My first was this 1970 Arctic Cat Panther 399
I aquired this sled in the spring of 1998. I had never been into sledding before, but I have always had an interest. Paul Diersen had started putting together his 1972 Ski-Doo T'NT 292, and I thought an old project sled would be the way to go. A relative had picked up this Panther on the hopes of selling it to another party, but the deal fell through. When he told me about it, I went for it. The sled had been stored in a powerplant in Larimore North Dakota for about 8 years without being moved. Overall, it was in great shape except for the track. Apparently, the last time it had been ridden, the hi-fax had been completely worn away, and almost all of the cleats had been cut through by the rack rails. Needless to say, that was where I had to put a little money in it to get it rideable. I replaced the track with a used one, which also needed some new cleats too. I replaced several of the the cleats on the replacement track and added a set of Cat Paws because I figured I would be on ice from time to time. The drive axle also needed to be replaced because it had been severely damaged by the cleats that had been cut. Since I had the drive axle out anyway, I decided to install new bearings. I installed hi-fax on the slide rails and replaced one of the two pieces in the tunnel, (I wanted to make sure the new cat paws did not contact the tunnel. I then put a carburator kit into the Kohler 399's single Walbro carborator, and replaced all of the fuel lines to, from, and inside the tank. Amazingly, there was no rust in the tank! The windshield was broken too, and I replaced it with a new one. All of the parts were purchased from Shadetree. (I would love to put up a link to shadetree, but they're not online.) Everything else on the sled is original. There is a little chrome hood scoop mounted above the headlight, I don't know if it was a common accessory or not. The scoop's opening faces forward into the wind and there is a hole in the hood allowing the air into the carborator. Ram air induction I guess! It also has ski shocks. At first, I thought the skis were replaced with ski's from a newer sled, but I have seen a 1970 Arctic Cat sales brochure that clearly showed shocks on the skis of a 1970 panther. I guess it's safe to say that it was a factory option.
The work was finally finished in February of 2000, (I never said I was fast), just in time for the Old Timer's Classic 2000 in Lake Park Minnesota. The sled ran beautifully until about the halfway point when an exhaust leak developed in the flex pipe. The leak was a minor problem, and I was able to continue, but it did get very loud. I wasn't able to run the full course because of an appointment scheduled for later in that evening but I did manage to put over 30 miles on the old sled that day. The above picture was taken at one of the stops.
I am currently keeping an eye out for a couple of parts for this sled. I would like an OEM Tach. If you know where and how much I can find one, please drop me a note.
The 2001 Lake park run was a lot of fun but my repair of my exhaust didn't last, and to make matters worse, I burned down a piston about 10 miles from the finish. I'm hoping to get a place to work on my toys this summer. I want to install my speedo and new exhaust system, and I'm looking for some vintage tuners or Montana pipes.
If anyone has any more info about this Panther or any of the sleds on this site, please drop me a line, I would be grateful.
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