Questions on Johnson Golden Ghost and Quietflite sleds

The clutch inerds could be gummed up and need attention.
BTDT. No familiar with Evinrudes clutches so you're on your own.
The swing arms should move freely with effort due to the springs.
 
I had received some feedback on another forum and it seems I may have a tank venting issue. This would make sense on the fuelling issue after a long, hard burn. I recall the metal orifice near the filler neck had corrosion on it. I remember looking at it and thinking, I really should clean that up.... then I passed it up and reinstalled everything.

Surprisingly enough there is not much out there on the net showcasing OMC snowmobile clutches. I will keep digging around to figure this out as I really think the primary and secondary need to be pulled and cleaned. After all, I have zero evidence they were ever serviced in 44 years. I would prefer to do this all myself, anyone can just shell out cash but I want to learn something.
 
I ripped the tank vent system apart today. The line routes to the left side of the chassis and into the hollow rear bumper. That section was clear. Now the brass orifice was completely blocked. I used a drill bit to clear it out. The whole tear down and reassembly took maybe 20 minutes.

I took the sled on some power runs and did not run into the stalling issue. That was a quick and cheap fix for sure.

What I did find was a stumble/stalling issue after a cold start. I kept the clear fuel line segment in place and found that after a long time sitting, there was large air pockets in the line. After it ran for a while, the pump was able to purge the system and it ran great. I need to source some proper ID sized line to patch the system together.

I have to resize some pictures this weekend to upload them.
 
Here are some pictures. An overall of the engine and my fuel loop. The new ignition switch, which still needs to be clocked into position. Also the vent orifice and how the line is routed.

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Just change out all the lines especially any vacuum lines like fuel pump impulse or primer lines. Any vacuum leak when you're out running will lean the mixture down and burn a piston lots of experience from the 70s and 80s sleds that I've had over the decades. A lot of air cooled Motors can be very cold blooded on cold start ups and need a certain amount of Choke and idle time before the cold stumbles go away. What seems to run good at 40° is out of the ballpark at 10 or 20 degrees I have had great luck with iridium plugs in my 2-stroke sleds in fact I ran a 700 Polaris 10,000 miles on the same set of plugs but I became one with that sled and knew when to get it off the choke as not to foul them. Keep the high speed mixture on the fat side as once out playing in the snow under load there is no perfect setting and being on the fat side is the safe side.
 
Some further updates.

The Ghost has had some ups and downs. Once out in the real cold and snow, it took a complete retune of the high/low carb settings. I found it had a high end bog as well as it revved out very fast but fell flat at around 30mph. Also it had a nasty vibration that was RPM dependent. The retune cleared up most of the vibration but didn't fix the speed problem.

Further reading led me to the clutch. It's possible th2 clutch had never been touched. The belt was in great shape and still within width limits.

I clamped the sheaves together and unbolted the retainer. The thing came apart easy. [censored] it was harder to remove the belt. It was filthy, lots of belt dust and grime. I degreased everything, deglazed the sheaves (not bad actually) and used a bit of grease on the sliding splines. What I got was a whole new sled. Vibration was all but gone and she was back to hauling [censored]!!

The Evinrude still runs like an absolute beast. Other than deglazing the sheaves, new plugs, belt and some hard runs, it is great! I plan on doing the primary clutch this spring, when time permits. I had her out for a rip with a friend the other weak, ended up doing several long full power runs through deep powder on the lake. She was throwing some serious heat yet never faultered under load or idle. It runs like it was new.

The other plan is to get some new primers installed. With a small prime down the carb throat, they will fire on first or second pull in -35C.

Put only 30 miles on each sled, not much but still, the kids and I are really enjoying them.
 
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Here is my 11 year old bombing around the yard in early December. She will be 12 in November and will be able to take the snowmobile safety course. Also have to get some decent helmets. My wife's grandmother just passed so we have to figure out how to transfer the titles and get them registered. There are many vintage rallies around Sask so I am excited to take my kids out on them.

I still have a big list of things to do this summer on them; Clean the darn things! Some new fuel/impulse lines, clean the clutch on the Evinrude, clean both secondary clutches, swap out the oil in the chain cases (only topped them up), new ignition switch, new primers, clean the starters and so on. I will use some carb cleaner to test the crank seals. If they are shot, apparently National still makes them. But I doubt the seals are bad yet as the things run top notch in the heat, cold, idle and full throttle. Lots of fun!

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Does anyone have a picture of location of starter and set up? I just picked up one and can’t see where the starter is supposed to go
 
Open up the little door below the ignition switch. It fits straight down there. The bendix and pulley would be on the right side as you look down.

I can try to snap a picture later tomorrow if I remember.
 
Open up the little door below the ignition switch. It fits straight down there. The bendix and pulley would be on the right side as you look down.

I can try to snap a picture later tomorrow if I remember.
Yes if you get time. I’d love a picture so I know what all I’m looking for.
 
I see the picture not really turn out....
 

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It looks like you may need to remove the cowl to get decent access to it. As well you need to rip the engine shrowd off to swap the pully.
 
One further inspection, you might be able to undue the two bolts with a wrench without removing the cowl. I'm thinking of ripping mine out to clean the helical pully as it's sticking.

As an update, I did an ultrasonic clean of the Ghosts carb and made a gasket for the bowl. So far no leaks and it runs almost top. Put a few miles on them so far and plan to out a pile more on this upcoming week.
 

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Doing some similar work recently on 1980 Arctic Cat Pantera 500cc Spirit F/A. My father gave me his sled as he no longer uses it, only 870 miles on it. Mice did some damage inside, spent a good 20 minutes vacuuming out the engine compartment. Wasn't getting fuel, in-tank strainer on the fuel line was clogged with sediment & corrosion. Replaced a slew of parts some OE and some aftermarket due to no longer available, as well a s replacing several hoses. It still needs a belt changed in the near future but its running. Pic of 2000 Skidoo MZX 600 & 1980 Arctic Cat.
 

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Thats awesome!!! Love that old Cat!! Now correct me if I'm wrong, the FA means free air??

We just put a quick 7 miles on the sleds today. It was above zero, we had a fire going, a visit and then a nice ride.
 

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