Diablo 502 Restoration #2 in 2008

My second restoration was to save a 502 from the scrap or being parted out. The chassis, hood, handle bars and ski seater frame came from Tony R up in Mankato, Minnesota (Refuse Ranch). The rest of the parts will come from my inventory.

The frame started out in good shape as it was straight and the bogie rails were straight and solid. The issue it did have is the “well” area in front of the trailer pin had some significant pitting and even several areas where the rust had penetrated through the steel. However, after grinding and sandblasting, the area was very solid. Therefore, I left the “well” as is and primed and painted. The underside is fully painted black. Then flipped over and painted the top side Gypsy Red.

The ski seater frame was solid. Again, grind and sandblast. Prime and paint. The hood used was straight and the louvers were straight. Again, grind and sandblast. Prime and paint.

The motor was disassembled, cleaned and painted. Like many, the cylinder and piston were scored, so a new cylinder and piston were installed.

The gearbox was disassembled cleaned and sandblasted. New bearings were installed in the gearbox. A very good pair of used bearings were used for the track adjustment housings. All bogie wheels were sandblasted. The worn bogie tires were replaced with reproduction tires. All bogies had a lubrication zerk installed.

This unit has the aluminum bumper and chromed half moon handles. A dash that is in excellent shape.

The seat received a complete replacement. The wooden frame was completely remade. New seat foam and new seat cover. It turned out very nice.

The skis on the ski seater were cracked and worn. We used a process of fiberglass restoration to restore the integrety of the skis. On the bottom is glued a thin layer of plastic. Then the topside hardware was installed and the metal runner under the skis were installed with the rivets as was the original ski design. This was our first try and refurbishing a pair of skis with this technique and we learned it from Randy H over in Ohio. After completing them, they did not come out perfect as you can see some rough spots on the top and side, but they sure are a very hearty ski that should be very tough and wear resistant.

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