plastics i believe gasoline takes it off, old farm house trick

[jb2wheels]

Not parting it out.

But, I would trade the red OEM front plastics for black.

Or even the back black plastics for red.

I'll eventually sell the whole thing.

[unclejemima]

Good thread. hard to find anything on the TRX70's.

What brand of plastic tank is that?

Does the stock plastic shroud cover it so it looks the same as stock but with a plastic vs steel tank hiding underneath?

[jb2wheels]

The tank is not a Clarke. I believe it's a "Wide Open" brand. They're around $110. I can't remember where I bought it - I need to dig out the receipt. They're available everywhere.

It comes with a dual outlet adapter that seals with o-rings. Mine leaked bad so I made a gasket from material I bought from a car parts store. Nothing fancy - rectangular piece of cork with 4 holes punched in it - 2 for screws, 2 for outlet tubes. I punched the holes with a piece of steel brake line I had leftover so they would be round.

The stock front cover fits after opening up the hole for the filler a bit. You can see the white instead of black at the back where the seat rubs.

The Clarke is black and would probably look closer to stock but, even with the leak, it was worth the $100 savings.

[unclejemima]

Cool. I was un-aware anyone made aftermarket parts for the TRX70 as there were not that many made. The TRX90 is a different story.

I'll take a look and see if I can still find the aftermarket tank from Wide Open brand.

[jb2wheels]

I'm calling this done. I picked up some stickers from PeeWee: http://www.atc70decals.com/Pages/1986TRX70.aspx

It's a riot!

[jb2wheels]

I decided it's time to make room in the garage. I originally bought this ATC 70 to build with a big Chinese engine but my 70 interest is fading. I figure, I have almost enough parts to build this thing so here we go.

Basically, this will be a nice looking stocker. It's a mutt - 85 frame, 82 engine that was in my TRX, tank from an 83 with nice fork dents, etc.

Everything black got 2 coats of SPI black epoxy primer.
Tank, forks and other red parts got SS red poly Summit brand paint after I fixed the fork dents (I fixed the fork stops, too.) I need to color sand the tank but I really like this paint. It was left over from my 350X project.
I'll give it 81 stickers when done because I like that combo.

New bearings, sprockets, chain, etc.
I have a light from a 200s I parted years ago so this will have lights, too.
My plastics are useable but not the prettiest. I might buy a new set - undecided.

Progress pic - the only one so far:



And, by the way, this is why you should check even new sealed bearings. Almost no grease at all. These are brand new and I popped the seals off to check. Glad I did - I packed them full of marine grease.