Finally got started on my restoration.  Just been collecting parts for a couple months.  Hopefully this goes pretty quick because I would like to race it in a local harescramble in a couple months.  I race the A class here in Iowa on a Honda 450 but thought it would be fun too try it on this LT.

Had a few surprises with the motor.  Some previous owner tried to fix an oil leak between the case halves with some sort of epoxy.  I had to chip and wire brush  that off so hopefully there is no hidden damage to the cases.  I was surprised to find a standard size Wiseco piston in it but a quad mechanic that is more experienced than me confirmed it has been resleeved at some point.  There is some porting work that has been done and again the same guy said it looked just okay and not a total hack job.  I welcome any input on that and I can post up some better cylinder pics if needed. 

One of the locating pins is gone out of the piston and it is damaged a little on the dome.  The cylinder looks fine so I think I am just going to order a new standard size piston and hone it.  Something else has rattled around in the motor case before because the clutch basket is beat to hell.  Sorta useable short term, I'll have so see how the rebuild budget holds up.  Any clutch part donations welcome out there... lol  I rode this quad prior to the tear down and it shifted fine and did not sound strange.  I hope there is no bad news lurking in the tranny when I split the cases this weekend.

My hard starting problem was probably the reeds. One reed petal was at least an 1/8 inch off the stopper.  The picture is of the reed flipped and it is better but still not perfect.  I'll be ordering a set of Rad Valve reeds for it.

I'm surprised more guys don't run YFZ front shocks.  It was a simple fit, just had to grind down the top mounting width of the shock..  Is there a reason I'm not aware of?  It doesn't seem to bind the ball joints.