1971 Arctic Cat Panther 440A

This sled was purchased from a private collector in Brainerd Minnesota in August of 2001. It has a T1A 440 Kawasaki fan cooled engine.

I don't know any of the history of this machine. It appears as though the previous owner had been running it recently, as opposed to being in storage in a barn somewhere. It had 5500 miles on the odometer. It was in excellent condition, especially considering the mileage on it.

Before the 2001-2002 season I replaced the windshield as well as several broken cleats and missing guides on the track. The plastic bump stops on the skid frame were broken or missing and I replaced them with pieces of hard rubber. The idler wheels on the drive axle were broken and were replaced with used wheels. The original bumper had been welded, and though it was a good repair, it was fairly obvious. The affected section of bumper tape had been replaced by a non-correct tape. I replaced the bumper with a used one from a '72 Panther. The snow flap that came on the sled was a cut-down Scorpion flap and that was replaced with a "flying A" flap from the same sled that surrendered the bumper.

I ended up spending most of my riding time on this sled during the 2001-2002 season since the engine in my Scorpion was giving me trouble. It proved to be very enjoyable and reliable. The duster clutch that came on this machine did not seem to be functioning quite right, not allowing the engine to run in it's best power range. About 45 MPH was top speed, and I think the sled should easily be capable of another 10-15 MPH.

The sled (except the engine) was completely torn down and refurbished during the summer of 2002. I say refurbished, not restored, because the sled really was in remarkable shape considering it's age and mileage. The skis and leaf springs were rusty and so they were sand blasted and repainted. The skid frame was not too bad, but as long as it was out, it got the blast and repaint treatment also. New hyfax, top and bottom was installed. I'd heard about putting hyfax on the top of the skid frame from another collector to cut down on track slap noise and wear. Seems like it should work. The rear idler wheel bearings were showing their age and were replaced by better used ones. A few more track cleats needed replacing and a couple more guides had fallen off, so that was taken care of. The exhaust manifold and muffler were painted with a stainless steel high temp coating. The right side rear bumper frame was a bit dinged up and rusty, so it was replaced by a better quality used piece. The tunnel end plate had lots of small dents, so it was removed, straightened, and polished. Other small items replaced were; brake and throttle cables, brake pads, all of the black capped lock nuts, right spindle arm, right foot rest, right hood louver, fan belt, tool box door, towing caution decal and bulkhead caution decal. All fasteners exposed to the elements were replaced with stainless steel.

Other than a good cleaning and polishing, that's all that was required to make this a real fine looking trail sled.

I took the heads off the motor and found some chrome peeling around the top edge of the mag side cylinder bore. It had not yet reached the level of the piston rings, but one spot was close. I'll run it like this for the time being, but will be on the lookout for another cylinder.

I installed extended ski spindles and mounted the skid frame using the lower holes in the mounting bracket. This should give me better clearance for running in deep snow.

The duster clutch was set up with nine solid pucks, which would account for the low engine revs and lack of power. I removed three of the pucks and will see what change that makes. I've picked up a used Arctic clutch from a former dealer. He called it a "Minnesota" clutch. It's very similar to the infamous hex clutch, but has a round shaft. Talk about a contrast in design between the simplicity of the duster and the complexity of the Arctic! I may play around some with this clutch setup on the machine this winter if time permits.

Thanks to the following for supplying needed parts: Kevin Weitzel, Tired Iron (Bob Russ), Sport Shop (Todd Yancy), Mike Cook, Glen Mallory.

Click on the links under the photo to the left to see photos of the finished project.

Solberg Scale grade;

Electrical System  8

Hood/Cowling   7

Engine    6

Power Transmission  8

Front Suspension & Steering 8

Rear Suspension  8

Track    7

Tunnel/Belly Pan  6

Seating    7

Fuel System   7

TOTAL   72