I am guilty... It has been about 4 years since I have posted or viewed this forum! Ah, to be back.

Long story short, my 2000 Wolverine needs a new top end. She puffs blue smoke and because of all the sand I found in the carb from the pervious owner I think it is a good idea. Currently she runs smooth and strong with minimal metal in the oil. This leads me to belive the crank is in good shape, so I do not plan on replacing it.

What I need: I use this Wolverine primarly to travel about 500 miles in a week out in CO on the mountain trails. It is also used to hit up the local trails and used to weed spot spray in the feilds. I would like strong bottom -mid range power with the top end much simular to stock. Fuel consumption should be like stock as well.

I am thinking these are the type of parts I would like, but do not know any manufacture yet:
~Slight Bore w/ Lighter weight Higher Compression piston
~Torque Cam
~Slight Head Mill
~Air Filter
~Exhaust system (tail pipe, not head pipe)

I had the White Brothers Pipe and Uni Filter on my warrior back when I had it 7 years ago. Are there any new products out that would prove superior to those? Also, does detroit still offer a front locker? Does warn still offer the 424 (or 242)?

Thank!

 

yes you can still get a 424,I have one on my 03 wolverine and don't find the 4x2 so useful since I ride lots of mud and tight trails,with the limited slip front diff on the 03 the 424 was a waste of money imo..but I dont do wheelies,and with the large mudlites,doughtnuts are out of the question lol..Those other mods will help with all ranges of power,but I heard those torque stuffers are a waste of money also..

 

todd, thanks for the reply!

I am thinking about getting the 424 because we often times ride long distance on HARD packed roads from camp to the trail head. I figure the 424 will provide less wear on the tires in these situations.... Even if the front end is not being power drivin I cant help but wonder how it would feel with a locker up there...

I need this machine to run cool. I would love to go with a FST kit but I do not think the air cooled engine would like the slow speeds typically acompanied with crawling up a mountain...literally...

 

There a couple things you can do to a woverine to get some good torque and mid range out of it. First a good piston like wiseco 10.2:1 or a JE piston 10:5.1 compression piston would work well and still keep the heat down for slow speed stuff. I believe you could most likely get away with a 12:1 compression JE piston as if your up in the mountains all the time and still be able to run high test pump gas. It just will produce more heat. Megacycle and Web both make great camshafts that are called "mid range" grinds. The Megacycle is a little smaller duration and a little more lift then the Web .390 so it will produce more torque down low where the Web will be more of a mid-range cam. It's what ever you choise will be great. The big thing lately has been the HMF pipes which are pretty good. Go with that and a pro-flow flange with a perfomance filter of your choise, no air box lid, jet the carb and you should have about a 30 to 40% increase in power.
When do your engine re-build you can try to get about .040" of deck clearance from piston to head. You'll mostlikely have to get some custom gaskets made but it will increase compression but the engine will run cooler and be less likely to detonate. No need to mill the head down.

 

I have done quite a lot of "research" into upgrading my 2004 wolverine engine and yet keeping up the reliability and staying with pump gas. I too ride trails and put on the miles, although not 500 miles a week... After searching the web and talking to everyone including my #1 trusted mechanic (the only person I trust with my wolverine) here is what I have come up with and am gathering $$ to do soon.

First I plan on putting a Powroll piston kit in which increases the comression from 9.2:1 up to 10.5:1 and also increases the bore from 83mm up to 85mm http://www.powroll.com/

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I'm also planninng on replacing the cam with a HotCam stage 1. This will give a nice low and mid range increase in torque and can be found at http://www.rockymountainatv.com amoung other places.

I also am going to be replacing/upgrading the clutch springs with something more heavy duty to be able to transfer the power http://www.erlandsonperformance.com

I also just wanted a slip on exhaust and choose to go with FMF Powerline because its maintenance free and just bolts on (no packing to worry about)

I have a Warn 424 select on my wolverine and I think that it is one of the best upgrades that I have ever done. It is amazing with the right tires, how much I am able to stay in 2 wheel drive, which I've noticed saves on gas and makes the bike easier to turn and more fun to handle. I know that Detroit still offers a locker for the front diff. I think its around $350+- but I'm not sure how it would work out with the warn 424.

As far as the Air Filter goes. I have a K&N high flow bolt on filtter which utilized the OEM airbox and lid. I don't recommend removing the air box lid due to the amoud of debris that gets sucked in there anyways. I've had no problems with my set up so far.

Good luck! I think that you can't go wrong these are incredible engines and what I'm planning on doing will only help make it that much more incredible. My mechanic, he is a proffessional mechanic not a back yard guy, told me that this is the most dependable upgrade that could be done. You may have to jet the carb before your finish but that is not too difficult to do.

Please let me know how it turns out.

 

HotCam's suck. Look at how much valve lash they run.. .013" on the intake to .015" on the exhaust. You know how hard that is on your rocker arms and valve train? They do that because they use the stock valve springs and have a wider lobe speration because they don't want the valve to float and hit the piston. Also they screwed a lot of raptor 350 owners over because they thought the the warrior and raptor engine cams where designed the same. Don't stick that junk in your engine. There are better cams out there to choose from.. Megacycle and Web.
I am a mechanic for a JD dealership.

 

FST makes an oil cooling kit that works alot better than the stock one to cool the temperatures down by about 40-50deg. It sell for about $115 if it hasnt changed. 12:1 is too much compression and even with a cam will not bleed off enough cylinder pressure and you will have to run race fuel and it will be impractical to start.

A good setup that comes to my mind would be a 366 kit (.080in over w/ resleeve) about 10.5:1 compression, a hotcam or FST cam, with the oil cooler and 25" bighorn tires for cruising at lower rpm's, and the warn 424.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: SpDdEmOn

FST makes an oil cooling kit that works alot better than the stock one to cool the temperatures down by about 40-50deg. It sell for about $115 if it hasnt changed. 12:1 is too much compression and even with a cam will not bleed off enough cylinder pressure and you will have to run race fuel and it will be impractical to start.





A good setup that comes to my mind would be a 366 kit (.080in over w/ resleeve) about 10.5:1 compression, a hotcam or FST cam, with the oil cooler and 25" bighorn tires for cruising at lower rpm's, and the warn 424.</end quote></div>

No need to re-sleeve with a 366cc .080" piston. Just bore and hone.
12:1 is to much if your not up in the mountains to run pump gas.

 

Thanks for the replies guys. Just to help everybody understand, I have owned this Wolverine since 2003. It is bone stock with exception of 25" Titian's. (great tires by the way)

From reading the above posts, it looks as if a 10.5:1 Piston .080" over on the stock sleeve with an FST, Megacycle, or Web Cam. I will do a bit of research on the FST oil Cooler. Exactly what does it do differantly than stock? Does it require drilling into the cases or case covers?

With the addition of a cam, should I look at replacing/upgrading the valvetrain? How will these engine mods and a Pipe (looking a HMF) affect my jetting? I would of course do a series of plug chops after a break in period, but would like to locate the proper range of jets for KS and CO.

Thanks for the help thus far. Are there any vendors you guys would recomend? I have usually purchased my ATV products from Rocky Mountain ATV and JR Gramm.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: Blaster96

Thanks for the replies guys. Just to help everybody understand, I have owned this Wolverine since 2003. It is bone stock with exception of 25" Titian's. (great tires by the way)



From reading the above posts, it looks as if a 10.5:1 Piston .080" over on the stock sleeve with an FST, Megacycle, or Web Cam. I will do a bit of research on the FST oil Cooler. Exactly what does it do differantly than stock? Does it require drilling into the cases or case covers?



With the addition of a cam, should I look at replacing/upgrading the valvetrain? How will these engine mods and a Pipe (looking a HMF) affect my jetting? I would of course do a series of plug chops after a break in period, but would like to locate the proper range of jets for KS and CO.



Thanks for the help thus far. Are there any vendors you guys would recomend? I have usually purchased my ATV products from Rocky Mountain ATV and JR Gramm.</end quote></div>


FST oil cooler takes oil from the case cover that goes to the crank bearing and basically Tee's into that spot in the case cover... thus giving you cooled oil at the crank bearing which is the biggest wear part on this engine. You can also look at it as the when you put an oil cooler in that spot it drops pressure as you get a pressure drop across the cooler. In all reality you can just get a bigger radiator and put that in place of your stock one and it will work just great. You do have to Drill and tap the cover, then expoy the oil gallie inbetween the to ports if you do the FST.
FST doesn't make cams for are bikes neither does Powroll. They just sell.. . they can have there own design made by either to companys though and only be sold through them.
I got my piston at vito's performance. Cam at Web camshafts. Personally though if I where going for all out torque or good bottom end go with the Megacycle cam 252-X2 Mid-range grind. The Web takes just a hair off the very bottom but makes up for in right in the middle, pulls like mad. So the Web might be just a little big for you.. all depends on what RPM you ride at and what you want for a power band.
Either cam you will need some heavy duty strings and retainers. TI are lighter and will rev just a hair quicker. I would recomend re freshing the head with a valve job and new guides and seals if need be.
Lastly jetting, once you get correct at what alitude your at you can use a jetting caluator to figure out what jet to use when you go up.