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

[kb0nly]

Awesome find!! Very jealous... I have been wanting a 70 for years for the kids, just to rare for me to find here, and if i do they are $500-$700 depending on condition, even the rough ones bring around $500.

If the Acetone doesn't work try some E85 if you got a local station that carries it. I have cleaned out some horrendous looking metal boat tanks with nothing more than a couple gallons of E85. Let it soak a couple days, shake and pour. The E85 comes out just crap brown with all the gunk it cleaned out. Then if you got rust the Apple Cider Vinegar does the job like no other!! I have done tanks with that to and they always turn out great!

I agree on the carb, too much work. It could maybe be saved but when you can buy a carb for the price of a carb kit these days its so much easier to slap on a new one and be done with it. I fought the carb on my 200ES for weeks and then put on a $24 cheapo from eBay and its been awesome since. My 90 i got the carb off and rebuilt it, but then it was stored dry and the carb was actually quite clean, about the cleanest one i found that spent time sitting. It spent about 8 years sleeping before i came along. But then i had a good carb and a bad motor so it was a tossup... LOL

Thats the worst part, seems like usually you find one thats been sitting a long time and there was a reason why it got left to rot. But i wouldnt put too much thought into your shifting and such yet until you get it running. Put the rear end up on jackstands when you get it running and work it through the gears a few times going slow to get everything moving again, listening for noise and such. If that goes good take it for a spin, you may look like a grizzly on a little red trike but it will be fun... LOL!!!

[SteveCZ28]

snagged a running 85 atc 70 today. for $125.....it shifts up 1 gear llike this 79 when its not running. and whats weird is i can grab the neutral indicator on it and turn it atleast 2 gears as well when the engine is off...so im not going to worry about the tranny in the 79 until i get it running and see what it will do

[kb0nly]

I saw that other post, another good find! Lucky bugger...

Last 70 i saw for sale near me was a twisted piece of metal, broken frame, trashed fenders, i almost bought it just for parts or to try and rescue it until i found the motor had a hole in the case to. Wasnt worth it and seller wouldnt budge on price.

[SteveCZ28]

haha, ya i do think i got lucky to find 2 70's for crazy cheap

[TrailerRider]

dam now that's a awesome score! Congrats!

[Big G]

Good work sniffing this one out of the "household" Craigslist ad! Keep us posted when you get it running

[SteveCZ28]

got my brand new set of fenders today. still waiting on the brand new carb i bought to show up. checked on the gas tank, as today is day 2 with the apple cider vinegar in it, and the tank is starting to look shiny on the inside again, which im excited for. i had my doubts on the tank cleaning out ok, but this vinegar works great. ill definitely remember this tip

[SteveCZ28]

got a question about the baking soda. do i just pour straight baking soda in the tank after i dump the vinegar out? how much b soda do i put in? i saw a video online that a guy mixed up water and baking soda together and dumped that in the tank and sloshed it around. any input would be appreciated

[oscarmayer]

ok 2 things to add.
1) chem-dip gallon can at the auto parts store. your bestest friend for cleaning a carb, especially like that. drop carb as is, in the chem-dip and let it sit for a day or 2. take it out wash with hot water will look like near new.
2) all bikes you have to rock them when engine is not running to move through gears. i do not know of any bike out there that will go through the gears unless you rock it. so i would just change the oil in the thing, clean the tank and carb and take it fort a spin or troubleshoot from there.

[SteveCZ28]

no need for the chem dip as i bought and recieved a new carb today.

when i first got it, i was rocking the bike back and forth and was having problems shifting it back into neutral. like everyone else has mentioned im not going to worry about the trans until i get it running and get oil circulated back through the motor, and see if it loosens things back up. but being as the 85 i just got does the same thing im not too worried..

i can have this 79 running once i figure out what to do with the baking soda. whether i just pour it in to dust the tank, then rinse out? or make a water/baking soda mix and clean out the tank with that, i dont know yet, what to do.

[SteveCZ28]

ok, got the tank drained of the apple cider vinegar. lots of crap poured out. made a water/baking soda wash for it, poured that in and sloshed that around 3 or 4 good times. then rinsed out with straight water, and drained the water out of the tank, then took about a cup of gas poured it into the tank and sloshed that around working it into all the nooks and crannies of the tank. tank looks spotless now. hopefullly ill get the tank installed along with the new carb, pour more gas in and see if this mighty little machine will breathe some life by this weekend

[oscarmayer]

good luck!

[BGMAN]

I see some rub marks on the front fender from the head nut in your pics. Common problem on these is the frames bend at the neck. Easy fix; and you might want to repair the steering tab stop while the tank is off. Its probably bent up causing the forks to hit the tank. Your throttle cable needs to be routed kind of the same as your brake cable but on the other side of the frame. These are minor issues, great buy your daughter will love it. I bet you will too!

VERY INTERESTING. I started reading through this thread cuz I love these little 70's and came across your post. My little 70 has the same marks. I have little rub marks on the back of the front fender from the head bolts, and my bars will hit my gas tank. So to clarify, is my frame bent and my steering stop tabs are bent? or one or the other?

[captainweezy]

VERY INTERESTING. I started reading through this thread cuz I love these little 70's and came across your post. My little 70 has the same marks. I have little rub marks on the back of the front fender from the head bolts, and my bars will hit my gas tank. So to clarify, is my frame bent and my steering stop tabs are bent? or one or the other?

Yes your frame is bent. Let me see if I can dig up the thread with the bottle jack trick.

[BGMAN]

Damn. I guess this is a common issue, but minor? Looking forward to reading about how to fix it, but what's going to stop it from bending again? My experience with bent bicycle frames is you can bend them back straight, but they always seem to bend back easier.