Well, I guess it's true- no good deed goes unpunished.... I started to jump on my preseason prep work thanks to COVID down time.
I wanted to check out my 2000 Arctic Cat Pantera to fix a few things. First on the list was to upgrade the handlebars. One of my hand warmers stopped working last year and the stock handlebar height was a little low for me. I swapped in a pair of taller mountain bars and fixed a broken wire on the warmers.
Next on the list of "simple" fixes was to finally address my failing electric start. After a quick peek, I noticed that the starter was out of alignment. Further scrutiny showed 1 of the 3 mounting bolts backed out and was laying in the belly pan.
A second bolt snapped flush with the engine case. The third bolt was the only thing left in tact but the engine case cracked around the bolt.
Fortunately this was the bolt to the recoil side of the main bearing otherwise I would of had an air leak and a melted down motor.
After finding a used lower case, I split the lower case, pulled the crank for a rebuild. The engine needed new crank bearings, seals, pistons, rings and intake boots.
Hoping to put it all back in the sled this weekend.
