Chrysler Snorunner Engine

[slumlord]

Hi--I bought a Chrysler Snorunner when they went gray-market after being discontinued in the early eighties. Yes,that makes me an old guy.I hate to butcher the thing up,because these things are pretty much collectors items. The motor only has 3 hours on it because we broke a drive part when it was brand new. The motor was designed to drive a three inch wide snowmobile track 27 MPH at pretty much a 1:1 gear ratio
Two ways to go with this project-- one is to fabricate brackets that bolt on and do not damage the OEM status,or another way is to get parts for it and fix it up to sell. Used ones go for a thousand
It sure seems to me that with specs like these,the motor would be strong enough for a heavy duty mini bike
Think of a Snorunner as a minibike on skis,and that's pretty much what you have. It already has a clutch,generates enough electricity for a headlightand brake,and is designed to be quickly be taken down to fit in a car trunk
Comments are welcome--this is my first post

 

[2or3wheels]

since these are rare engines, and yours in so lightly used, what damage happened? im sure if the crank and jugs are good and the block, if parted out this fall when everyone starts looking for part you may be able to make alot of money and buy a different engine.

 

[slumlord]

Damage was to driven pulley . The pulley probably had 2 sprokets and broke.I really need to get the complete parts list and get it restored.The main website devoted to the Snorunner was examined and I E-mailed the guy who runs it,but no response so far. Southern Ohio snows are too wet for this thing as it runs on powder or packed down trails the best.That's why the part broke.
I am no engine expert,but it seems to me that the resistance of a snow track would be much higher than a mini wheel on hard pavement.This motor may really make it fly.It would be fun to try,so long as nothing is destroyed on the OEM setup.My main question at this point is--Are two cycle engines more tourquey than four cycles of the same horsepower?
If I build a Mini,I want it big and comfortable 35MPH and 60-80 MPG, and probably able to tow a small trailer to the lumberyard. I like the selectable gear ratios on the old model trail bike plan on this site for that purpose.
Thanks for the input

 

[2or3wheels]

torgqe is more 4 stroke, but 2 strokes have high ROM's so you could gear it so a governed 4 stroke would go 15 but a 2 stroke will go 30, and if you have the clutchs that give you a variable transmission, so even better.

 

[crazycart]

That is sometimes the case, my 250 2 stroke has much more torque than my 400 4 stroker