FOUND! Reunited with my '93 MXZ after 30 years

Many of you have seen my earlier post regarding the search for my original '93 MXZ. Thanks to the efforts of a very helpful representative with the Minnesota DNR - who really went above and beyond for my benefit - I was able to make contact with the current owner of my original sled. This was a long-term search, and after months of effort, I was thrilled with the prospect of being able to acquire my original sled and bring it back home after 30 years. My hope is that I'd find it in decent condition, well maintained and garage kept. That was the hope anyway . . .

If I was able to find the sled, the plan was always to make this a restoration project, assuming that after 30 years the sled would likely need some level of work to return it to its former glory. When I first talked to the current owner - who lives in west central Minnesota - and started asking questions, I learned that the sled has been sitting out in the "back 40" for nearly two years. That generate lots of bad visions!

Apparently, the owner's kids were the main riders of the sled during the 20 years that he has owned it. As the story goes, one day two winters ago they were out riding it and ran out of gas. They walked back to their house, and the sled sat right where it stopped. They did prop up the track to get it off the ground, and it was under a small tree. That's where it has been since. Summer and winter - uncovered.

I showed up at the owner's place on July 1st, and we proceeded to take the walk through a couple hundred yards of woods and then another hundred yards of 4-foot-tall grass to get to where the sled was sitting. Finally - I saw it. I knew it would be rough, and it was! Significant front-end damage, sun-baked hood, trashed seat - it was a sad picture. To think that my prized old sled had been treated so poorly was a bummer for sure. I checked the VIN and a couple other details that only I would know about to confirm that this was in fact my original sled. It was.

I told the owner that this sled was really bordering on a salvage deal, but since it was my original sled, and because I worked so hard to find it, I'd still be interested in buying it and bringing it home for further evaluation. I made an offer, he took it, and we spent three hours getting it out of the woods. Quite an operation.

With the sled now in my shop, I'm going to blow it apart (what's left of it!) and really evaluate just what I've got and whether or not it would be advisable to even start a resto project. I've already restored three of these previously, but the starting points on those projects were far beyond what this one is. It would be a challenge for sure - it will take some serious metal fab along with significant resto work on every component. Also, lots of $$$$. So, the bottom-line question is this: how bad do I want my original sled to live on? I can't answer that question just yet. Stay tuned . . . .

Ken