my $100 3 wheeled find! atc 70 build/restore thread

[SteveCZ28]

found this little critter completely by accident while browsing craigslist a few nites ago at work. was listed under household goods, instead of atv section. 1979 atc 70. i have a 5 month old daughter, so i do have plenty of time to rebuild/restore this little guy. actuallly been looking for a 70 the day after i found out i was going to be a first time daddy. all the 70s around here go for gold as in 500 and up. found this for $150. talked to the wife first and got her talked down to 100, then talked to the husband to finish the deal arrangements. he bought it for his 6 month old boy, planned to restore, but when wife found out it had 3 wheels instead of 4, she said no go. so he got upset and sold it. i dont know a whole lot about this lil guy. was told he didnt try to get it going, i showed up and pullled on the pull starter and it was free and turned over, so thats all i needed as i know anything else motor wise could be fixed. got it home, cleaned it, and pulled plug to check for spark, very bright blue/white spark, so im happy. either the throttle cable or the slide is stuck as nothing moves, havent researched that yet. took gas cap off to find a ton of varnished fuel. its thick you can scrape it with a screw driver. so ill need to know how to clean that out. put rear of bike on a jack to test transmission. it seems to shift, but the shift indicator will only click one gear. only way to get it into neutral was to turn the rear axle while turning the shift indicator by hand to neutral, then it was truly in neutral. not sure whats going on with that? maybe needs a new trans? or maybe its acting funny as the engine isnt running? but i havent really had time to tinker yet to get it running and all what comes with that.but im excited. actually more excited over this little thing that i was for my own personal wheelers haha. the dirty pictures are the pictures i got from the for sale ad, and obviously the other pics are mine when i got it washed and home.

[CRAZY70MAN]

Congrats....cleaned up nice! Should be a great project......plenty of help on this forum for sure.

[SteveCZ28]

thanks! ya the mud made it look way worse than it was. obviously ill need a new rear fender, but it still cleaned up nicely.

[CRAZY70MAN]

http://www.atcmanuals.info/ You will need a manual........

[OKSTATE#1]

That's worth like $1200 bucks in eBay dollars lol

[SteveCZ28]

lol i dont know about 1200 in ebay dollars, but i do know the hundo was worth it to me. im just tickled over this lil guy hahaha

[DohcBikes]

When you say it only clicks one gear, do you mean unless you turn the tires again, or it only gets to second and stops? I don't know hardly anything about the 70s but many bikes and trikes won't kick into the next gear when sitting still not running, tires in the air. Often you have to rotate the axle to get it to change gears.

Nice find at an unbeatable price, looks nice all cleaned up!! And dirty

[SteveCZ28]

well when we loaded it i didnt know it was in 4th or its top gear. just sitting on the ground not rocking it i could only get it to upshift 1 gear. then with rear wheels in the air rotating them it would still only click one gear. but if i was rotating the rear wheels and grabbed the gear shift indicator i could turn the indicator to neutral, it would click like it was going into 2nd then 1st, then neutral. but it wouldnt do this via the shifter itself. i figured it was acting weird also with the engine not running, as even my raptor wont go thru all gears with the engine off too.

[kebby28]

Nice find! I am jealous.
Did you get it into neutral though?

[SteveCZ28]

yes it is in neutral right now. after i got it into neutral i left it alone and came inside as i just ran out of fuel for my heater and garage got cold quick. i mite fill up my tank and get some heat going and tinker on this little critter tomorrow

[bigdaddyvw185]

Great find!
it really cleaned up nice, When the time comes i want to go the same route you are, Get the little ones on something while they are young!! Good luck with it, with a little time and effort you will have it ready to go when she gets a bit older!

[SteveCZ28]

some of my best lifetime memories came from 3 wheelers. when i was little before i was even big enough to ride, i remember my father would pull me around in a sled in the winter behind his 350x. then my 7th b day rolled around and i got my very own atc 90. this 70 is tiny so i hope to get my girl involved in riding before i got started. i cant wait. i did jump the gun getting this thing, but i truly found it by accident, and the price was way to good to pass up. i could simply put it away froa few years, or just tinker with it here and there and get it back to 100% by the time shes ready to go. i cant believe the parts available for these lil guys. fairly cheap too

[bigdaddyvw185]

Well look at it like this then... It was meant to be for you to pick it up, bring it back to life, and to relive those life experiences that you had with your father back when you were a young buck with your daughter! What could be better than that! best of luck!

[coolpool]

I wouldn't be too worried about the tranny until you get some fresh oil in it, running and warmed up. If the tanks as bad as you say the oil is probably the same and the internals are sticking. I don't know of any magic cleaners for varnish, but removing the tank, adding a handfull of screws and fresh gas and slosh/shake it for a while should help. Theres a product called Marine Clean thats great for certain applications, not sure it will break down varnish. Clean the carb thoroughly, its probably as bad as the tank. You should be able to remove the carb from the engine easily. Once clear of the air cleaner you could try to pry up the slide with something plastic to free it. Good luck, you got it for a good price.

[SteveCZ28]

i did some google research. apparently acetone is a good product to use for the varnished fuel. im leaning more and more towards getting my lp tank filled for my heater and tinker all day tomorrow. too many things i want to see, or explore and figure out what illl need for this thing