DAVID'S VINTAGE
SNOWMOBILE PAGE.
RESTORING THE
SPORT ONE PIECE AT A TIME.
PHOTO
PAGE 3671
NOVEMBER
11 - 2005
David,
Here are some pics of my 'Red Devil before and during restoration.
Since
I was a boy I had never forgotten the Hus-ski snowmobile.
My
father was a dealer at Powassan Ontario until his death in 1966.
The
Diablo Rouge was about to make it's debut the next season.
Initially
I had ruled out a Diablo Rouge as not being a true
Hus-ski,
but later changed my mind.
I
reminded myself that it had two forward tracks and
was
articulated just as the 444 I rode as a boy.
I'm
glad I did. It took two years of internet searches to find my 'Red
Devil".
Last
Nov. 16 I got an E-mail from Edson Alberta.
The
fellow said he had a Diablo in good original running condition. It
was.
The
paint was faded and the decals cracked to the point that they could not
be read,
but
one pull on the pull cord revealed lots of compression!
It
was delivered to me just before X-mas by a relation of this fellow who
just happened to
live
in Regina. He had moved his son to BC and delivered the Diablo on
the return trip.
This
was a great piece of luck as shipping only cost me
gas
money for the guy who brought it here.
We
had the carb done and the gas tank sealed.
On
Jan 8th 2005 I drove on the prairie for the first time.
Until
good friday we continued to go for family rides. In April I began to work
on it,
first
dismantling the ski-seat and re-coating the maple skis.
Advice
from
Hus-ski expert Barrie Graham was helpful.
In
August I started on the power unit, removing the tracks and replacing several
flat sided
bogies
with ones found on the web. Improvements to the simple wiring was also
done.
I
then started on the body work. This was mostly removing surface rust
and the odd dent.
I
had the paint colour matched from an unfaded part of the ski-seat.
I
bought a fairly powerful Wagner airless sprayer, and it did a decent paint
job for as long as
you
don't get too close! I also had the paint store make me a spray
bomb up for future
touch
up work. Decals came from an Alberta company called Intech Graphics.
The
seat was recovered locally in Regina by 'Alpha Upolstery'
I
found the 'Hirth' engine motor mounts to be weak on the Diablo as cracks
were noted in the
head
end mount, and the bottom end mounts were sagging changing the clutch distances.
They
were relatively easy to repair by strengthening the top mount (welded),
and making a
support
bracket for the bottom. A new reproduction grill was found via the web
in the U.S.
My
family which includes my wife Celene and twin 4 year old boys Morgan and
Christian are
eagerly
waiting for a good snowfall! During our first winter we learned that
the Diablo Rouge
really
is a 'true Hus-ski'
John
- Regina, Saskatchewan
THANKS
JOHN FOR THE GREAT PICTURES !
I'M
REPOSTING SOME PICTURES THAT WERE DELETED BY
MISTAKE
BY 50MEGS.COM FROM MY SITE.
