Venture Conversion

[crewchief47]

Vmax Rage 600

Well, so begins the work. I'm converting from venture to "Vmax Rage", well hopefully.

Slide rails are going to be powder coated "red chrome". I don't know what color to do the rear arms yet. The front suspension is going to get some "red chrome" as well. Radius rods, trailing arms, ski shoes, and steering arms. New red ski bottoms and handles. Haven't decided if I'm going with the hood paint scheme located in my sled garage or if a solid Metallic red with graphics wouldn't be better. I'm leaving the tunnel black, will change the graphics.

You'll notice the nice rust on speedo side bearing. Almost couldn't get the speedo drive key out. The brake rotor is still on the shaft. After some wd-40, some heat, and a WHOLE lotta pounding, it's moved an earth shattering 1/16". More heat and whacking in store for later.

 

[crewchief47]

Oh ya, remind me next time to drop the rear skid before I put it on the lift.

1)Nice red seat from "nicksxr"
2)Naked Venture hood. The "Venture" sticker was a pain to get off
3)Shot of front exchanger. Slight damage from rock or something.
4)Anybody think those steel braces at the back are worth replacing with Aluminum???
5)Easy way to shed 25-30 pounds.

 

[03viperguy]

wow, neat idea. how much ya get it for and when? redoing the rear in better shocks? (ohlins cough cough) good looking project man!

 

[crewchief47]

Bought the sled two seasons ago when my wife was just a rider.
Used with 1500 KM for $5500 (~900 Miles and $4400 US) It now has 5700 KM (2520 Miles).
The shocks will have to wait till next year.

UPDATE: The #@^%&#* brake rotor is now 1/4" farther off the shaft.

 

[crewchief47]

Been busy taking apart the front end and rear skid for powder coating. While looking at the skid the other day, I noticed something amiss with the lower mount tube for the center shock. Does this mean I was riding the old girl too hard??? Has anyone had any luck bending these back or is it a waste of my time to try???

 

[03viperguy]

ahhh, sweet progress! keep the reports coming! no idea about that bent part though I would almost assume that if bent back it would only weaken it, might be a bad idea.

 

[crewchief47]

i had a few questions for ya. do you have any pics of the complete sled before the process? also, what color is the powdercoating gonna be, how much did it cost you, and are you gonna paint the hood? i was just curious on the color and hood paint, but the cost thing is because i purchased a powdercoating kit and thought that if i was somewhat good at it that i might give it a shot as doin a few small side jobs for a reasonable price. just a few bucks more than what the materials and such cost in order to pay for more materials and the equipment itself. great project, keep us updated!!!

Here's some info that should answer some of your questions: Sled Garage
As for the powdercoating, the guy doing it sponsors our CASCAR and has his own street stock that I help out on, so its a work exchange deal. www.sespowdercoating.com
I'm going to try and get some pricing info from him after it's done and maybe see about putting the sled on his site.

Powder colors:
Trailing arms-red
Radius rods-red
Ski boots-white
Steering arms-white
Sway bar links-white
Slide rails-red
W-arm and rear arm-white
Cross shafts in lower skid-white
rear bumper-red

Currently talking with "Redmater" about "Vmax Rage 600" stickies for the hood.
I'm going to try and paint the hood myself, but if that doesn't work, I have a guy up the raod that should be able to shoot it.

 

[auji700triple]

hit us up with a few more pictures of the project when completed

 

[mountainman]

Yea Wen do u think ull be ridin this sucker? POST MORE PICS!!!

 

[crewchief47]

Man, I have parts coming from all over. Decided to go with red saddleless skis with red handles. Two orders for parts from the dealer. Nylatron bushings coming from Maxx Performance, bought the paint today. The powder coating should start happening this week or next (the company is in the process of setting up in a new shop). Plus I'm going to the Toronto snowmobile show this weekend(Oct 21-23).

I can't really put the driveline back together yet as I'm waiting on a used stock brake rotor(thanks Marty) and some parts from the first dealer order.

Anyway, here's some pics of my "Red Green" spraybooth and the hood after the "Goo gone" treatment. Did a quick sand while it was wet. Still needs some more. I chickened out on the two-tone paint cause I figured I should try my first job with only one color to worry about. I'll have to get creative with the decals. Color is "torch red", GM color from early 90's.

 

[crewchief47]

These are the stickers that Redmater and I came up with for my re-worked ride.


Hopefully I'll have all back together before the end of November.

Going to try shootin' this hood tomorrow, wish me luck.

 

[03viperguy]

looks sweet! nice work!

 

[REDMATER]

preping the hood is 85 % of a good paint job,the other 15% lay in the hands of the guy shooting the paint,and ian "you can do it"

 

[mountainman]

cooleo stickers man...No venture pride er sumthin? lol

 

[crewchief47]

Bad Day

Well, lets just say that days like this make me wonder why I do this to myself.

Everything was fine and dandy as I prepared to shoot the first color coat, mixed up my paint, put it in the cheap HVLP gravity gun I bought, went in the "booth" and played with the gun settings. I sprayed the first coat and then waited about 25 mins to flash. Go back in and have a look, everything looks A-OK. Shoot the second coat. Go in the house and do some surfin'. Come back out after 20 min for the third and final color coat, and holy , who put all that paint on the right side and made a huge run???

Now I have to fix it!!!
stupid! stupid! stupid!

Oh Well, if you wanna play, you gotta pay.

1: Nice mixing table/freezer
2: First Coat, man is it foggy in here.
3: Second coat, good side
4: Bad side after removing some of the runny paint. I see some sanding in my future.

 

[sxviper32]

what color red is that again? looks a little orangish to me. maybe its just the colors gettin messed up between camera and real, camera computer, and computer me!!! haha.

 

[n2oiroc]

with the color coat you dont need to spray enough to get any gloss. jusy spray very light coats to get even color then call it quits. when you go to spray the clear, dont try to spray it wet. after you spray a couple light coats it will even out and smooth out after 10 minutes, even if it looks a bit dry.

 

[crewchief47]

what color red is that again? looks a little orangish to me. maybe its just the colors gettin messed up between camera and real, camera computer, and computer me!!! haha.

"Torch Red" early 90's Corvette color she said. Looks closer to red in person but still a little orange.

with the color coat you dont need to spray enough to get any gloss. jusy spray very light coats to get even color then call it quits. when you go to spray the clear, dont try to spray it wet. after you spray a couple light coats it will even out and smooth out after 10 minutes, even if it looks a bit dry.

Thanks for the tips. I'm going to blame it on my booth builder who didn't provide enough light on that side. Can I spray the clear the same day or should I wait overnight?

 

[REDMATER]

is it base coat clear coat?

 

[n2oiroc]

"Torch Red" early 90's Corvette color she said. Looks closer to red in person but still a little orange.



Thanks for the tips. I'm going to blame it on my booth builder who didn't provide enough light on that side. Can I spray the clear the same day or should I wait overnight?

same day is fine. if you follow the guide that came with the paint it will turn out great every time. i usually wait 45 minutes before i clear it.