1972 Scorpion Stinger II - 400 CCW

This sled was purchased by my father on August 31, 1971. The list price was $1,095. He traded in a 1969 Scorpion Mark II, receiving a $545 trade allowance (he had paid $500 for it two years earlier). As a teenager I spent a lot of time on this machine. I eventually ended up with possession of this sled about 1978. I ran it occasionally for a couple of years. Then one fall it would not start. I discovered only one of the original four piston rings remained in the 400 CCW motor, and that one was frozen in the piston. The Scorpion sat outside under it's trailering cover for a couple of years. What a big mistake! When I later uncovered it and kneeled on the seat, it cracked like it was made of glass. Thinking I'd some day soon get it running again, I took the old girl completely apart, cleaned up the parts, and stored it in boxes above the garage.

In March of 2001 I began the restoration project on Dads old Stinger. The parts had survived their twenty sleep in good shape with no further damage or corrosion. I had given the steel frame a coat of paint prior to storage, and though not a good job, it had prevented any further rusting.

My first task was to rebuild that motor. I bought a parts motor, but it turned out to have only marginally better cylinders and pistons than mine. That was my first expensive lesson in buying restoration parts.

I was very lucky (as I've come to appreciate) to find an identical sled with a seat in pretty good condition and a running motor. This was my second lesson. The owner described it as a cherry piece of machinery needing only skis and a windshield to be perfect. After a 200 mile one way drive, what I found was an old beater parts sled. He did accept my offer of what I thought it was worth though, and as it turns out, I'd still be looking for a seat had I passed that one up.

With a running motor now in my possession, the rebuild of the original was put on the back burner. The remainder of the restoration was pretty uneventful stuff. Just a lot of cleaning, rust removal, buffing, painting etc. Besides the motor and seat, the parts donor sled supplied a couple of bogie wheels, snow flap, taillight bulb sockets, and instrument panel. New parts purchased included hand grips, carburetor rebuild parts, windshield, hood hold downs, rear axle springs, front axle bearings, drive sprockets, and skis. In addition, exposed fasteners were replaced using stainless steel fasteners whenever I could find them available.

The restoration was completed in October of 2001. There are a few things left to do. I've found new old stock Wiseco pistons and rings, and am having the original cylinders bored .020 over to fit. I'm hoping to finish rebuilding the original motor in time for the 2002-2003 season. The original skis are useable, but are not very straight after numerous encounters with trees, railroad tracks, etc. over the years. The skis on the sled now are later model Scorpion items. I hope to find correct new old stock skis to replace them. And I'm constantly searching for a mint seat.