As you may know, I just picked up my Ody a couple of weeks ago, sans motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )). Well, just found a Craigslist score and drug home a complete, and bone stock '98 Ski-Doo Formula Deluxe 583 with electric start and reverse, 3384 miles. Took my video bore scope and compression gauge to check out the motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )). No leaks, good crosshatching, and about 132 psi in each cylinder. Couple of pumps of the primer, hit the key, fired right up and idled smoothly. He advertised it as being straight, with a slightly bent ski, but upon further inspection, it hit hard enough to bend the tunnel some. No problem for me, as I am only after the motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )), gauges, clutches, and wire harness. Already have the hood, track and rear suspension sold, basically covering my purchase price of $440. So I guess it's time to get busy and strip everything off the the Ody frame and get this thing lined up. Any advise from the folks that have already accomplished this? This is going to be FUN!
And since nothing happened without pictures, her you go...



These two should play nice together.

FARROFFROAD.COM Done

June/July is the best time to buy a donor sled!

Nice donor indeed. Not that reverse is gonna do you any good though, lol. The 583 RAVE will get the buggy down the trail, that's for sure.

Yep, get yourself a mount kit from Farr (order it now, as it might take 3-4 weeks). If you plan on using the SeaDoo carb swap, order the mount kit unwelded. Otherwise...the Farr kit is setup perfect for using the stock dual carbs from a location/clearance perspective.

Or...not to deter you from Farr...you can suspend the Engine & carbs off the buggy's rear cross bar (one the airbox sits on) with some ratchet straps & foam and get the Engine where it needs to be. Then you can work backwards and fab a mount for it from scratch if you have means (i.e. cardboard/luan templates). Make the mount plate, then the sides, and then the interior structure. Weld the mount bushings (for the stock rubber mounts) last since you'll be able to slide the sides/bottom plate side to side to perfect the Engine & clutch location.

Don't forget that you'll need to obtain or make a custom exhaust, air intake, and fuel tank and will need a radiator. And remember that its ideal to get that Engine as far back and low as you can, but make sure there are belts available in the eventual length.

Whereabouts are you located? If the tunnel isn't too bad, I'd love to have a cleaner sled chassis than my '90 Mach 1 for its 617 rave Engine. Shoot me a PM.

Got a little work done today. Been a busy week at the shop, so spent several hours just cleaning up. But did manage to get the Ody on my lift and start disassembly. All the lugs were rusted, and one was even completely rounded off, but I got the nut extractor out and was able to remove them all without breaking a stud. More than half of them were regular nuts, not the tapered lug nuts, but they are being replaced anyway. Good news, the master cylinder works very well. The level window is cloudy, but the levers move freely, and actually lock the wheels up. I'll go through the master and wheel cylinders at some point to be sure they are safe. Then I got to the driven clutch. Mwahaha, it's evil! I have experience in these kind of things, but man is that thing stuck. Heat, PB Blaster, jaw puller, then onto harmonic balancer puller. Read the thread on this issue, and sounds like the puller, PB, heat, and time will get it. I was getting pretty frustrated, so before I damaged something, I jumped on the bike and went up to Laconia Bike Week for the afternoon. I'll get on it again later this week.

Well, got the driven clutch off the Ody. Stripped out my more than 20 year old puller and had to get a new one. But got it off, and it looks pretty clean. No pitting, and keyway is straight. Started the dissasembly of the Ski-Doo. Everything is disconnected frome the Engine, only have one Engine mount bolt to remove. It is behind the starter, and that is blocked by the primary. I should have it out tomorrow, then work will begin on the mount plates.

Now I have questions I hope to get help with. First, what driven clutch are people using to match the Ski-Doo primary? The Ski-Doo secondary is to big around, plus the shaft size is about 2mm bigger, so definitely won't work. Also, any starting points for jetting. I know I need to go bigger on jets due to warmer running conditions, just looking for a starting point from folks in the know. All help is greatly appreciated.

Any update?

Funny you should ask. I had a crazy summer, moved a couple times, and super busy at work. So needless to say, nothing got done on this project. I was off this last week due to recovery after a pretty major mouth surgery, so had a little time in the garage. Got everything organized and made space to get the Ody up on jack stands so can work on it a little easier, and finished pulling the Engine out of the sled. I decided I spent too much time already on this, so I called Emmanuel at Farr-Offroad and ordered his Rotax conversion Engine mount plate, and it should be here first part of this week. So after not touching it for several months, I am finally back to work on it, and will hopefully have some results soon. I have a set of ATV tracks that I am thinking of getting on the rear, and getting some skis on the front. Will be interesting for sure.

Got my Engine mount plate from Farr on Monday, excited to get going again on this. My new issue is, I do not have the Engine isolators from the stock mounts that are to be re-used with the new mount. Does anybody have a set, or perhaps have figured out an aftermarket replacement? I have been trying to find some poly bushings that will work, but so far have not had any luck.

And D$, I am sorry I did not see your question sooner. The tunnel is not bent bad at all, the right footwell has a dip in it. Honestly the only thing tweaked is the upper and lower control arms on the right side. I live in central New Hampshire if you are still interested in the chassis. Let me know, I'd be happy to send some pictures.

Check with atc dude for the Engine mounts he might still have some

Thanks BS, I shot him a PM.

It's been like Christmas around here lately. New driven clutch on the way, as well as a nice set of used LTR 450 front shocks. Got my complete a-arm front end in last week, and am moving ahead with getting everything mounted. My latest issue has been finding a set of factory Honda Engine bushings for my Farr Rotax conversion. So, I busted out the micrometer and took some measurements. I found a set of polyurethane bushings for Chrysler shocks, that with a slight modification fit both the Honda mounts, and Farr Engine plate. Should be dropping it all in this weekend.

what was wrong with the stock ones on the original odyssey Engine?

Engine mounts can be tricky, look at the Drakart AKA Crackart when Alain went from the 583 rotax to the 600 that had reed cages and not the rotary valve like the 583, vibration cracked the shit out of the frame.

Look at my 440 conversion, I used the Honda Pilot rubber mounts in mine but still ended up with harmonic vibrations not seen in the sled Engine, the 4 bolts that hold my rotary cover on kept coming lose, first I was told to install loc washers this lasted for a while but they still worked lose after about 20 run hrs, went to loc tite not a problem since, I keep looking for cracks in my frame sooner or later its going to crack, if not because of the changed harmonics the 440 induces because of the age and use, considering driving my Pilot down the hard road on the next thaw to get a good coating of salt on it then pull into the shop and wash it off, look for the RUSTED spots, sort of a poor lazy mans PT testing lol

In a word, nothing. My issue is, my Odyssey did not come with an Engine or exhaust. Everything else though. I would prefer having them, but after a great deal of searching online, and requests to members here, I was unable to locate a set and went this route. If you know of another source for the factory bushings, I would be grateful for that lead. In lieu of that however, I will have to see how these work, and I am only into them for $25 including shipping.

And hoser, thanks for the heads up on those issues. I am new to this world and had no idea the Drakart had that reputation. So the cracks developed after switching to the reed valve motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? ))? I am running the rotary valve 583, so hopefully will be less likely to run into that issue. I will definitely be assembling everything with Loctite, and will have to keep an eye on things for possible cracks.

Yup keep going once your running you can tell by the vibration if you need to make changes, its all trial and error at this point.

Drakart had used the 583 for years then he switched to the newer reed valve engines used the same Engine mount and it vibrated badly, Lightspeed bought a Engine mount out of a sled and adapted to his car and fixed the problem http://www.pilotodyssey.com/cpg/thumbnails.php?album=17

670 Rotax. Rotax rubber mounts. Harmonics are not friendly.

WOW! That is serious damage.

Do you guys think it would be worth the time now to reinforce the frame in those spots with some angle bracing? I was thinking about it before, but those pics really have me considering it even more.

Are those cracks in the upper cage?

There might be more going on there than Engine harmonics IMHO

In any case, based on the cracks seen here, I'd make the Engine trans a subframe assembly that bolts in

Reinforced tabs on the frame allowing a subframe to drop in/out with poly/rubber bushings in the subframe ends this might also let the Engine mount be reworked to lower it a tad

Not sure if any of this can be easily done, but that's my first thought. It's always easier to run my mouth when I'm not doing the work

I guess that's why my installers and field managers looove me

Why not you could go either way, and do like Lightspeed did and use the factory plate and mounts, all I did on the Pilot was make my own mount and used the Honda mounts, it was a shot in the dark, so far so good I didnt even use the snubber most sleds have and it seems ok .

Long term testing is the only way to know for sure.

http://www.pilotodyssey.com/PO/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=744

Going by memory my mount weighs less than the aluminum plate that was used for my Engine on the snowmobile.

My thought on the FL350 is the removable subframe would be another vibration dampening point, also the FL350 Engine cradle does not have suspension mounting points like the FL400 has

The FL400 would be easier to do as you did, since cutting out a subframe would involve the suspension

I'm just being a desk jockey know it all at this point

These work? They're off a Suzuki GSXR, but cheap and plentiful...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/360817835400?ru=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fsch%2Fi.html%3F_sacat%3D0%26_from%3DR40%26_nkw%3D360817835400%26_rdc%3D1

Also some for the Kaw ZX9.

Early/Mid 80's Honda bikes used similar mounts to the FL350 (CB700, Magna, etc).

Maybe there's a Harley Engine mount?? Given the NVH from one of those seismic bassturds, but form my experience they don't do much to keep the rumble out of the frame, lol.

And some pics...

I think the cracks in the upper cage happened after the lower frame broke. The cracks were under the rollbar padding and weren't noticed for a while after the lower frame was rebuilt.

I have been getting some work done on the Ody, though no new pictures as it has been pretty boring stuff. My new Comet driven clutch showed up late last week, as well as the LTR450 shocks. Though now I need to get new bearings for both shocks, even though the seller said they were good. Oh well, at least I know they will be fresh and new!

Mostly what I have been doing lately, is a ton of reading, on this site and others, about a-arm conversions. Lots of great info out there, but I have just two questions that I hope folks can help with. I am using TRX400EX arms, and they are different widths, upper and lower. Are they set up with the upper centered between the lower, or with the front mounts lined up vertically. Hard to determine from pictures, but I believe they are lined up. I don't have one nearby to get measurements from. Secondly, what is the distance between the lower part of the factory frame, and the top of the new bar that gets welded in for the lower a-arm mounts? I think I read 2.5", but in pictures, it looks to be lower than that. I know that a ton of these questions have been asked and answered, and I appreciate your patience with yet another. All help is graciously accepted.

We have been very busy at work, landing several new major projects. This is great for everyone's bottom line, however, not so much for getting my Ody done. I did set some time aside today and managed to get the Engine on the Farr conversion mount, and remove the frame section that interferes with the recoil starter. I used cardboard to lay out the pattern for the section to be rebuilt, but found out I didn't have any plate to make the parts. I'll order that up and get it welded up later this week. Feels good to be making progress.