Words + Photos By: Pavel Annenkov
When Pavel sent his buddy John Basson some photos, John immediately felt that the story of how Pavel gave this doomed machine a new life must be told. Pavel’s project was done without a proper garage and from inside the villa and looking at the then versus the now photos, one cannot but admire Pavel’s passion for machines and perfection. This is his story:
“OK, here is how it started. In the beginning of the year I was in the market for a new quad for my four-year-old and came across a well-used (but running) Suzuki LT50. It had a few issues, but they were easy to sort. Junior got very comfortable on it straight away and rode “the wheels out of it.” I noticed though that on the rough stuff, the quad would bounce and loose control as this quad had no suspension whatsoever! Also the power became quickly out of date for little Junior and I could see that he needed more of it.
Quick overview of available quads in the same size showed that a good direction to move would be LT-A50 quad, based on the same two-stroke engine but on a suspended chassis. Plus it was a step up in size with bigger controls and more rider room. It was also heavier and thus Suzuki improved the motor to suit the demand.
It took a couple of months to find one and eventually when I did, the owner wasn’t so flexible with his price. I think he saw my excitement and he felt how desperate I was. I would thus not go into any details as to what I paid for it, but it was nearly what I had paid for Junior’s previous quad that was in good condition, and running.
I knew I was buying a project because the quad was in an awful state. Not to mention it wasn’t running. When I got a chance to inspect it properly, I realised just how bad things were! There was a hole in the right hand engine casing with all the bare metal heavily rusted! The plastics had severely faded under the sun (the quad was stored on the trailer in an open parking lot), tyres were worn out and apparently the quad (when still running) was in an accident that damaged the front section.
I was not in a hurry and set my aim for the beginning of the autumn. Thus, most of the work was done through the summer. Every project should have a goal. Mine was to end up with a quad which would be close in the power of a 90cc four-stroke, but still remains the size of 50cc quad. The idea was also to keep as much original parts as possible and change to new only if it didn’t work otherwise. That was accomplished for at least 80% of the restoration.
The whole thing was pulled apart:
Motor: I found a used right hand engine case on eBay. Polished the whole casing with a wire brush and wheel. The final touch was with very fine sandpaper. New cylinder, crank, piston and all bearings went in. A new ported head was part of the CT racing performance kit. I removed the oil injection system and went for a premix option.
Transmission: The clutch was within the specs. Gears were fine (made in Japan). New sprockets and chain of course. The carburetor was junk. As if someone poured acid in it. All the internals were literally dissolved. I found a used but working one and replaced it.
Exhaust and intake are the business of CT racing. Really nice stuff.
Frame, wheels, everything went for sandblasting, and when I say everything, I mean literally everything! Then it was powder-coated. Tyres are Carlisle Trail Wolf – the cheapest option I could find on eBay.
Electrical: All was fine here. Just a new spark plug and a cap for it.
Controls were all restored.
Plastics: It was a pain. Had to sand it all around and trim the broken edges. The a new set of decals from eBay made it look fresher!
The outcome:
Just as it was planned, the quad has got way more power than any stock 50cc (be it two or four stroke). But handling that power for the five-year-old is not a problem as it is still a little quad.
Moneywise it was not worth it! The budget neared a new 50cc quad from the showroom, but we are not talking moneywise here, right?!”
