48 years to Come back to life!
1976 wasn’t the best season for the Starfire Kids, but a couple bright spots were Jim Bernat winning the Ironwood Olympus 440X feature, and winning at the Kawartha cup.
This is one of only six 1976 factory sleds. There was five aluminum chassis, a 250, 340 and 440 for Don Omdahl, and a 340 and 440 for Jim Bernat.
This is is the one magnesium 440X built just for World Champion Jim Bernat. The only two sleds from 1976 that have been found are this one, and Omdahl’s 340. Omdahl was hurt at the Winnipeg to St. Paul race right after Eagle River, so Jerry Bunke got his first pro factory driver ride on Don Omdahl’s sleds for the rest of the 1976 season.
WHere's it Been?
Michigan. Central Michigan. It most likely went with Greg Hedlund in one of his trips to Michigan to drop of sleds and parts to be converted into endurance racers.
Instead, (or after the enduro racing) It was butchered up very badly. I never found any of the people who cut it up to drag race it, but they cut up this sled and an original 1975 440X, and extended the tunnel and made it wider with parts from the 1975 chassis.
The saving grace was the all magnesium construction of the bulkhead and tunnel, the serial number was still on it, and many of the parts with it were correct – including a very modified 1973 suspension and 1976 Starfire skis made from aluminum, rather than the stock steel.
I got it from a long time drag racer in Michigan who sold me a giant trailer full of stuff, including this sled. It sat at my house, then Doc Jim’s house for a long time before we actually found the serial number, verified it at the Eagle River Derby track, and realized what we had.
The Restoration
Step one was Mark Anderson, yep, Vintage SnoPro champ Mark Anderson helping with getting the ton of bondo and paint off this thing, then re-creating the missing parts of the running board that had been sliced length wise. He also got the rear close off put back on.
Next was me hunting and collecting parts for a few more years, including a very interesting 1976 440 liquid motor from Doug Lubahn, also from Michigan. Then I loosely bolted it together – and that took forever because the suspension was all apart when I got it, and it was very much like putting a jig saw puzzle back together and redoing it several times when I found more photos to show how it actually was.
Ken Simenou To the rescue!
I was getting pretty burned out by the time I got it bolted together and after moving to a southern state, I didn’t have all the great resources I had in Minnesota to get it over the finish line. Ken stepped up and jumped into the project with gusto. Paint by Brian Mauler, pipe fitting by Portable Dave, and the pipes came from Troy Pierce (the originals were too rough to save) and a HUGE shout out to A.J. Emerick who got us a PERFECT hood in record time!
There was a lot of other people who helped out, and I thank each and everyone of you!
