Seansexton53 wrote:
So I had posted back in April about trying to find a pilot in Washington and it finally happened!! Sold a sandrail and boom a week later it unexpectedly showed up and was able to make a deal with some great people locally.
So turns out I just had to be patient. I had one come up in Shelton Washington where I work. And almost didnt get it. Someone in front of me didn't have the cash so they gave me a call and I was like don't you worry I'm not flaking lol. Picked up a beautiful pilot in great condition. Worst thing on it is the stickers are just barely starting to peel. It came with spare carbs, shocks, pistons, seals brake pads, mint condition extra seat and a whole set of extra plastics and a arms. I couldn't ask for a better buy. The older couple sold it to me for their asking price of 5k and gave me a number to a friend that had another pilot, I just picked it up from them a week later for 4k. It's an there just needs a top end. Piston had a hole. So now I'm trying to find a machine shop to get this cylinder bored and order a piston and get it together. Then it's just cosmetics. It really just needs a paint job. And the plastics are straight. My wife and I are super happy to have a pair. This second pilot we picked up that had the burnt up piston had a egt gauge on it. Is it needed? I'm going to check the jets and everything but trying to make sure it doesn't burn up again. They only ran it maybe 15 min when they did it. Either they had bad fuel mix or it was getting to much air or something out of adjustment. They only got the one ride out of it so they know nothing about it from the original owner that built it. He passed away and was supposedly tinkering with it tuning it just right and not sure that he ever did. His wife ended up selling it for some work on there Jeep. They are both passed away so no way to ask them questions. Any tips as I bring it back to life? My wife Nick named them beauty and beast for now with their condition lol. Thanks guys!
PS where does everyone get their stickers? Looking for replacement on the pilot and Honda logos and I would love to get the safety decals I'm missing.
Any pictures? sounds like you ended up with a couple of pretty nice machines.
I would definitely do a leakdown test on the non-running pilot before you tear it apart. It very well could have a leaky crank seal causing the lean condition and a hole in the piston. If it does and you just repair the top end it wont be long before it blows up again.
The decals seem to be mostly available aftermarket on ebay. Im not sure of the quality as ive never used them though.