Super Blazer rebuild project

#1
Hello everyone. After over two years of researching OldMiniBike forum and rebuilding a Super Blazer, I wish to give back to the community my experience on this project and to encourage others on their projects. In the beginning, I first spent several months deciding if to “Restore” to original condition (Being a rare model) or “Rebuild” with some of my own modifications (There is a thread or threads on this subject). In my case, living in central Arizona, with hundreds of miles of National Forest and BLM trails at my back door, I made the later decision. On the modifications, I tried to keep to a period looking results. I needed extra fuel and street legal equipment, as an example. I will post more comments and photos of the rebuild and will try to answer questions as time permits. Dan.
 

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#3
Hello Richard. Thank you for what I have learned from reading many of your posts on this forum. This would be a good time to talk about the front wheel on my Super Blazer rebuild. The original front wheel was of a “wheel barrel” type with worn caged roller bearings and no front brake. My riding environment here is of a mountain type with some steep up and down trails. I needed to add a front brake for safety. I was able to purchase a front wheel and brake assembly from a Blazer that was being parted out. My guess is it was from a 1965 japan build with metric sealed bearings and shaft. I was able to rework this to inch bearings and inch shaft to mount to my bike. See the photo posted here (Before I fabricated and welded a tab or bracket to secure the brake assemble to the right front fork to prevent rotation). By the way, I also purchased the transmission from the same seller as a spare. I will post about this later and talk about “torque” vs “speed” controlled transmissions. Dan.
 

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#4
In this chapter of the Super Blazer rebuild, I will talk about the Variable Speed Transmission (Usually known as a “Torque converter”). Please read on as it gets interesting. On my rebuild, the original “Driver” was in poor shape with internal parts wear and a stretched weight spring. It was simple decision to replace with a Comet 40 driver. The “Driven” was in great shape, so it just needed a clean up. At the same time I was working on this, I had found and purchased a spare transmission assembly from a part-out, I am guessing it was a later model 1965. I was very surprised to find that the “Driven” pulley and its mating jack-shaft had straight splines and not curved splines as my original which would be a normal “torque” converter setup (See photo of orginal jack-shaft)! What does this mean? Well, this is no longer a “torque” converter, but a “speed” converter. In other words, the shifting would no longer be depended upon torque as when going up a hill, but would only shift due to engine speed only (Program by spring setup). It is well known practice that what gear used going up a hill, use the same gear going down. Well, with a “torque” converter it wants to shift the wrong way going down hill. With the “speed” converter, going down hill would allow engine braking to be more effective. With the rebuild of the 5 ¾ HP Briggs engine to new condition (a future chapter), and the transmission in low range gear, I would not have any problems going uphill. Guess which “Driven” (torque or speed) that I installed? The next chapter, I will talk about the 2-speed transmission that is special to the Super Blazer. Dan.
 

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mustangfrank

Well-Known Member
#5
In this chapter of the Super Blazer rebuild, I will talk about the Variable Speed Transmission (Usually known as a “Torque converter”). Please read on as it gets interesting. On my rebuild, the original “Driver” was in poor shape with internal parts wear and a stretched weight spring. It was simple decision to replace with a Comet 40 driver. The “Driven” was in great shape, so it just needed a clean up. At the same time I was working on this, I had found and purchased a spare transmission assembly from a part-out, I am guessing it was a later model 1965. I was very surprised to find that the “Driven” pulley and its mating jack-shaft had straight splines and not curved splines as my original which would be a normal “torque” converter setup (See photo of orginal jack-shaft)! What does this mean? Well, this is no longer a “torque” converter, but a “speed” converter. In other words, the shifting would no longer be depended upon torque as when going up a hill, but would only shift due to engine speed only (Program by spring setup). It is well known practice that what gear used going up a hill, use the same gear going down. Well, with a “torque” converter it wants to shift the wrong way going down hill. With the “speed” converter, going down hill would allow engine braking to be more effective. With the rebuild of the 5 ¾ HP Briggs engine to new condition (a future chapter), and the transmission in low range gear, I would not have any problems going uphill. Guess which “Driven” (torque or speed) that I installed? The next chapter, I will talk about the 2-speed transmission that is special to the Super Blazer. Dan.
Dig the bike. Interesting concept you're describing, can you show or describe how the driven clutch is different than the later one to allow it to hold "low gear" and act on the drive clutch to engine brake?
 

Lizardking

Well-Known Member
#6
Nice Super! What year is it? I have a project 68 Super without foot pegs and suspension on the forks.

You went with speed.

20200619_153338.png 20200701_160629.jpg
 
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#7
Nice job on the front wheel/brake. It is interesting to see the changes made starting with the Super Blazer and the Japanese version. This parts drawing shows straight splines used on the Japanese version driven torque convertor. Blazer parts mamual (1).jpg
 
#9
Dig the bike. Interesting concept you're describing, can you show or describe how the driven clutch is different than the later one to allow it to hold "low gear" and act on the drive clutch to engine brake?
Hello mustangfrank. Thank you for your question. There might be a more correct way to describe this, but I will try from the way I understand how this works. When going up hill and/or applying more throttle, the additional force or torque applied to the Blazer Driven pulley will cause it to slide more closed as one side of the pulley is on the curved splines (it will add force to the spring holding the pulley sheaves to more close). The opposite happens when going downhill and/or reducing throttle. The reduced force subtracts from the spring because of the splines causing the driven pull to open. The same principle applies to other brands of torque converters like the Comet, however they are build different with a outboard ramp surface which works the same. Now if the splines and matching pulley as on the later Blazer are straight as parallel to the shaft. Then, any torque added or removed will not have any effect on closing or opening the driven pulley. It only reacts to changes to engine speed. I hope this helps. Dan.
 
#10
Nice Super! What year is it? I have a project 68 Super without foot pegs and suspension on the forks.

You went with speed.

View attachment 283931 View attachment 283958
Hello Lizardking. 1963 from the date cast into the engine flywheel. Here is some correlation information from Desert Magazine:

February 1961, Ad, page 6

May 1962, “Trail Scooters”, page 25

June 1962, Ad, page 33

It appears that by 1965 the frames are manufactured in Japan? With solid forks could your blazer be an earlier 1961-1962 manufacture? About two years ago, I came across some limited information with the Utah corporation commission on Blazer Corporation about the early 1960’s time period. If anyone has more information, it would be nice to post here before the Blazer history is gone. Dan
Nice job on the front wheel/brake. It is interesting to see the changes made starting with the Super Blazer and the Japanese version. This parts drawing shows straight splines used on the Japanese version driven torque convertor. View attachment 283934
Nice job on the front wheel/brake. It is interesting to see the changes made starting with the Super Blazer and the Japanese version. This parts drawing shows straight splines used on the Japanese version driven torque convertor. View attachment 283934
Hello Richard. Thank you for posting the diagram. It is interesting that the whole world is “torque converter” but Blazer later changed to “speed converter” with the later Japan frame. There is a slight upgrade difference in the spring #6 retainer ring upgrade with 6 screws and a different #14 spring specifications. The later 1st jack-shaft “Driven” was a drop-in replacement for me using the original 2nd jack-shaft. I did have to do a frame modification to accommodate new cast bearing blocks in rebuilding. Dan.
 
#12
A little off this subject thread on a tangent. How I change the oil. Got to get every drop out! The blazer has a engine mounting plate that is also a skid/rock guard with the front end bent up. I drilled a 1 inch hole in the plate below and in front of the drain plug so oil will drain into the drain can and not out the sides of the skid/rock plate. If you do this, please be safe with proper rated lifting equipment. I am using a 2000 lb rated come-along with a strong eye-bolt attached overhead.
 

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#13
In this chapter of the Super Blazer rebuild, I will talk about the Variable Speed Transmission (Usually known as a “Torque converter”). Please read on as it gets interesting. On my rebuild, the original “Driver” was in poor shape with internal parts wear and a stretched weight spring. It was simple decision to replace with a Comet 40 driver. The “Driven” was in great shape, so it just needed a clean up. At the same time I was working on this, I had found and purchased a spare transmission assembly from a part-out, I am guessing it was a later model 1965. I was very surprised to find that the “Driven” pulley and its mating jack-shaft had straight splines and not curved splines as my original which would be a normal “torque” converter setup (See photo of orginal jack-shaft)! What does this mean? Well, this is no longer a “torque” converter, but a “speed” converter. In other words, the shifting would no longer be depended upon torque as when going up a hill, but would only shift due to engine speed only (Program by spring setup). It is well known practice that what gear used going up a hill, use the same gear going down. Well, with a “torque” converter it wants to shift the wrong way going down hill. With the “speed” converter, going down hill would allow engine braking to be more effective. With the rebuild of the 5 ¾ HP Briggs engine to new condition (a future chapter), and the transmission in low range gear, I would not have any problems going uphill. Guess which “Driven” (torque or speed) that I installed? The next chapter, I will talk about the 2-speed transmission that is special to the Super Blazer. Dan.
Additional photo of original Blazer Driven clutch with spline jack-shaft.
 

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Lizardking

Well-Known Member
#14
Hello Lizardking. 1963 from the date cast into the engine flywheel. Here is some correlation information from Desert Magazine:

February 1961, Ad, page 6

May 1962, “Trail Scooters”, page 25

June 1962, Ad, page 33

It appears that by 1965 the frames are manufactured in Japan? With solid forks could your blazer be an earlier 1961-1962 manufacture? About two years ago, I came across some limited information with the Utah corporation commission on Blazer Corporation about the early 1960’s time period. If anyone has more information, it would be nice to post here before the Blazer history is gone. Dan


Hello Richard. Thank you for posting the diagram. It is interesting that the whole world is “torque converter” but Blazer later changed to “speed converter” with the later Japan frame. There is a slight upgrade difference in the spring #6 retainer ring upgrade with 6 screws and a different #14 spring specifications. The later 1st jack-shaft “Driven” was a drop-in replacement for me using the original 2nd jack-shaft. I did have to do a frame modification to accommodate new cast bearing blocks in rebuilding. Dan.
Not positive about the year made. The engine is not original and dates to 73. Has front wheel drum and band brake on the Jack shaft.
 

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#15
I drain the oil from the side plug (circled). I replace the front and rear drain plugs with flush fitting, allen head plugs. This gives me a bit more forward and back adjustment for belt tension. I love the quality of your paint and finish.
oil drain.JPG
 
#16
Not positive about the year made. The engine is not original and dates to 73. Has front wheel drum and band brake on the Jack shaft.
Hello Lidardking. I looked closer at your Driver and Driven (Spring retainer bracket mounts with out screws) and they are identical to my 63 original equipment. I am sure yours has the early “torque” sensitive set up like mine. I don’t know much about your brake setup. Maybe the same as a lot of Tote Gotes? Dan.
 
#17
I drain the oil from the side plug (circled). I replace the front and rear drain plugs with flush fitting, allen head plugs. This gives me a bit more forward and back adjustment for belt tension. I love the quality of your paint and finish.
View attachment 284010
Hello Richard. Thank you for your comments. After two years of rebuilding the Blazer it was up on a tool stand for most the time. Other than putting air in the tires, it only takes me about 5 min to raise it up for any service. Again, if anyone tries this at home, please be safe. Regarding the engine paint, after extensive preparation work, I used two light coats of Rust-oleum #249410 dark gray Engine Primer with a top coat of Rust-oleum #7701 Crystal Enamel. It seems to be working fine with no discoloration due to heat. Dan.
 
#18
This chapter is about the Hi-Low range transmission on the Super Blazer. The design used is a simple, but somewhat complex solution that a small machine shop would be able to reproduce without casting a gearbox housing. It is all done with sprockets and chains and some machined parts. Anyway, I believe the operating principle is a version of a “Sliding Dog Clutch”. At the bottom is a photo of the dissembled 2nd jack-shaft (The brake drum is mounted to the left of the bike looking forward, see other photos). The jack-shaft is hollow with a machined part that fits inside. A pulley is connected by a pin that connects to the inside machined part, thru the machined slots on the shaft. The arm of the gear shift lever operates the pulley to move the pulley from side to side (The pulley turns with the shaft, but the shift arm rides in the pulley grove). Now, there are two sprockets, a small sprocket (High Gear) and a large sprocket (Low gear). The sprockets have oilite press in bearings that fit and rotate on the shaft. On the 1st jack-shaft there is a dual small sprocket with two chains to the upper two sprockets on the 2nd jack-shaft. When the engine is running, and primary Driver is turning, the two upper small and large sprockets are both turning, but at different speeds. The trick is to engage only one the the sprockets at a time to the 2nd jack-shaft. This is done by the sliding machined part inside the hollow shaft programs or pushes up 4 steel balls thru 4 holes each for each gear, locking only one gear at a time to the shaft, or no gear (Neutral). On the operator gear shift, there are 3 positions. Down=Low gear, Middle=Neutral, Up=High gear. Here are some additional specifications: 1st jack-shaft sprocket=dual 14 teeth, #40 chain to 2nd jack-shaft Low gear=45 teeth, High gear=22 teeth, output sprocket to rear wheel=11 teeth, #50 chain to rear wheel=40 teeth. Doing the math, overall gear ratio 1st jack-shaft to rear wheel, Hi gear=5.3, Low gear=10.9
 

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#19
In this chapter of the Super Blazer rebuild project I will talk about adding an extra fuel supply to supplement the one gallon fuel tank of the 14 cu in Briggs engine to extend the range. (Disclaimer: Fuel and transportation safety. For information only. Use at your own risk).

I came up the following solution: “Blitz Fuel and Tool Mate”. This is a D.O.T. approved, very quality made, heavy duty all steel constructed American product. Holds 1 ½ gallon fuel with tool storage. Unfortunate not made anymore, but can be found on Ebay. If you purchase a used one ,make sure the inside is clean with no corrosion or rust. In my case, the outside was sandblasted and repainted (including the wire latches) Because the wire latches were originally on the ends of the Tool Mate, I carefully re-drilled and mounted the latches on the sides with steel rivets (with the proper latch tension). See photos below to show how the bottom part of the Tool Mate is drilled with four holes to mount to the Super Blazer. Carefully measure and line up everything before drilling any holes. I had to weld a 1 inch angle bracket to the frame as shown, in front of the tail light bracket. Drill and tap for 1/4x28 fine thread. I used grade 5 bolts and flat washers. A sheet-metal dust plate goes between the frame and Tool Mate. When not needed, the Tool Mate can be removed. This method can be adapted to other trail scooters such as the Tote Gote and others.
 

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#20
Hello mustangfrank. Thank you for your question. There might be a more correct way to describe this, but I will try from the way I understand how this works. When going up hill and/or applying more throttle, the additional force or torque applied to the Blazer Driven pulley will cause it to slide more closed as one side of the pulley is on the curved splines (it will add force to the spring holding the pulley sheaves to more close). The opposite happens when going downhill and/or reducing throttle. The reduced force subtracts from the spring because of the splines causing the driven pull to open. The same principle applies to other brands of torque converters like the Comet, however they are build different with a outboard ramp surface which works the same. Now if the splines and matching pulley as on the later Blazer are straight as parallel to the shaft. Then, any torque added or removed will not have any effect on closing or opening the driven pulley. It only reacts to changes to engine speed. I hope this helps. Dan.
Hi Dan,

Nice work.... Cool color choice as well... What type of paint did you spray? I'm looking for a great fuel and oil resistant brand, trying to stay away from auto paints on one project and ideally rattlecan it with a high quality shoot. // MG in show low
 
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