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:wh: Pullers beware the wrath of the mighty Bantam! Matt

Wasn't sure where to put this update, so I figured that I would start a new thread. I got the engine from the rescue horse all cleaned up and installed, and am now just stripping and repainting all the parts that I took off along the way. I am getting down to almost the last of them. I think I have the hood and the headlight assy left and I should be done with the tractor proper. In parallel, I am cleaning up the FEL (strip and repaint to varying degrees). Pretty much the whole front end of the tractor was cleaned and repainted. Not the most professional job, but this is going to be a worker, so I am more interested in performance than appearance. I got the grille stripped and repainted. Here are some before and after shots. Note that it was painted black when I got it, and didn't appear to have any red paint on it whatsoever. I thought that they came from the factory painted red, but I guess not. At least in this case. After I got it out of my electrolytic derusting tank where it had sat for over a week, the paint pretty much just fell off: I took it apart and spent a couple of hours cleaning them up the rest of the way with the wire wheel on my bench grinder: After a couple of coats of rust reformer, I put it back together and hit it with a couple of coats of glossy black. Here are the final results with it mounted on the tractor:

I was at a local swap meet last weekend and picked up these 2 and a half wheel horses I had already had the RJ35 pre purchased before the swap meet but the 550 was one I just happened to come across as I was getting my RJ58 half tractor hauled out to my vehicle. The RJ35 has a clinton engine and is complete for the most part it won't take much to get it going, the 550 was a surprise to see that is was complete and original except it is missing the exhaust shield it still has the original lauson 5.5hp engine but it doesn't turn over so I think it will be getting pulled out and rebuilt most of these older nut roasters I have been getting are usually missing parts or in mid restoration when I get them so I was happy to get an unmolested one with the correct mowing deck and engine. You will notice from the pictures that the trailer is full of horses....3 wheel horse garden tractors and 2 troy bilt horse garden tillers. I also picked up some misc RJ parts, a bunch of kohler k90 and k91 engines, a k141 with tilly updraft carb, wheel horse tires/wheels, and much misc.

There you go! I say do it Jake

Wow, I just saw your pics in the gallery! Somebody did that wrong! Sacrilege!! You need to get some red paint fast. Matt :flags-texas:

You got it! Certainly looks like the JD lover had his way with it and molested that one

thanks for the information. i am looking at a c-100. runs good looks good even has the two piece seat with no rips.

Brother I'm with you on this. Ive had afew things taken over the years and I cant help but remember a No Trespassing sign I saw in an antique shop a couple years ago. Nearly 4 foot in diameter and clearly marked NO TRESPASSING VIOLATORS WILL BE SHOT ! SURVIVORS WILL BE PROSECUTED !

It's a 312-8 with a hood from a 416. The front rims and seat are from a 77 C series. It also has the wrong tower but I don't know what it's from. Of coarse, This is just a guess from the information provided.

I normally only manage an update every two weeks or so but with several things suddenly coming together I'll break with tradition. In the US you have 'Vinylguy', in the UK we have 'Meadowfield'. As Mark dropped my order in personally it would have been churlish not to put at least a few decals in place on the 'D' and let you see them straight away. So today I did just that and..... what used to look like this.... Now looks like this..... It was noticeable with this tractor that little care was taken to put the factory decals on squarely and there had obviously been another decal on the engine tin, probably added by the dealership. These seem to have been a poorer quality which later held moisture and caused rusting - had a similar example with my C-120. Based on the Toro reference set there was no decal on the parking brake knob which seems strange given that the other two similar knobs did have. I decided that I'd add one and Mark obliged by adding it to the set. This knob had deteriorated much more than the others, leaving it with a dull brownish finish that was not removable with solvent. I considered spraying it with satin black paint but that would in time have worn off so tried some 'T-cut' (the stuff you use to remove the oxidized layer of paint that builds up over time on older automobiles). It did a reasonable job which I didn't push too far as I wasn't after a pool ball finish. You can see the brown stuff that came off, probably oxidized bakelite or whatever the knob was made from. As mentioned in the last update post, the mule drive from Lonny arrived and it was in much better shape than I imagined from his description. A bit of play in the pulley bearings but not enough to worry about, a bit rusty on the front face, but otherwise very serviceable. The only bit requiring attention was one of the studs that the Tach-a-matic grips onto. The weld had obviously given up and the stud detatched from the frame at some point leading to a reasonable repair but with a major flaw. On one side brazing had been used to strengthen a stress fracture in the frame and on the other side a good strong weld made to hold it in place. Problem was (as you can see in the photo I think) it wasn't welded on squarely. To my mind there's only one way to repair this sort of issue, you have to grind away the old weld, clean up the parts and line them up corrctly before welding them together again. Using the longer of the spacer tubes from the pulley shaft to extend the stud together with a couple of magnets to hold everything true a good repair was possible and....... it fitted first time. A couple of hours work and I had the makings of a very usable mule. Way less time than it would have taken me to fab one from scratch so I will remain eternally grateful to Lonny for that - Thanks mate! Tomorrow I'll shot blast it and get the primer on hopefully. Once the engine oil / dust mix was removed it became clear that the pulleys were just zinc plated with no signs of red paint. I assume this indicates they've been replaced at some point so I'l probably just keep them that way as the oily muck seems to have preserved them pretty well. Getting back to decals, first thanks Ian for that photo - it's good to know that these tiny WH logos did appear on some tractors though it appears not on all. I'm debating whether to put the 'do not kick the living daylights out of this starter motor' decal in its original place or not. On mine it ws applied to the end of the motor which isn't exactly a flat surface though it did manage to stay on for all those years. Putting it on the side seems to be a better placement - any thoughts on that one? Lastly (for now) - the black 'Caution' sticker as in here's how to use this tractor for maximum safety and minimal enjoyment. It's shown on the Toro site listing and Mark made me one but there was no evidence of there ever having been one on my 'D''. Has anyone got a photo of where it was placed when they did fit them? A big thank you to all who are helping out with this project in many different ways. Andy

Ha tell me about it, try 100 tractors and parts to build another 20 keep that straight in your head, then all the attachments.

I had 3 of my 603 Specials out and about today. These are one of my favorite Models. They are all pretty much different right out of the factory in 1963. I put a used Tecumseh recoil on the one 603 and a NOS muffler too. I haven't got it running yet. Original owner was an old man who lost his storage on this one.

Now try and tell me Kharma doesn't exist and good deeds are not rewarded!! I pasted your Napa part # for the igntion switches into Ebay and snagged 2 NEW switches for a $1.05 plus 5 bucks shipping. Not too shabby Van, and thank you.

I have a kohler.magnum manual and it states to set the no load Max rpm to 3600. For all 10 thru 16 hp magnums. I set mine to that and when the pto is engaged with the mower deck running it is 3550.